Pass the wine, Antonio…

This weekend, I was excited and raring to go about working on several craft and art projects that have been brewing below the surface for a while now. I was determined to make some headway in laying in stores for the upcoming craft show season. As I am a notorious procrastinator and it is only early August for goodness sake, I was quite proud of myself for turning down invites to enjoy myself this weekend (Dinner? No, thank you, I have work to do. A movie? Couldn’t possibly, must produce!). The shame is I don’t get many invites as it is and I should have gone out and had a good time. Instead, I had a Salieri weekend.

I’m sure we all remember the movie Amadeus. What I took away from that movie was not an appreciation for the genius of Mozart but complete and utter sympathy for Salieri – a good artist who had the misfortune of being painfully aware of what he perceived as his own deficits in comparison to the blazing talent of Mozart. In the movie, Salieri proclaims himself the “patron saint of mediocrity.” He and I could have shared a drink or two or three this weekend and wallowed in our misery.

It was bad.  Drawings dripped out of me like wet sand from the bottom of a tin pail. The lines were weak, uncontrolled and timid looking, the proportions were off and I became too scared to continue drawing lest I make myself feel worse than I already did.

The craft projects came out crude and rough and with no finesse. And I became frustrated and sad and angry at myself for my lack of ability. Nothing was good enough and eventually around nine or ten that evening, I gave up. There is a singular frustration at not being able to produce what you know you should be able to. I sometimes marvel at those who are always singing their own praises and wonder do they have days like I had – do they doubt themselves and are they able to see their work as less than genius.

Yes, I know I lean towards the hypercritical but I also know that there are times when I shouldn’t even bother attempting to produce. The muse is not with me, my hand is not being led and I am so far out of the zone that I’m sitting in the bleachers. And that was my Saturday. I eventually gave up, made myself a picada (a little something to knosh on – good cheese, garlic, grilled peppers, crackers – you know, a little this and a little that) and got myself a nice big glass of Argentine malbec wine (must support the economy of Mendoza, you know). I sat myself down to watch “Blow Dry” – a quirky little movie with Bill Nighy, Natasha Richardson, Josh Hartnett and uhm, who was that other guy, oh yea, Alan Rickman (not their best work but entertaining nonetheless – I wasn’t in the mood for greatness from anybody at that point).

Don’t think I’m giving up. I know that I can draw, and I know that I am more than capable of producing craft items of worth. It’s just that some times it becomes painfully obvious to me that my drawings will never have the strong beautiful lines of Michelangelo and that my vision as a craft person will never be akin to Hector Guimard. Honestly, this past Saturday I was feeling more like Ron Popeil – not that there’s anything wrong with that, at least his stuff sells.

So pass the wine cup Antonio, we’ll try again… but not right now.

Love is Binary

A valentine for your computer nerd-type love

A Valentine card for all us computer geeks. Love is truly binary. The front of the card spells out “love” in binary code (twice, once on each heart). The inside of the card states “Love is Binary” and a simple* message in binary code can be added to customize it –just let me know what you’d like it to say and I’ll translate it into binary. I can enclose a list of several websites that have binary code translators or if you’d like, you can make your recipient work at solving the coded message on his or her own (no one said love is easy, right?)

This an original AMoonShadow design, 5 x 7 half fold card and comes with its own envelope. Click on the image and go order one for all your techy, nerdy, geeky, computer literate, fun-loving, intelligent, hip, nerdfighter, awesome friends

Fairy Tale Ramblings and ACEO’s

I’m finding that working within the ACEO* constraints has reignited my desire to draw. I’ve always drawn. I think every child starts off as an artist and then through lack of encouragement or perhaps too much discouragement children just stop expressing themselves through art. Fortunately, some get that little bit of needed encouragement just at the right time that keeps them working to get better and then there are some of us who are just too stubborn to be discouraged. …. But wait, I digress.. I was saying, I enjoy drawing within the confines of the ACEO dimensions.  Why look, here’s one now…

The Snow Queen

I read all the fairy tale books I could get my hands on as a child from the Blue Fairy Book through the Lilac, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen.  And as light hearted as Danny Kaye’s film portrayal of Hans was, in re-reading Andersen’s stories as an adult – well, wow – he tackled some serious issues and frightening subject matter in those stories that probably would not be rated acceptable for children in this day and age. Actually, fairy tales are our most ancient stories and carry mythic themes and universal truths … Uh,  but I digress again… I remember this wonderfully illustrated version of the Snow Queen that I checked out of the library as a child.  It was beautiful.  The illustrations were pencil colored, just beautifully blended, something like the style of Jan Brett.   I remember trying to figure out how to blend colors that way.  I wish I had paid attention to the artist’s name but I was probably about 8 or 9 and that didn’t seem as important back then.  The Snow Queen itself is a very creepy story – its available on line if you’d like to read it.  Here is an annotated version:  ”The Snow Queen”

If you’d like to see more of my shop, just click (no, not your heels – click on the Snow Queen).  

ACEO stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals”. These cards have one main rule – they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches – the size of a trading card.

I’ve got the theme song to the Hans Christian Andersen movie going though my head now thanks to that YouTube link above…. be warned its very catchy.

Whatever amuses…

Since this blog is supposed to be a help to me sell my art work in my Etsy shop and since I’ve been doing nothing on this blog but blather on about whatever pops into my head or whatever shiny thing I’ve seen, I thought I’d take a moment and post the latest entries into my shop..

This one is “Waiting for Inspiration (The Three Muses).  Sometimes even the Muses have a hard time getting inspired. You just have to cross your arms and wait.

As for the medium used on this ACEO* – well, I just grabbed a sharpie and went for it and then filled in the fine lines with an archival ink pen. Needless to say, its an original drawing on vellum bristol.

*ACEO stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals”. These cards have one main rule – they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches – the size of a trading card.

Jackson Pollock’s Keyboard

If he had ever seen a computer keyboard (which I don’t believe he ever did), Jackson Pollock might have done something like this to it. This is the second of my computer keyboard art pieces. I felt the technique Pollack used was particularly suited to my feelings toward the keyboard (See Keyboard No. 1). I attempted to keep the colors somewhat in the range of Pollock but they turned out brighter than his usual palette. Working on trying copy Pollock’s strokes, a task at which I failed, I realized how difficult it is to control paint when it is used in this manner.  I think each artist has a  signature that comes through in his or her brush strokes so that copying a Pollock, which at first glance seems like it should be an easy task is actually, I believe, more difficult than copying a representational painter such as Van Gogh.  His brush manipulation was instinctual and instinct is difficult to reproduce. 

This piece is the size of a standard keyboard (obviously) and can be hung on a wall via its hanger (its own cable).

The Seedy Side of Sugar and Spice

Sugarandspicetees.etsy.com …. Sugar and Spice and everything nice…. or so they’d like you to think.  Beautiful hand-painted children’s and women’s clothes?  Yes, but there is also a seedy side to this Etsy store.  I’ve known the proprietor of SugarAndSpiceTees since she was 4 years old and let me tell you this little girl was the first one outside after a rain storm looking for worms. As a teen-ager, she was the first in line at the Alice Cooper concerts of way-back-when (and on a personal note, this will make it official since its on the internet and it must be true “I was never at the Alice Cooper concert with you.”)  Don’t be fooled by all the cute, hand-painted butterflies on these adorable tee shirts….

Don’t be dazzled by the delicate details and embroidery like use of paint….

or the whimsical sense of humor and art displayed in these hats ….

 

There is a truly seedy side to Sugar and Spice and I am here to expose it:  I love these!  They are seed art, mosaic, magnets and art pieces.   They are hard to pinpoint into one category but they are beautiful and fun and lovely to have. Each seed is identified and carefully set.  Go check them out and when you buy something from her store (and I’m sure you will), make sure you tell her that I was never at that Alice Cooper concert with her.  Here’s a direct link to her store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5226540