Deadlines and more deadlines

The Decorative Arts Museum asked me to do an ornament for their upcoming book. My theme was Halloween. They sent the ornament and we had free rein to do whatever we wanted. Of course I did a witch....seems to be a theme lately. Got it done at the very last minute and thought it would cost me a fortune to get it to Atlanta by the 15th, but to my surprise, Cindy Gensamer was flying to Atlanta on Saturday and she took my ornament with her. Thank God for friends. The pictures are not very good....was hard to get a good one.

Deadlines, and more deadlines

One of my deadlines was for the Decorative Painter for the first issue of next year. I originally designed this necklace for myself, but my friend Jan Dreilling (from Kansas) literally begged me for it. Of course, I gave it to her. She wore it to the Society of Decorative Painters Banquet at Peoria, Il. and the editors of the Decorative Painter saw it and wanted it for the magazine. To make a long story longer, I had to do another one, since I could not ask for hers back. I never like to do anything twice. This hardest part of this was the beading.....no patience. This is colored pencil on a rusted tin heart. Now all I have to do is write the instructions.....boring!

Well, I have been a busy bee...seems like all deadlines come at one time. Society of Decorative Painters were invited by the Smithsonian Institute to reinterpret classic American artwork from the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon in ornament form. I chose a work by Alice Barney, "Self Portrait with Palette". The ornament was to create present-day, decorative art reinterpretation of the painting. So here is my entry. Five hundred will be chosen to decorate the holiday tree in the Grand Salon 2009/10 holiday season. My entry is color pencil on wood. Hope mine is chosen. Will let you know.

A little bit about myself.

I recently started this blog, sort of as a whim. Then I decided to share some of my past with you. I have been an artist since birth. My Mom said I used to mix my food just to see what colors I could come up with. I was an art major in college, but just could not understand why I had to have all those math classes...lol. I cannot do math till this day. I have been a member of the Society of Decorative Painters for over 30 years. Time flies when you are having fun. I love to just sit and come up with new ideas. I am an avid journaler (is that a word?) I can go back and find all kinds of inspiration in my drawing journals. One of my favorite past times is to go JUNK shopping and repurpose an item. Everytime I bring home a new find, my husband (Galen) says, "Does Sanford and Sons, mean anything to you?" It is a good thing that he appreciates my creativity. Some of my favorite designers are Shara Reiner, Trudy Beard, JoSonja and Michelle Walton. Of course also, Bobbie Takashima, just because she is so creative.

Currently I am working on a new piece for the Decorative Painter and two pieces for the Decorative Arts Collection new publications. I have enclosed some of my favorite finds and artwork. Hope you enjoy. More later.

Artist Expo - Houston, Texas 2009

Just finished teaching at Artist Expo in Houston. What a blast. I was so tired I thought, I'll never do this again. Ha! My Witches' Choir class was sold out and I had near sold out class in my Easter Banner class. I always enjoy meeting new students that I have never taught before. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other. The Decorative Arts Museum had their usual banquet and auction on Friday night and my sweet honey bought me the hand painted quilt by Trudy Beard. I will post a picture of it after I get permission from her to post it. Conventions are always fun because you see certain friends only once a year. As always I am so inspired by the other teachers, the trade show and the amazing artwork donated to the auction. Tim Mulvey puts on this convention in it's fourth year and he is truly a scholar and a gentleman. I have enclosed the pictures of my classes. Hope you enjoy.

Selected to teach at SDP convention in Wichita 2010

Well, I am still trying to figure out this blog thing. I do have some fab news: I was selected to teach at Society of Decorative Artists Convention in Wichita, Kansas in 2010. They had over 400 entries and only 88 were selected. I was so excited since I have never taught at National before. It is a color pencil painting where I did the set up, photographed and drew the pattern. So it is ALL original. For some reason I could not get this picture upright. Go figure, after all it is a learning curve.

Beginning Pains

January 24, 2009

I am starting this blog today and have no idea what I am doing, but I will survive. Hang in there. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I plan to do a lot of reading today.