Art Abandonment - My First

I recently joined an artist on-line FaceBook group started by Michael deMeng called ART ABANDONMENT.

Yesterday evening I secretly placed a piece of my 2009 artwork on canvas at a "resting station" along a bike trail that runs along the El Toro side of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.  I snapped a couple of photos and quickly made my escape before anyone saw me :)

The attachment you see taped in the upper right hand corner reads: 
"This is a handmade item I created that I am secretly placing here.  If you have found it, it was meant for YOU!  I am a member of a group of artists on FaceBook called Art Abandonment, and we just want to share a little piece of what we love to do - CREATE ART!  I have attached a card with my contact information.  Won't you drop me a line and le me know how finding this made you feel?  Have an art-filled day today!"


If you would like to learn more about our group and maybe even join in on the fun, check out Michael's video here:

This is fun. I'm definitely going to be doing this again real soon!

Not Rushing . . . Just Looking Forward :-)

The CREATE Mixed Media Retreat is not even over yet and I'm already thinking about The Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson in July.  Wanna know WHY? . . .

Teesha Moore will be hosting some workshops starting on Friday, July 13th.  First up is her 100% Recycled Journal from 9a to 11a.  (see photo above)

Scrapbooking Outside the Box is also on Friday, July 13th from 12:30p-2:30p (see photo above)

Japanese Tape Tricks is early on Saturday morning from 7:30a-9:30a (see photo above)

and 

Collage Love is on Saturday, July 14th from 2:30p-4:30p (see photo above)


To enroll in any of Teesha's classes above, you need to go to A Stamp in the Hand website.

Ooooooh, and on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th all the way from the U.K., Dyan Reaveley will be demonstrating her fab-u-lous art in the Stampers Anonymous booth.  Can hardly wait to see Dyan in person and in action again!  She is one of my favorite new peeps! :-)

Gotta go do my final packing for my class at CREATE tomorrow.  In the evening from 6p-9p is the Artists' Faire.  Unique supplies and one-of-a-kind artwork.  I hope I have self control at THAT event!  It's open to the public, so even if you're not taking classes, you can stop by after dinner and do some looking around and shopping *wink wink*

Stay Creative and have an art-filled rest of the week!

Events Today through October

For more information on the following events, please click on the links under "Up Next . . ." in the right hand column of my blog.

Frida Kahlo Opening Reception - 
Saturday, September 24th

The Jamestown Vintage Flea Market 
in the parking lot of Whimzy

Carpe Diem - Dia de los Muertos
October 1st through the 7th 

Glitterfest - Saturday, October 15th

Artistic License Fair - October 28th and 29th 
Costa Mesa
  

And if you know of any other events that are noteworthy, please leave them in your comments!

Have a creative weekend blog buddies :)

PS  One of my etsy items was included in a Treasury titled "Cool Halloween".  You can view it here:  http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ2MTM3OTB8NzU2NTExOTEx/cool-halloween?index=0#add-comment

Po-SO-lay and Gettin' Inky

I have been invited to - in the words of the hostess - "a casual, low-key, good grub, good company" party on Sunday.
 
Genevieve *that's the hostess* will be making a big pot of pozole, and those of us that are going were told to bring our own booze, bowl and spoon!  And although she doesn't promise leftovers, Gen said on the invite that we should be sure to bring an empty Tupperware container.

I have never had or even heard of posole before, so I looked it up on the internet to see what it was.  I read that at holiday time people in New Mexico honor a tradition on Christmas Eve by serving a steaming bowl of posole (pronounced po-SO-lay).  It is a spicy corn stew that is known as the ceremonial dish for celebrating life's blessings.   When I read the part about celebrating life's blessings, I knew immediately that this was going to be something I would enjoy sharing with a group of new friends.
I researched further and learned that New Mexicans have been enjoying posole for centuries. The cuisine there springs from the Native American culture, Mexican culture and European culture.  The Rio Grande Pueblo Indians and their ancestors, the “Anasazi,” or "ancient ones,” relied on corn, beans, squash, and chiles for sustenance.  These early crops became firmly entrenched in the culture, forming the foundation of New Mexican cuisine even before the Spanish arrived.

Corn has been and is the major food plant of the Native Americans. Red, yellow, and blue corn are cultivated in New Mexico. The corn is ground into meal and flour for use in breads and tortillas, and it is processed into posole corn.
To prepare posole corn, you soak the hard kernels of field corn, which is traditionally white, (but sometimes blue is used) in powdered lime and water.  This method is thought to mimic the ancient preservation of corn in limestone caves.
After several hours of soaking and the corn kernels have swollen, the liquid is allowed to evaporate and the kernels to dry.

At first when I was reading about this, I was thinking it was similar to hominy.  THAT I was familiar with.  However, I read that compared to hominy, posole's flavor is more intense, robust and earthy, where hominy tends to be a softer and more bland kind of corn.  I also read that posole corn can be difficult to find, so hominy is sometimes used as a substitute in posole stew.

As I continued my search, I found that there are many variations of posole.  Some stews are made with pork, some with chicken and I even saw one recipe made with vegetable protein rather than any meat at all!

I am always ready to try new foods, so this will be no exception.   I'm really excited about trying Genevieve's posole!

Ooooooooooh, and we're going to be making Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas TOO!  I'm getting my stuff all packed up and ready to go *smiles*

I'm making my double chocolate-chocolate chip cake to take to the potluck.

Bowl, Booze, Spoon, Tupperware container, craft supplies . . .  Oh yeah, good times are ahead!

I'm Learning to Zentangle

No, I'm not taking Tango lessons, but I got an invitation to some friend's home to learn how to Zentangle on December 5th.

Zentangle by Maria Thomas

What is Zentangle? Zentangle is an easy-to-learn and relaxing method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns.  Zentangles are abstract drawings.

Maria Thomas

Zentangles are doodles - structured, contained doodles.  The term 'Zentangle' was invented by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.  One day Maria described her experience as she created her art as feeling timeless and free.  Rick recognized that she was in a meditative state and so Zentangles were born.

Maria Thomas

Sandy Bartholomew wrote an article about Zentangle in the November/December 2009 "Cloth Paper Scissors" magazine starting on page 80.

Zentangle Kit

What do you need to Zentangle?  Smooth watercolor paper.  I read where the Fabriano Artistico HP is good and some fine liner pens such as Sakura Pigma Micron - Size 1 to 5, a pencil and an eraser.

Do any of YOU Zentangle?

It's Over Already!?

Lezlei and me just before boarding the Mariner of the Seas Sunday, October 11th

The Artful Journey cruise to Mexico with Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi has come to an end. I never knew that eight days and seven nights could go by so quickly!

I'm too tired to do much of anything this evening - especially any blog post writing, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm back. I'll try to get some rest tonight and post some photos tomorrow.

I have to tell you though . . . the cruise, the workshops, the people . . . I had one of the best times EVER!

Show Us Your America

My friend and a wonderful collage artist, Jacki Long, has entered one of her artworks in a contest that is going on over at Show Us Your America.

As Jacki does not have a blog, I wanted to ask if you would take a moment and go HERE and vote for my friend's entry titled On Duty. As of the writing of this blog post, she has 147 ratings.

I appreciate you! Continue to have a wonderfully creative weekend!

Sarah Fishburn

artwork by sf

Remember a couple of blog posts ago when I was tagged "IT" by Sarah Fishburn? Well, that's the same Sarah Fishburn that is going to be teaching at the K C Willis Studio Retreat (see photo below) in December.

Sarah's inspiration-filled weekend will include learning her signature techniques as you create a personal artist book (or two!) over two days - December 5th and 6th.

You can get all of the details HERE and HERE

And wait, there's more! *smiles* - Did I mention that there's a $300 Lipstick Ranch art giveaway taking place on September 12th? Sure is . . . but you'll need to go HERE for the details *wink wink* UPDATE!!! I won this giveaway!!!

Rip Roaring FUN!

My friend, Jacki Long is back at The ARTbar in the Santa Ana Artist's Village for her Rip Roaring Collage Workshop this Saturday, July 25th. To save yourself a spot in this fun and fast-paced 2-1/2 hour workshop, contact The ARTbar at (714)558-2445. The workshop is being held from 10am to 12:30pm and costs $39. Bring a matboard or 10" to 12" square gallery wrapped canvas, soft gel gloss medium, glue stick and a bristle or foam brush.

The Voting Booth is Open for "Show Me Your Tatts!"

It's time to vote on your favorite tattoo entry!

• There are 8 entries
• Use the voting box in the right hand column of my blog here
• The voting booth will be open through the weekend
• The winner will be announced on Monday, June 1st
• The winner will get to choose any item currently in my etsy shop ($30 including shipping & handling cost)

Entry #1 Winged Girl

Entry #2 - Japanese symbol for "HOPE"

Entry #3 - Dancers

Entry #4 - Face

Entry #5 - words

Entry #6 - flower design

Entry #7 - Rose

Entry #8 (a ball of yarn with a pair of knitting needles) :

Got Glitter?

The Outside Entrance to Glitterfest

At the Top of the Stairs

Where do I start? I guess at the entrance, and by telling you that Glitterfest was one of the best art events I've attended this year! So many talented artists in one place. And it was so nice to meet some of the artists I've met on-line "in the flesh" as well as some new faces.

Bridgette Antonelli of Bella Luna Arts was there selling her gorgeous jewelry. I especially liked her gourd jewelry! I had seen Bridgette's work in the Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine, but up close and personal? Oh my, her Milagra Gourd Ladies are just fab-u-lous.

And for those of you that were not able to attend today's event, Bridgette has an etsy shop - Bella Luna Arts where you can purchase some of her jewelry creations.

Bridgette is fairly new to the blogging world, so when you get a minute, stop by and say hello. You can find her HERE.

Stacey Steimle was there with some of her vintage goodies. And if you didn't already know this, Stacey also vends at Country Roads in Old Town Orange where she sells all of her vintage ware.

Good seeing you again Stacey! :)


And I had the pleasure of meeting Christie Repasy of Christie Repasy Designs today. What a sweet lady!!

Christie paints the most beautiful rose creations. I was happy to be able to purchase a piece of her artwork at the show today.

Nice meeting and talking with you Christie!

a couple of additional snapshots at Christie's table . . .


Kerry Judd and Danyel Montecinos - The Paris to the Moon girls were there with some of those fabulous crowns and other artwork . . .


Sheryl Simpson (promoter of this fabulous event!) didn't stand still long enough for me to get a "real" photo of her, but I think that's her in the background in the pink blouse? - that's the best I could do - sorrrreeeee . . .


and there's Jenny Doh of Stampington Publications on the far left, making her way around the event . . .


Christine Saqui of Alchemy Studios - C'est la vie was selling at the event.
Did you see that she was published in the latest Marie magazine for Somerset Studios? Yep, sure was. Nice chit chatting with you today Christine! . . .


Ohhhhh and I finally got to meet Christine Rose Elle of DollybelleAtelier in person today. What a nice lady - I just LOVE her energy!

Click on this photo of Christine so you can get a good look at the apron that one of her friends made for her. Isn't it just "so Christine"?!

Here's another photo of her table . . .

and here's a photo of the art piece I purchased (and is already hanging on my bedroom wall!). Nice meeting you Christine! . . .

Let's see . . . who else? Oooooh, the cupcake lady - can't forget HER :) - Kara B. of Whatakaracter Creative Group. Nice meeting you Kara! Send me some info on that event you're doing in Fountain Valley ok? :)

Saltwater Studio, Susie Scott, Posy Nouveau, Karen L. Howard, Art Trance, The Button Box, Robin Kelso, Terry Hale, and MORE.

I had a wonderful time today!