I'm On An Artsy-Craftsy Bender - Yeah Baby!

I have been working on many projects this last week. Many, many items are "in progress" and get rotated around depending on where & how the inspiration comes to me. Here's my current list of projects:

1. A couple of purses from the thrift store that are being creatively enhanced.

2. Several old softballs & baseballs that are being painted into "art balls".

3. Another computer memory board project. (Pictured above) Yes it is weird, nontraditional & very much something I would come up with. It's a study on contrasts & color.

4. A mixed-media tree picture.

5. A sculptural piece made from old silverware.

6. Two quilted totebags that are getting lots of embroidery embellishments, quotes, buttons...

7. A lampshade using recycled phonebook pages.

I found a big bag of fake money at the thrift store yesterday and now I want to make a sculptural piece with that. An idea came to me while I was in the shower this morning.

So many ideas, so little time...

Peace Festival

Jeff, Lily and I went to the Bishop Arts District in Dallas for the Peace Festival. Sept 21 is the International Day of Peace. Friday night, I had met Karen Blessen, the Pulitzer Prize winning Dallas artist who illustrated the book "Peace One Day" which is about the struggle to create an international day of peace. She said I would love the Bishop Arts District where it was held. That same night after talking with her, I came home to find an email from my friend Jyoti Subramanian. She and her daughter Meena were going to be telling stories there too. When Sunday arrived we had beautiful weather & some free time, so off we went for an adventure.

What a FUN afternoon! Also there to tell stories & emcee was Traphene Hickman, a delightful storyteller and Gene & Peggy Helmick-Richardson, a married couple who often do tandem tales together, but instead on this day each told one wonderful story. I was invited to share one of Traphenes' favorite stories about the "walk-off people". I enjoyed every single story, it is very hard to single one out as a favorite, for they all had a specialness to them. Meena is (i think) in the sixth grade this year and she has really developed into a gifted, wonderful storyteller over the last three years. When she and her mom tell a tandem tale from India together - it's magic!

The art galleries & funky shops at the Bishop Arts District are top-notch! It is a bit of a drive from Plano, so weekends are best for driving down there - lot less traffic then. I definitely plan on visiting the area again.

Plano Balloon Festival

Look what floated over my house last Saturday. We live less than one mile from the site where the annual Plano Balloon Festival is held.

My lantern titled, "Firecracker Mood!"

This is what I made at the ReadyMade workshop last night. We all constructed lanterns using cardboard and assorted materials. It is challenging to work fast enough to finish on time. None of us did, but when I got home it was only another 30 minutes more and it was done.

Now that this one is complete, I've come up with several more ideas that are a tad more sturdier and practical in construction. They will work better with my homes decor too. At any rate - this was fun to do.

The workshop leaders were Grace Hawthorne, President & Publisher of ReadyMade Magazine and Derek Fagerstrom, Projects Editor. They are very nice, live in gorgeous Berkley, Calif. where the company is located, and were very hands on with the lamp making. It is obvious that they are both SUPER creative people who like learning new, creative ways to make things for the home. What a dream job...

Tonight they will discuss more about ReadyMade at the DMA in the Horchow Theater at 9 pm. You know I'll be there!

My very own panda ~~~

My daughter Lily named her email "kungfupanda" several years before the movie came out. At the time I remember asking, "Where in the the world did you get kungfupanda?". Lily shrugged her shoulders and said "I just made it up." Then the movie came out years later, and of course she and her friends went to see it a few times. I haven't seen the movie, but Lily said it was pretty good.

Lily has been collecting all things panda for a few years. Here is she going off to her college classes earlier this week. She also went to work at the coffee shop, Escape' the same day. She works at a really funky, fun place that is also a favorite local hang out where people can bring their laptops and get free internet. Anyway, the customers loved it!

Ah youth! When you're young you can get away with looking like this far easier than a 40 something year-old woman.

It's Finished!

I finally finished a 16x20 in. picture for my mother. It was a challenge to keep it simple and as traditional looking as possible. My art tends to be ooohhhh...mmmm... "unique", my mother is much more traditional in her tastes. She likes flowers, softness, a real feminine look to her home.

So, I merged my technique of working in layers of recycled materials & collage with a shabby chic, vintage style.

The pictures foundation is collaged magazine text, painted over in layers of golds & greens. A opened lunch bag is laid on top with a splash of white paint hastily applied over it. I drastically enlarged & color-copied an image of vintage, hand-painted flowers with the words "Award of Merit" below it. Then I used an art medium to "lift" the colored ink off the paper and then applied that image on top of the white paint. The frame was natural wood that I painted white and then sanded down in places.

Voila! Tis done and not too weird for my momma. (I hope.)

Celebrating The Scandanavian Heritage

Despite the weather last Saturday (It was the day that hurricane Ike made landfall here in Texas), the festivities at the Wooden Spoon went on without a hitch. We scandanavians NEVER let a little bad weather get in the way of a good time!

I told my Minnesotan/Norwegian influenced stories inside the building along with all the other performers rather then in the tent outside. We all enjoyed the music of Norwegian born & Minnesota raised Greg Briland, a Hardanger fiddler who played a wide assortment of polka music & other tunes. Also on hand was Alan Beck with his accordian who played a tune that I KNOW I heard as a child up at my Grandma Torgerson's house in Berner, Minnesota.

A good time was had by all!

DIY ReadyMade at the DMA

The folks from DIY ReadyMade http://readymade.com/magazine/will be visiting the Dallas Museum of Art next Thursday & Friday. On Thursday evening they will have a workshop where attendees will use recyclable objects to create pieces inspired by architect Frank Gehry and the Materials & Meanings Exhibit.

Holy Cardboard Chairs Batman!?!

Isn't that exactly what I like to do? Use non-traditional materials in new & original ways to create art? Why yes it is - I am the QUEEN of using the pages from old telephone books to make different stuff. (I am planning on constructing a lampshade with phone book pages next by the way.)

But I digress. Space is limited for this workshop, so I called right away and got my name on the list of attendees. For $50.00 I will get the supplies & the opportunity to create something next Thursday night. I'm very curious & excited to find out what that will be. Then, on Friday (DMA Late Night), the DIY folks will have a conversation at 9 pm about all things hip, crafty, & handmade. My storytelling program is at 7:30-8:00, so I'll be done by that time and plan to attend that as well.

This month's Friday Night Live is extra special. Lots of super fab events on the schedule. Check it out: http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/Experience/ID_011668 Not only will DIY be there, but so will Pulitzer Prize winning artist Karen Blessen. She is the illustrator of "Peace One Day", a book for children about the struggle to create the International Day of Peace which is September 21.

Totally awesome night folks! If you live in the Dallas area this is a really fun night out for the whole family.

EEeeewwWW...Black Bubblegum!

Here is a photo I had taken earlier this week for an urban legend program I will be doing in October. Lily changed the gum black for me. Can a person even find black bubblegum?

Let me clarify "NEW unchewed bubblegum"?

Story Concert was Excellent!

I forgot my camera, so alas there are no photos from Elizabeth and Tim's special story concert on Wednesday. It was very moving and wonderful. These two are perfectly matched for tandem tales of this epic scale! They will be doing this tandem story at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN in October. I wish I could be there. >sigh<

Elizabeth Ellis & Tim Tingle Concert

Tonight I'm traveling with fellow storytellers over to Arlington, Texas to hear Elizabeth Ellis & Tim Tingle do a tandem concert. I've heard a lot about this collaborative work between two top national tellers and am very excited to have the opportunity to see it live.

I almost decided not to go. Why? Well I had an unfortunate meet up with the bathroom light fixture and my head while doing some decorating. On Sunday I whacked the daylights out of my noggin (yes there was blood), scared my poor husband whose first reaction was to pull out a roll of paper towels, and got one hell of a headache. After washing the area, seeing that there was now only a slow trickle of blood coming from a one-inch long jagged tear it was decided no stitches for me. Phew! After lots of ice & one rough night I am loads better and can style my hair in a semi-respectable fashion. Short hair rules!

SO, I AM GOING TO SEE ELIZABETH & TIM! YIPPEE!

I might also get Lily (my personal photographer) to take some publicity photos for my spooky storytelling gigs in October this afternoon. >sigh< I'm so thankful to be healing quickly!

Ophelia & Jasmine with their human friend Lily

Here is a photo of Ophelia wearing her harness that she can slip out of in 10 seconds flat. Little stinker! Jasmine & Ophelia get competitive for Lily's attention - Ophelia is the more aggressive one. If she feels the urge, she will try and whack Jasmine across the face. What a spunky personality she has.

Like I said she is a little stinker.

Orwellian Goosebumps!

Get a load of the posters annoucing the new music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. They are plastered all over downtown Dallas. BIG BROTHER is WATCHING YOU!

A wee bit creepy, yes?

Let's Celebrate Scandanavia - Uffdah, you betcha!

My friend, fellow Minnesotan and Scandinavian Gwen Workman, owner of the Wooden Spoon in Plano, Texas is celebrating her 20th year in business this Saturday, September 13th! http://www.woodenspoon.ws/

I will be doing two 30 minute storytelling programs in the afternoon for this event and will be located in a tent in front of the store. My stories will all be Scandinavian in origin, with special emphasis on Norway, my ancestral heritage. Uffdah! I will also be encorporating my own personal Minnesotan stories into my program. Good fun! Here is a picture of Gwen, she makes tasty lefsa and other scrumptious scandinavian goodies that she has for sale in her store. Stop by if you have the opportunity - it is a truly unique and special place!

Indecent Exposer

I find this downtown Dallas bronze sculpture fascinating. There is so much detail to this piece and yes, I think there is a story here. You can look into the woman's tote bag, her purse...and there are pictures of her family(?) on the bench beside her. My wonderful friend Amanda B. who works for the Dallas Museum of Art mentioned her rather indecent sitting pose (Yes, that is no way for a lady sit with her knees spread wide, especially if she is wearing a skirt!). This piece is so interesting to me. Love it!