Bodhisartva ..... Art/Spirit/Life

February Flea and the Shift

I've had some rough times lately.  Nothing major, but a collection of tediously constant bumps in the road.  It's wearying, you know?  You start to wonder.

But Sunday, my luck shifted in a big way.  I had the most fabulous day at the Pasadena City College Flea Market.  Did so well with find after find that I never even made it to the indoor part.  I mean, when you run out of money, you need to leave, right?

Last month, in the rain, I visited the few outside vendors and saw a great piece I wanted, but the price was way too rich for me.  This month, it was still there and he made me a great deal.  

Partly great because it included this:

I have been looking for ages to find a smaller paper cutter...and there it was!  I'm so excited.  Now, I just need to find some paper that size.  The great deal piece will show up next post.

Found boxes and boxes of watch parts that I picked through and came up with a bunch of great stuff for my books and jewelry.

This aged wooden box feels so good in the hand and will be useful as well.  That blue and white box contains a never been used bakelite button, like a doorbell button - great for a book cover.  

Would you wear a necklace with a glass shaker on it? Too scary?

But they're cool, right?  How about this?  It's a pencil sharpener.

Wish my bank gave those interest rates now.  

I have a regular flat cigarette tin with this design but never saw a big box like this. The colors are so beautiful, especially the sides.

This will go on a necklace, but I don't know how I'll be able to let go of it.  It is such fun. The pencil still has lead and there is paper inside.

Now, I don't want to hear anything from Gina about this next item.  I know, I know...I have a lot of these already. That's why it's called a COLLECTION.  Seriously, I needed these to fill the container on the porch.  I'll post a picture of it next time.

The box included a chalk cube and a little bag full of cue tips (get it?  q-tips?).  They are actually quite neat and will also be a great embellishment.  The cue tips, folks, not the pool balls.

And finally.  A sign for the extra bedroom....hee-hee.  Y'all come on down, y'hear?

 

Actually, that image is only the final for today.  Two more great finds to come...

52 PickUp

Remember that game?  We used to love it as kids...especially if you were forcing a sibling to clean up a mess when you weren't actually playing the game.  Ahem.

But, this is a different game.  Lesley Riley, of Artist Success has some programs that really help you get off the dime and keep moving forward.  For 2013, the new one is "52 PickUp" - weekly prompts sent to you by email.  

I love the focus on small steps and not getting overwhelmed by thinking you have to do everything at one time.  Really?  I can't? What a surprise :-) !

You can still participate, if you are interested.  I highly recommend it.  Lesley Riley, Artist Success.

 

International Mail

Thank goodness for the connectedness of our planet, for the wonders of the internet, for the realities of physical mail winging its way from one continent to the other.

And thank heaven for Corey Amaro, of Tongue in Cheek and her brocante habit which is at least as bad as my flea market habit - hers just sounds fancier.

Mail Call Today:

I feel as though I've struck the motherload!  These wheels of rubber stamps are so much fun to use.  The smallest wheel is just 2 inches in diameter, so the numbers are really small, but perfectly formed and beautiful.  They're easy to carry around in a travel journaling kit and fun to boot.  I love them!!!

Thanks, Corey!

 

 

The Rest of the Story

So here is that falling down journal I got at the PCC Flea Market.  It's from one of my favorite vendors.  A Latin teacher and tutor, if you can believe it. We always talk of how Latin is so useful for understanding the English language and that it should still be required in high school.  Not much chance of that, I fear.

As a bookbinder, I was fascinated by the construction revealed under the binding.  But the contents, of course, are most interesting.  All that gorgeous Copperplate script; no ballpoint pens can do that!

 
But apparently the grocery store journal was abandoned very soon after it was started.  Somewhere after the end of 1865, it became the property of "Miss Annie J. Leach" of Saledo, Texas. She used it as her scrapbook at least through 1869.  Pages and pages of columns from the newspaper of the day.  Poetry, obituaries, lynchings...and a copy of "A Christmas Carol".

More pleasant are some pictures and loose images.

Including one on the inside cover - "What I'd Do for Annie".

"I'd call your brow a lily;
Your cheeks twin roses rare;
Your lips - ah! lovely Annie,
What can to them compare?"

Unfortunately, most of the articles are reports of civil war battles, deaths of generals, stories of the ladies of Vicksburg struggling to find final resting places for 2,000 Confederates.  And a heartbreaking story of Miss Nettie Embree, age 15, whose final desire was to "take another ride over the beautiful prairie, where she had so often gathered wildflowers."  "Her last illness was long and painful, but she bore all with remarkable patience and fortitude." 

But then, Christmas comes and later, her graduation. The final pages are handwritten poems and ditties from classmates bidding her farewell.  Sigh.  Such a glimpse into a life so different from my own and so much more tragic.  Makes one count ones blessings, yes?

 

Making Marks

So many ways to make marks.

I love stencils, don't you?

Even just a piece looks interesting.

Sometimes, even in black and white it's cool.

Organic?

Quirky and handmade?

...and always, personal.

What are your favorite marks?

What Day Is This Again?

It actually got a little chilly tonight here in L.A.  A friend in Baltimore commented yesterday that her garden is looking a little "tired" and some leaves are falling from the trees. She wonders if this is signalling a change of season.  I walked past a store today with jackets and coats in the window.

Really folks.  It is July 25.  The summer officially started June 21.  It lasts more than one month, I'm pretty sure.  

A few weeks ago, this was me in New York, Washington and Chicago.  Sandled toes blistering on the cement in 100+ degree weather.  And now autumn is coming?  

I don't think so.

Do you?

However, on the art front, talking about seasons reminds me of a class Gina Armfield is offering online that sounds engaging.  "Journaling the Seasons". Check out the first one - "Smashing Autumn", using a Smash journal.  Ha.

Words

When I can't seem to settle on anything creative, I have a couple of choices.  One is to clean and rearrange the studio, which is always satisfying - but takes some energy.  The other is to go through my stacks of magazines and cut things out.

When you are just sort of "floating", it seems that words jump out at you from the page.  I don't ask myself why that word, why this word.  I just cut it out and figure a use will come to me.

Sometimes, I'll sit with a dictionary or other old book and just snip out phrases or words or definitions.  Teeny, tiny bits.

They end up in journals or collages or paintings. Or maybe, they just sit in this little box for years.  Some of these little ones have been there that long. You just never know.

English was my favorite class in school. Can you tell?

Do you use things like this in your art and journals?

Do You Think I Have a Problem?

I think I may. Have a problem, that is.  I LOVE alphabets. 

I've used rubber stamps for decades; used to have them made for me before there were so many available. I've gotten rid of a lot of them, but I have about 3,000 still.

But alphabets?  Won't give those away. 

Can. Not. Get. Enough.  Big ones..here's one of my first.

Little ones. From Graven Images - my favorite and ones I use all the time. The company is no longer around sadly.

New ones. Kinokuniya.  Comes in it's own box, very handy. They have lots of sets of different sizes; numbers, too.

Old ones.  Found a whole set at the flea in a falling apart cardboard box.  Yes, Chris, I am still looking to find one for you!

Silly ones.  Each letter has a design that starts with that letter.

See?  The "O" is olives and the "I" is...well...an eye, of course

And, I have a few treasures.  I came upon a huge wooden case at the flea market a few years ago. Well-worn and with pretty clasps.

Nothing missing - lots of punctuation and special characters - heaven!  The seller indicated he was a friend of Frank Zappa and that Frank liked to make signs with this set. Who knows, but it's an interesting story.

Of course, it's too big to carry around for journaling.  So, I have a ziplock bag with this pile of not quite so large letters.

I found this very handy little set from Corey Amaro. 

It would be great if I had the entire alphabet in this form, but I'm still looking. I do carry around the numbers, though.  

There are so many ways to put words down on paper and these rubber stamps are just one of them.  Obsessed?  I should say so.

Sometimes You Just Need a Break

Yep, sometimes you just need a break - from your work, your troubles, your own space even.  Lucky me - I know just where to go.  But a trip to Malibu, nice as it is, wouldn't mean as much without my dearest friend Gina.  She knows me so well; she even sees inside me somewhat magically to the center.  And I am myself with her.

She feeds me, pours the wine, lends an ear and a shoulder - and even somehow convinces me that I like dogs as well as cats.  Hello, Bentley, my dear.

There is a kind of peace that sneaks in when you are just sitting with a kindred spirit, painting, talking, laughing, sharing and working in your journals together.  

I am truly blessed in so many ways to have such a wonderful person in my life. Thank you, Gina.

What a difference a year makes

Artfest withdrawal. I am having it BIG time. Right NOW!

This is the last year for Artfest - and I am not there. Last year, I was there.  It has been a spring ritual for years.  

For those who are wondering what I'm talking about, Artfest has been an annual art retreat for many years.You live, eat and sleep art.  You talk art.  And oh yes, you make art.  You play, you laugh, you walk in the rain lugging 68 pounds of art supplies half a mile.  There are 500 people and you feel you know them all.  You take 3 classes with some of the most fabulous teachers around.  You live by the water in funky old military base housing, which you share with ghosts.

In other words, you are in HEAVEN.

It's a loooooong climb to get there........

Fly into Seattle, take the ferry to the island, drive over the Hood Canal, pass the paper mill (phew), drive through town and into the fort, maybe see some wildlife.

Check into Officers' Housing. Have a talk with the ghost.  Decide to ignore it but turn on all the lights anyway.

 

 See some friends.  Drink some sangria.

You soak up everything from every teacher and every student - every technique, every smile, every success, every failure. Then, you journal about it.

You write and paint and pay attention.

Your drink wine and eat yummies and get silly.

Then, too soon, it's over, but not really. Because when you leave, you never forget. Because now you have learned to fly.