Set of 4 Magnets

This is a set I gave a very good friend who inspires me in more ways then I can name or put words to it.

Collaged Magnets

Good thing or Bad thing...??

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I got so caught up in painting that I almost took a drink of the water I rinse my brushes off with? Instead of my diet coke sitting on the other end of the table?

Thank goodness...I caught myself before I actually drank...not sure acrylic paint is really "good" for a person.

Going back to work!

Busy Busy Busy!

Michael opened his own business this summer and a lot of my time has been helping him out. So, I haven't had much time to devote to my art. I do NOW though!

And...

Of course....

I am scared. I always get this way when I haven't been able to touch it for a while. It is like you know when you haven't rode a bicycle in a while you wonder if you can really do it. Logically you know it will come back. But that....aniexty before actually peddling the pedals is there. And that is how I am with my art at the moment.

I have lots I can be doing. I have 2 art dolls sitting here just needing some final touches on one. I need to really get into the other. I have 3 tins primed. One started as a present. I have many canvas sitting here primed and ready to go and actually several things wrote down in my art journal on what I want to do with them. I had a couple book ideas floating around in my head too. Oh and I have 2 people approach me on commissioning works. It is just I am nervous....of what if I won't come out...what if they don't turn out...and all the what ifs that happen when I haven't touched things in a while.

So today I am taking the first step to get going. I am going to organize my art studio - but really it is a mess. And after I go through papers, paints, metal bits and pieces my fingers will ache to actually do something - at least that is how it has worked in the past.

Things on my list art related but not actual art: Set up Etsy shop, get sold pieces that were on sale off my website and new ones put up there and Etsy. I think I have some new pieces to upload too. I know that I never finished getting descriptions on each piece done on my website. And I need to get the graphic banner that is on my website here on my blog.* So I obviously have many things to do!

Oh and then reading that all through again...yep FEAR.

But I will get through it because I can't begin to express what art does FOR ME. These last few months of not being able to.....really affect my moods. I am much more balanced person when I able to create.


* I did that right after posting so that is done!

Website!

Well it is official....

Darbyart.com is up and working!

Calendar - September to December

September 2006 - Measuring the Stars. Those rubber stamps has that 30's film star feel to them. Then the measuring tape and actual stars making up the name. The very background is tea stained paper and on top of it is a paintchip sample that I got a home improvement store.














October 2006 - It can come undone... Basically the girl in the piece is coming undone...her world that lets her look so princess like...can come undone just thread by thread.
















November 2006 - Caught There are pieces in the background - cutout placed in like a grid like pattern. The butterfly just feels like it caught between it all. It was the process that made it feel that way. And the 3 has meaning to me too.







Close up....










December 2006 - Amid the Stars The little tag says "And he hid his face amid a crowd of stars."













January 2006 - April 2006
May 2006 - August 2006

Glass Magnets

Those around little glass stones you get to put in vases....well glued image to the back so you would see the image through the stone and then put a magnet on it.

Quote

“When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing. It is only after a sort of ‘getting acquainted’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, because the painting has a life of its own.” ~ Jackson Pollock

No Time for Art

I am in the process of working on 6 websites....with 2 more on the horizon. Two of them are for charities that Michael and I want to help out. And then 2 of them are our websites - Michael's for his business and then one for my art (which are always on the bottom of the list). And then 2 others are clients with one deadline coming up really quick. I feel a little stressed as we have had guests from out of town and then I have been sick with the stomach flu all week. I hope to get a lot accomplished on all of them this weekend.

Because of all the websites I haven't had one moment of time to work on art. And I am missing it a lot. So I hope to get on with that soon as I got some tins in the mail from a good friend and I have several canvas' primed and several smaller pieces started I would like to finish. Soon...soon...I hope.

4 x 4

Saturday Pear
June 2006
4" x 4"
Mix Media on Cardboard

ABC's

Where's the Rest of the Alphabet?
June 2006
4" x 4"
Mixed Media on Cardboard

Jealous of the Voices - Altered Altoid Tin

front


inside spread


concept: basically it is all the things a person might hear in his/her head that seem like a dream. Thus they are the voices in your head. Inside right has sequin glued on the base...some just odds and end sequin and then some purple bats. Along the sides which you can't see are bar codes and pieces from magazine articles and beads. There are stars, puzzle pieces, a clock, blocks, and a game piece that is a man with a gun. Inside left number 4 and scraps from the dictionary, a stamped image of a flower, the word dream, and stars.

Her Path - Altered Altoid Tin

front


inside spread


close up of the right side

UnEarth - Altered Altoid Tin

front


inside spread


inside left - closeup


inside right - closeup

concept: I have this new mold I am playing with and the first batch came out really rough. And when I looked at them I thought they looked like something you would discover at an archeological dig. And so the concept came that...that this box is something that is dug up...unearthed. So the piece on the front and the piece on the inside right bottom are pieces of that mold that I painted with a couple different browns here and there but mostly left in its rough stages.

Untitled - Altered CD

The shell flower is an old earring. Michael's Mom gave me a bunch of jewerly and I have used several pieces from it lately.

Three Birds - Altered CD

This past weekend was a really productive art weekend. I finished several projects and started on some others. I was thinking of all the art projects I have going on between swaps and gifts and it is going to keep me busy for the next few months. Right now I am finishing up my tins for the altoid tin swap, then I have 3 cards for a tarot card swap, 2 - 4x4's and plus several gifts.

Here is one gift I made this weekend...
It is an altered CD. Those old cd's that peopel throw out or the aol cd's - well I took some I had sitting around and made them into wall hangings. I started by putting gesso down and then painted and collaged on them.

This one is titled - "Three Birds" It has ripped up pages from an old dictionary, an old photograph that I dipped the edges in some paint. An image of an old pack of matches with 3 birds on it. And them some ribbon with the Journey on it.

Calendar - May through August

Pictures from a calendar I made for some dear friends....



May Flower...I have several of those paper dolls. And I love them...the colors, their costumes, their whimsical quality and I wanted to use one for the calendar so May...came to mind when I saw the one holding a flower. I also did the calendar part different doing the days of the week down the side instead of the top.












June just all cut out from junk mail and magazines. And then a quote from Jack Kerouac.














I did July during a hard time so I think it came out a little emotionally raw...lots of red and antiquing glaze. I did the collage before I decided what month it would be and then saw the flag and well of course made it July...very cliche of me. It is made from a lot of different collage bits -- magazine, collage packs, found paper and then the measuring tape ribbon.













August is really kind of boring...but the stamp image is beautiful - just really hard to see. It is hard to find a paper and ink to make it stand out enough. I did the image on gold tissue with bronze ink. Because the image has oriental flair I added a fortune about fishing that I got at restaurant once.


Here is January through April's.

Old Drawings...

These are a couple drawings I did in a drawing class in college.

Quote

I just came across this quote today and wanted to share it....and remember it....

"You think dark is just one color, but it ain’t. There’s five or six kinds of black. Some silly, some woolly. Some just empty. Some like fingers. And it don’t stay still. It moves and changes from one kind of black to another. Saying something is pitch black is like saying something is green. What kind of green? Green like my bottles? Green like a grasshopper? Green like a cucumber, lettuce or green like the sky just before it breaks loose to a storm? Well, night black is the same way. Might as well be a rainbow." ~ Toni Morrison

Eight

I have been having an artist block. I have 3 pieces that are started that are gifts for people and I just have been stalled on them for so long. Finally today I allowed myself to just play and this is what came out. I also put gesso on several tins, cds, canvas' and cardboard. I also got a few first and second layers done on several pieces. And even added some to one of the pieces I was stall on so all in all it was a good day.

Here is the piece I finished today....

Eight
5" x 7"
Mix Media

Trove

This is a piece I did back in November but every time I have taken a picture of it...all you saw black. So I finally got it under some light.


Trove
4" x 6"
Mix Media

Art Goodies!

We went out town this past weekend and I came home with lots of presents! Michael's parents had a bunches of stuff for me...old games and old photographs. Everything is great! I love it all. Stuck in the bundle of photos were some old maps plus a high school diploma from 1923. So I just have so many wonderful things to inspire me and create!

Here is a picture of just a few of the photographs.....










close up of some of them....













Also while out of town Michael bought me a bunch of art goodies....metal, cloth, and paper bits that I am so excited to use.

One of my favorite stops while in Denver is the Dollar Tree and they had some dolls I plan on altering. One I think is going to be a political piece and the other I think an angel/spiritual type piece. I am going to pull their hair out, paint them and alter them so they are not even recognizable so that is why I need....

...the before pictures of the dolls...















And then....I had one more fantastic thing happen...I sent some friends some cookies and they sent me a thank you package filled with art goodies that was totally unexpected and unnecessary but very much appreciated.

Here is a picture of the wonderful art goodies they sent me....
















layers and layers of fun!

I am sure with all these wonderful things I am going to be creating...and get this artist block unblocked!

The Bull...

In the China Shop



Acrylic paint on cardboard
9" x 12"
June 2005

Getting Back in the Saddle....

I have read several articles recently about how artists experience a greater amount of depression then others. And lately I have wondered if it is true....as I have been going through a kind of down period. I just sit and stare at the paper/canvas/whatever is in front of me and I can't let anything out. I go through thoughts filled with fear of "ruining" it, self doubt and a million other little negative thoughts. The longer it goes on the harder it is to start it back up again. This week marked the first time I picked up a paint brush and was not so worried that I was paralyzed by all the fears that go through my mind. It has been a while since I have been able to do that but it was time to get back in the saddle - so to speak. I told myself I can paint right back over it if it doesn't work out. I need to get back into that practice of saying "so what" - if it doesn't turn out exactly as I have it in my head.

I miss creating and it spins into other areas of life when I am not able too. I get grumpy and snap at Michael more when I haven't had good quality art time. And that is not fair to him so I need to get back to having that daily time to create no matter what comes out.

Right now my mind has been filled with 102 ideas and of course they all want out. And there is no way I am going to get them all right now. I started an art (paper) journal where I just do a quick sketch and write out ideas surrounding the concept so that day when I do have a creative block hopefully these little notes will help feed the creative process.

(side note: icon is by Alex Grey. I enjoy his work.)

Website!

Michael bought me www.darbyart.com! Isn't he the best? It will probably take me a while before I get the site done though as I have several others to be working on right now but at least it has a coming soon page up.

Workspace

I am posting pictures of my workspace because all the cool people are posting pictures of their workspace.

Ignore the ugly wallpaper please!

work table --- there is a little cart with 3 drawers that can fit under the table when I don't use the top for more supplies...like it is being used now. You can see a bit of it...the baby wipes are sitting on it.


Close up of table...the flat round container and the round tin are...full of bits and pieces. The flat one has quite a few fortunes from fortune cookies, it has foreign coins and stamps, metal bits and pieces and such. The round tin has buttons, mini playing cards, tags and whatnot.


Paper and Ephemera....the file folder has folders for everything under the sun - medical, people, nature, maps, and so on. The lovely Sam's water box is actually a box that I need to sort and file. And then the boxes behind it - the purple stripe box has pretty handmade papers, paintchips, and other pretty paper. The yellow box sitting in it is scraps...little scraps and it is going to go into the box under the purple stripe box that is empty.

Directly behind me as I sit at my work table is a shelving unit that I have had since I was in college. That thing has been battered and banged up but still survives all my moves. It has 3 columns of shelves. It recently contained books, more books and more books. I transferred some books to another shelving unit and then others into storage. Now it contains supplies...fibers, more paint (most of my paint is on my table), beading supplies, books that I cut up or alter, a basket full of cds that I intend to alter, box full of ribbon, colored pencils, pastels, markers, crayons, coloring books and toys(important part of creating for me), a box that I call my junk box - it has so many odds and ends of ephemera it is an insane box to open the combinations you find in it. Plus just so much more. I have boxes and crates under the unit that have magazines and newspapers.

Mix Media Mosaic

This is named after the people I made it for....it is a mosaic that all the pieces remind me of them. It is a mix media on canvas - 8" x 10"

Under the Red Moon

I did this piece back in November....but just had not got around to posting pictures of it. I did a few others pieces too but the photographs I took of them turned out horrible. So only this one...for now.

Under the Red Moon
November 2005
Mix Media on Canvas
4" x 6"

Book Markers

Just a few of the book markers I made for presents....