Merry Halloween New England!

It's most unusual to expect snowfall before raking the leaves,

or before the trick-or-treaters come a-beggin'!

But hey, this is New England after all.

We lost power Saturday night,

and in the wee hours this morning,

the utility trucks could be heard

repairing the transformer,

and bam, we had our power back.

Some folks are still in the dark however...

.

 5 inches of snow did this damage to our clothes line.

I guess all in all, we were pretty lucky

compared to some folks.

Gotta love New England.

Merry Halloween!



One thing leads to another....

artwork by Tamara Paré

It all started with the purchase of this post card.

He said "Thank you for supporting our local artist.

She is a member of our staff".

Mom and I happened to be downtown, and

she wanted to stop in the bookstore.

Ironically, I did some unplanned Christmas shopping,

and this little post card caught my attention.

We were interested to learn more about this artist,

and asked if she had a website.  He handed me a

card, and said she also has numerous paintings

on display in the bookstore, and coincidentally

is currently displaying her art in the Town Hall Gallery.

He said it was her last day recently,

as she is persuing her art career.

I was handed this postcard, and off we went

to investigate the gallery showing,

but NOT before taking a few photos of the art.

The top 4 paintings is the artwork of

Tamara Paré

Tamara Paré

The town of Exeter was founded in 1638,

and the downtown area consists of historical buildings.

These are the views taken from the Gallery room on the 2nd floor.

Tamara Paré

As we were heading to our car,

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this shop!

Art & Tiques

An excellent write up of this shop blogged here

by Elaine of Cafe Chatelaine

I promise you will find what you need here!

We collected vendor business cards and post cards
and headed home.  NOT before stopping at craft fair at the library.

We happened to notice several yellow signs with arrows
on our way home, indicating a craft fair ahead.

I was amazed to learn several of the vendors

belonged to NH Team on Etsy.

Everyone was so warm and friendly,

as I stopped to asked questions about their work.

I immediately spotted a mixed media artist,

Michelle Dyson of Stars Align

and made a beeline to inspect her work.

one word says it all - AMAZING!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE her work.

Next I me Kris Keese from Scarlet Cord Designs.

She had the most incredible needlefelted birds

I have ever seen.  The details from the embellishments,
down to the their claws really reflects a skilled craft.

She was so charming to explain her skill,

as well to share the information about Etsy Team NH,

and how the vendors planned to be at this event.

Then I met Erica of

 Little Cutie Cakes Boutique llc

It was interesting to learn we have been practically

neighbors for over 6 years!

I have a weakness for owls,

and Wendy of Pure Dichotomy

had an awesome selection of beautiful owl prints,

not to mention beautiful jewelry as well.

My favorite part of the fair was stumbling

onto Maxine of Whimsy Fish Arts.

She looked vaguely familiar, and after a few

moments of conversation, it hit me;

she purchased an item I had made a few

years ago when I was vending locally.

You just never know!

This day simply evolved by purchasing a postcard;

one thing just lead to another.

Trials and Celebrations

Making progress in my yellow altered book journal.

It was one of those moments in the studio;

cleaning and organizing, putting things back

in their proper places.

Sometimes just touching something

can generate a spark....

I was shuffling through a box of collage,

and I stopped cold when I handled this

image of three ladies in the garden.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the publication

it was in; possibly a Stampington magazine,

or Cloth Paper Scissors perhaps.

The artist is Sharon Tomlinson,

known for All Norah's Art.

(did you notice Sharon spelled backwards!)

I am extremely fond of her style of painting faces.

If I remember correctly, she started with a piece of work,

and added photos of her garden to create this new piece.

Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers,

and the colors in this image were striking

against the yellow of my book.

The urge hit me, and out came Collage Pauge,

tissues and my "text" box.

I began collaging the cover of my new journal,

and before I knew it, the cover was done.

A place to record all things

 COLORFUL!
A place to practice painting faces.

My trials and celebrations of creating ART.

This cover "sings" to me.

Sharon graciously gave me permission to

post this on my blog.

She is a fabulous teacher, if you

haven't already taken one of her workshops.

She has truly been a great inspiration to me,

and her blog is joy to visit on a regular basis!

This journal is growing on me!

Transitioning into Fall

This photo was taken by me a couple years ago

while vending at a local craft fair.

This is my favorite time of year.

Warm sunny days, with crispness in the air.

The leaves are turning splendid colors....

...and I feel less guilty spending time indoors in my studio.

The gardens no longer beckon me outdoors....
and it's still too early to rake the leaves...sooooo

I can now spend more time doing this.

It was two years ago that I discovered journaling.

It didn't occurr to me to keep a journal.

It might be, because I was able to express myself

with my doll making, quilting and painting.

However, I quickly developed "journal fever".

I couldn't make up my mind:

on HOW I wanted to journal,

or what type of journal to work in,

or which medium pleased me the most.

I began with a blank daily "Journey to Wings Journal"

designed by Kelly Rae Roberts,

published by Brush Dance.

It quickly expanded in size from all the

daily snippets that I glued to the pages:

photos, business cards, post cards, letters,

poems, special e-mails, invitations, birth announements,

bits of artwork for inspiration.

Once I started this journal, it travelled with me to work,

and everywhere I went.  I began keeping

my goals, to-do lists, projects and my private thoughts.

Browsing through it gives me flashbacks,

and I am once again, I am back in time,

flooded with memories.

It's almost full to the brim.

So, I will move on to a hand bound

"Full-Tilt-Boogie"

journal I made after taking the workshop from the

fabulous Mary Ann Moss.

Special note: 

She is offering a Halloween sale on this

class until October 31st.

She is AWESOME!

...just saying!

I can now boast that I keep several types of journals at once.

I have painted/altered childrens books,

a couple moleskines,

a small and large sketchbook,

Strathmore spiral Visual journals

(140# watercolor, and Mixed Media)

Four hand-bound journals,

One large altered book journal,

one soon-to-be altered jounal,

and a lovely purchased journal I found at Marshall's.

The front and back cover is artwork by Sabrina Ward Harrison,

and it is printed on recycled paper, designed by Anahata Katkin (Papaya).

Currently, I am altering this yellow book
I purchased at a thrift shop.
It contained 160 pages of
painting-on-china patterns/techniques.
It's outdated, and old fashioned, and 9" x 11".
I decided, maybe I could breathe new life into this book.

I began by removing several center pages from each spine.
It is now about 50 pages wide,
with lots of room to expand.

I used a metal ruler to tear out all the colored photos

to add to my collage bin.

These pieces will be incorporated back

into my journal pages in some way.

When I'm feeling in a slump, or

can't get my mojo working,

I work on mindless tasks,

such as painting gesso and/or paint to prep the pages,

or glue an entire page with collage elements,

with no thought process.

When I feel the urge to work on a journal page

it doesn't matter which journal, or which page.

By giving myself permission to work this way,

I have produced some very interesting pages.

No rhyme, no reason.  I'm really ok with that.

I love looking at a stack of almost finished journals.

They are all work-in-process;

the results of my journal fever.

I'm looking forward to the long winter months,

as I develop my own unique style of journaling.

Thinking back, I probably discovered journaling

due to the overwhelming amount of courses offered

on different styles and techniques of journaling.

I confess, I have contributed a fair amount of

time and money to that end.

This past week, was the finale of

Katie Kendricks workshop on

"Layered Impressions".

After the many courses/workshops I have taken,

I take great pleasure in saying,

Katie Kendrick is awesome!

The good news is,

she will be offering a DVD

on this class material,

in addition to her soon-to-be-published

 book

available in January 2012.

Katie's work reflects her ability to reveal true emotion.

She encourages you to explore and experiment,

and mostly to enjoy the process.

I highly recommend her DVD

based on taking her workshop,

and I can't wait to wrap my arms

arounds her book!

p.s. I will soon be adding a cardboard journal

to my list, after taking this class.

Happy Fall to you!