nobody girl

this past weekend i seriously accomplished the huge list of things i needed to. it's amazing what a deadline can do. it's even more amazing that i didn't have to work until last night. having had a whole lot of time, almost ninty six hours worth, to paint, print, package, hang, distribute, meet&discuss and recover all that i originally thought was lost in my head. when you have thought about something for so long and then it actually happens or gets close to happening, it can be a little overwhelming and boy oh boy what a relief.
i am super excited about what i have to share and show at clothesline and can't believe that we're about to do it all again. the second in my television trees (above) is a serious departure from my paper quilts, even from my previous trees, but all in all these are the trees i've been thinking about and feeling like lying underneath. and of course there's nothing about them that is symbolic, it's my personal interpretation on graffiti, on a soft world of graffiti that is.

on saturday i finally got to the printers and on sunday picked up sixty brand spankin new card sets of my six paper quilts. this go around i wanted to spruce them up a bit and am pleased as punch with their new rounded corners-ahhh and envelope seals!

on one hand i wish i could say that after clothesline i'd get a little bit of break but on the other hand, i'm eager to start the next in line project(s). my next "meet the deadline" is october first. i have in the recent months been asked by aaron robbs, lead singer/gituarist for coral castles to design:make the art for their newest album:ep. on sunday we had the opportunity to sit and and discuss, surf the www and speak openly on subjects of design, art, creativity and the like. i am thrilled to pieces about this and can barely contain my thoughts on this tip.
i think i mine as well just post about my next deadline. i'm hestitant because there all kinds of things that i have to do first, plus a publishers approval and all, but i'm excited and thought if i told you all about it you could keep me in your thoughts and "cross fingered" prayers.

i have been contacted by someone who would like me to submit my paper quilts for a diy book to be published at the beginning of next year. it is going to be a whole lot of work but i feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and to share it with my friends, family and readers here. it seems like it maybe an encouragement to you as you travel down your own creative paths. i will definitely keep you updated as i approach december one and january one of twothousandeight.
i've started my next to last piece for the clothesline show, pictured below and hope to have it completed by tonight or tomorrow. again what's with the rounded corners? this will be my third twilight trees (a warm colored one for the record books) and then a fourth (a cooler one in blues and greens and turqs) hopefully will be completed by thursday night-friday afternoon at the latest. unga.

i have no idea if i'm leaving something out or not. if it weren't for the holiday i think i might have gone bonkers. thanks labor day!

thinking about ryan adams, can you tell?

.up.to.no.good.

two a.m. rolled around and you'd think i would have had enough sense to lay the paint and brushes down. i just couldn't help myself. knowing and feeling the mad dash crunch is all it takes. the late nights haven't seen the last of me. unfortunately i have only a few more last touches to put on my spacetree painting, but i'm stonecold out of motivation for the finishline. it was dragging me down so i decided over the weekend to pick up a new canvas and after some foundational sketching i started a new perspective:rendition on the twilight trees. it's my remixed version. *with the spacetree painting i intended all along to recycle a previous painting. i meant to leave the seagulls and the majority of bluesky, but i continue to struggle. i have the smaller circles in the trees to paint. i'm leaning between an orange red or a lighter green. i also am leaning toward applying a tad more paper to the piece, but i'm uncertain about it all and know i probably won't be showing the spacetree piece in the upcoming clothesline show. i'd rather have it hanging at fitness together with the rest of my growing forest.

twilight will make an unseemly sorching hot or frigidly freezing day feel redemptively magical. at the close, a comforting quiet and coming together of all that the day held in ups and downs. twilight illustrates a time when starlings fly in unison above my city and collect themselves simultaneously on highwires. a small moment of deepening bluesky and some slight breeze, i can breath. i'm not saying i can even come close to painting what i invision twilight to be. my trees aren't really the trees i see on a daily basis, but they warm me, or at least my heart. i still struggle inbetween twilights fantasy and it's alterego, reality. the reality of it all is that i hope above all that something inside of me comes out on the canvas and warms other people's hearts. i know my style is off and cursive in nature, i know my lines are crooked, but they are purpose driven as all of twilight reaches out for darkness and the silence of night.

sometimes i feel like i beg for attention, i struggle with phantomcrimes and hide what i really want and that is recognition. foolish and corrupt as it may seem it is true that i wish to be discovered and that i want my art to find it's way into the minds, homes, and thoughts of little children who want someday to make art. i would love to see my art in beautiful/decay or juxtapoz or my local but now chicago based mule. and inbetween these thoughts i am struck, as if with a fly swatter, that there is a beautiful community of women artists here in my city, my friends, who have lifted my spirits and pushed me further. and i am reminded of how they are my audience, a small part of a larger community, but still. and thankfulness for this "clothesline" community is really all that i need. afterall if i had any more than what i've got i'd have to quit my jobs and begin to live in an art world. a world of many too many 2 a.m. nights of artmaking. alas, it isn't that time yet in my life. if that time came i'd be just as scared, so i'm left in peace about what my responsibilty truly is, it's to share and hopefully gain some perspective with phantomcrimes, here. i'm off to up to no good:)

week in color:orange.pink.red

as you've probably noticed, i am nearly never near phantomcrimes on the weekend. so i am wrapping up a great week in color, today. its been exciting to see everyone's week in color efforts. andrea has got color down wouldn't you say. i love how her view of color is a balance between family life, still life, urban life, past, present and future. she's building upon all of these fantastic life experiences and it's a joy to be thankful for color with her. in the same way, hannah has honed in on a week in color shoe theme. it's unique and experimental and special too. i'm wondering what her red and orange and pink days will be like, more shoes in those colors?

then there's kate and her spur of the moment, spontaneous, catchup participation. i'm totally impressed and am still in love with her day with the koi foto set.

exciting too is linda's contribution!!! i love her color chosen photos. they are yet another gift. little reminders of beauty. a celebration of her family and the color surrounding her on a daily basis.

last but not least, i think joy has brought her scraping full circle with her week in color. again it's about family and how she and her children are represented in color, paper color and more and more photo color.

i suppose if you've been participating and i've missed you here, you ought to let me know or someone know, so that we can love on your week in color with you.

and i've been painting, of course i've got a whole lot more to accomplish, but at least i picked up a paint brush. i also sprung and got a couple of these, anyone want to join in the racketeering?
have a great weekend everyone, i'm outta the blogworld until next week.peace.

moo&wip

this morning i took a few quick photos, though really not that good, of the new mini moo assortment that i received in the mail yesterday. they're great and i can't seem to stop thinking about them. it is rather ridiculous i suppose, to get so excited about them. they're just like little treasures, yet so functional and really helpful when it comes right down to it.

i think too, that i have finally found the guts to show my newest work in progress. i still have a fair amount of time to put into getting it completed but once i began painting, everything seemed to start falling into place. yeah yeah yeah. it is a terrible photo but it is just a hint of things. you're not supposed to look that cloesly and plus knowing myself as i do it may all change drastically by the end. haven't you seen it all before? the painting underneath was a seascape with shoreline, seagulls and seaweed grass all there. it isn't exactly what i had in mind when i thought about recycling a thrifted painting but i will be leaving the birds alone and the sky color and texture should remain about the same.
i thought about how much i loved drawing my tinier space bubble type trees and eyeball flowers that it would be worth trying them out on a large scale. so far i think it's is working. we shall see though.

just thought i'd catch up with you. take care and have a great day. outta here.

WIP:berry creative

the day before yesterday was monday as you all well know. i left work early to gather refreshment for the last night of my stampin up club. by request i went to rembrandt's for macaroons and "s" cookies dipped in dark chocolate. then to grocery for fruit. i decided after cutting up the fruit that i didn't feel like sharing the good stuff. i don't regret it.
i suppose the july cover of martha stewart's living might have had something to do with my need for berry. i am not even a fan of the classic red.white.&blue but the berry terrific shortbread looks amazing. plus i feel jipped about not having gotten to eat may strawberries this season, it is indeed almost over.

honestly i am happy the stamp club is dissolving. it was really interesting to be apart of a monthly group of women who got together to make cards once a month. for two years it provided an outlet for me in one way or another, it also became an indispensible resource for envelopes, punches, brads and eyelets. i am happy because i will be moving on. last week i was catching up with michelle, and found she participates in a book club. how very timely for me! my mom has been telling me for ages that i ought to join a reading group, but i have had stampin up, puzzling over how to find such a club. i finished 'fidelity' by wendell berry. so i am picking up, rereading james david duncan's the brothers k and plan to join in group discussion in august. a little known fact:this will be the first time that i have ever read a book for the second time. can you believe. i can't.

tonight we have an organizational clothesline meeting. thursday is rx work. friday is family night along with a possible dip in the pool. when am i going to make art or continue working on this piece? i did not start this week off thinking it would fill up with all kinds of things. and will i beable to keep up with the biking? awgh!!! i can't imagine a life any less full.