learning the"how to" of flicker stickers

Using the flicker site to make some stickers today. I felt like it was easy,as far as the ordering part ,but was frustrated with the way I was limited in cropping. So we will see how they turn
out. This reminds me of Jack Skellington-- I am obviously being influenced by the Skull a Day blog site. They have some amazing ideas there-check it out if you have time. Skull a Day

August 18th is Hawthorne Day! The neighborhood is having a day... so we are having a backyard sale, to make room in the basement for the reorganization of square 2 studio. Lots of rare and collectible items..like the hamster that plays kungfoo fighting- (thanks joe) and oh, my goodness the list is so long, you will need to come and see what treasures there will be. The neighborhood is having music and sales and who knows what else-clowns?(scary) Come on by and check us out!

vibes

The second Thursday garden art event was a nice experience. The boys next door came with their vibes and guitar and drums and filled the air with beautiful sounds-thanks for that, guys. Some family, friends and neighbors dropped by and I even sold some substantial watercolours and some little items. I noticed there were some folks who wandered in, following the arrow down the easement off of the beaten path. Thanks to 3 Doors Down, the restaurant, who "corked " some fine pinot gris and a couple of reds for us even though their schedule was heavy that night. All in all, I feel like it was a success and hope to maybe do another one.

So--today was busy. This is a photo I took at the restaurant that is next door to my house. Cute boy and Mom having sushi. Used this on some promotional magnets for the neighborhood.

getting ready

See you August ninth!
I designed this flier to email and send to people for the art in the backyard on August ninth. However, I spent all this time doing that and when I went to email it the attachment was all messed up and everybody has been emailing me about how they can't open the attachment with the flier in it! Aggggggh! So I should just give them all the blog address and have them come here. I really appreciate a computer as a tool and use it everyday and I like it, but I got somewhat frustrated with my inability to figure out why it was not doing what I wanted it to.
Anyway, here it is.

work with mistakes

This is the "accident technique" I discovered the other day, but used on a different subject area.
Here is the "process."
I was printing scans onto post- it note paper and discovered that my fingernail had accidentally scratched the print. I was not thrilled with having to spend more time and ink on making mistakes-then I remembered Mrs. Schirmer, my high school art teacher, saying "work with your mistakes." I started sqiggling all around with my fingernail, almost as if to see how messed up I could make this. However, I got somewhat excited at seeing the ink peel back and create strong contrasting patterns that repeated some of the patterns in the subject. It reminds me of scratch boards in a way and I noticed other tools (exacto blades, paperclips etc ) didn't seem to work as well as my own fingernails-wierd, but fun. Thanks Mrs.Schirmer, I made a mistake, and I hope to make more. I like the way this turned out.

happy accident

I had an art teacher in high school that always said, "work with your mistakes, they can become happy accidents," and today I was reminded of what that was all about. I am working on a garden art show in my own back yard to participate in the second Thursday activities in my neighborhood. Cafes and some stores stay open a little later and some businesses host artists to hang work in their spaces. I live so close in this area that I have foot traffic that hopefully will come and experience some of my art in my own space.
Today I was preparing some work for this event, and as I was printing some pieces out on my computer-that is when the "happy accident" happened. I will post a picture of the beginning of the process... later I may explain the process- now I must move on to other duties.