starting lots but finishing little...

Is this happening to you as well? I've been in and out of the studio for the past few days but am just not up to getting anything finished. So I find myself scouring newspapers and magazines for text, laying out images and then reconfiguring them after the wind whips in the window and bits and pieces of paper take flight. Then I get distracted by a new idea and start all over. So I have a small group of paintings forming but I can't see how they will all come together yet (that's just the way it is sometimes). My plan is to keep putting things together and taking them apart until they make sense. Where are you finding inspiration these days?

and the winner is...

Wanda Miller!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment and shared a little bit of themselves. On this picture perfect fall day I'm off to soccer practice(knitting time), a college football game and then dinner in the city with friends. It's shaping up to be a lovely weekend around here and I hope the same is true for you...see you Monday!

ps: wanda please email me with your info : )

Give away time...

Nightly Absurdities

3x4x1

Dreams can sometimes seem like nonsense, right? But if I take apart the building blocks of my dreams instead of seeing them as a crazy scramble of memory and experience they begin to speak to one another and tell a story. This little block painting is looking for a home. If you would like to be entered in a random drawing to win it-just leave a comment on this post sometime before midnight on friday 9/24. And just for fun maybe answer the following question: What do you dream about?

Inspired and inspiring...

A friend of mine did something beautiful (you can find out more about it here). Everyone has a story....have you found a way to tell yours?

give away postponed (until wednesday)

Sorry about that. There was a little mishap with encaustic block I was working on for the give away and I had to scrap it and start over...sigh. Pictured above are a few other blocks in progress which I was working on when the unfortunate event occurred . I need to get back in the studio and get busy but I'll see you back here Wednesday...

then and now...

I love being a mother and creating and I can't imagine one without the other. The two roles are wrapped up in each other in a really cool and confusing mash-up kind of way that makes me happy and crazy at the same time. I was asked by my dear on-line friend Leililaloo to be a part of her "Balancing Series". She is hosting a series of interviews where artists who are mothers answer questions about doing creative work and mothering. Dana was my first blogging friend and I love the beauty, honesty and energy of her blog. I encourage you to grab a cup of coffe or tea and check out the whole series on this lovely Friday. I'll be back here Monday with some new work and a give away!

Your thoughts?

Today I'm working on ideas for the on-line class I'm going to be teaching in January (all of the class materials need to be ready by the end of November and so it's time for me to busy!). The really hard part is deciding what the "Encaustic Love Block" will look like. Here is one idea. This is a photo of a custom piece I did a while back but you could use a love letter or a favorite bit of poetry in her dress so everyone would create the same block but it would be unique and personal. What do you think? If you were going to take an encaustic class what techniques would you be interested in learning? I'd love to hear your thoughts....

1+1=good stuff

These are a few things from this past weekend that went together:

a strip mall + amazingly delicious food

me + studio time

soccer + knitting (this is going to work out well)

lots of tomatoes + new recipes from old books

Happy Monday : )

hello gorgeous!

Yes, I'm talking to you : )

Happy Friday!

Here's what I've been up to:

Hi peeps! I know it's been a few days but things went a little crazy-in-a-good-way around here as the kids finished up their first week of school. My mom came to help me hang the honeybee wallpaper on Thursday and Friday (my mom is a rock star when it comes to diy projects) and then my sister and brother-in-law stopped by for dinner with their girls on Friday evening. Sunday we attended a bbq with new and old neigbors which wrapped up the summer perfectly. So today with a few projects checked off the list and a house back in a kind of bearable state I stepped back into the studio and got to work. My head is swimming with ideas and I have a feeling I'll be seeing you here more often...

Oh and-isn't the change in weather dreamy?

Summerbrain....

I have the attention span of a gnat. The kids started school Monday and I was so excited to get the work groove going again but something happened once I turned up the music and pulled out my boards. I only managed to gesso one board when the following happened:

::i remembered i wanted to burn a cd for -r

::delivered the cd

::remembered that the last wall i painted needed touch up

::repainted the entire wall

::folded (the neverending) laundry

::prepped food for dinner

::called my mom

::cut up strawberries for an after school snack

::walked the dog to pick up the kids

::went to the beach

::made dinner

::helped with homework

::read a bit of "the girl with the dragon tattoo"

::Zzzzz

But, before I climbed the stairs, I poked my head in the studio and smiled at my single gessoed board. It wasn't much but it was a first step towards something : )