A Weeks' Work---30 new small pieces!

My friend, Susan, and I spent the last week dodging the heat wave working in my garage studio.  I concentrated on making cat and bird cards because they had basically sold out in the store and I knew I was losing sales.

I decided to copy the pieces for cards and will frame or mat the originals for the Open Doors Show.  Does anyone like birds?

Lenall

Our Annual Picnic

pic·nic
–noun
1.
an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air.

That is what we planned for our annual picnic but with the temperature being almost 100 degrees we decided to picnic in Maggie's air cooled home.
Each year we try to have an art exchange as part of the picnic, this year the theme was "garden art" the members that wanted to participate makes one piece for a one to one exchange.

Here are some photos of the wonderful women in our extraordinary group that were able to come today.

Sorry Steph the last one to arrive has to pose with the dog, not a bad thing.



Each artist told a bit about the piece they made, the trials of a new technique, rusting for the first time, finding just the right item to attach, we all learn from each other every time we get together. Then the fun starts all our names were put in a bag and drawn out one at a time to see who would win the wonderful garden art.

Our indoor picnic was a huge success, we laughed, ate great food and spent time with friends.

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~John Updike

Happy 4th!

A weekend off to play with art! Now that's what I call a holiday! I worked in my studio on Saturday. This little "fish cabin" is what came of the creating and organizing This piece measures 9" high by 7" wide.
Back to the studio for today too!
Jennifer Campbell
PS Take a look at my blog www.jennifercampbellheartwings.blogspot.com to see what else I've been up to!

Earrings 365

Happy Day to you all!

I've started a new project that gets me at my bead desk and on my blog every day.

After reading the recent issue of Somerset Studio, July/August 2010, Erin Kenepp's article on her art journal, "365 Days of Being 30", and "A Collage A Day" on Randel Plowman's art. I decided to make a pair of earrings a day. I started on July 1st, a date that has great meaning for me, and so far have three pair up on my blog, Z'annes Bazaar, check out them out on the Earrings 365 page.

June Giveaway Winner...

Pam Heath...you are the lucky winner of Jennifer Campbell's original art piece that can be worn as a pin or a pendant. Congratulations! Please email me with your contact information at diane@innerstandings.com and Jennifer will ship your piece to you.

Also, to see more of Jennifer's creations please visit: http://jennifercampbellheartwings.blogspot.com/

Happy 4th to All!

Featured Artist--Cynthia Mooney

Our featured artist for July is Cynthia Mooney. Cynthia is our resident florist, and many of her pieces incorporate flowers in some form. Cynthia is known for her admirable keeping of art journals, almost on a daily basis. They often focus on her extensive travels and are always a delight to see.

1. What are the main mediums you use? What do you find satisfying about them?

Paper, collage elements, watercolor and acrylics, though lately I have more of an interest in fibers due to the influence of my PAC friends and their work. I like to try a variety of media but I particularly enjoy the texture and patterns of paper and love using them to make handmade journals which I work in weekly.

2. If someone were going to get started in those mediums, what suggestions would you give?

I would suggest that if someone wanted to get started in journaling, which I heartily recommend as a life changing practice, that they look at the great variety of books on the subject for inspiration, like Danny Gregory's An Illustrated Life, Everyday Matters and 1000 Artist's Journals. For an easy introduction, one could take my Artful Journal class that I offer locally several times a year. I also teach private one-on-one classes as well.

Find a blank journal that you like and try to work in it in any medium at least once a week.

Cynthia's Santos:

3. A perfect art day would look like...

A perfect day would be a day spent in my studio, preferably recently cleaned, with unlimited time to create, listening to my favorite music or a radio program.

Journal pages:

4. Do you have dedicated studio space?

I work all throughout my house, but I have two dedicated work spaces. My studio is a freestanding "playhouse" designed and built by my son, called Hidden Nest Studio, as it is tucked away at the back of the garden.

Handmade soft-cover journals:

5. Favorite place you've lived or visited?

We have been lucky enough to travel extensively and I am particularly drawn to tropical locales especially Hawaii, for the color and flowers, and Mexico for the culture. My favorite destination is usually the last place I visited.

6. What inspires you (or are there recurring themes in your work)?

Color and flora and fauna inspire me. I often include butterflies, birds or flowers in my work.

Handmade hard-cover journals:

7. I still struggle with...

Deadlines and motivation.

8. Favorite dessert?

The molten lava chocolate cake from Roy's in Hawaii.

Collage:

10. What's on the horizon?

More travel, more journaling, more teaching, perhaps on a cruise ship?

To see more of Cynthia's work, visit her blog. You can also contact her at csmooney@hotmail.com if you would like info. about upcoming classes.

Book Recommendations--Textiles

I'm really enjoying 1,000 Artisan Textiles by Sandra Salamony and Gina M. Brown.

The book has 5 categories: Wearable Art, Fashion Accessories, Soft Furnishings and Vessels, Tapestries, and Art Quilts. It contains artists from around the world and is loaded with ideas and inspiration.

Question of the Month--Stumbling Blocks?

Our question for the month is "What is your greatest stumbling block in making art?"

Lorraine:

Mine is thinking that I need a big chunk of time in order to make art. So if I look at my day and see that my day has lots of different things already planned in it, I tell myself, "Oops, no time to do art today!" When, in reality, just having one hour is enough time to create a card or clean up my work space or start cutting up some papers for a future project, etc.

Carol:

My first thought would be time, then clean space and last motivation. But the reality is it's really just me. Recently I read an excellent book, Creative Time & Space by Rice Freeman-Zachery, and it became clear those are just the excuses. I'm not sure why I hold myself back but at least for now I know where not to look for the reasons.

Z'Anne:

I think the hardest time I have when making art, is trying to choose which idea

to work on. Right now, I have three different necklaces in various stages of

completion and a couple of mixed media pieces sitting and waiting for me to

get back to them. A lot of times the starting is not the problem, it's the

finishing up that gets me.

Steph:

Finally an easy question!

My MESSY studio.

I tend to work in a frezy when inspired and end up with hardly room to move. When it's a clean slate, it's so easy to just start tinkering. Hence when it's over cluttered, I can't get past the mess and avoid even going in my studio, till I'm inspired to clean. I tell myself in my next life I'll work neater.

A fine mess:

Lenall:

In my experience there have been several stumbling blocks that have and do keep me from making art.

The biggest stumbling block I have experienced was stress on the job. There were many instances of this in my life. The worst included a nasty boss and long hours. Working in retail there were always long arduous hours, whether I liked the job or not. When I worked for a builder as a real estate broker there was the stress of performance to make the sale. Commission is stressful, especially when you intentionally can't live on your draw. I went through a very tough time in the industry where many builders went down including the one I worked for. It was stress to survive.

For 8 more go to: www.lenall.blogspot.com

Jill:

If I get to a point in a piece of work that visually displeases me, often I can't seem to get beyond it. Needless to say, I have a large graveyard of unfinished pieces.

Carrie:

Hmmm, there are plenty but a big one for me is getting organized with all of the materials I think I may need. It seems that when I finally get going, I find that I need some other items to complete my project and can't seem to find them (even though I know they're around somewhere!) - arrrghhhh! Too much time is wasted looking - so either I end up improvising with something else or else a shopping foray and thus end up with duplicates of the same thing.

Suzanne:

HA--that's an easy one--myself!

Robin:

Lack of focus. I think I'm at my most creative when I work on a series and keep at it, making small experimentations as I go. If I don't have a series going, I feel overwhelmed by options and have a hard time starting or sticking to anything. Every book, magazine, blog seems to pull me in a different direction.

Too many ideas:

Paula:

Procrastination and lack of motivation keep me from creating. Once my muse wakes me up, I'm not blocked any more and am able to create.

Jennifer:

My greatest stumbling block to creating art often happens when I am in the middle of creating an assemblage piece. There are found objects all over the tables of my studio, because I haven't discovered the "perfect" treasure to add to the piece. So I start organizing and putting things back where they belong and soon find the "missing link".

Suzie:

Daily practice! Having been busy creating a new business, I've only
occassionally done a little art here and there. I was surprised to see
that it was challenging to get back into the old familiar rhythms.
Back when I did 30 minutes of art a day, I was mostly in the comforting
flow of brushes, color, texture and discovery.

June Giveaway by Jennifer Campbell!

The June Giveaway has been donated by Jennifer Campbell of Heartwings by Jennifer. This piece of assemblage jewelry can be worn either as a pin or a pendant and was created using vintage tea tins, a vintage watch face and assembled using microfasteners as the cold connections.

Heartwings, the line of recycled pendants and bracelets that Jennifer makes from vintage tea and spice tins show her sense of humor and delight in using the colors, graphics and patterns of the 1940s and 50s tins. Her most recent endeavor is a line of vintage artisan necklaces, bracelets and earrings fashioned from vintage elements found on her treasure hunts through estate sales and antique stores.

Jennifer will be teaching three workshops at Art and Soul Portland - October 2010. Please see "Workshops" on the Portland Art Collective blog for more information.

Portland Art Collective members will not be eligible for this offering but all others who comment on this post will have a chance to win! Stay tuned July 1st to see if you are the lucky winner!

Jill Lawrence Sketchbook

Jill does weekly sketching of items that catch her interest. She generally works in ink and watercolor.