Mini Mad Scientist

I have had such fun lately with bits of paper and pots of glue. And scissors, and hole punches, and circle makers, and buttons, and markers, and stamps, and maps, and old books.

I'm sure I have not reinvented the wheel in coming up with my new creations, but my experiments have been my own. No instruction books. No tutorials. Just me and my paper and glue and . . .

I've had the best time making paper beads. I cut out very elongated triangles from "antique" books and roll them up with glue to make beads. I seal them with matte medium a couple of times to harden them. Then it's time for flat paper beads. I cut cardstock into squares, glue a stack of four squares together, then, perhaps, glue on a smaller contrasting bit of paper.

And then, of course, what I cannot make , I buy. I have been scouring the internet for vintage sequins and lucite beads.

And the maps! I've had a handful of maps in my collage collection for several years. I've never touched them until now. And I have a set of 20 vintage maps on the way. And a 1930's geography textbook. I have already completely destroyed one so another is on the way.

I am attempting to print out text with my ink jet printer and use it on my fabric beads. Unfortunately, once the glue touches the ink, it smears. Even if the paper has sat around for a couple of days to dry. I find it smears less when I use my finger to apply the glue than with a brush, but I haven't figured out how to prevent the smearing completely. After my disappointing experiments with this, I did resort to looking in my books. So many books mention using print outs and copies in collage, but no one ever mentions how to prevent ink smearage. Any ideas?

I have completed a small piece using a few of the materials shown in this photo. I will be doing a giveaway in the next few days so come back soon and have a look and see if you want to enter the contest.

Anytime, Anywhere

My daughter will read anytime.

She will read anywhere.

She will read anything.

Now I've got to figure out where to hide the more adult books. Nothing nasty, mind you, just a little more, uh, advanced for a 7-year-old.

It is surprising how much she has learned in the past year. This time last year, she was reading the simplest Dr. Seuss books. Now, she doesn't even require pictures anymore. Just page after page with lots of words.

Kids are interesting when they learn to smile. A little more interesting when they learn to walk. Quite interesting (and amusing) when they learn to talk. But this is my favorite stage when they learn to read and write.

I remember, yesterday I think it was, that my now 18-year-old nieces learned to read. I remember reading their school journals from second grade and crying. It is and was so hugely amazing to me. And I'm sure it is to them, too. This seems to me like the final frontier of learning. Except when they start having relationships with the opposite sex and I'm NEVER going to be ready for that. Nor will I enjoy it. This reading thing is it! The world is finally open to them once they learn to read. Or perhaps I should say they are open to the world.

How exciting. How scary.

Really Really Not Funny

O.K. So I've gotten lots of info. on what I should do to post a comment. I've seen lots of different ways to post. Some ask to type in groups of letters. That works. Sometimes I must click Google Account (which already has my name resassuringly next to it). That works. But when I see this screen, I can do nothing. I try to select Google Account here. Nope. Open ID. Nope. Name/URL. Nope. None of the others apply to me (although I have tried them). Does anyone out there see this when trying to comment on certain blogs? And if you do, does it work for you?

Thanks for all of you that have been trying to help me out. I really appreciate it.

What's making me so sad, angry, and frustrated, is that more and more blogs are doing this to me. Even ones that I've been able to comment on in the past.

Hopefully, someone out there will be able to help. I will try not to bring up this subject again. I just really really really want to connect with other bloggers & sniff, sob, whine, I can't.

Really Not Funny

Looks like my blogging world is shrinking.

I tried to comment on several blogs that I follow lately -- only to have my comments just disappear. If I see an additional box under the comment box that says "comment as" then asks me to "select profile", I won't be able to leave a comment. This seems to be happening more and more lately. Not only with blogs that I am new to either. Its also happening with blogs that I used to be able to comment on.

So if I'm a follower and you never hear from me anymore, you know why.

My followers seem to be disappearing too. Is anyone having problems leaving comments here? If so, send an email.

I'm starting to wonder if continuing blogging is a good idea.

I feel like Alice in Wonderland falling down a well. My original blog world seems to be disappearing. However, things that are disappearing are not being replace with anything (other than irritation). I wouldn't mind seeing a cat with a huge smile at this point.

Not Funny

Perhaps you've noticed -- there have been few posts lately. I'm not too sure why. I've been a bit crabby. I don't want my blog to be a crabby place. I know I have a rant or two. I do enjoy adding to my whining and complaining category. I just prefer to do it in a funny way. I just couldn't summon up the funny today. Or yesterday. Or the day before.

So I've surfed blogs a bit. I've found quite a few angry ones. A few nasty ones (like 'em but not a steady diet of 'em). And many depressing ones. I do want bloggers to write what they think and feel. It's just too heavy for me this week. Maybe its the health care thing getting to me. But we are NOT going into that here.

So, for your enjoyment, here's a photo of me as a child. I was crabby. Or maybe it was just a bookful of bad jokes. I don't recall. Perhaps I had just been forced to eat spinach. I doubt it though, 'cause that's my grandmother's house. I got to eat all kinds of bad-for-you stuff there. Circus peanuts candy (way nasty), Mr. Pibb and all kinds of cheap cheese. I probably have a tummy ache.

Bye for now. I'm off to look for happy things.

Women Singing

Astrud, Nina, Elis, and Janis (left to right).

Each 24 x 20".

I am going to be hanging a dozen or so pieces tomorrow at Happy Valley Optical in State College, PA. I will post the address and hours in a couple of days for those locals who wish to pay a visit. I am including a few "older" pieces. These four are from 2007. Practically considered prehistoric in the art world these days. I had forgotten how much I loved creating these pieces. I almost always work to music. When I am in doubt about beginning a piece, I'll consult my mood of the moment and select a handful of CD's, press the shuffle button on my CD player, and see what happens.

An unpublished article, from early 2007, hopefully explains the thinking behind these quilts.

A new art quilt series is in the works featuring female musicians and vocalists. The singer for the Getz/Gilberto songs, Brazilian Astrud Gilberto, inspired the first piece in the series. “When I listened to ‘Girl from Ipanema’, the first fabrics I reached for were teals and golds. I pictured Astrud singing in a 1960's-style lounge with teal and turquoise curtains and furnishings while wearing a gold damask gown.” The next piece was created listening to the powerful music of Nina Simone. The stronger, darker tones definitely reflect the strength of her voice and music. Elis Regina, another Brazilian vocalist popular in the 1960's, inspired a piece using gold, red and brown. The last piece in the series “Janis”, was the quickest to be designed. “One minute into Janis Joplin’s recording of Piece of My Heart, and a pile of fabrics was ready to be cut. Very few colors ARE NOT in this piece.”

After the show, I will be offering any of these unsold pieces on Etsy. I do think it's time to put a new little bird on there right now.

Hello . . . Hello

Tribute to Billie 36 x 26".

Well, where is everybody? I don't think anybody is out there anymore. I figured I would show an old piece here considering that nothing new seems to be happening in the world of blog.

Perhaps it summer? Everyone is on vacation.

Heat and humidity induced lethargy?

Is everyone twittering instead?

Should I take it personally?

I had actually thought about doing one of those giveaway things . . . not so sure now. Hmmmm. Whaddayathink?

Hey, I've got a show next week. That's news, right? I'll put up some photos of that next week. It's going to be big! Every piece will sell! I'll be rich! And famous! I'll be too big and important to talk to anybody anyway.

I'm going to go and see if anything is happening on Facebook.