Idle + Random - IF meets RTT

Curiosity is idle only to those who fail to realize that it may be a very rare and indispensable thing.
- James Harvey Robinson

Idle Hours - work in progress

Illustration Friday's prompt was idle. That triggered 2 ideas. The first (watercolor & ink on scrapbook paper) is still evolving but I have a hunch that if I don't post a WIP it won't get put up for a while. This piece keeps wandering around on its own - I'm not sure where it will end up. I fear it has drifted off the path - of course that is usually when the journey gets interesting. If you get a chance, visit I.F. & check out the great variety of submissions. Or enter your own creation if you're feeling inspired.

This week's a bit rushed but here are a few Random Tuesday Thoughts:

Anybody into the magazine Where Women Create? Through Sandra Evertson's blog, I found this "Online resource - Inspire, Connect Share"

Keep meaning to make one of these - DIY playing card top hat!

Like wordplay? Cross a thesaurus with a mobile & you get Visuwords!

Always behind the times, I just heard The Puppini Sisters for the 1st time yesterday - great stuff!

Couple of cool random drawings from 2 of my favorite bloggers/artists. Visit their blogs for contest details :

Poet's Narcissus by La Donna Welter

La Donna's will pick 1 lucky winner on August 10th. Click on photo of prize to visit her blog, LaDonna Papercutting.

January Wish is sponsoring a giveaway of Alessandra Fusi's artwork. Click here for details

Last but not least, for all you zombie fans: Have you checked out Lili's Lair yet? If not Here you go

Gotta Run. Rampaging zombies? Nah, just deadlines (only scary to me). If you have some idle time, pop over & see what wild RTT is running about over at The Un Mom today Got a little more time? Grab a button & play along!

Also there is still time to enter Thursday's Random drawing for a custom 16" x 20" photo printed on gallery wrapped canvas. CLICK HERE for details.

Monday is a Work In Progress

Hey there! How've you been? Just got back into town. Fun weekend at the beach with friends & family. But, now I'm feeling a little behind the 8 ball this week. Determined to pull it together after a good night's sleep.

Listening to the soundtrack to Wim Wender's Until The End Of The World tonight. Just now playing Last Night Sleep by Can. The only YouTube version I found to share is accompanied by some silly bits from the 1930s flick The Mummy...ahh well..

Musical Monday. Grab a button & play along.What are you listening to?

Over at Maternal Spark, Monday's Muse shares a thought provoking quote : A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.- Charles Brower

It can also be ground down by the day to day distractions, the constant interruptions & become simply a wish before disappearing into the ether. I stumbled onto an old sketchbook from 16+ years ago & have been thinking about jumping back into some of those old ideas. Here's an odd lass; I think she wants to turn into a tree or something...

Decided tonight to sketch something out for last week's Melange Lace Challenge. But as usual the piece had a mind of it's own & is calling itself My Sister's Ghost. It still has a way to go & keeps reciting the 1st line from Daphne Du Maurier 's Rebecca: Last night I dreamed I went to Mandalay again and as I stepped through the iron gates a strange power become me and I passed through them, as surreal as all dreamers are....

Tough to see in the scan but the negative space has a reflective silver finish. Also hard to see is the second sister working her way to the surface. You can just make out her hands on the left, arms extended and if you look closely a profile facing your left (her eye is overwhelmed by her siblings mouth just now).


Well, it's getting late & this piece wants some more attention. Til next time, here's another tune from UTEOTW:



By the way, don't forget to enter this week's Thursday Giveaway. Just leave a comment before noon on the 21st to be entered in the random drawing. For details & info on this week's prize click HERE

Happy Mother's Day! - WIPs

I had some time today to play with a couple of mother-themed pieces.

Still have some work to do on them.
Hope to find more time this week to finish.

Both feature my Mother in law Maria Pia (on the left)

Hope all you Moms are having a fabulous day today!
Actually, I hope that everyone is having a great weekend

3......2......1.....It's Monday's Muse time!

3 New Listings.......2 In The Bush......aaannnd 1 W.I.P

The studio spring cleaning trickles on... And Inspires! I keep finding stuff I forgot I had - cool random things, nifty supplies & finished artwork... Over the next couple of months, I'll be adding some older pieces to Artsnark's Artifacts on etsy (in addition to my current creations). Many are Polaroid transfers that have been framed & are ready to hang.

For the curious: A water bath is used to separate the image from the Polaroid backing. The flexible image can be stretched or altered. It is then adhered to the paper (or other surface). I like to use a nice thick paper so I can embellish with watercolors & pencils. Once it dries, the final piece is then treated with a UV resistant finish.

Here is a pic of Red Bicycle in its shadowbox frame. For more info just click on any picture.Next up is the Apprentice Box. Just messing around. It's been sitting on a shelf since December. Figured what the heck, might as well list it. Lots of cool stuff on the outside: antique pocket watch parts, misc gears and metal bits, original drawing & photo, the words inspire, strength & discipline and a red feather. The inside is lined with a maroon felt-type material

The Saga of Little Red Continues.....

Finally finished & listed the WIP I posted 11 days ago: 2 In The Bush

And this saaaad & lonely canvas has been clogging up my easel for maybe a year now. I'm selfishly posting this crummy picture as incentive to finish it! Hoping that I won't be able to turn my back now that it's "out there". Love to complete it by the end of April, but in the words of the great Lyle Lovette:

It was a fact of life that no one cares to mention. She wasn't good but she had good intentions...

Speaking of good intentions, if you have a few minutes please pop over to Maternal Spark, the inspiration for all Monday's Muse posts. She's been taking care of a sick little one the last few days & I'm sure she could use some blog-love :D

Just a quickie & New WIP

Scheduled a few too many things today so I'll try to be brief....

1st I really want to thank all of you who have taken the time to stop by & leave your encouraging comments. I've been lax on responding & for that I apologize.

There are some great new houses on the OzBushfire Etsy shop. I will post pics & artist links soon, probably tomorrow. Went to do it yesterday but got distracted - after a challenging day, I really needed some "art therapy". Little Red was on the prowl last night so I let her stretch her legs on a new canvas.

WIP - 2 in the bush

I've never been a series kind of person, always flitted from 1 technique or idea to the next before getting all the ideas out. But Red's become an icon - figure I'll just let her hang out a while. Once she has her say, she'll move on.

Speaking of....gotta fly...if you time pop by papercutsbyjoe & check out this amazing piece - a merging of his wife's profile & tree branches. My newest fave!

WIP - Hot House Flower

Decided to finally start on my little house. Thought about paint or collage but it just wouldn't coalesce. When all else fails I turn to my ginormous stack of scrapbook paper for ideas. This paper jumped out & screamed Diva! Then this chick- part superhero, part Sunset Blvd - started spinning thru my head. She's only 1 of 2 but it's getting late, so I'll tackle her partner tomorrow.

Red's True Love

Took a break from the Holiday Madness to push some pencils around. As with all my WIPs, who knows when I'll pick this piece up again, but here's phase 1.

Monday's Muse - A Classic Combination

I can't believe it is already Monday again!

(click above to visit the great blog Maternal Spark)

Today's Muse is Procrastination ….. & Possibilities.

Through my own foolishness, I have become Queen of Procrastination lately. When I was younger I had lots of practice avoiding things, but now it happens by accident more often than choice. My studio/home office/Santa's workshop resembles hell on earth. I can't even show you my planner because it is lost under piles of stuff. To be honest, I am deeply afraid to find my To Do list - I feel overwhelmed as it is. So, I'm supposed to be cleaning this pigsty & instead I'm typing away .......

Sorry about the rant, now for the Possibilities! As I scrape away layers of accumulated stuff, scraps of paper, items to repair, etc. I keep finding lots of really cool materials & many many unfinished projects. Last night I uncovered my markers & a fairy-tale collage started in October. I gave up on cleaning & started coloring. Here is the latest incarnation:

Not done yet. I know what I want to add and I know it is here....somewhere! Time go pick up some more