Well, Jason and I have been photographing my new ArtDress (we’re talkin’ stunningly beautiful photos, people!)—and there are new bags in progress, coin purses, new paintings, jewelry, accessories…yipee yahoo!!

This particular bag is made from a corn sack, which was provided by Honest Farm in Midway, KY. I’ve been receiving so many wonderful supplies from all my friends and neighbors, so THANK YOU to everyone!

The aim is to get all of these projects finished in the next few weeks. And still keep my day job. I’ll update you as it happens, so cross your fingers for me!

Even though I don’t paint landscapes very often anymore, I can certainly appreciate superbly painted scenery when I see it! Jean Vadal Smith uses such wonderful hues in her work, and the color combinations are genius. She sells prints as well as original paintings. In Red Fall Stream here, I particularly love the “chemistry” happening between the cool and fiery colors!

What can I say, I just love Hide N Seek! Every new creative work in the shop inspires a different daydream in my mind…pictured here is a detail of Envy. Hidden Eloise has such a wonderful way with colors and stories, and often will push me to get off the computer and go create something of my own! (Plus, her shop has stickers, prints, cards, and much more!) The style of her illustrations is just right—a wonderful balance of shading and outline, with no “cartoon-ish” feeling. I want them all!

This original 18 x 24 Fall Colors painting by Sherri Marranca of JMJSTUDIO’s shop is bold, energizing color at its purest. In our backyard, the sun sets behind a stand of trees every evening, and this painting captures the essence of the daily beauty we get to see! It also reminds me of the paintings we used to do in grade-school…using only a drinking straw and the air in our lungs to push drops of India Ink across the page. I find myself just staring at the image on my computer monitor, wondering how many hours I would spend mesmerized by it if it were actually on my wall! Amazing.

I’ve always loved those old-fashioned silhouette portraits, but the work of Le Papier Studio gives me the same feeling with a more updated twist. The Falling Leaves Silhouette Print here is just one example of many themes…and you can choose from pre-designed silhouettes, or email a photo for a one-of-a kind piece. I’ve always wanted to try this with my own photos, but now you can have it done FOR you…All of her work is clean and classy!

I recently stumbled upon an Etsy shop called Savor, and found myself salivating over soaps. Originally I considered trying the Caramel Apple soap (and I hope it will be available again soon!), but there’s no lack of choices concerning sweet, unique confections for cleaning yourself. Mmmmm….sugary bubbles. This photo here is of the Pumpkin Pie Soap, or you could try S’mores, Pecan Pie or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. The flavors and photos of these soaps are stunning!
*Oh yeah!*—and if you mention my blog at the time of your order, you can get 10% off your item total! How cool is that?! (Do it now!)

This lil’ beauty is called Beginnings of Change, a miniature oil-painting by Madelaine Fedorowich. This particular painting is only 4 x 3 inches, and the artist’s shop is full of similarly sized oils and watercolors. I love the idea of smaller paintings, especially ones which are very detailed, as are Madelaine’s here! As she says in her shop announcement, miniature paintings are indeed a great (and affordable!) way to brighten up any space, and they make it easy to start collecting or giving works of original art. I especially like the way she paints shiny, reflective surfaces (like in the Midnight Marbles ACEO)…it makes me remember how fun and challenging it is to paint chrome and glass

As a person who loves miniature anything, I have collected many dollhouse-sized objects over the years. (And fall is also the time for apples, right?) So naturally, I almost giggled out loud when I saw these apple cutter earrings. CuteAbility has a good selection of cute (duh!) wearable miniatures, including another favorite of mine, the S’mores dangle earrings. Adorable.

Continuing along the apple theme is this darling hand-made, reversible Pinafore by Lassiegirl. These look really cute over top of jeans, too. The shop also has some great diaper-covers/bloomers to go underneath dresses. If I had a little girl to dress up (which I do not, T.Y.V.M…) I would definitely go the “matching bloomers” route! Heck, if I could get away with it, I’d make some for myself. Seriously.
And, the *reversible* factor is something that I really love. Why can’t ALL of our clothes be reversible?!—it just makes so much sense.

First of all, I cannot believe all this talk about Christmas already. (We still have TWO holidays to go before Christmas, people! Stop and enjoy them!) But I suppose that’s just me, the master-procrastinator speaking…

Yes, I am starting to wonder what the heck I’ll be making people for presents, but our family also has several birthdays in these coming months, so it’s already jam-packed with gifts and occasions.

Speaking of gifts, I’ll be participating in Jennifer Zingg’s Gifty, Thrifty & Under $50 sale again this year, which will be held at her gallery on Dec. 5th and 5th. A great opportunity to buy affordable, one-of-a-kind, original art!

Oh yeah—This photo here is from my show opening! It was a super-fun night, and I received so much wonderful feedback from people, including intelligent conversation about art in general. I met some new people, and I got to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in ages… Thanks Jen for hosting such a great event and opportunity!

One of the random articles that a Google search gave me (while looking for info on clothing made from paper) was a feature about clothing made from milk…and technically they are correct.
According to Mairi Beautyman of The Huffington Post,

A factory in Italy [has begun] making organic yarn from casein, a protein used to make cheese. Reportedly, this chemical-free stuff, marketed as Milkofil, has some “Blade Runner”-like perks: Thanks to natural lubricants in the protein, you can toss the skin cream. It actually keeps your skin soft and moisturized. Plus, super soft and anti-bacterial fibers stabilize body temperature.

If you view this slideshow (from the International Herald Tribune), you’ll also learn that

fibers were in fact first obtained from milk back in 1935, when Fascist Italy was bent on pursuing a policy of autarky, or commodity self-reliance aimed at avoiding international trade. Under names such as Lanital, Aralac and Merinova, these yarns replaced wool until the post-war period. By the 1950s, however, such substitutes had been happily forgotten, an embarrassing blip on the national fashion conscience.

Hmmm.

In the same article, Beautyman introduces us to the 360 Paper Bottle. I would love to get my hands on one of these to really see what it’s all about…

Because in my head, I’m imagining what happens to your McDonalds cup when you let the rest of your rootbeer sit on the counter overnight (or, for a few days). Because we’ve all come home to a sticky rootbeer mess from THAT kind of paper cup, haven’t we? Well, this paper bottle does look quite different—more sleek, all official and heavy-duty-like.

Apparently, plastic clothes hangers are on the chopping block, too. And with good reason. I noticed that someone had “conveniently” name-dropped the following product in a website’s comment section, and I was too curious to not check it out. I’m talking about Ditto Hangers, a company specializing in recycled paper and plastic clothes hangers, and I hope it catches on! They offer a fairly wide selection of styles for their hangers (in paper and plastic) and the website also offers a good summary of the dilemma retailers face between convenience, cost, and environmentalism…

Plastic and wire hangers have become so commonplace in the retail environment that they have become virtually invisible. That is until it’s time to dispose of them. Municipal recyclers won’t and can’t take them. Made of 7 different types of low-grade plastic (if marked at all), they are extremely difficult to identify and segregate on a rapidly moving recycling line. Made from multiple materials (plastic, wire, non-slip vinyl pads, etc.) the components are costly to separate.

I worked in retail for many years, so I can understand the dilemma, and would be very interested to see how strong these paper hangers are. Retailers—and especially customers—are very rough on hangers. I’m not sure how long the paper would hold up, meaning that the hangers would have to be replaced frequently, which would require purchasing lots of extra hangers to have around. (And personally, when I’m shopping, I like to hook the hangers onto the strap of my shoulderbag, so that my hands are free to keep browsing the racks. Would they stand up to the beatings?)

But I digress. Luckily, Ditto Hangers also makes recycled plastic PET hangers, which look pretty sleek in comparison to the paper ones. It looks like more and more companies are making an effort to switch to recycled, but the key is to then RE-USE the recycled items so they don’t end up in landfills when the day is done.

The retail supply-chain is the most obvious place to start dealing with all this plastic….lets hope they keep the new ideas coming!

This is part of what I’ve been working on the past few days…I won’t say exactly what it is, but I’ll say that it could very well end up on a runway someday. No, it’s not going to be run over by an airplane, I mean it’s part of an outfit.

But you already knew that, didn’t you?

And I probably won’t be keeping the bows—they’re a bit prissy for my tastes.

Despite the fog in my brain, I managed to take a few decent close-up shots of these bags. When I’m able, I’ll take ‘em out in into nature for some action photos.

The birdseed bag (here on the left) has a magnetic snap closure, and a handle filled with actual birdseed. It also has that nice snakeskin texture which is difficult to achieve on these plastics. The dogfood bag on the right is a shoulder-style design, with a profile shape that reminds me of a canoe. It has a zippered top, and fits nicely against the body when slung over the shoulder.

I’ll be expanding upon these designs in the future. Until then, send me any extra Dr. Peppers you may have lying around. (The “Berries and Cream” flavor would be nice—did they quit making those altogether? I can’t find ‘em around here anymore!!) Oh, and be on the lookout for new quilted paintings in the near future

These last few weeks have absolutely flown by. I’m getting ready to submit artwork to the Art Fever auction to be held at the Lexington Art League. And of course I’ve been making more recycled art here and there…like these bracelets with milkweed, birdseed, and morning glory seeds. I’ll be listing them in my Etsy store when we get a good batch of photos!

And I can’t wait to show off my new birdseed purse. It’s adorable. Just wait ‘n see…

As a person who is getting over some sort of “issue” with using bright colors, I really can’t get enough of the intense colors that Jen uses in her gourd art. And these ain’t no birdfeeders, either. We’re talking SERIOUS sculpture, here…
Out of GOURDS.
Gourds and paint. (And a bit of clay.) That’s what you’re seeing in these photos, people.

You probably already know that I’m crazy about using odd materials to make art. But Jennifer takes this to the extreme with her chosen medium—she is awesome at it, she really knows her stuff, and she makes it look easy. If you ask me, she blows away the competition. Not only are these sculptures breath-taking and masterfully executed, Jen’s work is backed by an incredible passion for life and for her chosen subjects. Be it animals, people, or her new Mosaic series, her energy is always present in the final result.

The Courier-Journal newspaper (Louisville, KY) did an article featuring Jennifer’s work, and there’s even a short audio interview. Also read about the artwork that she’s donating to “Art for the Animals” and find out where/when to attend the event!

At her personal website, you can find information about the classes she’ll be teaching (including children’s workshops) and news about her studio in Frankfort. Plus–photos, photos, and more photos of her work!

Now the silly part… (C’mon, you didn’t think I would forget the SILLY part!)

Jennifer graciously brought me this palm tree “husk” that she found while visiting Florida, and I’m beginning to transform it into a wearable piece of art. The husk is in one piece and swoops up in back of my head. It’s very “She-Ra”-like, but is also not very easy to move around in. (Even tougher to dance while wearing it, but it’s doable.)

I plan on adding leather scraps and possibly some dangly-gourdy-bits here and there. While taking some photos, we felt it was necessary to incorporate lots of earthy, primitive props into the scenery…hence, the sorta “gourd-worship” look achieved here.

This photo shows the husk fairly well, but I will probably edit some others to add to the collection in my Imagekind gallery. (PS: Yes, Jason also did the make-up!)