Living Vicariously

Vicarious Voyage, collage on board, 16x16" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Often (too often), I prefer being a spectator to being a participant.  I am an observer, not an adventurer.    Those messages to get up off of my butt and get out in the world fall on deaf ears.  Maybe, just maybe, when I don't think anyone is watching me, I'll put myself out there.  Briefly.  Not wanting or waiting to be judged.

This piece is now in my Etsy shop.

I wonder if I added the houses to this piece because, after a couple of days away from home, I long to return.  Or, no matter where I go, I always want to see the homes of the natives.  Could be that I'm just obsessed with real estate.

The Pulse of Mixed Media

Yep, my secrets and passions are in this book.  Not in great quantity however.

There are plenty of secrets and passions of other artists, though.  I have carried this book with me everywhere the past couple of weeks and I have read and reread it.

I have also written a review for Amazon:

While I enjoyed looking at the mixed media art in this book, I must say it is the text that I found most compelling. This is not a how-to book. There are no projects and no exercises. This book is a look into the minds of the artists themselves. We get the see the artists in their personal environments -- the inside of their heads and hearts.

After reading an earlier review, I do have to say many of the artists here have been in other books. In the Pulse of Mixed Media, I have learned far more about them than I have in those other books. However, there are MANY "new" artists here that I have never heard of before. I'm enjoying my coffee breaks from my own art studio while looking at their blogs and websites. 

My only complaints: I wish there were more photographs (some artists do not have photos of their work), and I wish the book could be longer.

Hopefully Seth Apter will come out with another edition?!?

Yes, I purchased my edition from Amazon.  I live in a retail-challenged area so I had no choice.  Remember, support your local bookseller!!!

How To

How To, 4 x 4" ©2012 Kim Hambric

I sure could use a "How To" guide for life.

I've always heard that showing up is half the battle.  To often, I fail to show up.

If I don't show up, I'm in the studio painting and pacing and gluing and dancing and making mistakes.

Or on the computer, wasting far too much time.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

The Pulse of Mixed Media

It is finally here and I am happy as a clam.  My first picture and words in a book.  A real book!!!!  And a pretty darn good one at that.  I love beautiful photos of artwork and I love reading about how things are done.  But what I REALLY love (and just didn't know it before I received my book) are the inner feelings of those who create the artwork.  Somehow, Seth Apter has encouraged 100 artists to dig down deep inside themselves and offer up bits and pieces never before revealed.

And now, could someone please tell me how to insert larger photos from Amazon into Blogger?  Please help the technologically challenged.

Optimistic

Optimistic,  6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

This is not my most optimistic time of the year.

Optimism runs low when it is cold and cloudy.

So I made this in what I consider cheery colors.

Originally, I was going to showcase a different piece for this post.  I pulled a few photos off of my camera of a piece I had photographed step by step.  Yep, there's the very beginning, the next step, and then another coming close to the end.  All were photoshopped this morning.  But  .  .  .  where the heck is the final photograph???!!!???

I checked all of the computer directories.  I went through all of the studio drawers.  I cannot find a trace of this piece.  Did I paint over it?  Did I finish it and take it to the artisan boutique?  Perhaps I would know the answer to that if I could find the folder that holds the inventory list.  That is gone, too.  And so is my favorite scarf.  I've looked everywhere for that.

I feel as if I'm losing my mind along with everything else.

I'm not optimistic about finding any of these.

This piece is available in my Etsy Shop.

There's just something about little houses

Little Shanty, 5 x 5" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Yes, I'm still working with house shapes and maps.  I guess you could say I'm obsessed with both.

There's something so comforting about a simple house shape.

While I'm frequently heard to say that I would just loooooove to have more room, if granted that wish, I'm sure it wouldn't take long for me to regret asking for that extra space.

My small home is somewhat restricting.  Yet it is also freeing.  No pesky servants to get underfoot.  No 20-foot-long dining table to polish.

I would much rather have my home than trade in for Downton Abbey.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Way Excited!!!

I've been walking like an injured dog.  Circling.  Circling.  Trying to get away from whatever it is that is hurting me.  A dog will just keep circling.  A human, such as I, will finally throw up her hands and scream at the sky.

That's when the hubby comes in and says:  "Why don't you find one of those art retreats or courses and go somewhere to try something different?"

"Huh?  I don't have any money, that's why."

And then he says, "We'll take some of the money from the last course I taught and send you somewhere."

I'm thinking he actually wants to help me and not just rid of me and my black clouds.

So, I do some searching . . .

Surface Design in Columbus, Ohio.  Maybe.  I could drive there.  That would be the reasonable thing to do.

"Didn't you once mention something in Portland, Oregon?"

"Uh.  Yeah," I stammered.

"So check into that."

And I did.  And I whined that it was too far from downtown Portland.  And I said it would be too expensive.  And then hubby got on the computer and looked up flights and costs.  And then I got on the Art and Soul Portland website and then I found it . . .

. . . a class with Jessie Reno! This is something I have DREAMED about, but never had the guts to do. So now, I'm registered for the class. Now I need to figure out the logistics of travel, child care, moving money and what not. I also need to figure out how to extend the trip to take Donna Watson's course also.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!