Another Name for Thanksgiving is...

...Thursday dinner!

WIP

Inks + Carving Tools + Brayers + Papers + Temperature + Pressure + Patience

Experimenting...

Layering...

My studio has a strong smell of ink, lots of paper, tape, wet and dry cloths, palette knives an the constant streaming of Netflix movies.
(A few from my queue - Bela Fleck-Throw Down Your Heart, Imitation of Life,
The Art of the Steal,)

Say Ahhhhhhh!

Annie's got a slight case of the sniffles so we went to pick up some herbs and vitamins at Dr. John Nieters' office, and he took a few minutes to look at her throat, feel her glands, take her pulse, and make sure she didn't have Strep.

Annie loves seeing him.
She came right home and made him this card as a thank you.

Thank you John!

Pure Heaven

For those of you who don't yet know the pure joy of a heated mattress pad, I encourage you to buy one, upgrade to overnight shipping, and know the deep pleasure of slipping into a deliciously warm bed!

It's the modern version of a few warm rocks placed in the bed on a cold winters night.

I literally moan and squeal with delight each time I get into bed. Really!

If my words don't move you, see this pleasure beautifully illustrated above by Annie.

If you're curious, and you need further encouragement, know that it can help you save on your overall heating bill. Rather than heating your whole room (or home) just heat the bed. We just heat ours twenty minutes before going bed, and turn it off as soon as we slip in.

Pure heaven!

Thank you for the gift LaLa!!
(The original of the above artwork is on it's way to you via snail mail!)
xo

How to Build a Duff House, or I Could Look at My Baby All Day

We went for a hike up in the redwoods today. Wow! Today's weather was so warm and amazing and the view of the San Francisco Bay glittered and sparkled! I went looking for sticks, lichen and eucalyptus for a project, and Annie quickly decided to build a Duff house to shelter small animals from the coming winter rains. (Annie has informed me that "Duff" is all the redwood leaves, sticks and debris on the forest floor. If you pile enough on your structure, it becomes rain proof and keeps the cold out.)
I liked Annie's structure, but mostly I couldn't keep my eyes off of her! What a delight to listen to and watch as she worked!

A Day

Annie and I scurried off to the thrift store before my first class began this morning. I found this blue linen shirt.

After the morning class left, Annie and I continued doing foam printing together and I LOVE how her prints turned out.

Here I am waiting for my afternoon class of boys to show up.

And here they are in all their glory!

It's already dark at 5:45 p.m. and here I am, talking to LaLa Pat while I get ready to post this to my blog. Another great day!

Foam Printing

I finally did an printing experiment that I've been wanting to do using foam trays. You know those kind that meat and fruit are packed on? Friends and neighbors have been saving them for me, and I finally can offer this project with the kids in my studio.

The following are a few simple steps to use your foam trays and make repeated images. Step one, using an exacto blade I cut out a flat piece from the tray to carve on. Step two, I then used a light pencil line to layout my design, then pressed much harder with the pencil, creating a deep ravine that would convey my image. Step three, using my Brayer and Block Printing Ink, laid out the red paint on a flat surface covered with freezer paper, then transferred the paint as evenly as possible onto my foam "block". Step four, lay the foam "block" onto good paper, cover it with a hard-backed book, and you can see my lovely (and petulant) assistant in action, applying even pressure to make a good solid transfer. I'll post the kids work with foam prints in the studio this week on Alameda StudioTime.

A Little Family

I've been working on a holiday nativity scene for our dear friends the Taylors. So far, I've worked in silk, wood and wool to create a Mary, Joseph and the newborn Jesus. I love the colors and the non-traditional costumes. The parents stand approximately 8.5" and are completely pose-able.
Next, the manger/structure. I've got a date with a eucalyptus tree this week to collect bark.

First Haircut in Almost Ten Years

Goodbye barrettes, hair ties, and long hair.

I'm So Glad She's My Kid

Someone around here feels happy about me!
I feel happy too!