Ignored

Chris had his head buried in the new Harry Potter book all weekend - and I mean - UNTIL 4 IN THE MORNING-IGNORE YOUR WIFE-DON'T HELP AROUND THE HOUSE-ALL WEEKEND. Not that I'm bitter. I got quite a bit done in "the studio" though.

I feel I have to put "the studio" in parenthesis because I don't feel like a real artist and "the studio" is just a corner of my basement. Oh well.

Anyway, here are a few of the pieces that came from sheer boredom this past weekend. I hope to post a few of them on Etsy, but save some back for the Omaha and Parkville shows.

"Early Riser"

"The Fields"

"Uncaged"

These two are teeny-tiny collages. They are only 2 3/4 inches squared.
"Only"

"Love Letter"

Excellent little gems

Most of the things I use in my artwork is found at antique stores or on ebay. Tonight I was outbid on a vintage wallpaper book from the 1970's. I became a crazed lunatic refreshing the page every 20 seconds at the end of the auction. I lost the auction and was willing to shell out $75 when the auction ended and I lost. Ugh.

So I went back and perused some ebay stores that offered vintage photos. I found a great seller with lots of good images. I'm trying to steer away from the candid shots that are up close lately. I want to find some that are a bit skewed, faces hidden. A little bit of mystery, I guess.

Well, I did buy 13 photos that I can't wait to receive, but I also stumbled across these little gems. If you are interested in these photos let me know and I'll send you a link, but you and I both know that I will think you are a complete freak. The family photo at the bottom may be too hard to resist though. What a classic!

More Shows

I liked the first one so much that I'm ready for more. This week I found out that I was accepted to Omaha's Art on the Pointe show. It's September 14-16. I'm really look forward to this one. It's small - 50 artists. The big perk, though, is that it is located in a great shopping center with Nebraska's only Apple, Coach and other shops like Gap and Banana Republic. I visited the area in May and I can't wait to return.

Tuesday brought some additional good news about a show in Parkville. Get this...I didn't even have to apply. They invited me because they saw my work at the Prairie Village show. Art at Park is October 14 & 14 in Parkville, Missouri on the Park University campus. I'm sure this is a small show as well, but right up my alley.

I ordered about 50 more canvases this week, but this was before I got the news on these two shows. I better order more ad I better get cranking on producing some inventory!

Partnership

I've been buying a lot more on Etsy than I've been selling. It's not hard to believe considering I haven't sold anything on Etsy. It's not been something that I've been marketing, other than the link on my blog. I hope as I do more shows I'd build a bit more of a following on Etsy, however.

Until then, I thought I post some mini-collages and see if a lower price point might help. The piece below is called "Partnership". The background is an antique book page. I've also used transparent papers, a dress pattern and then painted it robin's egg blue and a khaki green. Personally, I think it would make a great little gift for a newly engaged couple. It's only 4"x4". Who doesn't have a place in their home to put such a small piece?

Click Etsy Shop at the right periodically for new pieces.

Excuses

I don't want to make excuses for my lack of blog entries, but...here are my excuses for my lack of blog entries.

I went on a mini-vacay. My real job has been insanely crazy. I'm prepping to throw my sister a baby shower. I've decided to take up exercise again (such a novel concept). This week, I'm completely addicted to Flight of The Conchords, VitaminWater, Kashi frozen meals, the Downtown Overland Park Farmer's Market, everyone else's Etsy sites and wishing I was addicted to this exercise thing.

I've also been working on one huge commission and it had literally taken me over a month. For five weeks, I've painted, pasted, repainted, arranged and rearranged the visual elements a thousand times. Commissions are fun, but they are hard work because there is so much pressure to please. If you know me, you know that that is pretty much all I try to do in life...please.

I just got another commission tonight and I have a few pending, so I'm very excited to know that people out there appreciate my work. If you are interested in a commission, please contact me! Despite my new addictions, I can find some time to work on something for you.

Ugh...I've just realized that the last four paragraphs start with I or I've. This is a blog, obviously written from my first-person point of view, but geesh. Can I get an editor, please?

Flight of the Conchords: The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room

OK, for those of you that don't have HBO, you might consider getting it just for this new genius series called Flight of the Conchords. It's about two guys from New Zealand that have formed a band in the U.S. It is so freaking hilarious. I look forward to Sunday nights just to watch it. If you can, check it out. This video is from the pilot and had me hooked instantly!

I love this bean

Chris and I just returned from a mini vacation in Chicago. It was a trip to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday and a great excuse to visit Moe and Eric. We had an absolute blast!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and went to Bandera's on Michigan Avenue for a late lunch with Moe. Chris and I head there every time we are in Chicago because it reminds us of our first date at Fairway Grill. The Macho Salad is the bomb. After that, we headed to H&M and Chris had to see the Garmin store. The premiere of the iPhone meant that the streets were clogged with crazy Apple heads.

After the Lanes checked in at The Tremont, we headed back to Moe's place to change and then head back out for dinner. We treated the Lanes to a late dinner at Mia Francesca's. After that, back to Moe's until midnight when we headed out to meet Mak and Mark.

We were up for some culture on Saturday and went to the Science and Industry Museum and The Field Museum for the Darwin Exhibit. That afternoon we headed to Millennium Park to see the giant silver bean. I really need to find out who the artist is because I LOVE THIS BEAN! It so simple, but people are absolutely mesmerized by it as you can see in the pictures.


This picture is the reflection of Chris and me in the "bean".

The bean is a popular wedding picture destination. I just looked up the real name of the bean and it's called Cloud Gate by British artist Anish Kapoor. It's 110 tons of stainless steel plates that are completely seamless. The sculpture measures 33 x 66 feet. It really is amazing and a must see in Chicago.
Just down the steps from the bean, we heard screams from excited children. There were two facing buildings that showed video of faces for a period of 5 to 7 minutes, when all of the sudden the faces would close their eyes, pucker their lips and spit water onto the screaming kiddos below. I sat there and watched it forever.

Moe met up with us and we headed to a little bar in the park. More drinks! It was an absolutely perfect day with bright sun and a cool breeze off the lake. Now this is vacation! Eric finished his paper and met us at the bar. Then we were off for another late night dinner with Eric and Moe at Socca.

We met up with Kara and Pat at a bar after dinner, but Moe and I were so full that we headed home while the boys headed to an Irish bar where Chris flexed his Guinness muscle by showing up everyone in the bar with his extraordinary skills to open his throat and chug pints in mere seconds. So charming.

Sunday started off with Moe's famous Bloody Mary brunch at their place in Wrigleyville. It was so yummy. Then we walked to the game just a few short blocks away. It was KU Alumni game day and there were Jayhawk fans everywhere. Chris chatted it up with some random behinds us about KU's obvious trip to the Rose Bowl in 2008. Ha.

It was my first trip to Wrigley and I can't imagine a better place to watch baseball. This is the atmosphere that every baseball team should have the luxury of playing in. It certainly blows Kaufman out of the water. It was another beautiful day and the fans were loving it!

After a victorious game and a fabulous rendition of Go Cubs Go sung aloud by all of the fans as they filed out of the stadium, we headed to Murphy's Bleachers right across the street. (By the way, I've already downloaded the song and played it a number of times).

Some of the folks had a bit more to drink than us if you can even believe that. This dude was escorted out of the bar and hung onto the pole for a solid 10 minutes before mustering some brain cells together to remember who he was and where he was supposed to be. I was as mesmerized by him as I was the spitting fountains at the park. Oh, he was spitting too, but nobody would want to hang out at the bottom of whatever was coming out of his mouth. Not sure who was more drunk, this guy or the guy that went to the port-a-pottie and came out with a giant grin of relief but was wearing more of what he went in to the port-a-pottie to release than what he actually left behind in the john, if you get my drift.

Eric went on a covert operation to capture the finest mullet that Chicago has ever seen. He had one fine 'stache to boot.

The crazy Jayhawk/Cubs fans at Murphy's Bleachers...aka me and Moe.

That's all she wrote folks...