All Packed Up and on Their Way...

Welcome to day 9 of Blogtoberfest!

Today, I finally finished and packaged my second submission to the Art-o-mat Project. I have been slow to finish, summer is just such a busy time, but today I brought the box to the post office...

 This project can be time consuming, there are a lot of little steps necessary to getting the blocks just the right size and thickness. They start with a piece of 3/4" MDF, but need to be 7/8" thick, so a layer of 1/8" Masonite must be added to each block. I came up with quick way to evenly apply wood glue using a small roller from the dollar store...

and clamped the layers 7 deep. These dry fairly quickly, and are then ready for the table saw. I carefully set the fence on the table saw at 3 1/4", and run the now 2-ply boards through, then reset the fence at 2 1/8" and run them through a second time. This sounds complicated, but really you can whip out a LOT of blocks quickly this way. I tried cutting the MDF and Masonite first, then gluing them together, but was left with uneven edges and gaps where the glue didn't fill. This is much quicker, I ended up with enough blocks for almost two shipments! ( They ask that you send 50 at a time.)

Then comes a light sanding, which smooths the MDF beautifully, and a light scuff to the surface of the Masonite, to give it some tooth for gluing on the artwork...

Next, I paint each block with a base-coat color. At this point, I am starting to group them by ten. It makes the time commitment more manageable when I work on only ten at once. After the base-coat, I use a brayer to grunge a second color over the first...

Then I start adding extra detail with stamps and ink. Now my blocks are that old, grungy, interesting look I like, and ready for my artwork...

I have been working on the art steadily over the last few months, so I have a decent variety to offer. I try not to include more than two of any one design. I use GIMP to re-size and enhance my art, as well as add some lettering. Then I cut it out and use Mod Podge to glue it to a block. I like to use the brayer again at this point, to make sure there are no air pockets. A bit more ink applied to the edges give a nice finished look to each piece...

The last step is wrapping each block in a band of cellophane, and boxing them to ship. They are fairly heavy, when you get 50 of them together, but they fit in a Medium Flat Rate box from the post office, so postage stays around $11. 

I hope that if you ever considered participating in the Art-o-mat Project, this little tutorial can help you streamline the process a bit...and should you be traveling and come across an refurbished cigarette machine selling tiny pieces of art for $5 each, I hope you will indulge yourself and give it a pull!

Until next time...enjoy!

March Shoe Shot Blog Hop

When this blog hop was suggested, I immediately knew I what I would write about. You see, we just got home from a very sunny place, in fact, we spent the winter there, basking and exploring and shopping. I wore these sandals the whole time, and except for some evenings, and a couple rougher hikes, they were perfect! I already have tan lines on my feet in a kind of arrow shape...It was wonderful, but it had to end. I insisted on coming home the beginning of March, much against the advice of the veteran snow-birders we were visiting with.

 "Wait until April!" 

"It's still cold back home." 

"You will run into bad weather, it's dangerous!"

I heard all the arguments. But I insisted, after all, we are not yet retired, and things had been on hold long enough. So home we came, into the cold, wet and yes...snow! Every morning, Mr. How2 looks out the window and if there is anything but sunshine and blue skies, he grumbles, gives me an accusing glare, and stalks off to make the coffee. He can only be appeased with promises to go again next year. 

So here is my Shoe Shot, standing out in our cold, dead yard among last years leaves. My poor little freezing toes are still sporting the remnants of the pretty copper orange nail polish that was so much more appropriate in warmer weather. But no worries, the sun pops up now and again, the tulips are already poking out through their winter cover, and the roads are clear of ice. The worst is over, and that was our plan all along. Until next time...enjoy!

To see the other posts in the blog hop, please click here;

Art Journal Page and tiny, tiny art...

Soon after we return to Washington, I have a couple of classes to teach at our local Community Schools. One of these classes is on Art Journaling. The problem is, I forgot to bring my journal along on this trip! So no new pages to show as examples... Since I didn't want to go into the class with only older work to show, and because I wanted to show my students alternative journal choices, I picked up this old Readers Digest book.

and covered it with this paper,

and started painting, tearing and pasting into it...

Isn't this little guy adorable? Makes me grin every time I see the ad he is pulled from. The quote reads;

"Today I bent the truth to be kind, 

and I have no regret. 

For I am far surer of what is kind,

 than I am of what is true."

-Robert Brault

 I decided the subject of this journal will be simply, "Things That Make Me Happy". I plan to fill it only with images, memories, art and words that make me smile. I think it will be the perfect place to practice my doodling lessons, and store my favorite quotes.

Since this is Monday, and I have been out of the loop with Every Inchie Monday, AND I finally have a decent WiFi connection, I also uploaded my latest inchie, the subject this week was "flyer", which was just too easy considering my connection to Flytribe! :) I finally got a chance to watch the last two videos in Strathmore's Online Workshop, and they were the best ones by far! I am really going to love playing with random mark making in my new journal. Until next time...enjoy!

Learning to Leverage my Art...

I first heard this phrase while watching an art tutorial video online, in which the artist was explaining how you can get more mileage out of your art work.As I understand the meaning, after creating a piece of art, on canvas, paper or even cardboard, you can then scan, copy or photograph that work, and print it out. This gives you an unending supply of your own original work, to tear, crumple, paint, tint, layer and paste to your hearts content. I find the concept intriguing. I decided to give it a try;

This piece will eventually become a background image for some of the tiny art I am currently working on for the Art-o-mat project. I have been learning my way around Pinterest, and got caught up in some posts using paint chips as art components, so this influence has made an appearance here.

 I am also just finishing up Traci Bautistas Doodles Unleashed Strathmore Online Workshop, so the colors and the free style are also making themselves known. What I didn't realize while working on this one, is how much it was also influenced by my current location, out in the Arizona desert. Mr. How2 took one look and said he loved my cactus picture! I never even noticed, but it does rather resemble a desert garden, doesn't it?
I guess you could say my mind is a bit like a crowded attic, the last thing dumped in there, is the first thing you see when you open it up!

Back to leveraging your art; I also came across this video, and the concept really started to come together for me while I watched it, thank you to the artist Zorana!
 When I get back to civilization, and can plug into an actual outlet, instead of a cactus, I will scan these backgrounds into my computer. From that point, I can print them out in pieces, in their entirety, in different colorways or intensities, and use them in a variety of ways. I wouldn't want to overuse the same art, but I can certainly do much more with it than just one painting. I am currently working on a full page of faces, and another of birds and flowers to use with these to create mixed media collage art.
So go ahead and look at your art again, but look in a different way. You may find a whole new world of art in there! Until next time, enjoy...

One Word Blog Hop...

Recently my wonderful group of fellow fliers, alumni from the Summer 2011 Flying Lessons course with Kelly Rae Roberts, decided to do a Blog Hop as a way of ringing in the New Year. This is my first time participating in a hop, and I have had tons of things to learn and questions to ask. Fortunately we have some amazing, and tech savvy artists in our group, and they have spent hours of their time talking the tech-challenged majority through this process. Ladies, you know who you are, sincerely and profoundly, thank you...

On the surface, I get the appeal of doing New Years resolutions. It makes sense really, who doesn't spend time  at the end of the year, after the holiday whirlwind has calmed and the dust has settled, to examine, not only the previous year, but our personal goals and path. But, lets face it, New Years resolutions are a cliche, breaking them is so common, no one really puts any credence to them when they hear them. I had at least three little cartoons posted to my Facebook page comically depicting the concept...
So this year I was interested to hear about the "one word" idea. Instead of a to-do list of unobtainable goals, (and lets face it, if we were going to do these things, we would be doing them, right?) you choose an word, one single word, and try, throughout the year, to focus on that word and bring it's benefits into your life.
  What word you choose is entirely up to you, I have heard examples such as; create, de-clutter, soar, heal, and peace. How you honor your commitment to this word is also entirely up to you. Some are making signs, creating jewelry, or producing a piece of art, as a reminder to embrace their word, and incorporate it into their everyday lives.

 I have chosen the word "moment". I have spent entirely too many years of my life, waiting for the right moment. Thinking only of the future, and the responsibilities I have to everyone around me. I am the ant, in the ant and the grasshopper tale. Raising my children, making the sacrifices, the tough choices, saving, scrimping, doing the right thing, and going without. Always, somewhere in the future, I would have time to do my thing, create my art, start my own business...someday.

"We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine." - HL Mencken

  My kids are grown and gone, and yet I am still holding out, waiting for them to get their feet on the ground, ready to catch their foul balls, still setting the good example and trying to guide them into responsible adulthood. But really, I am done. Oh, they may still need me, in a strictly advisory capacity and for unconditional love, but they don't actually listen if they, indeed, ever did. They are off and running with the bit in their teeth, and other than being a touchstone, when the world gets scary, I am left behind to rediscover who I am, and what I want.

"Rejoice in the things that are present, all else is beyond thee..." Mantaigne

    I struggle with worry, as if I stand a chance of warding off tragedy by trying to second guess destiny or fate. But the truth is, when I stop to really think about it, worry is just a waste of energy, it has no actual effect on what will be. I need to stop wasting my precious time, and focus on the things I can do to make my life what I want it to be. So learning to, not only live in the moment, but to live without fear and actually move forward into that big scary world again, now, not at some vague future date, is my goal and moment is my word to remind me of that.

 "This is the time, now is the moment." 

Until next time...enjoy.

To read other artists blog about their "one word" experiences, please go to this site. 

Gadabout Artist Days 18 - 20

So, Mr. How2 and I spent three days wandering around Quartzsite, seeing what there is to see, and getting a feel for the place. I mean, what a crazy concept, right? All this activity springing out of the middle of the desert. But you do find, as you move from one tent to the next, there is a repetition to it all. We would walk into a space, look around and ask each other if we had been here already. No, that was on the other side of town. Weird...
  We spent three evenings camping out in the desert too. That was beautiful at night, and cooled down considerably. We needed the extra blanket from the first part of our journey! We were quite comfortable, and had plenty of food and water and soaked up the peace and quiet and not moving! We eventually came up with a plan, we decided the best thing to do was to explore a few days, then head to Tucson to visit our family, which is where we are now.

We plan to stay here for a few days, helping out with some home improvement projects around their new home. I will not go into my rant about lousy contractors that take advantage of unsuspecting home owners right here, but lets just say there were some very hinky goings on when they put this place together, and there is no excuse for many of them. Just pure laziness and shoddy workmanship...
  Mr. How2 is dancing a jig, he is so in his element doing this kind of work for the people he loves. I actually caught him singing to himself as he traced down a mysteriously disconnected wire and figured out why three wall switches seemed to have no effect on anything in the house. I knew he wouldn't last long just doing nothing, looks like his limit was 20 days...

  As for art, I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking an online course, with new lessons every Monday for four weeks. I have been playing some more with the techniques from the first lesson, and here are my creations.

 This one is done on watercolor paper, and I think it might make nice background paper for a collage, maybe even cut down to fit the art I am doing for the Art-o-mat project. This is 6" x 6" and I can get at least four out of it...

These last two I tried on small canvas board, not the best choice. A big part of the technique is the use of oil pastels, and though they go on nice and creamy over the watercolor paper, they look choppy and unfinished on canvas...Duh, I should have guessed that! The cutesy, free-form designs are outside my comfort zone, not really sure if I like them as finished pieces, but I will keep playing around to see what develops. I did figure out one neat trick. When you want to add more paint or pen work after you have added the oil pastel, you have to be careful because it sticks to your pens, or acts like a resist to your paints. The pastels stay tacky, and can smear. However, if you add the oil pastels, then seal them with a coat of Mod Podge or Gel Medium, then let it dry completely, you are free to add as many more layers as you wish, the pastels are firmly set and will not smear. I didn't know this would work before I tried it, but fortune favors the bold and I figured it was worth the risk...

  Tomorrow we are being escorted to a swap meet by my lovely niece, and I will let you know what treasures we find! Until then...enjoy!

Gadabout Artist Days 15-17: Quartzsite and Camping in the Desert

The 15th day out was almost all about travel, we drove south from Ash Fork, way up a mountain, topping off at 6100' and a slow, very slow winding down the other side, into the lowlands. It was a nerve wracking drive, the down side was so steep and so winding, we hardly breathed, and crawled along at 30 miles an hour. Mark that route off the list for next year, there has got to be a better way...

  We got into Quartzsite in the early afternoon on New Years Day, so of course, everything was closed. It was a nice quiet evening, we got full hookups and showered, cooked and went for a stroll down the street. We spent a few hours reading up on all the craft shows and rock and gem shows, and generally making plans for the following day. I also started a four week online class with Traci Bautista, called Creative Doodling, and I am having a lot of fun exploring this free spirited way of making art. Here is my first week "assignment"...

 I had to work with a few substitutions, and on a much smaller scale than the lesson intended, but I am happy with the results. I think it would make a great background for either ATCs or a collage canvas...


 It is difficult to describe this town. It starts with about 2000 permanent residents, and swells to around 150,000 in January and February, all in RVs. Every inch of space is packed cheek to jowl with motorhomes, campers, trailers, trucks and vans, and everyone of them has a tent set up and is selling something!

 We have walked around town now for two days, and still there is no end in sight. Believe it or not, this is just the beginning! The "real shows" haven't really begun, they are scheduled for this week end and for every week from here until the end of February, and just a bit into March. Right now there are a couple of Gem and Mineral shows happening, and I am having a very hard time resisting the BEADS! Every color, shape and size you can imagine!

The prices vary from wholesale, to retail, to sky high to dirt cheap, with no rhyme or reason to them, other than what the market will bear.

Then there is the camping...you can choose to stay in a RV park, if you book the previous year, or you can "dry" camp, or "boondock" out on the surrounding BLM lands which are vast and free of charge. There is also a middle ground, called LTVAs and there you can stay for a ridiculously small price for months at a time. You have to drive into town now and again for water and a sewer dump, or there are clever resourceful souls, that truck these services right out to you. We are only staying one more night here, so we chose the short term site. Then we are off to Tucson to visit my niece and nephew, and my new little grand niece! Until next time...enjoy!

Gadabout Artist: Day 3

We had a somewhat restless night at the truck stop. There was a lot of traffic, and the truckers parked next to us got up at midnight, and, I kid you not, pulled out at 1am! He didn't make a lot of noise, but we were sleeping pretty light, just trying to adjust to life in the RV, and every little sound woke us up.

 I spent part of the evening working on these little pieces, the larger one, a 5" x 7" already had the gears and the Davinci sketch, I just wasn't sure which way I wanted to go with it. As I was working on the other, little cards, I realized I was unhappy with the canvas because it was so dark. So I added the same bright papers, and much more pleased with the piece. I am not done with any of these, but I am close.

Today, after leaving The Dalles, and driving along I-84 we ended up going into Portland. This was not the plan. We should have stayed on I-84 until we hit I-205, then around the south of Portland, and up I-405 to the exit towards the coast. But I had set the gps for "shortest" route earlier in our trip, and forgot to change it back. So "Jack", (that's what we call our gps, as in, "shut up, Jack!") led us astray...The shortest route, was NOT the easiest route, and we ended up driving through downtown Portland! Help! It was very bad! It would have been tough in a car, but in a 26' RV? A very bad idea...Mr. How2 was pretty stressed out. It was such a relief to clear all the traffic and start climbing up into the green forest again. We headed straight for the coastline, and into Tillamook, in time to have a little lunch and tour the Cheese Factory. Yum! We dropped by Debbie D's for cured meats. Very good, small batch smoked meats, and a perfect compliment to the variety of cheeses we bought at the factory. Can you guess what we had for dinner? :)
 We then headed west on highway 6 towards the actual coastline, and we got our first view of the ocean this trip. It is beautiful!

 Now, I am a flat-lander, born and raised in Minnesota, so the thrill of seeing the ocean never ceases for me. Mr. How2 grew up over here, so he is a little less awed than I...which is a good thing, since he was driving and these are narrow, twisty roads indeed...
We are parked now for the night, at Cape Lookout Campgrounds, and I can still hear the roar of the ocean, even tucked up here near the RV hookups. I cannot wait to explore it more in daylight, we only had a brief time on the beach before darkness fell, about 4:30, for crying out load...
As for the hook ups, this is kinda nice. This is the first time we have been at an official campground, and the cost of a dry camp was $15 and one with water, sewer and electricity was only $5 more, so we went for it. So we have hot showers, lots of lights and all the power we need for my computer and printer. . Nice to do it this way now and again, feels more like home. I almost wish we brought a movie to watch, it would be like date night! Here are a couple more pics...

I can't wait to use these new images in my art, I wonder what I will come up with? Enjoy...

*Thing I miss: A bathroom that I can turn around in. The one in our little RV is just big enough to sit down in and have my knees touch the wall...

*Things I love: The sound of the surf as I lie cozy in our bed...

Travel Time...

   I have been away from my computer for a little while, and may be off and on for the next month as well because we are traveling! Yep, that's right, Mr. How2 convinced me, and this morning we are leaving for the Oregon coast and all points south. We plan to eventually experience all that is Quartzsite, AZ after hearing tales of it's grandness for years.
I have been reluctant to take this trip, I anticipate all hell breaking loose here on the home front as soon as we clear the border. But an incredibly wise and wonderful flier said to me, "Hey, think about it, all the time in the world to paint, and no housework! Bring your STUFF, Sally" Now, I may not be wise, but I know wisdom when I hear it! Thanks, Janet, this trip is because of you...hear more of her wisdom at...

http://tatterednworn.wordpress.com/

   This week has been a frantic mess, trying to organize and pack and take care of bills in preparation for this extended absence. I have never been away this long, and though I know that thousands of people snowbird yearly, I am new to it, therefore, a steep learning curve. I am dealing with the task of setting up remote bill pay and finding a house sitter as well as making sure we have most of what we need for the trip. You know how it goes, "he" says, lets take a trip, and as far as "he" is concerned, we are ready to go...:) Which brings me to the question of supplies.
   You see, as far as I can tell, the kind of things we need for a normal trip, we can purchase along the way. Other than warm clothing for the beginning and shorts for the far south, kind of a no brainer...Food is plentiful, and you really don't want to pack too much with you, the RV isn't that big...No, the difficult part has been deciding what art supplies to bring...

I normally carry travel supplies in this vintage make up case. (No, Storm is not coming with us! I think she will be happier and safer here at home with a sitter.) There is enough room in it to carry all the basics, and a few extras. For a single class, or a long weekend, hey, no problem. But there is not nearly enough room for an extended trip. So I have had to sort, pick and choose which supplies I use the most, and which ones I can leave behind. For instance, I plan to work on my Artist Trading Cards. Nice, compact projects I can pull out and do, then pack away quickly, right? But, I usually cut the bases out of mat board, and for that I use my massive paper cutter.

I can't see dragging this with us, so hmm, how many cards should I cut and bring? A couple dozen seems doable. Then there are the surfaces for my submissions to Art-o-mat. I have sent off my samples, and, if I am accepted, I would like to work on my inventory while we are traveling, again, tiny enough to easily work whiles on the move. Well, there is a minimum of 50, so that means I had to cut 60 2" x 3" cards, in case I mess some up. These are now packed in the RV in a plastic storage container. Now we have the issue of glue, paper, ink pads, ephemera, text, pens, pencils, paint, brushes, etc...I also have my new shipment of small canvas boards, 4" x 4" and 5" x 7", so I have to bring some of those. Who knows what I might need! I had to stop somewhere, but every time I sit down, or heaven forbid, look at another blog by my beautiful fellow fliers, I think of yet another "thing" I cannot do my art without...

   Shhh, don't tell Mr. How2 this, but I think there are more art supplies tucked away and hidden around the RV than there is food...I am trying to calm myself by telling myself that there will be stores along the way. So now I am done, I have filled every little tote, nook and cranny with everything I can think of for a traveling artist. I just hope I actually get a chance to make use of most of it.
   Everything is packed, the house-sitter is arranged, and there is a loose travel plan in place. One last meeting to go over the household infrastructure, and a quick stop to see the family and we are off! I am dragging along, not only my computer, but also my printer, since so many of my graphics are in digital form. I have even signed up for an online class with Traci Bautista called "Doodles Unleashed" that begins January 1st.
You can sign up for the same free class here:  

 http://www.strathmoreartist.com/workshop-reg.html

 So hopefully internet access won't be too spotty. I will keep in touch along the way, and plan to take tons of photos and post my art as it is completed. If I forgot anything, it's too late now, I will just have to live without it. See you out there, and happy trails...

Oh wait, I wonder if I should bring that basket of cancelled stamps...