Weekend Recap

A quick update to let you all know that the Punk Rock Flea Market officially well... ROCKED!

It was so much fun, way laid back with chill music all day and lots of shoppers. I shared a booth with Betsy of Baddins Design who also rocks and we had a great time trying to outsell each other's stuff as we admired all of the fabulous outfits that came down the stairs in front of us.
Also in attendance were some of my favorite artsy friends: Anna Perrone Designs, Florid Disposition, those lovely ladies of Knelow Cosmetics and Dawn of Scary White Girl. Also got to see the lovely Ambika who came just to shop! She scored a gorgeous yellow shrug made by Miss Betsy of Baddins that looked perfect on her! (Can't wait to see if she posts pictures on her blog...)
The day was topped off by being able to trade jewelry with Julia of Metalwing. I'm wearing my new enamel pendant today... I wonder if she is wearing her wood burned squirrel =)

Sunday was filled with I Heart Rummage crazies which sadly wasn't anywhere near as busy as the previous day. The slow day made for some great networking though. I had a little meet up with Rosalie of UglyBaby to talk about daydreams (might be something up our sleeves)
I also had a great connection with the inspiring Jenna of Chimaera Creations.

Logically I should be exhausted... but overall I'm happily inspired just to do more!

When Pens Fly

First there was this piece of marketing material that reminded me of Ben & Jerry’s. Which led me to want to draw a cow on said marketing material. And then there was this brief office conversation about disappearing pens and then this lovely invitation for some soirée or another arrived in this fabulously silver envelope and voila – my new desktop masterpiece titled “When Pens Fly”.
Had to make up for my lack of a post yesterday by having lots of fun today.

If I was a real teacher giving myself a real grade on this project I’d say a C for getting a zero on 2 out of 7 assignments. But since I’m just myself and I had kinda forgotten about how crazy the week was going to be… I officially give myself an A for effort!

So how’d you do? Go ahead – give yourself a grade. I won’t tell.

Expose Your Healthy Side

"Expose your healthy side" is the trademark name for the current marketing campaign by Naked Juice Co. I happen to know this because while I was out on my lunch break today picking up soup to compliment the grey morning weather I came across a huge dancing, yelling, heckling group of giant pieces fruit. Or rather, teenagers dressed as giant pieces of fruit. Did it set the tone for my lunch break drawing of free form creativity? No, not really. That had more to do with a dream I had last night. But I sure did enjoy my free Naked juice while drawing it.

Weekend of Plenty

... Plenty of getting my art out there that is! This is where I will be this weekend:

Punk Rock Flea Market on Saturday 10-6 with bands until Midnight!

I Heart Rummage on Sunday 12 - 4 with FREE IZZE Sparkling Juice for Everyone!

And just as a thank you to YOU my new found friends and blog readers I'd like to offer you a 15% off discount if you come by and say Howdy!

Happy End of Summer Shopping!

3 Days Three Doodles

Silly oh silly me - give myself an assignment and then leave for the weekend. I was oh so good and remembered to bring my camera with me for taking progress photos but what I forgot was the USB cable. Oops! Ah well - doing the assignment has been the important part anyways and oh so much fun. Here they are posted in order of creation - Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

On Saturday I was so into yard sketching that I actually did more than just the one. But I decided to post the crows because they amused me so at the time. All of these crows coming and going and making happy happy crow noises while they went after these vivid red berries in the yonder tree. The next day I spent quite a lot of time on the porch in the sunshine journaling. I was working through my thoughts on a major housing and studio opportunity and after I had completed those ramblings I was struck by this vivid image of a camel. I'm still not quite sure what her story is but there you have it.

Saturday night while in Olympia I spent some time sneaking around the Capitol campus after dark getting night shots of the Capitol building as reference for a painting I want to do. I felt very secret agent like and it was tons of fun. I do recommend more reference photo escapades for myself and you!
I didn't start the painting tonight but I couldn't help but make a little drawing collage from the imagery I took on Saturday night.
Cheers!

The Wild Telephoned, Will Call Again and Wants to See You

My housemate, Xtina, is a tarot reader. She runs a business called Scarlet Foundry Tarot and this is primarily how she pays her rent. Ever since I first met her she has been an inspiration – she dances with Hands of Kali, she’s traveled and lived overseas, supports herself and her daughter by doing something she loves and she gives the appearance of never compromising on following her dreams. One of those true artistic souls.
Now, she has offered to give me a reading multiple times and I had never yet taken her up on it. Not enough time, not the right time, not sure of what questions to ask… yadayada.
But last night I took her up on it.

Ever since Bumbershoot, and maybe even starting a bit before, my mind has been brewing with discontent. My ramblings have taken me further from wanting to do what I felt I should be doing. Things that I had dreamed of doing for ages. Despite all of the achievement of the previous weeks I was feeling stagnant. I was craving change.

So late last night, after Alexus was tucked and sound in bed, I joined Xtina in the kitchen with a bottle of wine as my offering and she gifted me with a General Reading.
Except for adolescent dabblings, I have never had a tarot reading. The experience was remarkable. The cards and Xtina brought things to the surface that resonated instantly. Things I knew but hadn’t acknowledged or things I had acknowledged but had chosen to ignore. A reading that left me feeling relieved, gratified and shifted. I won’t go into too much detail – mostly because my knowledge of the cards is limited – but the primary points and players for me was my creativity. And a warning from The Empress to embrace said Creativity and let go of Productivity.
It hit me and resonated like a Tibetan Prayer bowl singing through my soul.

The image above that I have posted is the first burst to come out of it - "The Wild Telephoned, Will Call Again and Wants to See You". The drawing is still intrinsically me – but the piece overall is freed. Unplanned, drawn on office recycling and non-precious.

And while I was drawing I was struck by the idea of a little homework assignment for myself: For the next 7 days, I will blog a post a day and instead of using just any ol’ image of whatever I’m working on or what strikes my fancy, I will MAKE an image to use. Maybe it will all be just like this first one – thrown together in a frenzy of creative play on my lunch break. Maybe they will be more substantial. Maybe less. I’m not assigning myself any rules to this project. Just the simple rule of posting one completely brand new fresh image a day.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings shall we?

Bumbershoot Decompression

Us I Heart Rummage folks made it through Bumbershoot 2007!

Hooray!

It was a lot of fun and lots of good networking went on between other vendors in the Indie Market. I could not BELIEVE just how much talent was located in one spot for the weekend. Lots of inspiration abounded.

Here are my personal highlights from my time spent at Seattle's largest cultural event:

#1 Meeting Matt and Anda of Etsy - almost like meeting rock stars only better!

#2 Seeing a long time favorite band of mine live for the first time - fabulous!

#3 Roasted Corn on the Cob - best fair food ever

#4 Sharing the love for Etsy and blog reading with Allison of PrettyBirds

All in all it was a good experience. Sales weren't spectacular, but they weren't bad either.

I'll be updating my Etsy shop with glee later this week - after I take a couple days of rest that is!