teesha's circus

amazing jane

2012-01-30T22:20:00.000-08:00

I am SO EXCITED about having jane teach this weekend at our Artfest Annex in Seattle. She flew in last wednesday from Australia, right before driving up to the fort for our PLAY retreat this past weekend. Coming back to seattle today, we had to make a pit stop at daniel smith so she could pick out some prismacolor pencils for me. She's been making my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. We can squeeze in a couple more for the workshop but are keeping the class small and intimate. Email me quickly if you want to come. it starts this friday at 10am.

My other blog/passion

2012-01-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

OK...If any of you out there are into food, like this delicious tofu and fake chorizo burrito I just made today, I am going to start blogging again on my sister site www.chickpeacircus.blogspot.com . I'm having too much fun with my new birthday present (40mm/1:2.8 macro lens) for my 5100 Nikon.

my new lens

2012-01-17T18:53:00.000-08:00

For my birthday, Tracy bought me a new lens for my nikon today....a 40mm/2.8 macro. So I was having fun with it. It's amazing and just what I was looking for.

I've been drawing again in my old drawing journal...this time with pencil instead of pen.

Hi Sherlock!

If anyone read yesterday's post, this is the owl I made over the weekend.

This is a purse I made from leftover scraps we were using to make scarves. The face piece is a hand painted, hand quilted things I did several years ago and never used it on anything. It was just the weight I needed for a flap on the purse to keep it closed.

This is the scarf I made. Mine was super plain compared to the others...hopefully they will post their scarves on their blogs because they are much cooler....but this is something I will actually wear. I LOVE color in my art but not to wear.

Playing with my new lens in Tracy's journal.

More of Tracy's art.

blah, blah, blah

2012-01-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

I just felt like writing today but always like to post a picture so I scrolled through my photos and don't think I ever posted this one. It was some landscaping outside a sushi joint. I was enchanted.

Anyway...it's been crazy around here since jan. 1st hit. And I mean buckle-your-seatbelt crazy. It's a good thing...lots of new avenues to go down, lots of work, lots of excitement, lots of people...

This morning we took Taylor Schapiro to the airport after a weekend of art at our seattle loft. This last summer, her and I started talking about artists/people we love and they happened to be the same ones. Then, come to find out, we realized we are all capricorns (well some are very close but are aquarius's...but close enough). So we decided to invite them for a fun birthday weekend of art. They included Syd Mccutcheon, Mary Stanley and Tara Ross. It was a blast and I will post some pics soon. We all did collaborative paintings (not scary since we all love each others art), made some scarves with pieces of old sweaters, made some stuffed owls, got some painting lessons, etc. for 3 days. It started to snow ALOT but that didn't deter us. We stayed cozy and warm and kept working away till the end.

So...tommorrow is my birthday and I just came across another capricorn turning 49 like me...Mary Anne Moss who did a "49 things" list of stuff she wants to do in the next year. Having just got a call a couple weeks ago from the Mayor's office in Issaquah inviting me to come and talk about ways to bring more art to the city...I was flabbergasted when I remembered that I had made a list 3 months ago about things I want to happen. I had written to "get more involved with the city of Issaquah"...something I have never had any interest in but there I was. So...lists work! although I'm not sure I am ready to publish mine...

well..that is probably enough writing for today since Tracy just called and is done with the microsoft guy who came to our first thursday in jan. and then wanted to do a photo shoot in our loft. He's on his way home so I need to go make dinner. See...I told you it's been crazy!

new journal ready to go for the new year

2011-12-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't posted for awhile (did you notice the last 4 posts within an hour of each other?) I am getting a lot of posts out of my system. This last one is my newest journal (the above photo is the cover...still deciding if I want to add more or not). I took a couple months off from journaling. was just feeling like it was getting old and same-o for me but recently I have been wanting to have a journal to work in again. I went to the loft yesterday and cranked out these backgrounds to get me going and now I'm jazzed again to play.

so...this is just acrylic paint put down fairly wet (yellow) and then dragging the dropper from some adirondak ink across the page.

This is dribbling some fluid ink with the page vertical.

I've already started laying some collage down...

This is a shot of the pieces that I paint before making my books. I still make my 8x10, 16-page journals just like I show in my videos. I take the 3 pieces of paper, cut to 10x22 and paint both sides before making it into a book.

4 journal pages

2011-12-31T14:48:00.000-08:00

finished painting

2011-12-31T14:43:00.000-08:00

Remember the painting I started a month or so ago? The below shot is the "before" and the above shot is the "after". The idea for it came from the fact that we just had gone through 11-11-11...a big energy day according to some. They say that on this day, a new "window" opened on the earth that ushered in some energy that we haven't seen before. So, I tried to represent energy that was flowing between the sky into the earth and flowing back again. When Tracy saw the finished painting, he thought it was supposed to be inner earth...that magical place where some believe there are whole environments with living beings who reside there. I kinda like his interpretation better. It will be for sale next thursday, jan. 5th at the artfest annex (first thursday art walk). Address is 89 yesler way from 5-8. We will also be showing a few others artists work as well.

beautiful mother earth

2011-12-31T14:29:00.000-08:00

Has anyone else noticed how the earth / nature is more beautiful than ever before? I'm amazed on a daily basis, whether it is a particular tree, colors in "air", the beauty at dusk, a flower by the side of the road, cloud formations, etc...

These were outside my daughters apartment in seattle. The grass was almost a neon green and the leaves were shades of pinks and reds and oranges...all incredibly bright and glowing. One of the most beautiful things I think I've seen. It was just one of those moments that remind you of how beautiful the earth is if you just stop and look.

This was last night when we walked out of the grocery store at dusk and there was an odd mix of ominously dark clouds with some light peeking through. It's not just the beauty but it's the energy you feel in the air...like the earth is trying to make people stop and notice her...like she's putting on her best show and just wants to be noticed and appreciated.

This was facing the opposite way...just a crazy display of magnificence!

christmas card from tracy

2011-12-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

Tracy wood burned this onto some super thin wood and then inked it for me. He's so good!

new book by jesse reno

2011-11-27T15:18:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to do a post about Jesse Reno's new book I just got. I have his other books and they are a constant source of inspiration. This one is huge and amazing and as you can see below, he includes a glossary of his symbols he uses in his paintings. He doesn't usually purposely put symbols in his paintings...they just appear when he is creating and then he "reads" what the piece of artwork is telling him. In fact, he writes the message on the back of each painting. I resonated so much with this because this is what happens when I do art as well. The piece tells me things...like the universe is communicating with me.

I have always felt like Jesse is a true creative genius. He has found a way to let the creativity flow through him out onto the canvas without pretension. Another sign of a creative genius is the sheer amount of work that is created. Jesse has 1000's of paintings he has done. He is always painting. I get the feeling like he would wither up and cease to exist if he had to stop.

When I took a class from him awhile back, I was drawn into his stories he told us while painting. The stories felt more important than making art.

We all have those artists who we admire for one reason or another. Jesse is high on that list for me. This book would be an excellent thing to put on your christmas lists.

recent workshop results

2011-11-27T14:58:00.001-08:00

So this is what I made in the 3-day workshop taught by Karen Michel and Traci Bautista. The above journal cover was made by fusing plastic bags taught by Karen. I quilted a little closure since I had some odds and ends in my sewing bag. Alma Stoller made the really cool fabric doodad that is hanging off the spine. It was a gift from her many years ago and I felt it was time to use it.

The inside pages were taught by Traci

Photo altering taught by Karen

Karen gave me this postcard which I loved. I was using misprinted pages that Tracy had made for his diabetic journal. It was good paper and I didn't want it to go to waste.

I'll admit...2 days with flora, then a few days later 3 days with traci and karen left me feeling a little workshop'd out. I was ready to start doing my own art again. ;)

This is Traci on the far left.

This is Karen with some of her fabulous art for sale. It was a grand weekend overall and tons of fun hanging out with some dear friends.

great idea!

2011-11-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

I LOVE this idea! especially for christmas gifts. I saw it on design sponge

Flora Bowley's workshop photos

2011-11-17T11:42:00.001-08:00

I'm posting this against my better judgement because it's not done yet. I figure I have one more whole day on it. but whatever...this was what I worked on in Flora Bowley's recent workshop she taught at the artfest annex in seattle.

This was Flora's finished 36x36 painting...the one we saw progress over the 2 days. It's beautiful in person. She can certainly rock a canvas!

This was nolwenn petitbois's painting. well, one of two (we each got to work on two). and one of my favorites in the workshop.

I think this is Camille Scheewe with her painting. another one who I loved what she was doing.

This is Julie Hamilton's with some really cool pods on it! I love pods!

sorry...can't remember this person's name but I loved her work too...

The painting to the right was made by Marty Wallace, my table mate and one of my dearest friends. All in all, the 2-days were fantastic and I learned a lot from Flora.

friday

2011-11-11T16:01:00.001-08:00

confirmations

2011-11-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

wow...I've been a little scared to read the comments on my last post. Just didn't know which way they'd go, but knew I finally had to be brave and face the music. After reading through them, with a big lump in my throat, I am SO THANKFUL once again for all the wonderful beings who have been on this journey alongside me...even those of you who I've never met but send good energy through your thoughts and support.

I know there are good things up ahead for us all...even better than 10 artfests put together. I KNOW it. It isn't about ME...quite the opposite. I feel it is all about my own sphere of influence and even beyond that. I'm excited. I had 2 majorly HUGE confirmations the day I made the announcement public that confirmed in my mind that I indeed made the right decision. any lingering questions were once and for all erased.

It's funny...the above journal page has been gently brewing little by little over the past couple of months and just last saturday when I sat down to work on it (I finally finished it with random thoughts) did it all make sense. The imagery wasn't feeling cohesive until I realized what it was saying. that is what makes journaling so magical for me!

A new path

2011-11-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have known me for most of my art life, have seen a progression from my first little rubber stamp company called Ornamentum (which I sold less than a year later even though it had grown 500%), then onto organizing the MARS Guild (mail artists & rubber stampers) to plan a convention in seattle, then starting Zettiology and getting involved all over the country teaching art and selling our designs. Soon after, we held our first art retreat for 50 people at Dumas Bay, a life changing event for me. We rented an art studio in Snoqualmie and continued to do our weekend art retreats while doing rubber stamp shows, planning my first of 2 Artfests in Bellevue and starting a new magazine called "The Studio". This then all led to starting a new type of retreat that focused more on workshops and less on the vendor show. It was also called Artfest and was held at Fort Worden State Park in the year 2000. In the past 12 years, I finished out 21 issues of The Studio Zine, 4 issues of The Studio Reloaded, 4 Issues of PLAY and then 12 issues of Art & Life. This finally gave way to doing more events which included PLAY-the retreat, ArtFiberfest and Journalfest. All the while I was following my gut...even when it was taking me into scary territory. But each thing was a step higher, a part of my evolution, and an ever increasing way of helping more people in their creative journeys.

In that vein of following my intuition wherever it takes me, I was surprised when I sat down to fill out my 2013 Fort Worden reservation that something didn't feel right. Up to that point, I really had never given it any thought, but suddenly I was thinking along a different path. Trust me when I say that I had many many sleepless nights over this dilemma/decision but in the end, my gut was saying that I needed to be ready for the next big thing I was going to do without any future commitments in 2013.

So I have made the decision to make Artfest 2012 the last big event for awhile. I am feeling an overwhelming "knowing" that this is the right decision...I just wish I knew what the next BIG thing was as it would make this decision easier to swallow for my friends and family.

I still feel a strong need to continue renting our Artfest Annex in Seattle and inviting teachers to come do weekend retreats. I am also feeling like I need to step up my own teaching schedule. I feel open and inclined to plan some smaller art events down the road at new venues. But there is something on the horizon that I think will reveal itself to me as soon as Artfest 2012 has come and gone.

So before the rumor mill gets going, I wanted you all to know where I am coming from with my decision, what the REAL skinny is and also to thank you all for your part in my crazy and amazing art journey I'm still on. So, to clarify. At this date, we have canceled plans for Journalfest 2012. "PLAY-the retreat" is still on for jan. 2012 (5 spots left) and Artfest 2012 (about 100 spots left) will be the biggest send-off party....ever!

Stay tuned as the mystery reveals itself. ;)

teesha moore

random things / ideas

2011-11-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

whoa...sometimes this is hard trying to get something posted every day...but I kinda like the challenge. So I found this shot of my handmade recipe file. I collect cookbooks but can never find recipes when I want them. I like to re-phrase recipes to their bare bones and put them on cards.

This is another example how I have used the japanese tapes. These tabbed divider cards were used backwards and I added a different tape to the tab to provide more color. I also took an old box that was the perfect size and covered the sides with an old file folder (I had purchased from Crate & Barrel) and adhered it all with the tape. btw...the tape on the tabs was folded over and then trimmed with scissors on the sides.

Here is a new tape I found at Kinokuniya (in Uwajimaya's-Seattle). Then just yesterday I saw it at Anthropologie too. It was hard leaving that store without buying anything!

A random shot of supplies on a shelf in my art room. The cardboard heads were purchased for $3 from a marrionette shop down a weird windie side road in Barcelona. I should make something with them.

smash journals

2011-11-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

So...last week when I was sitting in the car waiting for Tracy downtown Port Townsend, I saw a big sign in the window of the office supply store that said "SMASH Journals are here!!!" Having never heard of them before and the fact that we were doing Journalfest at the fort, I had to pop in and see what they were all about. I thought they were sorta cool. I figured they would be great for my daytimer and planning type of journals and at $12.95, I figured I'd get one and try it out.

When I got to the fort and was doodling on the cover, at least 5 people started freaking out that I had a Smash Journal. I told them I had never heard of them before. I found out that they have been sold out everywhere including the internet. I wondered what the big deal was.

The inside pages mostly have pictures on them. Not sure yet what I will do on them.

This rubber band was a seperate piece you can buy. Of course...there are many components you can buy that makes your $12.95 journal jump considerably.

Each color is different both in cover design and the pages have a different vibe to them.

They come with this pen/glue stick that seems useless. I don't like gluesticks and the pen isn't very dark. I prefer my own pens. It's also very difficult to get out of the pen holder.

More accoutrements that suck you in. The calendars are actually pockets. But as you can see up above, I opted to just draw in my own calendar on 2 pages that had a graph on them. Final verdict? Remains to be seen if I use it and like it. The paper IS very sturdy which I like. and the size is nice too. BTW, amazon sells them for $1 less.

A tiny tiny taste of Journalfest

2011-11-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual, I didn't get many shots at Journalfest. However, I had to show you what the students did in Lisa Cheney-Jorgensen's class. The top one was done last year of me. The bottom one of Tracy was created this year. She takes a b/w photo, blows it up, cuts it into small squares and then has each student draw out their square on a post-it note. They have no idea what they are drawing. She then starts sticking them all up revealing what they collectively made. She then laminated it (maybe with contact paper?) and gave it to Tracy. I have had mine on my wall all year and it reminds me of the collective nature at my retreats...how we all come together, add our own creativity, and together we make a whole.

This little journal was made by Orly Avineri who was getting everyone to draw in it. (It's sitting on top of my Smash Journal...which I will tell you more about in my next post).

This was at the party on the last night. Melissa (Robert's girlfriend...Robert is the amazing electronics mixmaster of Surrealized) is talking to my BFF, Sarah Greener.

Juliana Coles and boyfriend John, are gettin' DOWN on the dancefloor!

Journalfest souvenir journal

2011-10-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

So, the first year we did Journalfest I gave each attendee a moleskin-like journal. We added bits and pieces from the event to the journal. It was a great place to put all the trades of the attendees.

I've added to it at other retreats. I've also had artists add to it by adding a little drawing here and there.

I make pages like this for others to do a little doodle on.

hey...here's some of that japanese tape I used...along with some business cards from some friends.

matthew's art to the left and orly avineri to the right.

Also a great place to put stickers and things I find. the size is roughly 5x8. I felt this was a fitting post on the last day of journalfest 2011. By monday I'll be posting some fun stuff from Journalfest. stay tuned.

passport travel journal

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

This idea was inspired after seeing an old passport journal that a friend made in Orly Avineri's workshop. I throw bits and pieces, business cards, stubs, brochure's, etc. into it when we travel. It is smaller for my purse, is easy to get out and work in while waiting for our food, and all I need are scissors, scotch tape and a black pen.

pretty much, everything that is added is added as a page, rather than taping it on the back. The scotch tape works as a hinge.

it's a good place for stickers too. and photos... and moocards from friends as seen below.

I never changed the cover except for a piece of tape. I love this little journal.

a different kind of journal

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

I got a couple of comments a few posts ago about my japanese tape collection. They wanted to know how I used it. This is one of my journals where I've used a bit of it.

I cut up my daytimers at the end of the year and incorporate them into these "junk" journals.

space pace

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

atlantis

2011-10-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

pond dropping

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

a color feast for ya!

2011-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

There is this cool parking garage downtown Tacoma, WA. where graffiti artists are free to do their thing. I graffiti art for it's amazing energy. Sometimes we are lucky enough to catch someone in action and it's fun to watch.

I love this little composition on this post. The little bit of black and white higher up just MAKES it!

A romp through my house

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

So, today I decided to post some pictures around my house, because I LOVE seeing others people houses. I might have posted this wall plaque years ago. I made it but never hung it. It finally found a spot in my cheery kitchen.

Some of you are familiar with our giant "posters" we print out on our epson 1800 printer and put up a bunch at the Artfest Annex studio. We recently did some for our house...mostly of Tracy's lomo photos. Easier than painting (had the same red and yellow walls for 20 years). (if you want more details on how we did it, see the comments below).

This was tricky with the sloping ceiling but tracy's a genius and figured it out. These prints are actually printed onto 13x19's (borderless and matte) and taped together on the back with wide blue tape (we also tape around the edges to give it more stability) Then we put them up using flat tacks.

This is kinda dark but it shows our living room set-up. I am standing in front of the tv taking a shot, so we have our couch and right behind that are 2 side-by-side desks that Tracy and I work at at night when we are watching our favorite shows. See the blue poster to the left? we hate it (the size) and will be replacing it with a full wall shot soon.

This antique was the first piece of furniture that Tracy and I bought when we first got married 30 years ago (we were 18). But we got it cheaply because it was covered in paint. Tracy stripped it and we ended up with a beautiful sideboard buffet from England. I just found these steampunk guns at the wholesale show, so had to get some for tracy as well as to sell at journalfest. They are fairly cheap as they are made of resin...but they look cool and will work well as props for some lomo shots, no doubt.

close-ups with his 2 latest journals. They go really good together I think!

another gun and an older journal tracy made (and filled).

A little corner with some favorite things from friends. I made the above plaque in a class with karen michel (who happens to be teaching in a few weeks at our Artfest Annex)!

I have a corner of the living room (it's behind the tv actually) that I use for journaling so here are some things. Yes...I have stopped buying tape finally...

These are some handmade fabric little guys that I bought in Barcelona. They are all handpainted and were like...3 for $10. total steal. the rest of the treasures are gifts from friends mostly. BTW...that book to the right...it's AWESOME and big!

a day in the beautiful NW.

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

a couple weekends ago, we took off for whidbey island with dog and journalfest posters in tow. Our goal was to blanket the town and surrounding towns with posters for the journalfest artist marketplace. Someone told us of this off leash dog park just north of Langley called Double Bluff. It was beautiful with all these driftwood structures but we were plagued by bees which made it scary. we took the coupeville-port townsend ferry

something around the corner

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

whoa...I don't think I'm gonna hold myself to a journal page a day. maybe a post a day, but I want to go slower and enjoy the journaling process again. LOL. I promise definitely to step it up though. ;)

gentle monster

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

aaack. this seems like a mess to me but it is what it is. I don't have to like every page I do....although I REALLY like the sleeping "gentle monster" that just happened (above right). He clearly wanted to be a part of the page. If you look close you might be able to see a deer with his neck and head curved around and the right eye is actually his ear. But I kept seeing something else...this really cool creature, so I had to add a little more so others would see it too. Maybe he's my unseen "familiar". ;)

unearthly garden

2011-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

sundays post

2011-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

So, of course, the minute I announce that I am going to post a journal page a day, I skip a day. I had every intention and the page was done but it was late last night when I realized I hadn't posted yet and I just didn't have the energy to scan something in. so here's sunday's page on monday. I like this one, but then I have a thing for octopus....and pink.

intuition

2011-10-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Dare I even say it...but I am inspired to do a journal page a day and post it.

latest page

2011-10-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

GOOD books!

2011-10-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

I ADORE this book that just came out! Of course, my two loves in life (after my man, tracy) are food and art. Here they are combined in a fabulous book that is a must have for your bookshelf!

What is really weird is that before I knew this book was in the works, I asked all the attendees who are coming to my PLAY retreat in January to bring an illustrated recipe for each guest (40 copies) so we could incorporate them into a food journal and go home with something fun and useful. Great minds think alike I guess.

While I'm on the subject of GOOD BOOKS, I wanted to share a couple more that are recent (for me) that I REALLY think are worth mentioning. Tokyo On Foot is drawn by this guy who tagged along with his girlfriend to Tokyo and drew everyday. I love his wit and charm and eye for things.

This brings up something that has been brewing ever since I went to Tokyo...Tracy and I want to bring a smallish group to Tokyo and take them to Designfesta next spring as well as some other amazing spots we found. It is hard to go to such a foreign country without knowing a few things first. We already know where to stay, how to navigate the train and how to have a good time in tokyo. SO...if this is something you'd be interested in, email me and I'll let you know dates and such.

Misty Mawn is one of those beautiful people through and through. She started teaching at Artfest quite a few years back and from there I have seen her blossom into an amazing artist and person.

What makes her book stand out is the variety of projects included as well as lots of pictures. It takes A LOT to impress me these days in the category that I am so familiar with. But this book did. I love the way it is laid out and is definitely worthy of your book collection.

I have more books to share. I will gather them up and post some more in a couple days.

New journal pages

2011-09-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

Kumihimo yumminess

2011-09-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

So...Keith Lo Bue is staying at our house right now and tonight he got out his kumihimo pieces. I flipped out.

This piece to the left is a tye.

This is my absolute favorite. it is a couple different cords that were made and then braided together. I believe Keith still has a few spaces left in his October 10th class in conneticut. It's called "All In A Cord" and you can find more info here. He also is going to teach this at our house/studio in Issaquah this sat/sun to a small group of people (for plenty of hands on instruction). We can accept a couple more if you are interested. All the info is the same as this description but the place has been changed to Issaquah. email me if interested. Of course not everything shown here will be taught in the 2 days, but you will at least learn how to do it and then can go crazy with it like keith has done.

owlstronaut

2011-09-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

I wasn't happy with my painting yesterday but REALLY not happy when I saw it on my blog. So I fiddled with it today and feel much better. whew.

this was the before shot...

Astronaut

2011-09-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Since my summer was the weirdest and fullest summer ever and my labor day weekend was spent registering Artfest attendees, my daughter Tiffany and I decided to take 2 full days to paint on the patio.

This is tiff's start. We are using 36x36 gesso boards from ampersand.

This was my attempt. It never goes in the direction you want it to go! I titled it at this point "Astronaut"

I was playing around with whites. This is where I got out my caran d'ache crayons.

I wish I could paint like tiff...

Really not happy with the outcome after 2 full days but I learned alot. I may do more on it when I can step away from it for awhile.

Tiff still says she has another full day of painting. I probably do too. But I am done for this weekend. I have other things calling my name.

closeups

It was a ton of fun by my back is tired from standing and painting for about 20 hours.

tracy's birthday

2011-08-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

It was Tracy's 48th birthday yesterday and he wanted to go to the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo for 20 years. I stood wrapped in awe at these giraffe. Being so close to them left me speechless....and when this one looked me straight in the eye, I felt extreme love for them, for the planet, for everyone on the planet. It was a weird but good moment.

When you see them walk, it's crazy to see how such a huge animal moves. really super cool. Who needs to go to Africa...just go to the Woodland Park Zoo.

You can feed them for $5. I was too cheap to spring for it. I'm doing it next time for sure!!!

he did seem to stare at me for a while.

This guy was a little sad. or maybe he was just tired. I just felt he needed to be back in his native jungle.

Speaking of apes...LOVED the movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which we recently saw. Best movie in a while.

this is called a red panda. it's related to raccoons.

this was a dark place but this huge owl was amazingly cool and turned his head to look at me everytime I said "hoo hoo".

loved this bird. can't remember what it's called though.

2 werewolves...

All in all we had a great time. Had breakfast at Voula's (best breakfast in seattle) and then a late lunch at Uneeda Burger (Tracy's choice). He was a happy camper. and I have a newfound obsession...giraffe's!

New Energy

2011-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

I don't really know how to explain my summer. To say the energy is changing is part of it. Life just feels different to me but it's hard to explain. It's a good thing...ultimately. But it feels very different and strange. Anxious for the fall to arrive. I need things to slow down a little.

Journaling has been helping to keep me grounded. I've been reading alot more too which always starts me thinking again about stuff. (recent book on nightstand is The Three Waves of Volunteers & The New Earth by Dolores Cannon).

In case you didn't hear, now is the time to send in your ARTFEST 2012 registrations! Sept. 1st is deadline if you want the best chance for getting first choices.

Journalfest still has space too if you like stuff like this. ;)

Don't forget to check out www.artfestannex.com for some awesome workshops in our Seattle Loft.

journal covers

2011-07-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

These are my latest journal covers...all of which I demo'd really fast while teaching. I keep thinking I should go back in and fix but kinda like them as is too.

this weird animal needs some help.

and this one is simply too contrived. maybe I shouldn't have posted these yet...

I know I've been Missing in Action

2011-07-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

The best way to explain my life for the past 6 weeks is like that game show called Wipeout where the contestants navigate a giant obstacle course where they are constantly knocked off their course only to fall 10' into the water below. They get back up and try, try again...only to be knocked off every time they try. In the end, they are tired and just want to go home. I think things are smoothing out now, thank goodness...because I finally feel like blogging again. So here are a bunch of journal pages that have somehow managed to happen despite all the craziness....or because of it.

This page above goes with the page below...but I'm not very good with photoshop to put it together for you.

This radish page is overlapping the next page but when I scanned it in, I really liked the other pages peeking through so I left it uncropped.

Art Journal - Teesha Moore Workshop Portugal

2011-07-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

one of my students (jane davenport from australia) made this in my portugal workshop. thought you'd enjoy it.

pics of portugal

2011-07-02T14:17:00.001-07:00

pics of portugal, a set on Flickr.

Loved Barcelona way better but portugal had some nice castles.

Barcelona!

2011-07-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

Jun 14, 2011, a set on Flickr.

barcelona through my eyes.

Why I love the pacific northwest

2011-05-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

Tracy had a job he had to look at in Leavenworth, WA. yesterday, so he asked me if I wanted to come along for the ride. Leavenworth is about 2 hours away across the mountain pass. Not one of my favorite places but it has it's charm, I guess.

The stores were all filled with stuff that no one needs, but they were cute and very bavarian. I did like the pretzel tree...if only they had been fresh and warm! Hey speaking of pretzels, Tom Douglas makes a wood fired one at his new restaurant, Brave Horse (south Lake Union in Seattle) that is to die for.

So...leavenworth is NOT the reason I love this region. It is the woods and scenery that made the whole trip worth it.

Sophie needed a drink. this was on the side of the road.

I swear I saw a little tree elf pop his head out right before I took this shot. ;)

someone besides me was very very happy she got to come along.

a tiny bit of snow leftover up on stevens pass.

So...the rest of the pictures are from a spot that I got a glimpse of off the side of the road when were cruising home. It was more of my spidey sense that made me urge tracy to pull off the road right there. It looked like we could walk down the semi steep hill to the river. This was the first WOW moment when we stepped over the guard rail and came around the corner and saw this amazing wall of moss.

2nd WOW moment was when I saw all these big huge stones forming small caves.

this place STILL makes my heart go pitter patter just looking at the pictures again. It was truly magical.

I don't mind graffiti in the city but out here??? come on guys! Oh well, it didn't hamper my complete and utter AWE moment.

What a find...who even knew?!

might be a passageway to another dimension...

definitely coming back here to swim when the weather gets warmer.

This is by far, one of the coolest places I have ever seen.

These rocks almost looked like glaciers...and the water was so blueish-green.

who doesn't love a pile of sticks?

Anyway...I just had to share this place because it was so awe inspiring. If you want to find it yourself, you have to go out through monroe and head towards steven's pass on hwy. 2. When you see mile marker #38, it is about 1/2 mile past that on your right hand side (going east). There is a little 2-car pull-off place to the side of the road. There is no sign, no markings, nothing. and you really can't see it from the road.

time for more journal pages

2011-05-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is an homage to my little grand-dog, Sherlock. My daughter Trista has a toy fox terrier that I absolutely ADORE. He calls me gramma. ;)

Glass fusing foray

2011-05-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you who live in close proximity to renton, WA., you need to know about this cool place. They offer a glass fusing studio at no cost to you. They'll even teach you how to fuse glass for free. If you want larger pieces of glass, glass rods, special glass, etc, then they will sell that to you. It's a really good deal.

I've been wanting to make some fused eyes ever since I took Katherine England's mosaic class (see what I made in class at end of post). Katherine had given me the eyes to use for that and I knew I'd have to make some of my own someday.

My sister-in-law, Kari had set up two appts. and asked if I wanted to come along. Above is a shot of the glass pieces that are sitting in the kiln. You basically cut all the pieces, wash them, dry them thoroughly and then reassemble the "stacks" of glass in the kiln.

They have a nice set-up with a couple of grinders and cutters, a nice big kiln, and tall tables to work at.

These are the tubs of glass that you can use for free.

I snuck up on Sandra (the shop manager) and kari when they were washing the glass. Sandra was a great teacher, super friendly and eager to help you make something you will be happy with.

This is the unassuming storefront. Address: 5335 NE 4th st. Renton, WA. 425-687-3185. They will host glass fusing parties if you want.

example of how I'll be using the eyes...unless I decide to make a 21 eyed monster for tracy.

podcast #2

2011-05-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here's another podcast. I am apologizing ahead of time for my l..o..n..g drawn out responses (good grief!). I have decided if I do any more of these I am not listening to it. Tracy, my husband, joins me and Rice on this one. Here's a picture of him too.

fun stuff

2011-05-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

Spent all day last saturday working on some necklaces for the july rubber stamp show in Carson, CA.

I can never find stuff I want to wear...so I made exactly what I would wear....something a little interesting but simple too. It will be interesting to see if anyone else wants to wear them too.

hope to see you there!

tape obsession

2011-05-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

So...I went on a hunt today (michaels, joanns and paper zone) for 1/16" grommets (or eyelets) and no one carried them. I finally stopped driving from store to store and called Impress Rubber Stamps at Tukwila to see if they carried them. They DID! wahoo. While looking around this fabulous store, I came across this tape from (the genius's behind) Cavallini & Co. It's not often these days that I am just strolling around a store and come across such a thrilling new product. It was $16 (yikes) but when you think about it, that averages to about $3.25 a roll (cheaper than the japanese stuff)....and you get a cute little tin.

The girl ringing me up asked if I had come for the tape. Come to find out the order just came in today and there were all these women waiting in line for some earlier in the day. Not sure how I lucked out, but glad I did. she was sure there would be none left by end of day (there were only 2, now only 1).

los angeles trip -part 3

2011-05-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
So...on the last day of our trip, my parents drove down from their new home in pismo beach and we went to the street art exhibit at moca in Little Tokyo then went out for japanese food.

los angeles trip -part 2

2011-05-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is my most favorite restaurant in all the world. You can find them at Olvera Street downtown LA.

we were there at 9am...yes, taquitoes for breakfast before olvera street opens.

They just put this photo up dated 4 years before I was born.

mmm. pure deliciousness.

This was on the parking lot wall right by Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo (one of my favorite places)

goofing around with reflective windows while waiting for Tracy in the bathroom

Got a bunch of fabrics at the garment district (9th and maple) for making jumpers for myself and some furry journal bags I'll be working on for Journalfest.

This is Tracy's favorite coffee place in LA. It's called LA Mill in Silver Lake area. Here, the barista is using a weird coffee apparatus for an order he got in. I thought their coffee was OK.

This was the house made smoked trout with toasted rice crackers, wasabi peas and brioche toast. yum.

one of the cute LA dogs

This was an awesome store right next to LA Mill Coffee. A must go if you are in the area. They have really fun gift items...stuff I usually don't see.

This was right next door to the Yolk store and I flipped out over these wall pieces. I'll be making some for my living room as soon as I get it painted. Maybe I will paint it this dark grey color...

This is Zinnia's in Pasadena. Another must-go to shop in LA. Tamara is the best and one of the most creative souls I know. I keep bugging her about writing a book. I think she is heading in that direction.

Their cat was playing around my feet the whole time I was talking to Tamara and Joe (a cool guy who works there). All of a sudden the cat wrapped his paws around my legs and just dug a claw right into my shin. It started gushing and wouldn't stop. But tamara gave me a band aid that was shaped like lips so I was good as new. Cats and me just don't get along very well. They might know that I like dogs better.

One of my BFF's, Kat Okamoto met us in pasadena and took us to Mike & Anne's, just 2 doors down from Zinnia's. Kat ordered the pork chop with pork belly, polenta, and celery root.

she's my foodie friend and we enjoy a good meal.

braised short ribs, cippolini onions, english peas, and mustard potatoes. yum.

3 of my most favorite people in all the world...Wendy, Kat and Tracy.

When Tracy was teaching his class on sunday, Kat came over and I took her to Jin Patisserie on Abbott Kinney blvd. One of my favorite places. I once sat right next to Helen Hunt on the patio here. This was afternoon tea. We shared these dishes of butter cake, scones, huckleberry jam and devonshire cream

and the best egg salad sandwich ever!

The final post will include photos from the Moca Museum's "Street Art" exhibit along with lunch with my parents.

Los Angeles trip -part 1

2011-05-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

We got into Los Angeles around 10pm. Tracy was starving so we made a pit stop at the In-n-Out against my better judgement. But he was happy.

We came back to the car and I really loved this grate right in front of us.

The next morning we found this coffee shop (Flying Saucer) on Pico blvd. They served organic coffee from a very small artisan roaster and it was amazing! Diana Ross walked in while we were having coffee in her super tight (and see-through) work out clothes. It seems like we always run into celebrities while in LA.

This was just part of the sidewalk up on 3rd street. I thought it was cool.

Favorite Deli, hands down! It is right next to the Button Store...a shop that Tracy always has to stop at for materials he uses on his metal journals.

Love this black and white design.

Ended up at the Farmers Market. We were meeting Stephen Miliotti (a really good friend of ours) along with his parents (who we've never met).

We were journaling while we waited.

Tracy had to try the pastrami sandwich. I wasn't very hungry.

Tracy was so excited to see the largest Lomography store that just opened in LA. Supposedly he has a photo or two on the big wall but we never found it.

I asked if I could take photos of the store for my blog and then realized I was taking the photos with a digital camera...it seemed blasphemous to use a digital in a lomo store.

who knew they made so many different types of cameras...

view of Tracy buying more lomo stuff...he was thrilled to meet one of his lomo friends there.

They did a good job with the store design.

I'm missing a group of pictures here...I will post them in the next post...but this jumps ahead to saturday when I taught at the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica. This is the front of their delightful store.

They have so many inspiring ideas all over the store.

This is the shot of the classroom. That is Champ, sitting there behind the counter. He's a zine maker who works there and was a super cool guy.

I think half the class was at lunch

these photos are shots of the (3-D mixed media paintings) in progress from the students.

I love seeing everyone's style...the joy of teaching.

This is Intelligencia, a coffee shop that many told us not to be missed. They have a bunch of barista's who each have their own little set-up and you go to a specific one who takes your order, makes the coffee for you and then takes your money. They take great care in your drink. I liked it, but the coffee was fruity (rather than carmel-ie). Kinda like a 89% chocolate bar. It was OK. I prefer my Stumptown in Issaquah (or the Flying Saucer on Pico).

This was a very narrow walkway we had to walk down to get to our motel room (travel lodge on pico blvd). It was funny.

More photos in next post.

journal page time again

2011-04-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

still having fun in my 8x8 journal. heading to los angeles today, so plan on getting in a TON of journaling down there.

my newest 8x8 journal

2011-04-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to try a new size of journal. This one is 8x8 with lots of extra flaps. I'm loving it.

These top two pics are the covers of the journal. Two guesses who has been influencing me lately. ;)

Some pages are just folds and some are taped on with a strong masking tape for the hinge.

artfest from my POV

2011-04-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of taking photos this year at Artfest to document the retreat from my perspective but alas...no photos at all...never had time. So I thought I would try explaining it.

It starts on sunday night with the new york guys flying in (Brian and Justin). These are Tracy's friends who fly in on their own dime to help us manage artfest. They are awesome. On monday, we had another helper friend (Jacob) to pick up from the train station (from portland) and then we headed back to the airport to pick up Stephen who flies up from Los Angeles. Monday night we had a huge birthday party for our daughter Trista who usually has to celebrate AT artfest because of when her birthday falls (april 4th). To say it was alot of activity right before my busiest time of year is an understatement. But it all went down awesomely and Trista thanked me profusely for taking the time to plan something the night before artfest.

Artfest, for us, begins on tuesday. We finish packing out 7 vehicles with all the stuff we have to bring with us, and head to seattle by 8:30am to catch the 9:35 ferry. I give ferry money to all the drivers and hope everyone makes it on. we arrive in port townsend around 11:15am and grab a quick bowl of soup at Aldrich's market. They have a little old japanese woman who makes the sushi and the 4 soups (which change daily). It is, without a doubt, the best soup ever. We look forward to eating it when we come to town. Then we all meet at the fort at noon to start unpacking boxes, cutting the 357 sheets of butcher paper we'll need and start a production line to wrap and assemble the goody bags and the treats. We set up the store, the gallery and registration. At 3:00, I get the keys and everyone takes a break and checks into their house (4e and 4w...12 rooms in all). We ask that they come right back to the commons to keep working. I know...we are task masters, but they don't complain. We work up until 5:30 and then we all take off for dinner in town. There are 18 of us in all. Tracy's mom, sister, niece, 2 nephews, our 2 daughters, trista's new boyfriend, trista old boyfriend, 2 attendees who have attached themselves to our group (but work their butts of for us), the 4 guys I mentioned earlier, the guy who lives above us at the loft who asked if he could help this year and tracy and I. It's a great crew. We went to McClain's this year for fresh fish and chips. The owner was awesome and the food was delicious although not the healthiest. after dinner, we all make a pit stop at safeway for snacks, water and beer. I call it a night at 9am. the next day is the most grueling and I'm already feeling achy and tired.

wednesday starts with bagels and cream cheese all around. There is a new bagel shop in town called metro bagels that is really good (although I like Bob's bagels sold only on fridays alot better). Then half our crew take off with rolls of butcher paper and blue masking tape in hand to paper the 357 tables we use in the classrooms. It is a pretty daunting task. The rest of us finish up the registration room, posting signs, getting the keys and putting all the keys in all the packets (a 2-hour, back breaking job). We all run to house 4e to have sandwiches for lunch that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have prepared for the gang. whew...I think we are ready for people to register at 3:00. I wish I could open up registration earlier but the fort has threatened us that if we give anyone a key before 3, we will lose our 11am key-getting priviledges. We can't risk that. 3:00 rolls around and there is a line of ladies with happy faces patiently waiting. I spend the rest of the afternoon dealing with minor problems with registrations, meals, accommodations and workshops. All-in-all, nothing major that I can't solve except for one family who needed a house with a downstairs bathroom for their elderly mom who was with them. They failed to tell me that when they signed up and of course all houses were taken (and most were moved into) by the time I found this out. They were going to try to live with it. I look at my watch and it is 5:30...time for dinner. I have all my crew take shifts to go get some food in the cafeteria and eat fast! Tracy and I never get dinner. the next thing I know, it is 6:50. Our meeting starts at 7:00. I run out the door with speech in hand, straighten my hair in the car on the way down to the meeting hall and hope I don't look as dishevelled as I feel. We walk in and start talking to the group of 500 attendees. This used to be extremely scary for me, but it feels like one of the easiest things I have to do at the whole retreat now. We introduce the teachers and crew and then a speaker came to talk. I have to say I was very dissappointed with the speaker. She wasn't anyone I knew, she was local and I thought would be a good fit for this crowd. You win some and lose some. I just was relieved to have it end. I made my way back to the commons to check-in all the late attendees and by 9, was locking the commons with a BIG HUGE SIGH. This is always the hardest day of the year for me. I made it through another one.

6:00am rise and shine. Thursday starts with a bang as all the teachers are scurrying to set up for their workshops, the attendees need rides here and there, the crew needs to grab breakfasts in the middle of helping and we are all putting out minor fires here and there. I am working on problems in the office. this person locked a key in their room, this other person lost her badge and can't get meals, this person needs help with their supplies in dorm 225, another teacher forgot an extension cord or needs us to run into town to get her box of supplies that just arrived. It's pretty mad-capped, but again...we get through it miraculously and get everyone tucked into their classrooms by 9am. we go into town (the undertown coffee house) for some much needed caffeine and downtime. Tracy and I dig out our journals and start scribbling while the rest of our crew files in, sits down and starts telling us their stories of fires they put out. I thank them all and genuinely am filled with gratitude for each and every one of them. I'm not quite sure they know how much we rely on them and appreciate them. We look at our watches and realize that we all have stations to be at in 20 minutes when the workshops get out for their lunchbreak. Back we go, but it is a well oiled machine that works pretty good. We make it through lunch and head back into town for more coffee and journaling. this time, much of the crew is taking naps. Only 2 of the crew meet us down there and we have a really good heart to heart talk with one of the guys about his life purpose, girlfriends, work and everything else relevent. It was a good talk for all of us. We head back to the fort to prepare for the evening activities. Thankfully, we already made a schedule for the workers, so they are on it, moving tables for the iron chef artist challenge and starting a bonfire for the journaling party on the beach. The rest are helping the students and teachers at the end of class and our store and office team are answering questions. At 7:00 I know the guys are overseeing the bonfire, roasting weenies and marshmallows and making sure everyone is happy at the beach. Tracy and I are up at the USO hall watching the teachers create something out of a bag of weird stuff. I don't get a chance to see any of the teachers working away due to all the sweet attendees who come to thank me for putting on this event. I'm always touched by all the gratitude. and I love having a few moments to talk to people without someone having a problem I need to solve. The challenge is over so we head to the beach to cook a hot dog over the fire since we didn't get dinner again earlier. We talk to a ton more people before heading back to our little officers house for the night. Tracy drops me off and heads back to the beach to clean up. I hit the sack as soon as I walk in the door and am out like a light.

The next morning I'm leaning over a table straightening some artwork and do something weird and torque my lower back so bad I can't move. I'm in a little bit of a panic since artfest isn't even half over yet. I ice my back. It doesn't seem to give me any relief. I try to move and can barely move my legs. excruciating pain. I can't and won't take advil or other pain killers so I have to rely on natural analgesics. They don't seem to be doing a thing for me. I'm icing every 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Tracy and the crew are handling things without me (hmmm...maybe next year I CAN take a class). I spent most of the day sleeping and feeling really guilty I wasn't working & contributing...but there just was no way. I was able to go oversee vendor night that night but it was all I could do to make the rounds and then go sit down. I went home early and tracy closed the vendor event and handled everything for me. BTW, I was thrilled to see that the vendor event was really well attended. Way more than last year.

Saturday, I was feeling a tiny bit better, enough to go handle issues at the office. As soon as 9am rolled around, we took off for coffee and a walk around the farmer's market in uptown. I love farmers markets and the one in port townsend is a fun one to visit. One trip through it wore me out completely and I went back to the car to rest. Tracy took me back to the fort and I iced my back again. At lunchtime I headed to the office to draw the raffle tickets for the fatbook swap and for the trades collection and to close out the silent auction for all the pieces that were created in the iron chef artists challenge. Between the two, we earned close to $1000 for the scholarship fund that Tracy and I have been setting up. Saturday afternoon, when everyone was tucked into their classes, we ran into town to grab some lunch at hanzano noodle since we missed it at the fort. I was starving so it was a treat. At 6:30pm I was still in major amounts of pain when the show-n-tell started up. I hobbled over to it but was unable to see anything due to more attendees wanting to thank me. They are so fabulous...I really love them all so much and am so thrilled when I hear what a great time they had. There are always tears of joy and lots of hugs and happy faces beaming with pride at what they had made. I hobble out to the car and head over to 4e (the crew house). I was greeted with 2 shots of tequila and a lime wedge. I knew I shouldn't but I did. Then I had 2 more. My mother-in-law microwaved me a plate of leftovers which I downed...but not before providing much entertainment to the crew with my tequila induced brain. Tracy was still at 204 trying to close up the show-n-tell. Poor guy. He was exhausted and hungry and ready to be done. I crashed in bed soon after.

Sunday, we packed up the cars, finished our goodbyes with the remaining attendees, turned in the keys to the fort and paid them (over $100,000.00). Then our whole crew all met at a mexican joint 10 minutes out of town for a last hurrah! Tracy once again thanked them all for their hard work and shared with them all the thanks we received from all the attendees about them. I think there is a feeling you get from volunteering your time because you want to and actually making someone's life better. There is a satisfaction you don't get from anything else. They seem like they got that. They all want to come back (pheww!). We all arrived home around 3pm and just vegged. Donna (tracy's mom) decided to make us all waffles, sausage and eggs for dinner. We slurped it up like none of us had eaten for a week. She is known far and wide for her waffles and I was so thankful to her for providing food for the troupes so I didn't have to. she is the best mother-in-law ever. I crashed after dinner. not sure what the guys did.

By monday morning I was at my (beloved) chiropractor (heather deniston). she wanted to see me this morning as well and again on thursday. but I am finally feeling better. I wrote out the 38 teachers checks yesterday afternoon and got those in the mail (this time, WAY over $100,000.00). It's crazy how much goes out. Another Artfest under my belt (12 to be exact). Next year the dates will be march 28-April 1. and I will do EVERYTHING in my power to keep my back healthy and happy. trust me on that! oh and did I mention...sun the whole time? I'm convinced I have a superpower that can control the weather. Reminds me of a quote from the movie "City of Angels"..."Some things are real whether you believe them or not". ;)

my first podcast

2011-04-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

This is scary to be posting my podcast here with you all. But in an effort to be brave and authentic, here it is. (it's hard to see in the picture but there is a little arrow to click to listen to it.). Rice Freeman Zachery is the one behind making this happen. OH...and that's Sophie, our norwegian elkhound/chow mix in the back seat. Best dog EVER!

jesse reno class

2011-03-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Been wanting to post about the jesse reno 3-day workshop at the Artfest Annex recently but was waiting until I got my paintings done. THEY AREN'T DONE YET but whatever...thought I'd post them in progress, since I haven't had any time to paint lately.

So these 3 are what I worked on...but I feel like they are just getting started.

The amazing, brilliant, crazy jesse.

everyone went to lunch so I snagged my camera...wish the paintings had come out better.

I can't remember who was working on this one but I loved it. BTW, Jesse will be doing another 3-dayer up in seattle at the annex in a few months. So stay tuned if it is something you'd be interested in.

preview of artfest vending night

2011-03-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Last night Andrew Dyrdahl stopped by the Artfest Annex for our Journaling Social and brought some dolls he has been working on to sell at Artfest. Thought you might like to get a sneak preview also.

Andrew - Fashion designer

sphere's of stuff in a stack

2011-03-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

I don't even like cats...more of a dog person myself. not sure why this came out. I was teaching a collage class at the time and using this page to demo on.

This was another demo page (which almost always make's the page kinda ugly) and then I have to work on fixing it. It's hard to talk and demo at the same time. Both the talking and the art suffers.

I haven't journaled for SO long...I'm missing it! But gotta get through Artfest before I can spend some serious time creating again.

organizing again

2011-02-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

We recently moved some furniture around in our studio at home. The black cubicle bookshelves used to stand on end to form a wall, but I put them on their side to make it feel more open. This also gives me alot more "counter" space to put things.

I recently discovered the joys of these "scrapbook organizers". I bought one with a michael's 50% coupon so I could lug alot more supplies to our recent play retreat and found it to be so cool that I went back and bought more. This particular one holds all my charms, metal tools, waxed polyester, needles, wire and other related stuff.

This is my fabric bag and has everything I need to sew anywhere.

It's handy to either throw in the car for a weekend getaway or simply bring down to the living room to sew while watching a movie.

This one holds my tape, glitter glue, paints (I only use these tiny pots for traveling), etc. The masking tapes are in long bags so I can pull out a stack easily.

This is my pen bag...and no, I don't take this into a coffee shop...but I do bring it to the loft when I want to journal in there or I can bring it to whatever desk I feel like working at.

Anyway...these have been working fabulously and keep alot of stuff all in one place. I can store them in my cubicle bookcase to put them away. You can bet I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more sales on these things (regular price is about $25...way too much when they have so many sales)

startling forest face

2011-02-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

When I looked out my kitchen window this morning, I was startled to see this face staring back at me. Usually it is all dark brown and it blends in with the woods so it isn't noticable, but with the fresh snowfall, it really made the features stand out.

cairns of color

2011-02-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

Was having fun with cairns in my journal. I'm always the girl who is making those stacks of rocks (cairns) that you see on hiking trails and the beach. There is something magical about them. I was also doing some research recently for a collage class I taught and was reminded of Rex Ray's work that I adore. This is what spilled out. I love that you don't need to worry about balance when you make paper versions in your journal...way easier! ;)

more art

2011-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is the cover of my latest journal. I had adhered the collage with glue stick (ugh...I hate gluesticks) and it started peeling off while I was out and about so I slapped some tape on it (both decorative and scotch tape). I would have never thought of doing this otherwise but I love the tape in a big X across the face. This is why I say never to fear mistakes in your journal...they only lead to discoveries.

still haven't figured it out...must sit and think about it one of these days.....still floating....

I have to admit..I kinda like this page (this is saying alot since this is a rare feeling for me). I'm thinking it is a combination of the blue color and the random design that appeals to me. I might have to make this into fabric through www.spoonflower.com

Boy am I loving using my new collage sheets!!! too much fun.

part 1 of a long journal spread...

part 2

Wendy Millward came to PLAY and sat directly across from me. We both share a love of interior design magazines. She takes them to a new level by pasting pages directly into her journal and then adding to them in this fashion. So I wanted to try my hand at it too. I want a room that looks just like this! part 2 is below.

2nd half. I don't think I'm done with this little side bar...perhaps a quote or something in the egg would make it feel done. That pillow belongs in this room but it wasn't proportional so it's sitting on the side.

Trying to play around with the idea that less is more. This is SO hard for me...there isn't much in my life where I practice restraint...

The funny thing about this little journal flap is that 2 days after I wrote it, I was meeting a friend for dinner. I decided to sneak in a little journaling time at the starbucks before the meeting time. As it turned out, there had been an accident that caused my friend to be really late. I ended up having a 3 hr. journaling session with my headphones on. Be careful what you write in your journal! LOL

28 NEW collage sheets!

2011-02-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

You have been asking for these...I finally have some new collage sheets all ready for your collaging pleasure. 28 new ones. find them here.

things I've been working on

2011-02-02T14:01:00.000-08:00

the sketchbook project

2011-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Tracy and I both decided to participate in the sketchbook project which may be touring in your town. We paid a fee and were sent a sketchbook to fill. We had to pick a theme from their list. Mine was "Things That Changed Other Things". Tracy's was "Dirigible & Submersibiles".

He printed out his journal pages from his regular journal and rebound them into the book. I added photocopies into mine....all 48 pages full. Anything was fair game according to the rules.

They had extended the deadline from jan. 15th to the 18th, which gave us the day that was needed to complete it. whew.

Can't wait to see the show when it hits seattle. This is the inside of Tracy's.

Think of it this way...

2011-01-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

An Apocalypse (Greek: "lifting of the veil" or "revelation") is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted - Wikipedia

Imagine a community of ants hidden under a covering in the corner of a house. They have been told that this corner is the world. Every day the ants go about their business collecting food, securing their shelter and keeping their families warm. Some of the ants are content with their lives, happy to have what they have. Others feel quite frustrated but don’t think they can do much about it, after all there is only so much space they can work with. A few ants have big aspirations for their lives and dream of greater things. They don’t know why, but they’ve always had a feeling that there is more to the world than this corner they live in. They don’t know how exactly to access this other world and the other ants call them crazy but there is some knowing in their bodies that tells them, there is more to life than you can currently see.

A growing group of ants have started poking holes in the covering and started peeking out. They can see glimpses of something outside this covering. They want to tell as many of their community as they can: Come see, there is something out here! The guard ants don’t like this and spread rumours that the rebel ants are crazy. The head ants even call for some to be imprisoned. Many in the community call out to the rebel ants ‘Sshhh, stop making trouble, you could get us all killed.’ The head ants quickly create a diversion. The ants are easily quietened down by fear and the head ants shout that there is a virus in the far right corner. Instantly the formerly curious ants run back under their cover. The ants are also easily distracted and so the head ants regularly launch new reality shows ‘The BachelorAnt’, ‘Watch Ants Swap Lives’ and ‘Antertainment Tonight: The latest gossip about the Celebrity Ants.’

You see, the head ants know that there is a greater world out there, but they don’t want the community to know. If the community knew then the head ants would lose control. The community would knock the covering right off the top of their heads and stand in awe at the vastness of the real world outside. The community would be delirious with joy and happiness at their new freedom, and at the unlimited endless potential that lay before them. They could create so much more than they had previously thought or even conceived of. They would have ample access to all that they needed. They would no longer have to work like slaves under the restrictive rules of the head ants. Most excitedly they would discover that they were not the only ones who lived in the world. There is a whole universe out there who have been watching and waiting for the ants to free themselves.

It has made many in the universe sad to see the ants so isolated and disconnected from their greater true reality, but there has been a purpose. Someone thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if the ants would remember who they are, even with the covering. Some of the ancestors of the head ants didn’t think much of the community, and doubted they would remember, citing the ease at which they were distracted by fear and trivial things as proof that their true nature was lost to them. Other ancestors, ancient ancestors of the greater community, believed in the ants because they knew that these precious beings were more than just ants. They were great, divine ants, each of them holding deep memories within of who they really were. They knew that the day would come when something would happen to help the ants blast the covering off them, so that they could take their place in the greater world, the greater reality, the greater universal community.

An exaggeration perhaps of the story of humanity, or perhaps not, we’ll see once we discover more of the truth very soon. For all extents and purposes however, humanity are these divine ants, and we have been in the pre-dawn light of this long awaited day or time of truth for several years now. In 2011 we will see that which covered us being blown right off, revealing all that was false in our current reality and simultaneously revealing all that is true and possible in what is our new, greater reality. The internet ants, particularly the most prominent so far WikiLeaks, have started to pull back the curtain, showing us that the great men and women we trusted to run our world are nothing but puppets being pulled for the gratification of a small but powerful group of head ants (with the exception of Obama of course!). It is the end of the road for those head ants. They have no place and no business in our new reality. The new reality will be run by the people, for the greater good of all the people.

this was written by Dana Myrkich and I thought it was a simple interpretation of some things I believe are true.

"Some things are true, whether you believe them or not." - Seth, City of Angels

new year, new class

2010-12-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

I decided to sign up for Carla sonheim's new online class that starts jan. 5th. You can't get a better deal than 30 lessons for $25 and it will be a fun way to start off the year.

mexico trip

2010-12-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

In lieu of christmas gifts this year, we decided to take the girls, dave (trista's boyfriend), and matthew (friend of the family) to Mexico. We also had some free airline tickets to use up too. Tracy once worked with a superintendent up here in seattle who moved down to mexico to build some cabana's to rent out. He kept inviting us down and 10 years later, we finally made it to his place www.mayanbeachgarden.com. You get there by flying into Cancun and then driving 4-5 hours south to the remote town of mahahual. Half the trip you are driving through nothing but jungle (nice paved roads) with nothing around for miles. We split the trip up a little and stayed in Playa Del Carmen the first night and the last night, with 6 glorious nights in the middle at mayan beach garden. The picture above was in playa del carmen.

This was a cantina across the street from our hotel in playa (Hacienda Real) that Tracy and the kiddos loved. That is a bougainvillea tree growing right up through the middle and out the top. Their waitress fell in love with tiff's drawings in her journal and asked her to draw something on her shoe for her. They had a blast. I was up in my room, dreaming about mayans.

Handmade bench seen along calle 5...a main pedestrian-only street with fun shops and eateries. This street was one block from our hotel in playa.

stone wall seen while walking the side streets.

Stopped at Tulum ruins. This tree was at there. I seemed to be more entranced with the trees than the architecture.

This is one view of tulum ruins. I thought they were ok. I've seen better ruins. For some reason, I just don't get excited about the ruins. I'm more about nature.

This is mayan beach garden. Trista and dave are relaxing on their veranda.

You gotta love a big jug of fresh watermelon juice to go with our lunch. Breakfast is included in the cost of the room and for $20 more per day, they will fix you a sumptuous lunch and 4 course dinner all made by Lupe (an older mayan woman) and a couple of assistants. It is not to be missed.

Brain coral found just off shore about 30-40 feet. I didn't snorkel much, so hopefully Tracy will get better underwater photos up on his blog soon. He took a few shots with my underwater camera which I LOVE. all these were taken with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 (in bright orange).

Tracy journaling under the palapa right in front of our cabana.

The beginning of my stash of beachcombing finds....one of my favorite pastimes.

This is Lupe. She taught us how to make corn tortillas from scratch, empanadas, huaraches (with beans in the middle), sope's, and their signature black refried beans they would serve at every meal (including breakfast).

she was so adorable. When I asked her if she learned how to cook from her mom, I found out that her mom died when she was 10, so the neighbor taught her how to cook so she could care for her brothers and sisters since she was the oldest.

Tracy at dawn waiting for the sun to come up. Love seeing him relaxed like this.

One of the many sunrises that never failed to fill us with awe. and to wake up and walk the ten steps to the beach in nothing but your pj's was a rare experience.

a super cool beach find. I ADORE pods...but this was too big to bring home. The stuff you see around it is beach grass that has been bleached out. It looks like shredded newspaper.

The sign that was a welcome sight the first night we arrived. We had been driving for hours and hours....or so it seemed.

This was the 2nd cooking class that tiffany and I took. Lupe taught us how to make an authentic mole (!!) as well as a delicious tomatillo green sauce, a chipotle geen sauce and my favorite, a pepita (pumpkin seed) sauce that is super easy and super healthy.

I wish I had my very own resident Lupe! Tiffany and I decided to take the class and just hang on the beach while the other 4 went off with Kim to some ruins. they were gone for 11 hours as the ruins are not close. They said it was a highlight of their trip though. For tiff and me the highlight was the cooking classes and just doing nothing but bob around in the ocean, hunt for shells and sit in the sun.

Marcia (owner of mayan beach garden along with husband, Kim) created this table. She said all she used was sharpie markers. It was sealed with a high gloss sealer so you'd never guess it wasn't paint.

This guy in the pink is Kim, Tracy's good friend from way back. To the right is Dave, and the couple at the end live nearby and come over to bartend in the evenings.

This is Marcia (she's probably going to kill me for using this shot but it was the only one I had of her). To the left is Matthew. Kim and Marcia are amazing hosts. It was a treat getting to talk to them each night at dinner.

We stayed in the cabana to the left. The kiddos all stayed in the one in the middle and there was a german couple who was in the cabana on the right. During the time we were there it was just the six of us, the germans and an english couple. They have these 3 cabana's and a couple of units above the dining room area, so there would never be a huge crowd, even if the place was full. Oh...and at night, you sleep with the door open but the screen door closed and all the window are open so you hear the constant sound of the waves and you feel the slight breeze that comes through the cabana. It was just as good as sleeping outside. bliss.

more wondrous finds....along with my sandy tan foot at the bottom. ;)

Tracy, always messing with his lomo cameras, madly in an attempt to get the sunrise before it's too late.

more finds. there are tons of coral and conch shells and the sea urchin shells were particularly exciting to find. we heard that up the road about an hour was a beach (in the sian kaan) that was littered with hundreds of sea urchin shells...the big ones! never made it up there, but it was tempting.

this was the path leading to the dining "room"...a built-in porch with 3 walls that were nothing but screens. the breeze felt so good going through it. and it kept us safe during dusk from the mosquitoes (they ONLY come out at dusk...it's really weird).

inside the dining room.

when we left mayan beach garden, we went straight up to Tulum and then over to Coba ruins. For a mere $10 we could have these gentlemen pedal us around to all the ruins for an hour! At first it felt weird...like I was royalty...an uncomfortable feeling. But then I really LOVED it and wished I could have a cute mayan pedal me around all the time!

This was the observatory...unusual in it's rounded corners.

This is the giant coba ruin. No, I didn't climb to the top. too steep for me.

This depicts what was carved onto the stone you see below. I thought it was really cool. I want to do some research on it to find out what it means and what it's for.

The trees in coba were really cool.

This was one of the most fun "attractions" we did. The Grand Cenote (pronounced sin-oh-tay) on the way from Tulum to Coba. Cenote's are areas where the "roof"/ground has caved in revealing the underground rivers. You snorkel around with stalagmites under and above you.

The water was so blue and clear. What you see is a cave you can snorkel into. the rope helps guide you back out again.

amazing experience. we will certainly be visiting more cenotes on our next trip down!

underwater view of the stalagmites or is it stalagtites?

So, this is a tiny entrance to a cave that Tracy said I had to go into. That hole was just big enough for my snorkel to get through (it scraped along the top). He said it was so cool inside. however...once inside it was pitch black and super small...the only light coming from my camera when tracy took a shot.

I completely panicked as I get claustrophobia very easily as is viewable in my eyes here (I'm the one in the middle...tracy to the left and dave to the right). You can see how low the cave is too...it was NOT fun.

This turtle was swimming around down there. He was pretty big...about 18 inches.

Found some interesting mexican art back in playa del carmen.

Afterthoughts: Being in nature for 6 full days was something I want to do at least twice a year now. A week in the summer and a week in the winter with many many many days inbetween when I just find a good spot around here to sit for an hour or so. I had brought a few different journals, pens, watercolors, paint, collage, etc. I never once picked it up. I was enjoying just "BE-ing" and not always "DO-ing". I felt this was the lesson for me to learn...to see what being in the moment feels like (trust me, it feels amazing). There were times when my mind was telling me that I should use it more...to plan, to reflect, to make lists...but my body refused to think about anything but how beautiful it was, how the water felt on my body, how the sunlight reflected like stars on the water. For the first time in my 48 years, my mind quieted and allowed me to see things both inwardly and outwardly that I've never seen. I was seeing colors that I have never seen before...colors that don't even seem to be on this plane of existence...at one point when I was just floating in the water by myself, I looked at the water, the beach & plants and the sky behind it, it was so shimmery and neon-like...I can't even explain it...but it brought me to tears as it does now writing this. I have never seen nature like I did down there. It was raw and pure and otherworldly.

workshop tommorrow in seattle

2010-12-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

My daughter is teaching her popular felted creatures class tommorrow (dec. 16th) in Seattle. She says to just show up with a check or cash if you are coming (and email so we know how many to expect). More information is at www.artfestannex.com

Great way to make all your christmas gifts this year.

fodder for my journal

2010-11-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

x-rays are so cool. this is the MRI of tracy's knee.

Lettering class

2010-11-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

One of my very good friends, Lisa Engelbrecht, lettering artist extraordinaire, (and authored an awesome book on modern calligraphy and hand lettering), is coming to Seattle for thanksgiving weekend, so we decided to set up a fun & easy but super cool lettering workshop at the annex. We can only take 15 students and already have 5 signed up, so email me asap if you want to come. more class info here.

Calamity Kim

2010-11-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

I was cruising around the internet and found this fantastic piece designed by calamity kim (using a rubber stamp designed by me. SO cool...makes me want to design rubber stamps again...

mexico planning

2010-11-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend I am doing some planning. We are taking the girls and their boyfriends to a place down on the yucatan peninsula http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/ in a few weeks. The owner is one of Tracy's friends. He was a contractor up here about 10 years ago and decided to move to mexico because he has this passion for the old mayan temples. So he built this little resort and has been asking Tracy to come since he moved.

We had free tickets to use up and started thinking about christmas gifts, and saw how cheap it would be for all of us and well, one thought led to another and we were blocking out our calendar. So...this weekend I am thinking about what I want to take down there (besides snorkel gear & camera). This is my list so far:

-a standard everyday type of journal
-a small travel journal made out of an old passport that I can tape stuff inside of (ala orly avineri)
-a $5 set of 36 watercolors
-a horizontal spiral bound watercolor journal
-needle and thread and stuffing (for creating something sewn). I plan on finding some old pieces of mexican fabric (maybe old clothes) and then maybe adding trinkets I find and debris from the beach...kind of in a quilted wall hanging souvenir of some sort. who knows?
-fiskars drill (hand crank one), small nails, wire (for on the beach creating with driftwood, shells and stuff)
-small craft pots of acrylic (the paint-by-numbers kind that are like...$2 at michaels), small jar of white gesso
-needle nose pliers, jump rings,
-am thinking about a bookbinding needle, waxed linen, awl and paper for bookbinding projects with stuff we find.
-standard stash of pens, pencils, scissors, small stash of collage, glue stick, scotch tape, some stronger glue of some sort, a couple brushes, old rag or paper towels...

The trick is to bring enough to satiate my creative needs without bringing too much. I think when I gather all this stuff up, it won't take much room at all.

new day

2010-11-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

so, as you can see, I'm changing up my journaling right now. and it's been so much fun. I've been gesso-ing on pages that were created using scraps of paper and then using pen and then my lightest copic markers. After doing 4 pages I was frustrated by the pen bleeding into the copic markers when tracy suggested I use his multiliners from copic. They are "copic-proof" so now I'm even more excited to play around with the new way of working.

5 more jp's

2010-11-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

jp's (journal pages)

2010-11-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

6 days of art workshops = bliss

2010-10-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

I spent 6 days last week taking workshops from some of my favorite teachers. It was so much fun. This first class project was an LK Ludwig workshop. I learned a new binding technique that I love.

We had to paint the pages using a credit card. It was incredibly messy but I do like the finished result. She taught us how to work photographs into our journal. I'm excited to play with the photographs more.

This journal will be focused on trees. All these photos are ones that Tracy took. I think they are beautiful and wanted to give them a place of honor.

The binding is like coptic binding but much easier. Fun class.

This was a Karen Michel class that I took with one of my bestest friends, Sarah Greener. It was super fun, not messy!, and rewarding. Karen is one of those light filled beings that shines very brightly.

Karen adds found objects to her mini compositions which is really cool. I hadn't brought the right stuff to class so used what I had....my collage sheets.

The sequins add sparkle which you can't see here...but I love using them.

This was a class taught by the amusing Tory Brokenshire where I learned to work with wire, form an armature and I learned how to solder. This isn't finished and I need to back the wings with a translucent paper. I LOVED soldering. Will be playing around with it more! Tory had the class in stitches the whole time. She is a great teacher who doesn't take herself too seriously. my kind of girl!

This was a crystal neubauer workshop where I learned a different type of soldering, more wire working and encaustic papers. These will eventually be necklaces. I might use this encaustic paper technique for the wings above. You should go to her website to see her work. It's way cooler than what I did here.

I finally decided to take a class in the medium I adore...journaling. I learned a lot in this one from judy Wise. She uses way more paint than I do, but now I'm hooked. I realized I can flip back and forth by just using a few sheets of wax paper between the pages.

Of course, these pages are not done...but very good starts for future projects.

more of that credit card painting again. I'm not usually fond of messy pages like this, but see that they provide a good energy to the composition. The pocket above holds a letter I was to write to my inner child. what came out was from my spirit guide. that's always exciting.

I had to paint a face upside down then write about my first art experience I can remember.

having fun with monoprinting.

This last workshop was also taught by Judy Wise. She is fabulous and I love her dearly. We had to work with sculpey (which I loathe). I didn't read the class description very well. Was thinking it was paper clay. But I tried my best in class and although wonky, it was fun.

All in all, I was completely energized at the end of the 6 days and wanted more...but alas I have work to do. I definitely plan on working more art time into my schedule however. I need to play more. It was so much fun to not be in charge of ANYTHING for a change at an art retreat. But it also really made me want to teach again too.

Artfest Annex website up!

2010-10-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

We have linkage finally! thanks to tiphoni, my fabulously talented web designer and daughter who's been working 'round the clock on this for us! Right now you can only link through this blog. Soon there will be linkage through www.teeshamoore.com and in a few days, we'll have linkage from www.artfestannex.com

my teapot

2010-10-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was asked to participate in a silent auction for Art & Soul (happening next week in Portland) by adding my art to a teapot. This is the end result. I'm pretty happy with it. I wish the photos showed the fabulous creamy white, silverish, irridescent paint I used. It's yummy.

our new space

2010-09-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

I finally have shots of our new space that is one floor down from our old loft. This one doesn't have a sleeping loft, a kitchen or a shower but we now know that we have no use for those things. This one is filled with light and space and we love it.

Tracy and I have been busy being frankenstein with our images...my journal pages and his lomo shots...and printing them out to adorn all our walls.

We have an Epson R1800 printer that we love. We printed these on matte 13x19's and pieced them together on the back with blue 2" masking tape and then tacked them to the wall.

since we have 12' high ceilings, we have a lot of room to cover. We will be adding more to both side of this closet door soon.

We are using this new space for meets and workshops. We are calling it the Artfest Annex and will have a web page very soon that will list the activities we are planning. If you happen to be in seattle sunday, Sept. 26th, we are having an open house from 1-4. Address is 89 Yesler #201 Seattle.

So I made a mistake when I taped all these together and only realized it when we turned it over. We both decided though that we kinda liked it better this way for some strange reason so we decided not to re-do it.

This is my favorite wall because I LOVE tracy's shots of trees. and to see them all blown up is amazing in person.

Artfest Annex Open House

2010-09-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

First of all, I wanted to invite anyone from the greater seattle area to Pioneer Square next Sunday, Sept. 26th from 1:00-4:00 for an open house of our new Artfest Annex. This new venture will include classes and monthly meetings (topics include lomography, sewing, journaling, first thursdays, etc.). We want to introduce you to all the stuff we have planned. So, come on over and say hi if you're in the area. It's located at 89 Yesler #201. Just buzz us at the door and we'll buzz you in. Hope to see you! For everyone who can't make it, not to worry, we will have a website up soon as well as photos of the space in a couple of weeks.

This journal page and the next one might look a little familiar. I finally finished them.

re-organizing again

2010-09-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

SO...what do I do to relax, you might ask? I clean and organize. After tackling the monumental task of registering 450+ attendees into artfest within one week, I set my sights on getting my art room back to snuff. Besides, I recently had to find room for all my paint when we recently moved from my seattle loft into another loft that will be used for our new project, Artfest Annex. But more about that in another post.

I think I would win the prize for having the most amount of paint for not being a painter.

After searching and not finding some good shelving for my paint, I turned these cigar boxes into shelving. I was quite tickled with how it turned out. I have a local cigar shop who sells these for $2 each.

yes, I go through golden gel medium like no one's business. many of these are half full from classes I've taught.

My filing system.

what a great feeling to have it all nice and clean again.

Portland trip

2010-09-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

really cool sewing space for anyone to come use their sewing machines on Alberta St. in Portland.

love this idea!

It's called Modern Domestic.

a portland dog. one of many....

this was in a cute little shop on Alberta St. too. unfortunately I can't remember the name of it but it is right next to the Tin Shed restaurant (which I wouldn't recommend despite the huge crowds around it).

randomness with a splash of macabre

2010-09-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Just unloaded over 100 photos from my camera...thought I'd post a few. Love cool sky shots.

LOVED the simple white flowers on this window. Wanna do this somewhere...maybe a wall.

don't really like this art installation in the foyer of the Seattle Art Museum but it IS odd...didn't have time to go in.

I was waiting on the sidewalk for Tracy who was getting another latte and felt someone staring at me. This what what I saw when I looked up.

This is the macabre part. We have wild bunnies in our yard. We've had them for a couple years now. I looked out the window only to squeal in delight at the baby bunnies running around when Sophie (our norwegian elkhound) emerged from the woods with something furry in her mouth. I had to snap a photo before Tracy took care of the little guy. when else could I get that close? btw...the next picture is of some squid...NOT the bunny...

This might be even more macabre. We have a new philipino market close by and I bought this grilled squid for dinner. Needless to say, Tracy was NOT enthused.

My good friend, Andrew Dyrdahl, made me this couture jumper from a printed piece of fabric I got from England. It's so cool.

The hand stitching was crazy.

6x8 journal

2010-08-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest journal and the reason I am suddenly having a love/hate relationship with journaling lately. I LOVE the 6x8 size for ease of fitting into my purse and those tiny round coffee house tables. I hate the size because there isn't enough room to do anything I like on the pages.

These top 2 images are the covers to this journal. It is actually a poster that came in one of my henrick drescher books...don't really know which one. I have been adding more and more doodles everytime I sit down to work in it.

not enough room to put a middle image inside the borders so I just put it over the borders.

sure wish my neon colors would show up on the web. they are subtle on the page but make a huge difference.

certainly not my best pages I've done...

so this page and the last 2 are still unfinished. I did these 3 while teaching in cleveland. Because of the size of the class, I demo'd an actual page to 3 different groups. I have to say I LOVE these because they seem to have a raw energy to them that came out when I was working fast and not thinking about anything...or really caring much if they came out good.

I'll repost these when I get some text on them and finish them up.

demeng app

2010-08-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was blown away today when I saw an email from one of my good friends, Michael deMeng showing his brand new iphone app. On it, he lists 19 recipes for paint mixes to achieve his amazing look he does on his assemblages. He also lists a bunch of cocktail recipes from his bartending days. Had to have it if only for the recipe for undead red (sookie) color. ;) Demeng rocks and this is just one more reason why.

loft for rent

2010-08-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hey...do you all remember the pictures of my new seattle loft around the first of may? here's more pics of it. WELL....we are moving into another space in the same building so I told the landlord (who has been awesome and had no problem with us moving into another space) that I'd put the word out that this space that we've had is now available. The reasons we want to move are due to the 3 flights of stairs up to this place. the one we are moving into has 2 flights. The other reason is that we are going to host some classes in seattle and the other space is shaped better for a larger classroom. That said, these are a few reasons you might be tempted to move in:

1. it's big, has a sleeping loft, kitchen with oven, dishwasher & fridge, clawfoot bathtub with shower, lots of storage, and architecturally really cool. There is a view of the water and the breeze that blows in the big windows has kept it cool all summer. The combo of wood, brick, tile, paint, and metal all makes for a texture rich space.

2. you'd be in the same building with me and on the same block as Carla Sonheim!

If you are interested, email me at artgirl777@aol.com . I will be moved out by sept. 1st.

Artfest 2011 is registering!

2010-08-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

I painted these about a month or so ago but didn't want to post them. Not my best work!!! But didn't have anything else to post. :)

btw...Artfest 2011 is now online and registering!

something fun.

2010-07-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

Went to the Bellevue Arts Fair last weekend and bought this necklace from www.eyecandybychelsea.com . The image is actually a piece of tin from an old lunchbox. Was going to buy the Burt (burt and ernie) necklace and then she brought this one out and that was that. I'm still trying to decide if I want to remove the darker chain and replace it with sterling silver or leave as is. it's been bugging me.