her vision. family. art.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETH!! 18 today.

this is his card/money holder and i made it from a box of coupons that came in the mail. packaging these days continue to amaze me! but then packaging sells.. appearance. crazy stuff

this was my saturday night!

this visual is the outside of the box-card. its simply pieces of ads that i've collaged together. a little spray dye and number templates to create the 18. i tied a small tag to the finger in the 'peace' ad with waxed string. symbolizing to remember GOODtimes!

this is the backside and it also consists of ad pieces. i added one of his wrestling action shots, a pic i took of him when he first got his letter jacket-freshman year (so old pic), and a wristband to one of his tourneys. *dimensional

this is the inside of the original packaging, and it opens up where i put the collage of action shots; AKA the money spot! i used 2x2 pics, masking tape and black acrylic that i distressed by wiping random areas before completely dry. with glow-in-the-dark acrylic i wrote always stay true to your unique self

this part sits inside the shell, and is secured there with this yellow fabric band.

friends are great.   especially when they appreciate, respect...  but most importantly, GET your art. it's really cool when you can actually 'pull' them into it, then see what they create. my friend linda really 'gets' IT! she's not only one of my very best girlfriends, but she's also fun to hang out with in the studio, or in her kitchen where it looks like an ARTfest just took place when we're done for the day!! i wanted to show you linda's -take- on what i do..    she's really grasped the depth/dimension concept here.

she's titled this THROUGH HER EYES. linda loves new orleans. what i love about her many trips to NOLA...    she walks the streets and picks up anything metal,etcetera that she can visualize in a piece of art.  journal or canvas ...or otherwise. raw, realistic ephemera. this canvas she created by placing an enlarged pic she took of a vent that's on a building in nola (focal). she soldered a frame around it, then added a synergy of acrylic, beeswax. along one side of this is a line of broken;shards of glass she found on the ground left after the destruction of the hurricane. the glass is very thick and adds an interesting texture to

this.

the broken wing speaks for itself

the fleur de lis is adhered and encased with beeswax. the distressed areas emulate the mass destruction and longevity ( of NOLA ) both. i'm so proud of what she's created and her passion absolutely shows through her art here. so proud, i wanted to show 'her' off! nice work sister.     the canvas hangs by a very 'used' piece of twisted wire, and hangs by a nailhead that she jazzed up by adhering a flathead nail to a round metal washer. then she glued a cluster of the broken glass together to create a fab and interesting piece of art in itself.

happy and safe upcoming fourth! i have a date with my oldest son tomorrow night..  ha. eth's staying at his dads for a while, so bobby is coming over to spend the night and go out to have a steak with me.    (unless he changes plans on me, which he has done before!) i love hanging out with my boys, we usually have some great talks (some inf. i could do without, but open,honest communication is important, and we've always had that for the most part...  good and bad; it is what it is.   one usually ends up telling on the other about something, so then the other tells me something for revenge sake! kinda funny actually-

k.see ya

going through old pics the other night, i came across some prints of some of my favs! the boys, meeting for the first time. takes my breath away still!

i journaled on the opposing page, but here i journaled -a visual i know without the physical image- and what more could i have said-? this was 18 years ago SURREAL to me, but a very real fact! they're going to be 18 and 23 within the next few weeks. 

 

 

the background is multiple layers of acrylic. then sanded, exposing some of the layers underneath.

the timeclock with wings symbolize -time flies-. the updated pic of the boys is a tape transfer (shocker-!) of a pic taken of them christmas07. of course neither one of them are smiling (shockerX2-!), and wearing matching sweatshirts with my bro's http://millhouseaep.homestead.com/ business logo on them (gifts for the boys are easy for my bro...  millhouse apparel (his bus.))

the first pic of the boys together is manipulated and distressed by using a heat tool along the left side, and randomly in other areas. it really pulled this all together, because it exposed a turquoise underneath the finish of the pic.

a lot of layering and dimension by using the acrylics and tape. the sticker numbers and letters are also distressed using sandpaper.

k...    glad it's the weekend! and going to enjoy some homeade bruschetta and baguette bread now! 

coming back into my own with my journal work this week!!  i've had a lot of studio time and it feels good. ..for the most part; sometimes it's just too much time to think -but it's all good. just is what it is

i made this page for my dad...   father's day -only it's in my journal! it's very textured and dimensional. i didn't know what direction i wanted to go with this when i started, i just started to play. layering masking tape and book pages. i took shoe polish and rubbed it across the page which gave this more definition by grabbing onto the edges and tears from the tape and paper. i accented this with red acrylic, and watered down white acrylic. then i started wetting the page down and with a rag rubbing random areas to make this more distressed by exposing the layers in places. sometimes creating tearing. love that. with a stylus i scratched DAd into the page. IRL it looks like worn faux leather. it's great. this pic was taken of my dad and me about 6 mos ago.

underneath the pic is a 'soder drop' that to me looks like a heart. it's tied on with string. this soder drop is made by simply heating up the metal and letting it drip onto a surface. it dries almost immediately. the heart to me looks like a heart that is torn on the upper right. some of the rubbing transferred onto the black and white pic. pulls it all together a little more ...maybe-? it works for me.

i like the end result i got here. i'm still battling with the colors a little, i should love it=RED tones. so what's my problem

thanks for your emails with feedback on the proposed contest (prev. post)! i'll put it in motion soon. i've been spending a lot of time at home working on my house. re-organizing to an extent. a lot of work! no  play. just a lot of me time at the moment. working out again/painful but feels good!

so have a fab weekend and upcoming week! i've been off work for 2wks and i'm ready to go back to a routine and some consistency again.....   summertime is always good, always nice to not have to battle ethan out of bed every morning to go to school- although he's taking geometry this summer to help with his GPA (slacked in that class during the school year...). he'll be a senior this fall. still shocked at that reality, but ready! him and me. it's irronic...     i never thought i'd say that. my whole life has been being a 'mom'. boys have always come first, and always will, however it's irronic how life evolves, and God prepares you for that next phase of your life. i'm ok with him growing up now, and i'm learning more about me and what i want to focus on for myself now. re-thinking my motives, goals, desires, the fact that i don't want to always be in control of everything. i'm even re-thinking people...     how they impact my life; good/bad.     it's all a process, like our art...    i guess this is where that 'journey' word falls into play     -right? *wink.

just not enough summer  hours!! i am making a pt. to get some journal work done. this page was completely inspired by my gram. for the first time the other day i caught myself wanting to pick up the phone and call her. she was wowed by and supported my artwork..   she just didn't always get it *wink. whats hard was packing up all the artwork that i had made for and sent to her through the years..  kinda cool to see again though. it all has a new meaning to me.   now it's all sitting out in my bro's house. i have the best sis n law who loves what i do

so this page is pretty simple with NO image tape transfers(GASP)..   i adhered the lazer-printed images because i wanted to dye them with water-based acrylic. the end result i got is random and almost has a tie-died appearance IRL. the watch face symbolizes 'the time is now'

it fits here

i wasnt going for a lot of play here. i just wanted to add a page to my 2008 journal noting a life 'change' for me that was inspired by my gram.

i'm thinking of doing a contest. maybe a one time shot, but the idea is driven by a comment made to me while i was instructing at 'inspired' in april. the concept is exactly what i had to do for the university art journal project...    i'll post one of my journal pages, and you email me and tell me what the page says to you. whoever can give me the most detail, and gets the closest to what the page is about, i will send you some random product that i've designed, and/or a copy of a book that my artwork is published in..      more on this later. just a thought for now

i'm starting to see a pattern with this journal. in color and mediums...   finding myself using tape transferred photos, tapes, inks and washes. over/over. i was inspired with my new 't'...  (prev. post) and the statement fits this journal entry, i promise! the base of this page is multiple layers of book text and masking tape. i wish you could touch the screen and literally feel the texture it created. it's almost like vinyl. very pliable. seriously..  the raw appearance of this page fits the post. -happy with this end result

i love sunday mornings..  this morning i sat out on my deck and listened to the creek water run off..   peace. lots of rain this past week in kc. it's been a good weekend hanging out with friends/i love live music, and the more country... the better! friday night a friend brought his guitar over and a bunch of us sat up until 4am listening to him play  and of course we all sang with! it was pretty cool and a lot of fun

while clearing off one of my photo cards, i found this pic of eth and champ... right after we brought him home      of course not much has changed from this photo; size doesn't matter to champ !!

*thoughts and prayers needed here. our immediate and small area was shook up this week with this http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/632710.html. i've met some dear friends from all abroad on this Iatan project, the thought of them being here when this happened is surreal to me. thankful that they are safe, and still sad everyone is living this tragic loss. this kid was just a year older than Bobby, and with him being in construction too, man it's just even more scarry real to me

free

remember this piece-? it's about 3years old, but it's the most recent piece i've made of my grandma. we lost her last saturday, late. but you know what, im ok with it because i will miss her like mad, but she's FREE. and she's with my mom. THANK YOU to everyone for my personal email and thoughts posted here. the support is amazing and appreciated more than you'll know. it's been a crazy; dramatic week, but i'm finally putting some things to rest, and i'm good. 

my gram was a fab woman. she lived a hard life and has been a major player in my life . always. she's tough and a scrapper like me,   !never let life happenings take her down. man what can i say, she's my hero..

i've had little studio time, but did start this page in my spiral journal. it goes with the pages i showed you in my last post. i need to add more to this, but that'll come when i work on the opposite page. this is why i love what i do. i love art. i love life. i love putting the two together. i have a lot of great people in my life, and the fact that i can throw these memories in my journals, then look back on times later on is soo cool to me. people come/go, friendships that are real last forever in my art and through contact. my journals are my real life, and good/bad, i'm blessed to have experienced it all. family is important, i would die for anyone that i love in my life.. fam or not.

this is where journaling comes into play...  photos dont show all.

DEEP post, but real. art is good for the soul and a good tool to heal loss of the people loved and lost. making memories is life...    think about it, then create around it all

it's thursday! and ready for the weekend

quick post. throwing up a journaling piece that was requested. i'm working on some new journal pages tonight, so i'll finally have some updated work to post. i've been craving studio time.

this journaling is with nib and blk ink. i also used a ballpt. pen. mixin it up a little..   *wink. the eye image is a kleenex that i adhered over strips of masking tape. along the eyelashes wrote EYES WIDE OPEN. nib and ink.

here's a few pics of a senior shoot i did this wk. Champ had to dive in for a bit so i shot these! lol..

have a good rest of your week!

k. i'm back

again, thanks for your emails kicking me in the butt to update!!

no art -BUT, i have pics to share. new headshot as well an overexposed shot with champ!the INSPIRED event was a bittersweet trip for me. AMAZING event, and donna put on one heck of a gig! here's me and my friend christiane who came down from seattle. there was a lot of color wash going on, and we all were wearing it!   fun.the bittersweet part of it was that the night before i was flying to n.carolina, i get a call from the hospital telling me that my grandmother was very ill, and not doing well at all. decisions......  damn. i have the most amazing bro who told me that he'd be there with her and i needed to go and fulfill my commitment. he was, and i did. the amazing part about it all was the support and concern of so many amazing women. i honestly want to say THANK YOU and i love you all for being so understanding and compassionate. seriously, you ladies who kept coming in to see how i was doing and give me a hug make me cry still. thank you. i made the right decision to go. i forgot to mention my flight issues...  as soon as my 1-day delayed flight got me here, i went straight from the airport and dove into the 'middle' of my class that had started almost an hour earlier! but it was all good. after my first day i went straight to my room, got into a hot shower, called room service and spent the rest of the eve talking to my friend @ home. basically that was the case both nights! back to the airport for my 815am flight sunday. the update is that my grandmother is improving, and will hopefully recover fully. she's MY #1 life inspiration,always there for me, and she's a scrapper like me (in life, not in art), for sure!

so here's some pics sent to me, a couple i took of "inspired elements" fab gifts that i LOVE. not only because they're so dang cool, but because of the thought. TY, again!!   

i'm craving art now! craving and need it

along with everything else going on recently..  PROM. here's some pics of Eth, his buddies and their dates. Eth's date is a good friend of his who is a statistician for the wrestling team. 

  have a fab rest of the week(end).

l8r

a little art accomplished. have to admit that i've always loved the appearance of a journal made from a spiral notebook. i've been wow-ed by a lot of artists who are known for theirs, lynne perrella is one. so i've started one myself. this visual is of the inside cover. i used a hard-back spiral notebook from target. it's about 10x4". this will be for my 2008. hard to believe it's time to start another years journal, and i just wrapped up my 2007! already march...    procrastinating again, just my style *wink. i have one page started/about finished. will show visuals of that later. i've decided i'm going to take a different approach to this journal. instead of creating my pages month by month, i'm going to just randomly work on my life's happenings as i want. less pressure on myself and most importanly, no guidelines!

on this i used some labels i got in the dollar bin at joanne's, hks ghost clock face, then just writing with dip pen and ink. the metal disk in the center of the clock face is an apholstery tack.

Realize is the title of my first page. consider it a peek at it in it's very raw, early stage