Cemetery Saturday

After the swap meet last week, I stopped by the San Luis Obispo Cemetery which is right next door.



It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning and the graveyard was quite and peaceful after the hub-bub of the swap meet.




This is a fairly small cemetery, but well tended and full of familiar names from the county's history. And, as always, in these old memorial grounds, many heart-rending stones whose dates are just a few years or months. So many children lost at such an early age.



There is a military section with many civil war graves which we'll visit next Saturday.

From the Bookshelf

I've mentioned before that I can't resist a book that gives a peek into other artists' studios and/or sketchbooks. This volume is one of the best. Forty-four artists from all over the world are featured - 4 pages for each, a short bio (some of these are priceless!) and then several interview questions presented by the author and answered by the individual artists. And of course, copious pages of their delicious sketchbooks. A wide diversity of art is covered - comics, graphic art, lettering, illustration and more. I'm trying to just read a bit each day to make it last!

46 Curzon St.

46 Curzon St. 6x6"

This diminutive treasure, a melange of Victoriana, steampunk and a hint of shabby chic, began with an engraving of a Victorian house and lamp post, xeroxed on parchment paper and adhered to the 6x6" canvas with matte medium. The sides of the canvas were coated in dark brown acrylic which was also used to stencil over the picture, using a wonderful Mary Beth Shaw stencil.




Various embellishments, including old watch parts, Tim Holtz gears and number plaque, an oval miniature - distressed with Staz-On ink, brass leaves, and earring parts were attached using wire, tacks, nails and heavy gel medium. A strip of distressed copper and a piece of woven trim anchor the right hand side.



This is my entry for Arts Obispo's 6x6 show to kick off Open Studios 2011. The show will open later this month and have a grand reception on the first Friday of October.

Cigar Box Wednesday

This is one of my more interesting cigar boxes. A vintage Roi-Tan cigar tin. It's full of escutcheons, those cool little metal pieces that go around a key hole. You don't see them much now, most keys fit directly into the door knob.



I've gathered them from swap meets, flea markets, antique shops and shows. I even found a couple in a delightfully cramped quasi junk shop on the outskirts of Taos a couple of years ago. They are wonderful in assemblages, so evocative of a bygone age and time.

221 Baker St.

221 Baker St. 6x6"

Sherlock meets Steampunk! A vintage drawing of Victorian Baker Street shows a carriage driving by 221. Distressed copper sheeting (with sealing wax) tops the canvas which is stenciled (Mary Beth Shaw) in dark brown acrylic. Copper number tacks show the address. Other embellishments include vintage watch parts, swivel chains, gears and watch face from Tim Holtz and wooden gears from Small Studios.



A vintage escutcheon, jewelry square and acrylic-distressed magnifying glass (a Holmes essential) complete the piece. The game's afoot!

This assemblage available at this October's Open Studios.

Busy Labor Day

I love me a 3 day weekend! Plenty of time for a stroll through

the last Art in the Park for the season,

a romp through the always interesting Peddlers' Faire,

our very belated August (!) Art Girlz marketing meeting,

and time, glorious time in the studio!

Life on a Different Coast - Cote d'Azur

photo courtesy of Tongue in Cheek

Here's a lovely daydream - waking up on a weekend morning with this view from your terrace, Then having a bowl of latte and a warm croissant while you plan how to spend your day on the Cote d'Azur!

Cemetery Saturday

One last remembrance from the tile wall commemorating
the Oakland Hills Firestorm of 1991.

Poignant

Loving

Heartrending

One loss of hundreds and hundreds - remembered forever.

From the Bookshelf

Quite awhile ago Seth Apter of The Altered Page interviewed over a hundred mixed media artists (including me!) in preparation for this book. Just the other day he let us know that it will be released on March 2, 2012! This is the cover and you can read about it on his blog here. It should be available on Amazon for pre-order fairly soon - this is one time I'm not waiting for free shipping!

Magnum Scorus!!

Amongst a swap meet, a trip to the Random Store and a stop at Art From Scrap, I have made some huge scores in the last week!



The swap meet yielded this wonderfully decaying composition 20" baby doll (which I will take apart for the parts!), 4 colourful vintage tootsie train cars, two fence finials, player piano rolls, a small cigar box and a tintype.



The Random Store in Santa Barbara had disappointed the last several times we'd been, but was back to form last Saturday. Lots of metal leaves - some delightfully rusted, tiny scroll molding, drawer pulls, jewelry cameos, a ceramic door knob and curtain rod finals.



And Art From Scrap had great stuff this time around - big orange plastic sheets (to protect table tops from crafting), a gilded bird, old tubes of oil paint (to use in assemblages), stencils - one brass, sheet music, board game spinners, a letter "E", bits of fancy trim, postcards and vintage thumb tacks.

A magnum scorus indeed!!