Studio Reorganizing

I spent the weekend reorganizing the studio. My ultimate goal is to put another small desk in with a computer.  The computer will allow me in studio photo editing, and the ability to hook up to a die cutter.  I will eventually find a scanner to hook up also so I can scan my drawings in and produce stencils.  Oh what a time saver that will be. 

I’m still researching die cutters.  I definitely want a computerized one.  I’m too much of a computer geek and a control freak to depend on designs others have made.  I have it narrowed down, now I’m just considering size and prices.

In-between reorganizing I was able to do some good sketching and throw a Super Bowl get together.  We had some delicious foods!  

Melting Chocolate Cake

When my husband and I went on our Honey Moon, this was one of the deserts we splurged on.  Ohhhh goodness I think I'm gonna have to make my own after finding the article below.

Carnival cruises' warm chocolate melting cake 'secret' recipe revealed

• July 22nd, 2009 11:41 pm ET

The World Famous Carnival Cruise Lines' Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (Photo courtesy of
Carnival Cruise Lines)

Those of you who have been on a Carnival cruise recently are probably very aware of how divine the chocolate melting cake is for dessert. For those who haven't been on a Carnival cruise, you can now enjoy this classic dessert in your very own home.

The chocolate melting cake used to be either a special order or only served on certain nights on the cruise. The dessert became so popular because of its richness and delicious taste that Carnival has now put it on the menu for dinner every night. Your Charlotte Cruise Ships Examiner has also been known to order two or three of these beauties after a nice dinner, and rightfully so. Once you taste it, you are instantly hooked.

The chocolate melting cake is also vegetarian friendly. As a vegetarian myself, I appreciate this because I can eat it without remorse. But vegans should beware: the melting cake does include eggs and butter. That being said, you can use egg substitute and butter substitute, however, from personal experience, it is not nearly as "good".

According to the new Carnival newsletter, The Funville Times, the recipe for the chocolate melting cake is as follows:

• 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
• 7 eggs, divided use
• 6 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup of flour

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Melt the chocolate and butter and cool for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix four eggs with sugar. Whisk. Then add flour and whisk. Add the remaining three eggs and add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture. Pour this entire mixture into individual ramekins. Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting). Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Olympia Arts Walk

Spring Arts Walk is closer than you think!

I'm beginning to recruit for Spring Arts Walk.  I've done this in the past and it always turns out to be such a blast. Here are a few pictures of past Art Walks.  If you are in the Olympia area and want to participate please contact me.

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Valentine Crafting Night

Last year I started to feel disconnected from the ladies in my life I call friends.  So I took it upon myself to make sure we got together every now and then.  I began to have a pedicure night once a month.  Now this will come as a surprise to those who know me well.  Before last year I had never had my toes or my fingers done up, but I discovered it was a fun activity to do with the girls. 

So I would make food, kick the guys out and have a night with the gals.

With Valentines coming up, I wanted to do something cheesy, fun and crafty.  So we had a Valentine craft night. 

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The girls were amazed by my collection of papers and supplies.  I have been collecting craft and art supplies since I was a child.  And my four years working at a fine art store added depth to my collection that amazed even those who already knew my collection.  Then when Carrie showed up with her giant book of scrap booking paper she got for only $2 the collection of crafts was complete.

Everyone had such a blast.  I wish I would have taken pictures the actual night.  I think my favorite was Ruby’s leg card.  Oh it was sexy, I wonder if her honey is going to be the lucky recipient of that card?  Our puppy Sailor had a great time eating every colorful scrap that hit the ground.  Confetti poop anyone? 

We all agreed that this was much more fun than painting our toes.  Although it creates a little more work for me, I agree, and am already scheming up more craft night ideas.  Any ideas you might have?

Next time I’ll remember to take lots pictures.  

The Picasso Exhibit

2/2/2011

On Sunday January 16^th Bryan and I went to see the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, SAM. 

I was never a Picasso fanatic.  In fact I don’t think I’ve ever been a fanatic about any one artist since I was in high school.  And that artist was Dali.  I was a fan because he painted things that were not there very realistically.  It was the beginning of my artist career.  I still appreciate Dali’s work and what it influenced me to do, but I’m no fanatic.  I do have a Dali book that a friend way back when gifted to me when he discovered my fascination, it sits on a shelf, battered from my back pack but untouched for years.

Back to Picasso.  I’ve seen his work in my Art History books, and all over the art world.  I remember seeing him in a wheel chair cutting out bird like designs and covering a wall with them.  I was a little impressed but I never thought twice about him or his work.

Actually that’s a lie, there is one painting he did that was in my Art History book that I was draw towards.  It is the Artist’s Son.  The reason I was drawn to it is that it is unfinished.  The face so porcelain like and the clothes so colorful, but the rest of it is sketchy and unfinished.  I saw this piece in person at this show in Seattle, and that same feeling hit me all over again but this time there was at least recognition there.
I had a friend in high school who gifted me an unfinished painting.  I was displeased with him too.  Why would you present an unfinished piece?  I look back at that piece and am grateful that he at least gave me something.

There were some pieces I like a lot and was impressed by, especially some of the historical ones where he depicted the invasion and destruction of his home.  I think that was the story at least?

I never gave any artist deep thought unless I learned about the person’s life and tribulations.  This happened with Gustav Klimt, Georia O’Kieff, and Mattisse.  I learned about their life, read books written about them, wrote reports about them, and then became interested in their work.  So the more I’m learning about Picasso’s life the more I’m interested in his work.

I went to the show, I looked at his work, and now I’m reading a book about his life.  I’m doing this backwards, I should have read the book first, but the show snuck up on me and I bought tickets at the last minute so my appreciation was not there. 

What I do know is I would hate to have my random sketches from my notebooks on display.  Sketches that were warm ups, or studies, or just for fun, nothing I’m particularly proud of, on display.  I have instructed my loved ones that by some freak accident I get that famous, they are not allowed to show any work that I did not show myself.  Unless it’s going to make them a crap ton of money that they would not already have.

After I am done reading my Picasso book I will have to revisit this subject.  As of right now only a few chapters in my first impression is what a lucky little badger, he gets a painter for a father that indulges his creative whims and his lack of discipline.

Did anyone else see the show who is already a huge Picasso fan?

My Ultimate Distraction in the Studio

I mentioned in my latest Etsy Treasury my puppy.  Well here he is.  His name is Sailor Jerry Henn.  He is four months old.

And the Treasury I mentioned him in is a tribute to the last few days of being sick with a head cold.

Pretty Penny Tools

Over the years I have collected a few toys that have made life a little easier.  I am willing to give classes with these tools.  The first is the Jack Richeson Baby Press, another is my mat cutter.
I have a couple others, but those are the ones I'm willing to teach on.  I am hoping to add another pretty penny tool to my collection soon.  Stay tuned.

Start to Finish - Reduction Linoleum Print

I took a week off of work in January to carve and print a block.  It went well.  I ended up with 24 prints of which possibly 16 are clean and usable. 

I have a baby press by Jack Richeson I picked up many years ago for a pretty penny.  It was well worth it.  Although I still struggle with registration it makes the printing process so much faster.

I use to hand press each print which resulted in uneven pressure and ink distribution.  Now my prints are pretty uniform in the ink distribution, as long as I am meticulous with applying ink evenly.    

This print was a drawing I did a year ago and then put away.  The original plan for the drawing was to paint with acrylic on canvas but I never got around to it.  Last month I got an incredible urge to carve a block.  I found this drawing, and the rest is history.

It has been many years since I’ve done a reduction print.  In fact “The Rhythm that Moves” was the last reduction print I did in 2005. 

I have yet to give a name to the print I just did.  It took me most of the working hours of the week I took off work.  I love carving, but it sure does make my neck hurt. 

This print measures 9x12 and is carved on mounted linoleum.  I printed on BFK Rives 250 paper.  Quality paper makes the world of difference.  

The Clock Idea

My quest for functional art combined with 2-D art landed me on the idea of clocks. And clocks are what I made.

I started out with the idea of cutting unique recognizable shapes out of wood with my parent’s scroll saw. It worked brilliantly, especially since I didn’t have to buy any wood. I had press board and thin quality wood piled up randomly around the studio. That’s my pack rat side; I can’t throw something out that might be useful for a future project.

I cut out stars, guitar picks, hot air balloons and plain circles. Then I primed and painted them in various colors. Some of them I took my time and painted elaborate artistic scenes. Others I painted quick back grounds so I could embellish them in creative ways.

One of my favorites was a rectangle piece of wood thatI had cut out a medium size star from the lower right hand corner. I only had intention of using the star, but when I saw the piece of wood left behind after the star was cut out I fell in love. I primed it up and painted night sky cityscape. I painted a starry sky above the city and then cut out stars and painted them in beautiful changing colors to mount for numbers.

I found ways to incorporate many different loves of my past into clocks, one of them being watercolor. There are ways to prime almost any surface to accept almost any medium. And lucky me I know my way around those odd projects thanks to my dues paid in art supply retail.

When my free pile of wood started to diminish to nothingness I began to fret over how much material was actually going to cost me. Up to that point I was using stock from my studio for almost everything except clock mechanisms. This is when I started to think of alternative materials that I could cut into desired shapes.

I had already started using old vinyl records for plain circle clocks and they worked great. The records were perfect. They were light weight, already had a hole for the clock mechanism, perfect size and best of all I could acquire them in large quantities for free. The only obstacle was getting them into the shape I wanted.

It took a lot of experimenting. I went through quite a few tools and supplies before I finally started to catch on. Heating them up in the oven was not an option I decided. It felt wrong to put possibly toxic plastic into the same facility I baked my famous chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. So after a lot of testing and tool experimentation I finally figured it out. My detail is still somewhat limited. The only way to get around that is to invest in a laser cutter. An idea I wish I never would have mentioned to my husband. Guys will do anything for a tool, even if it’s one they don’t really need. Luckily its too expensive to buy on a whim. I need a new drill before a laser cutter.

So I’ve scrapped the wood dials, except for a few particular clocks that just work better in wood, and have moved completely over to upcycled records. I haven’t looked back. I cut, paint, layer, embellish, paint some more and have so much fun with it.