Friday, May 23, 2014

I'd Show You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You.

I'm working on a couple of things I'd LOVE to share with you ...

... but I can't.

They're gifts and I should let the recipients see them before I send them out to the internet ether. 

Darn it.

So instead I thought I'd show you some of my favorite nooks and crannies in my studio. I've crammed in a lot of stuff that either inspires me or makes me smile.

This is the "kid shelf" – paintings and a drawing of my fur-babies and baby-babies. I can look up when I'm working and see their smiling faces, along with some Florida sand, shells, gifts from the minions and a couple of my hippos (I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas and one year I told them yes, I do want a hippopotamus for Christmas). We have a soffit that I hang some of my drawings on, too (and one by Aimee Myers Dolich and Valentina Ramos.)
Rocky (who is four months older than our son) and Meatball (our first baby)
My minions, mini-minions and a couple of things they've given me.

A lot of my creativity comes from my mom – although she'll be quick to deny that (shush your mush, mom). She sews everything from my dad's suits to crib sets for the minions that matched the borders we picked for their rooms. They both have multiple quilts, stuffed animals and toys she's made for them. For me, she sends beautiful things like this butterfly wall hanging. It's my new favorite! Look at all that beautiful color!

I have no idea how she does this. She's tried to teach me and I just don't want to learn. I love the results, though.
The other wall has another of her quilts, this one of a frog, my other favorite creature. There's also my inspiration board and the minions artwork rotates as they present me with new creations.
The girl recently did a portrait of me from memory that is amazingly good and the boy gifted me with a self-portrait and a monster truck road rally. The caricature by Ron Hill is from when I did GuitarMania the second time.
I've had this board since college and I add different things that inspire me. The photographs include the first guitar I did for GuitarMania (I did two) and me after I climbed on top of a 30 foot telephone pole (I'm terrified of heights). Anytime I think I can't do something, I remind myself that I managed to climb that pole. It's an experience I hated at the time, but now hope my kids have something similar happen during their lives.

The artwork is by Aimee Myers Dolich and Kristy Patterson and me.
And last, but not least, my type drawer. Someday I hope to have enough little stuff to fill it up, but that will probably take a long time. The minions and hubster like to use the stamps to leave messages for me – doesn't look like anyone has been at it since I put it back up. Slackers.
And that's about it. The mailman just delivered the package I've been waiting for all week – my new supply of six Global Art Materials Trav•e•logue Watercolor Journals in the 5.25x8.25 Large Portrait size. I've tried lots of other brands and these are still by far my favorites. Time to draw.
Thank you to all servicemen & women, past and present, for all that you do!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!


4 comments:

  1. Aww, gee. Thanks for the compliment. But I just follow a pattern.
    Mom

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    1. HA! You pick out material and somehow make it all work together. And then there's the times the grandson says, "Sure, make me a quilt with Monster Trucks AND Robots." Didn't have a pattern for that, now did ya? Huh? Did ya?

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  2. Karen, where do you order the journals from?... having a hard time finding them

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    1. I actually contacted Global Arts Materials directly when I found out they were making different sizes – they've added an 8x8 inch square to their sizes also – and couldn't find them locally or online. I thought it was a hoax. LOL! They don't sell to consumers, so they put me in touch with one of their distributors who orders the journals from Global Art Materials and then ships them to me. The gallery I've ordered them from is Pygmalion Art Supplies in Bloomington, Indiana (http://www.pygmalions.com/). I'm hoping I'll be able to find them locally when I finish with the six I now have which will probably be a year or so from now. Hope that helps!

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Thank you for visiting! I'm so happy you stopped by!

XOXO
Karen