JACK OF ALL TRADES

I like going from one lighted room to another, such is my brain to me; lighted rooms.

Virginia Woolf

I love the idea of being able to compartmentalize my different activities, I call it the Jeffersonian approach, after TJ (being a Virginian I know all about Thomas Jefferson). I paint a little, exercise a little, read a little, write a little. Doing a little of these things each day makes for a happy and balanced me.

Everything can't be so easily compartmentalized, however. For example, when my boys come home from school I want to give them my undivided attention, especially when they are doing their homework. I want to be In The Now with them. Here's where the dilemma comes in: shouldn't I model correct behavior and work on some of my home-work while they work on theirs, to keep them focused, and model Working Behavior? And doesn't it make sense for me to Get Some Things Done while being at one with them, like working on my etsy shop or website? I do this administrative work sometimes, but then get fussy with them when they "interrupt" me with their reading and addition problems, focus gone. Be a good mom, susannah, be in the moment. Flip through recipes or something.

This Jeffersonian ideal of time management is an ideal, not a reality. There are always things on my to do list that don't get done, and who wants perfection anyway? Perfection is boring, might as well roll over and die. It seems to me that the quote I keep seeing on Pinterest for example, is that you spend your time doing what's most important to you. And the reality of how I spend my day is this: tend to the children, paint, play with paper, eat with my family, read. Sometimes exercise. Lots of times garden, rarely clean up the basement.

And try to send a handwritten note to someone. To make them feel special.

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

A.A. Milne



brushes full of glue from working on some collages.



I LOVE magazines. Nothing makes me happier than going to Barnes and Noble, getting a coffee, and checking out what's new. And I usually end up taking $50 or so in magazines home with me. Which is sort of difficult since I already have about 25 subscriptions. I've always been like this. My mother used to make me clean through the stacks in my room because she was afraid all that paper would start a fire.

One type of magazine that is enormously popular right now is the "artist studios" spread, like Somerset Studios, and Cloth, Paper, Scissors Studios. and there are several magazines just about organizing. I look at these studio pics and wonder, when and where in the world do these people work? Everything is way too clean and, "tidy". Where's the clutter? Where are the clippings and scraps and sketches and spills?  The magazine people need to come see my Working Studio with its paint spilled rug, paper pieces, cups of glue water, old tubes of paint, deserted coffee cups, candy wrappers, stinky paint water. Welcome to MY world! I know there are plenty of creative people out there who like to stay clean and organized, but surely not EVERY studio photographed isn't of this ilk.



My studio--organized really well according to my system, is in a constant state of flux, partly because I work with paper AND paint AND prints AND also teach up there. Plus I always have several projects going at once, so I don't waste my time while waiting for one painting to dry. Below is a shot from December, this stuff is for some paper projects I was working on. Fun, huh?

So now I'm rearranging again, tweaking, finding ways to work more efficiently. I love painting right in front of the windows with natural light coming in. My thing now is to work as much as I can standing up; I heard this really interesting health article on NPR about how much better it is for you (here is the link: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/09/152336802/stand-up-walk-around-even-just-for-20-minutes), and I can't stop thinking about it. After a few weeks of doing this my back wasn't hurting anymore.

Anyway, I welcome visitors! Just don't trip on the glue gun.

The work of art which I do not make, none other will ever make.

Simone Weil

I have this quote painted on the wall of my art studio, and remind my students, young and old, to think about this.
I am teaching in three dementia areas of a long term care facility nearby. I knew I'd like it a lot after helping care for my dad during his illness, and from many visits to my grandmother (the one who liked paper) who lived in one for ten years. Maybe it's the in and out of (consciousness) unexpectedly that pleases me, off in daydream world whenever it's pleasing. Why be so serious all the time? Why not live in a creative imagination?.

One of the areas, of the early onset stage dementia, has not been a huge success in art class attendance. I think it's because these residents are not locked in, and can take full advantage of the outside world as well as the world in their facility, which has a ton of offerings. But for some reason, they still have not lost their fears about taking an art class, "But, I'm not an artist" is the main barrier. The group one step lower than them has lost most of their inhibitions and are open and willing to try everything I suggest. Twice a week I have at least 5 residents join me. So I practiced some of my husband's professional marketing skills and decided that we needed some "rebranding" in the more resistant group. I sent out a newsletter offering a 6 week "Handmade Holiday Workshop" in November to make simple ornaments, decorations, and gifts they could share with others. I ended up having 9 students per session! And they have been so pleased with what they've done. I'm now planning our 6 week "Handmade Valentine Workshop", due to start this week. Just don't call it an art class.

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

I would like to do whatever it is that presses the essence from the hour.

Mary Oliver

This is my busiest time of the year: teaching, preparing for shows, completing commissions, and making my own gifts also. I left for thanksgiving in Texas at 6 am last week after doing three shows in the three days prior. So I guess it's no surprise that a week later I am in bed with pneumonia.

I'm usually pretty careful not to let myself get rundown since I am dealing with a chronic illness that flares up during times of stress (read: excitement, I.e. holidays). But somehow this year I have let exercise, rest, healthy eating, and stress get the better of me. So, this unexpected time in bed to read magazines and think is entirely unexpected. And a little bit welcome. Ideas have begun to flow. I'm starting to sort out the big picture. Remind myself to work smarter, not harder.

While in Texas I went to an Archivers store for the first time, holy cannoli! A paper wonderland! I went a little crazy to say the least. Found some paper I have been hoarding as its discontinued, as well as another version of it in another color, and this sort of periwinkle with light blue sparkly polka dots (definitely near the top of my all time favorite things: sparkly polka dots).  Got inspired by these colors for a new animal collage. The solid papers are also flocked, ie, they have a fuzzy texture.

Have also been thinking a lot about my color collages of a few January's ago (more on January projects later), and I need to revisit those, more pieces based on color, but more linear, more paper, more words.

some of my supplies, mid-project...

GARDENING IN JANUARY

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.

Claude Monet

January is always a welcome month for me because it feels very free. During the summer I am busy keeping up with cards for markets, fall I am preparing Christmas cards and ornaments, and doing commissions. Not that I don't enjoy every second of all that. But in January there is a short window where I let myself putter in my studio. Without feeling like I should be doing something more constructive. Like cleaning out, looking at pretty books, trying out new ideas for paintings. One year I started all of the color collages that caused such a frenzy in me that January ended up being more productive than any other month.
One year, it snowed a LOT, and each time it snowed I ordered flower bulbs for my yard, dreaming of spring. This was when my boys were out of school for almost two weeks. Then I started a bunch of flower paintings, and six zinnias were done, along with so e dahlias and others, in a matter of about three days.

January always holds some time for reflection, a time for looking ahead, and for some "planned" spontaneity. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds.

True artists are almost the only men who do their work with pleasure.

Francois-Auguste Rene Rodin

More serendipity.

A lot of the vintage photos on my cards are family members. I inherited some of my grandmother's (not ZouZou, the other one who loved paper) photo albums and scrapbooks, and figured I would use the photos instead of letting them sit silently in a drawer somewhere.  Other photos I get elsewhere. One  more reason to shop on etsy. I ordered some old photos a few weeks ago, and used one to make this card:

It's a great quote, from 

A few days ago, I got a nice note from the seller of the photos who complimented me on the way I used her photo. By the way, she said, that woman is my mother.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.

Danny Kaye

(This post was written almost exactly a year ago, and I was so busy I forgot to post it. )

In December, a few days before Christmas, some of the animal collages that I had been working on were shown on a really popular blog, YoungHouseLove, "and the crowd went wild". I literally was delivering a last order to a customer when suddenly my computer showed a lot of activity on etsy, which had never happened to me. Somehow with the whimsical animals of all kinds, I had struck a nerve with a LOT of people -- I had over 10,000 hits on my website during the following two weeks. And sold a bunch of stuff. And didn't get any sort of Christmas break at all. Still, no complaints.

Ironically, someone had gotten my name and interviewed me about selling on etsy earlier in the fall, and my answers to his questions had been based on the few interactions I had had. A few weeks after this sudden rush of business, I got an advance copy of his book. Things can really change overnight. Here is a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Etsy-101-Marketplace-Handmade-Crafting/dp/1936560097/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332241283&sr=1-1