I've just joined the Design Team for Lunagirl Vintage Images and created this altered Altoids tin for the October challenge "gothic". Lunagirl is running the Gothic challenge during the month of October and its a really fun way to express your creepy creative side in any medium. 
​First I covered the tin on all sides with the Lunagirl Gothic Black backgrounds paper. Then I added the monument and text from ad in a 1928 National Geographic. The wonderfully creepy girls are from the Lunagirl Edwardian Gothic image sheet. I covered them with a sheet of mica and used black photo corners. A coat of Diamond Glaze finished it off and sealed it.
One of the best things about making altered tins or boxes is that there are so many surfaces to work on. I'm not sure what I'm going to put inside yet, but I'm thinking of a tiny story book inspired by the photo. 
In "real life" this case looks quite a bit thicker (3/4") but looking at this photo I can see that this technique could be used for some amazing iPhone cases. I'd substitute resin for the Diamond Glaze so it would hold up better with daily use. 

The text in the middle comes from an invitation to a meeting for a local artist's group, the topic was "how to promote your work". The postcard is from the 80s. I didn't go, but I stuffed it in a box where I save envelopes, stamps and postcards. 
I still don't know how to promote my work, but its really fun to share online and to discover artists who inspire me. Today I discovered Emily Klein, a mixed media artist, art journal maker and teacher. I was searching "art journal" on Google and her page really spoke to me. She doesn't rely on cute birds, flowers or faces or even inspiring slogans -- her pages are really cool! I'm thinking "maybe I could do an art journal". Thanks for the inspiration Emily! 
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This is probably the last Friday I'm going to celebrate "Drink & Dunk". Its a traditional activity that takes place at/in the bay, at night, accompanied by a good friend, live music and some alcohol. Bathing suits are optional because there is no one else in the water. Safety first! Its only about 3 feet of water and we always get a ride home. 
The amount of alcohol depends on the temperature of the water and the air. At the beginning or the end of the season (late May to late September), or on rainy nights, a shot to tequila is sometimes required. Most Fridays its just optional.
One of my very favorite things in life is swimming at night in the bay. Its a truly transcendent experience where I feel like am part of the water and the sky, in a place I grew up on and have a strong connection to. Someday soon I will take the last dunk of 2015 and I will look forward to the first dunk of 2016 nearly every day. 

Why does the prospect of stepping up to my table to create every day scare me? Every day? I was hoping that by now (day 21 of my art every day challenge) I'd get a little bolder. A bit more confident. I was hoping that the structure of showing up every day would make the process of creating art easier. That hasn't happened yet.
I'm just as anxious and as much of a procrastinator as I've always been. The main difference is that I'm letting my anxiety be my excuse any longer. Its become more like the process of jumping into cold water that actually isn't so cold after all. Once I get started and get involved with a project I'm able (most of the time) to feel comfortable and get into the flow. 

When I decided to create a collage a day on September 1st I was not expecting that I would be making a big leap into painting and mixed media. My collage work has been imaged based so its been a surprise detour to work abstractly. 
My comfort zone in terms of a color palette is neutral/green/blue. That's why I decided to choose red for the theme. To my surprise this piece practically created itself! It was so much fun to create all the different red textures with magazine images, acrylic paint, fabric and oil pastels. Although I'm not especially knowledgeable about the Chakra centers I definitely felt energized during the process and have fallen love with red. . 

Its been literally decades since I've worked on a painting. It wasn't just those negative art school critiques that made me put it aside ... it was the fact that I agreed with them. I just wasn't a very good painter. I experimented quite a bit with painting last week and I think I found a secret weapon: paper! 
Because I'm in my comfort zone as a collage artist, I decided to bring collage into my paintings to add some structure and familiarity. I'm definitely been having more fun painting than I did in art school, and I think that is a big part of it too. 

I've been teaching jewelry making classes for about 10 years. During my last class one of my students asked me why I never wore any of the jewelry I made to class. I was a little embarrassed and finally answered very honestly "The jewelry I make to sell doesn't express who I am. Next week I'll make something that does and wear it here". Because I am a mixed media artist it was clear that I needed to make some really quirky mixed media jewelry. I found these books really helpful in my journey to make unique pieces:
Semiprecious Salvage by Stephanie Lee
Resin Alchemy by Susan Lenart Kazmer
The Jewelry Maker's Design Book by Deryn Mentock
Making Metal Jewelry by Jen Cushman

Dreams can be very elusive. Sometimes I wake up and have a feeling about a dream that is very strong, but I can't remember any of the specific details. I may be able to recall a few vague images for a few moments before they slip away. 

I never go on vacation. There are a number of reasons: financial, the fact that I rescue dogs that no one wants to take care of and that money is usually tight. I was talking about it with a friend yesterday and I think the number one reason I don't go anywhere is because a vacation is guaranteed to cost money and not guaranteed to be a good time. It's a gamble, right? I made this collage inspired by my fear of vacations, and to make fun of myself a little bit.