Back to My Altered Books

In the two months since my previous entry, I lost my wonderful mother, Sandie, to complications from Alzheimer's, and my sweet little dog Angel, to blood clots in the lungs. Until just about two weeks ago, when we scattered my mom's ashes, I had been walking around in a haze, unable to even think about making art. Slowly, I've begun to peel back the sadness and have restarted my artful journey... [Continued on Artful Journey]

Open Studios in Benicia

Today was the second and final day of Open Studios in Benicia. The weather was great, so I hopped on my scooter and rode down to the Benicia Art Gallery. On the way there, I stopped in my first studio. The artist's name was Joe Martino, and he had created a series of 100 sketches with a Sharpie on used coffee cups that he had unpeeled and opened up. Every morning, after his ritual coffee, he went somewhere and sketched a scene...[Continued on Artful Journey]

A Space for Creating Art

In response to my post What Inspires Me, Heather wrote this:


. . . how do you just get started. I don’t mean the mechanics, I mean how do you just do it?

My husband and I bought a home three years ago and I have done very little creatively since then b/c I don’t have the space. I know that may sound like a huge copout, and I suppose it is…but nevertheless it stops me in my tracks.

Where do you “do” your work?

Heather-- I wouldn't consider your space limitations a cop-out. They appear to be very real for you. I am very fortunate in that I have a spare bedroom in my house and that's where I work. . . [Continued on Artful Journey]

The Art of Happiness :: Altered Book, Continued

I just finished this altered book page for The Art of Happiness. I wanted to counteract the darkness of the text with something rich and colorful . . . [Continued in Artful Journey]

Looking for Happiness

Now that the third quarter of the school year is behind me, I'm finding a bit of relief from the non-stop essay grading that was consuming all of my evening and weekend time. The 3rd quarter is when I relentlessly try to prepare my seventh graders for the Califonia STAR Writing Assessment, which is, in many ways a mockery of everything I try to teach my students about writing. . . [Continued in Artful Journey]

No Time for Altered Books

Fear


How does one continue to create art when a big part of your life is unraveling? I know some people find that art helps them work through their grief, but I can't seem to make it work that way for me.


As many of you who read my blog know, my mother has Alzheimer's. Two weeks ago, she took a dramatic turn for the worse, refusing to eat or drink for four days...[Continued on Artful Journey]

Art for Altered Books

I try, about every other month, to post pictures on my Public Domain Images page with scans of pictures that people can use in their altered books and other art. . .[Continued on Artful Journey]

The Spirit of My Cat

Almost exactly a year ago, my cat died. Here's what I wrote about it at the time:

1/11/05
We buried our cat today. She was fifteen years old and had been ill for a while-- frail and fragile and not eating very well. I knew she was dying. I thought I was ready for the day, but when she didn’t come home yesterday, and then last night, with the rain coming down in torrents, my heart prepared for the worst.

I thought about her all day at work . . . [Continued on Artful Journey]