Under Construction... please come back later!

Wow it has been a very long time.  I am still around and very busy... so I guess until further notice this blog is "under construction".  I hope to be posting some new and exciting things soon.

Apple Pickin'

So I took the boys apple pickin' and we all had a wonderful time.  The orchards were beautiful and I could have snapped pictures all day long.  The negative space between the leaves, the shapes cast by sun light as it fell between the branches, the vivid colors of the fallen apples in contrast to the rich green grass... what is it about the light that falls on an apple orchard? Perfect!  Well that was all missed by my young children.  The enjoyed picking, eating and throwing apples.  We shinned apples on our shirts until the gleamed... and then I saw the pumpkin patch.  We are so going back to the pumpkin patch.  For now I need to deal with all of these apples.

OMG... I NEED TO MAKE SOMETHING!

OK... summer is over and our big fundraising event will be over soon too.  It is time to get back into the studio and be creative.  I have been collecting papers and wonderful materials all summer and I have already stocked up on bookboard and PVA...with no time to work out all the ideas in my head.  I feel like I am all dressed up for the ball with no pumpkin to get me there.  First things first... and I know I have been saying this... but I need to organize my studio.  I have a new set up for paper storage and some new work spaces to install.  I need to get the blades on my board shear sharpened and I need to take stock of all my tools.... I know for a fact that I desperately need a new pair of scissors, new brushes and a larger garbage bin.  I would also love to paint my studio walls and floor.  Starting very soon I will have a respite worker coming by to help with Sam.  We will get 12 hours a month and I plan on using that time to get organized in my studio and my house so that I don't have to clean up and hunt for things before I even get started on a project.  Lofty goals (considering things as they are presently) but a girl has to have aspirations ... right!  

 

Getting Ready for the Buddy Walk... and trying to sneak in a bit of creativity where I can

So besides all my mommy and domestic duties, I have been painting wine glasses and martini glasses like crazy to donate to the silent auction and raffles for our local Buddy Walk. So far I have 5 sets of 6 wine glasses and 2 sets of 6 martini glasses... with a few more to go. Can you say HOLY WINE GLASSES BATMAN? I am really not a painter but the simple dragonfly design is whimsical and fun... and dishwasher safe!!!  We have a ton a of great prizes this year... 

The Buddy Walk was established in 1995 to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. As many of you know Patrick is the president of our local Down syndrome parent support group The DDC (Down syndrome Development Council) and I am also on the board. Our Buddy Walk is September 21st at Lambs Farm in Libertyville from 12:00-5:00. It is a fun family event with games, music, inflatables, silent auction, raffles, performances by persons with Down syndrome, food, petting zoo and so much more. It is free and open to the public so if you are in the area... please stop by and meet a few thousand (we expect 1000-2000 this year) other people who love someone with Down syndrome too. For more info you can check out the DDC's website at www.theddc.org . In the mean time I am busy getting things done for our big event... so if you don't hear from me for a bit... you will know what we are doing. 

Buddy Walk Facts 

*The Buddy Walk was established by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October.

*The Buddy Walk has three primary goals:

1. To promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome;

2. To raise funds locally and nationally for education, research and advocacy programs; and

3. To enhance the position of the Down syndrome community, enabling us to positively influence local and national policy and practice.

*The Buddy Walk has grown from 17 walks in 1995 to more than 260 in 2006 across the country and around the world.

*At least 250,000 people are expected to participate in more than 275 Buddy Walks this year.

*Since 1995, more than 1,750,000 people have participated in the Buddy Walk program.

Last year alone, the Buddy Walk raised more than $6.5 million to benefit local programs and services, as well as national education, research and advocacy initiatives.

*The Buddy Walk program is supported at the national level by the National Down Syndrome Society. Local Buddy Walks are organized by NDSS Affiliates, parent support groups, schools, and other interested organizations and individuals.

Most Buddy Walks take place from September through November to recognize Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October.

*John C. McGinley, who plays Dr. Perry Cox in the hit NBC show "Scrubs," is the 2007 National Buddy Walk Spokesman. Mr. McGinley is both an accomplished actor and the proud father of Max who has Down syndrome.

Anyone who wants to support acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome can participate in the Buddy Walk. To find a local Buddy Walk in your community, visit the "Find a Walk" section of http://www.buddywalk.org.

all in good time...

Well... Sam's surgery went very well.  Both Andrew and Sam are back in school and if I play my cards right the baby will nap for an hour or two while they are gone... giving me much needed time to clean, put away laundry and other mundane house hold duties.  Slowly but surely I am getting back into my studio.  I am trying to organize and get ready to really get busy.  I have several lovely new papers calling my name... I hear the rustling at night (make me into a box or book or something!).  Right now I am also painting sets of wine glasses and martini glasses (10 sets in all) for a our local Down syndrome group's annual Buddy Walk (a national Down syndrome fundraiser that also promotes awareness).  The hand painted glasses will be mixed in with baskets and put into a silent auction... we have a chocolate martini basket, several wine tasters baskets and so on.  Both DH and I are on the board our local group (The Down syndrome Development Council), he is the president and I am the wizard behind the curtain... one of my main duties besides painting all these wine glasses is to bring treats to the meetings...LOL.  So with homework, soccer, cub scouts, the upcoming Buddy Walk, painting wine glasses and just daily life I fear that the studio must again be patient and wait a bit longer for my return.  I am busy jotting down ideas and getting ready.  In the mean time Family comes first... but once they are well into their routine I hope to be presenting a bunch of new things.  I keep reminding myself... patience young grasshopper, patience.

OH MY... where has the summer gone

The summer is getting away from me.  I cannot believe that August is here and summer is starting to slip away.  The baby turns 1 this weekend, Sam's surgery is next week and then following week the boys go back to school... throw in a few events, some therapies, soccer practices, and religious education classes and it barely leaves time to soak up the last of the summer sun and spend time at the pool.  We are all getting excited about going to the

Wheatland Music Festival ... we try to go every year and the boys love it.  We will don our best tie-dyed tees and spend the weekend enjoying fun music, good food and a relaxed atmosphere.  Although I love spending time with my boys... I can't wait until they are back in school allowing me to spend a bit more time in my studio.  I acquired some new papers and some bobbles and I am itching to get some work done.  I hope to replenish and freshen up my Etsy shop soon with new items.  For now I am just enjoying the rest of the summer with my boys...  

still here...

OK... So I have been MIA for a bit but what can I say... my family comes first and sometimes my life is not my own.  The rest of July is packed and August is impossible... I hope to see myself more in my studio in September.  Anyway... We just got back from a camping trip in the UP (upper peninsula).  I am originally from Michigan so it is fun to take the kids back to see the places I remember as a kid.  Being outside, unplugged and in nature really got my creative juices going.  Colors, textures, negative spaces, random groupings.... aaahhhhh.... I can't wait to get back to work.  Here are some pics... hope they inspire you too.

Tahquamenon Falls (lower)

 

hay bales on the farm

old house at the ghost town (Fayette State Park)

 

another old building at the Ghost Town

   

Letterboxing

Today we hatched as new Letterboxers and had our first find. What is Letterboxing you ask... check out the link. It is basically a treasure hunt with the prize being and exchange of rubber stamps. You get a set of clues (I believe there are several ways to obtain clues but we got ours from one of many letterboxing websites) that lead you to a box that contains a rubber stamp and a log book. Once you find a letterbox you stamp the log book within with your personal stamp and you stamp your personal log book with the stamp inside the found letterbox. Then you discretely re-hid it again for the next letterboxer to find. It combines hiking, nature, clues, art (as many of the stamps are handmade vs store bought), map reading and a basic sense of direction. We are very new and I had no idea how popular it is and really surprised to find that there are letterboxes stashed everywhere... really everywhere. Today, as a family we found our first box. Our collective trail name is Collins 5, but I think we will all come up with individual trail names too (Andrew is getting really creative). It was really a lot of fun. Besides all the local letterboxes we plan on making some side trips when we travel back and forth to Michigan and may even plant one of our own...what a nice way to let the kids stretch their legs after being in the car for several hours or to just burn some energy.

Think you want to try Letterboxing too... check out these sites

www.atlasquest.com

www.letterboxing.org

BOX SALE!!!

I am having a box sale in my Etsy shop. It is about time to clear out some my current stuff to make room for some new boxes in the works. So stop by and check them out. Enjoy!  For now the kids and I are off to the pool. Hope you are all having a happy and healthy summer.

I am also curious what you use boxes for.  To hold treasures, gifts, to just look pretty on a shelf... to keep old love letters or just to store junk in your basement ???? Do you like boxes for function or for aesthetic reasons or both??? Personally I like to make them and I find that the process of constructing them is the most rewarding for me.... from an artistic stand point.  I construct the boxes from scratch using book/binders board and then cover them with beautiful papers and bookcloths.  

stolen time

I was able to steal a bit of time and play around in my studio a bit.  My life is not my own these days with all the games, practices, doctor appointments .... well you get the idea.  And then the weather... who ordered that!  Our area has been hit hard with rain, thunderstorms, tornados, flooding and other random acts of God that have otherwise disrupted our normal flow.  As if the construction traffic was not bad enough already... I find it disturbing that it takes me 30 minutes to drive the 2 miles commute to soccer practice.  So needless to say I was thrilled to get a bit of time to myself, to work with my hands, to complete a task, to just think...  slowly these little books are becoming somewhat like therapy for me... it is like a mini vacation.

 

more red...

I Saw Red...

So I joined in on the I SEE RED game over at Sadie Olive.  Sounded like fun and perhaps a creative boost.  I am always taking pictures so I thought I could spy with my little eye something red... here is some of the RED I saw...

so this is where I have been....

I just finished teaching 2 workshops... so to speak... at DePaul University and Columbia College. Previously I was going to teach a drop spine box making class at Columbia but due to low enrollment the class was canceled.  However, I was contacted by the head of the Special Collections at the Richardson Library at DePaul and they wondered if I would consider teaching 2 of their staff members at DePaul.  Well of course I would!  I spent the past 3 Wednesdays in wonderful company teaching the ins and outs of constructing drop spine boxes.  I forgot how much I enjoyed the career I had in a previous life (book conservator/conservation tech in the Ryerson Library at the Art Institute)... but sometimes life just happens.  

Then Saturday I was off to Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Arts (where I got my MFA).   I have been teaching workshops there since roughly 2000.  This time I taught a How to Make Your Own Book Cloth class.  I will admit I felt a bit unprepared... I usually teach box making.  I am very confident in my technique  (it is quite simple actually to make your own book cloth) but I have never taught it as a class... originally someone else was supposed to teach it but something came up and I offered to fill in.  When I got there in the morning some of the supplies I requested were not there and then we ended up running out of some supplies half way through.... but in the end it all worked out and everyone left with some nice handmade bookcloth.  Next time I would do a few things differently but over all I things went pretty well.  

Today was also my oldest last day of kindergarten and next week my middle son (with special needs) begins a 2 week break before starting summer school.  Summer puts a whole new twist on things.  Our family schedule has literally been packed for the past month but I am hoping that things will start to slow down a bit.  On Saturday we have a soccer game and a cub scout fishing derby, I need to do some grocery shopping and laundry and well that is our day.  Sunday is mine!  After church, I already told my husband that I NEED to get some work done in my studio.  I have several "almost finished" commissions that I want to complete and a few projects that I am itching to start.  I seriously don't think I have spent more than 5 minutes in my studio doing anything productive in the past 3 weeks... (except my work on the Convergence Project, but that was done mostly at my kitchen table where I could drop it at a moments notice and finger swipe some small foreign object from the baby's mouth, set Sam up-right after he tips over in his chair for the tenth time and help Andrew with his homework)... it is sad really.  So I have started my WISH LIST of things to accomplish on Sunday.  

more on the convergence project

I just finished the second round of the Convergence project.  3 artists work on each piece... I am the second contributer for this piece.  Pam Paulsrud provided a wonderful base to work from. I did some shading with a yellow color pencil,  sewed on some buttons and an antique key and added squares cut from old text books.  The squares of random text were dyed with distressed ink (tea dye).  Keeping with Pam's alphabet theme I punched holes in the squares that correspond to letters in the braille alphabet that spell out the names of the three artists who contributed to this piece (Pam, Carla, Rae(me).  I am now sending it off to Carla and like the others it will end up at Vespine Gallery in Chicago.  I have now participated in round 1(first artist), and round 2(second artist)... round 3 should arrive next week and then I will add my finishing touches and send it back to the Gallery.  I assume that in the end, like me, all the artists participating will contribute to 3 of the 10 convergence project pieces.  I can't wait to see the final pieces.

the dots punched in the squares of paper above spell out my name (rae) in braille

Convergence Project

Oh what fun... I have been asked to participate in a convergence project.  I received a 10" x 10" square of printmaking paper and a few collage materials and the rest is up to me.  Paint, draw, alter...whatever I please.  Then I send it, along with some more materials, to the next person on the list.  Finally the last person will send the finished piece back to Vespine Gallery in Chicago where it will be framed and displayed.  Well I was first on the list... so below is what I did and now I will be sending it off to Helen in Lawson MO.  I can't wait to see the finished piece.

through the eyes of a child...

the kindness of others...

So it is official... Aikos, my favorite Japanese paper store, has closed it doors for good.   I kept going back to Aikos time and time again because of the wonderful staff and their outstanding service, not to mention their fabulous papers, materials and books.... "handmade Japanese paper and gift items to inspire and delight".  I know that the decision to close their doors  after 50 years of service was very difficult but they have their reasons... even so it is also hard to say good-bye.  They really had something special, something you just can't find in those big chain stores that have it all.  

Well... yesterday I came home to find a large package on my porch. I saw that the package was from Chuck Izui at Aikos... a gift! Inside, neatly and carefully wrapped as one would expect nothing less from Aikos, was a treasure.  I about cried. Paper, paper and more paper! Lovely Momi papers, vibrant Dyed papers, and heavy Chiri papers and and invoice marked "PAID... a gift from Aikos".  I was speechless.  A very generous gift indeed that I was so not expecting. I humbly thank you Chuck and everyone at Aikos for your years of service and dedication... you will be greatly missed.

I won! I won!

I am finally getting around to posting the give-a-way I won from Jen over at Sanctuary Arts.  A lovely set of note cards printed from one of Jen's original drawings...good enough to eat!  Thanx Jen, I love them!  Jen is so talented so pop on over to her blog and see what other creative things she has up her sleeve.  

Arte Y Pico Award

The very lovely Rosie over at Rosie's Whimsy gave me this great award.  Go over there and say Hi!  Thank you so much Rosie...big hugs to you!

The rules for this award are:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

 ... there are so many that I would like to nominate!!! In my attempts to share the wealth I picked 3 from my Girl boxmaker blog roll and 2 from my Blessed and Lucky blog roll.  It was a hard choice but I am nominating...in no particular order ***drum roll please***

Lisa at It's the little things

Kristen at Mommy Needs A Cocktail

Ryan at All Things Littleput

Heather at Little Wonders

Renee at My special K's

ahhhhh.... Spring