The big news is out!!!

Whew....I've been holding it in for at least 8 months now!!!
Back in Dec I was selected to be one of the featured artists in a new North Light Book....Incite 3, Art of Storytelling, Best of Mixed Media!!
By early Jan I had to have the image scans & all required paperwork in the mail.

Sooo....what kept me from saying anything then???  I'll tell you. There is always that little bottom line in contracts concerning publications letting you know that at the last minute, while things are being worked on and the formatting is happening....anything can change.
The last thing I wanted was to tell the world that I was going to be included in this book before I was completely sure that it all went well and that I would indeed be there.

That question was answered for me last night as I was flipping through the latest issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine.
There it was....the first ads for the new Incite 3 book....and the pics of my artwork....bold & beautiful!
I can't begin to tell you how exciting that was...to not only have that confirmation, but to see it in the first ad for the upcoming book!!

I can now say a big "thank you" to all the people responsible for that ad since it has saved me many more weeks of waiting to announce this....considering even the pre-orders from Amazon have the date set for mid Oct.
I'm beyond excited to have been included as one of the featured artists in this book along with so many other fine artists. I'm sure we'll all be inspired by each others works.
I'm also honored to be in a publication as wonderful as North Light Books. I've been a fan of their books for many years and have a vast library of them.
It is so exciting to know that the next book I add to that collection...I'll be in! Feels sooo great!!!

A Very Small World

Yes....it always amazes me at how small the world really is...and even more so with the invention of the internet.

This realization became even more clear this past week. Can you imagine...waking up in the morning in New England, and having email from a lovely person in Tanzania! I know...this shouldn't be so surprising in this day and age....but it still tickles me!
The even better part...hearing from this nice person, Lynn, that she discovered my Torn Paper Paintings work online and it has become an inspiration to her. Wow...now that's hard to beat!



Lynn's collage

Lynn happened to see my "Golden Bucket" which was a project I had done for one of Cloth Paper Scissors Emags. Being inspired by this and using only magazine pages, she then created her own version which she sent me this pic of.  Beautiful job!
We have since been in touch each day and have exchanged information about ourselves and our art and I've been able to answer more of her questions with regard to the technique to help her on her journey in this process.

As other artists know, when we do our art we work mostly in isolation. It's just the nature of things. We go about our art journey hoping that there are others out there we can reach and who will enjoy what it is we do...but seldom do we get the chance to connect with them.
To have another artist reach out from across the planet to comment on what we are doing and to share their interest is a very special thing.
I have truly enjoyed this unexpected connection and as an artist...couldn't ask for more than to hear that I have inspired someone else in their creativity.

In her own words... "Please do feel free to use these pictures to show others what your wonderful and very kind words inspired! This was really a great way to start a new art - not reinventing the wheel, but using your experience to create something I can be quite pleased with for a first attempt. Thank you again."

Lynn...thank you for taking the time to say hello!!

Rolling along

Yes....in many ways, things are rolling along right now.
I've been a busy bee all summer season with art...for shows, the gallery, collections, as well as workshops (two more to go)....not to mention that my daughters wedding is next week!!!

Soo...with my husband away this weekend at a boat show and some free time to actually play in the artroom a bit....I tried out a process for making some rolling stamps. Yes...kind of a "rubber stamp"...but round...so you can roll it. I read an article in a Cloth Paper Scissors project ebook and just had to give it a spin :)
I cut patterns out of fun foam...but I actually bought fun foam that had an adhesive backing on it already. After cutting my patterns out...I realized I could save them and then attach them to another roll to create both a positive & a negative stamp. Nice.
I used the pipe insulation as the base for the rolling stamp. Yes...I realize you can cut the insulation itself to crate a stamp...but the cutting isn't as easy...and I didn't have any cardboard tubing available at the moment to use...so the insulation was a perfect fit....and the adhesive backing on the foam holds nicely to it.
In this pic you can see two different rollers I made with two different images....and the third one is the one I made using the cut out pieces from the others.
These will come in very handy when painting rice paper for my Torn Paper Paintings. I'm really enjoying all the experimentations I've been doing lately.
Oh yes...and the pic of the seahorse I was experimenting with the background for is posted on the FaceBook Fanpage....go have a look!!!
Off to roll more backgrounds for a while....then back to rolling along with the wedding plans!!!
Pics from that will most likely be next :)

Mini delights!!

It always delights me whenever some of my art gets published. Whether it's in a national magazine or a local publication. Any press at all is good press.
Sometimes I make a serious effort to make it happen...sometimes it just comes to me. This latest one was due to a "readers challenge".
Cloth Papers Scissors Magazine was holding a challenge at the beginning of the year for "mini" art. The idea was to do something that was 4" or less in the style that you would normally do your larger art.
Well....this was no problem. For a few years now I've been making some mini pieces (2.75") to go along with my larger art for the gallery in Cape Cod that represents my work... The Little Beach Gallery.
I decided that one of my little seagulls would be just the thing. So I made one for the challenge and emailed the image. A month later, when the challenge closed I received an email saying I was a finalist and would need to send it to them for a photo shoot. I was soo excited....but still had no idea when I'd see it in print. All I knew was we were to receive our work back in mid April.
Then one morning when I got online with my art group, a friend of mine who had just gotten her latest subscription copy for May/June posted a "congratulations" to me. When I asked her why, she said she spotted my seagull right away in the issue! How fun!!
Cloth Paper Scissors is one of my favorite magazines. Always cool interesting articles. I actually worked with them once before for their very first Collage in Color eMag. I was one of their features for that one, complete with a stop action video which was great fun to create.
I was now thinking that I would see my little seagull turn up back home soon...but he never arrived in the mail. Next thing I knew...I had an email from the assistant editor. Seems she spends a lot of her summer in the Cape. She said that my little guy reminded her very much of the happy days that she spends there. Then...she asked if she could buy him from me!!

Well........needless to say, I was just over-the-moon flattered by that. Knowing how much artwork goes through those offices all of the time, to think that my little gull made such a connection made me quite proud.
Although I do normally "sell" them...I was so honored by the request that I decided to simply "gift" it to her instead.
I'm just thrilled to know that my little guy has a good home.
Barbara, thank you for the compliment. Enjoy!

Progress

There are so many people who enjoy seeing the seperate progress shots of the Torn Paper Painting pieces that I thought I'd put together another sample.
Whenever I work on a piece I take many shots of the progress....so showing you three is really a very small number...but you get the idea this way.
I'm working on a new "Cafe" series and have done the first two.

For those who what more, if you purchase the "Collage in Color" eMag from Cloth Paper Scissors, you can see a stop-action video of one of my pieces being made from start to finish. Pretty fun!!
And I can't even begin to tell you how many shots I took to make that happen!!

Never gets old!!

Nope....I have to admit it. Every time I see my work in print in another ad for the Cloth Paper Scissors new Emag...I get a bit giddy. I know..I know...it's not the first time I've been in print....

and with any luck...not the last. But let me tell you....it's always a pure delight every time I see it.
As any artist who has tried to get their work known can tell you....marketing is almost a full time job in itself. While I may work many many hours on my pieces...I work just as many hours getting myself out there. So, it's just wonderful every time you get to see how much progress has been made.
Cloth Paper Scissors has been amazing to me in that regard. These ads have been running in all their print magazines and I can't tell you how many of their email newsletters have had one piece or another of my work and sometimes refer to them directly. CPS....Thank You!!!

Another version



Click HERE for Download



Just wanted to pass along some information on the new eMag...Collage in Color.... from Cloth Paper Scissors.

 They have now created an iPad version and you can get the new downlond at the iTunes Store. How exciting. You're going to love the interaction in this eMag...so much more than you can get from a print magazine.
I can't wait for you to see it and look forward to your thoughts.

Some Great News

After all the sadness that has happened over the last couple of weeks...it's soo good to have a nice positive moment happen.

Some of you may remember that I'd been working on a special project back in June. It was one of my pail & shovel piece. Well....secret is now out. I have been featured in the very first issue of Cloth Paper Scissors eMag....Collage in Color!!!
You will totally LOVE this eMag. It's unlike your regular digital downloaded magazines. It's fully "interactive". You can watch videos...zoom in and out...see slide shows...and more!!

One of the coolest things you'll see is what was created with the pail & shovel piece. The editor had asked me to take photos all throughout the process...and what they created with them was a stop action video....so you can watch as it's being made. Cool indeed!
There are many awesome features in Collage in Color....so be sure to let me know what you think after you've seen it.