Bodhisartva ..... Art/Spirit/Life

The Return of the Flea Market

Oh, Flea Market, I have missed thee!  For all kinds of reasons, I have not been at my usual haunts on Sunday mornings much at all since January.  But today, ah, today!  Long Beach Flea Market (really the best) with my DH - who gave me lots of room to roam and even brought me a cold drink halfway through. What a prince!

It does seem rather monochromatic, but you take what you can get.  I love the large thread holders and that box holds - count them - 144 spools of creamy white thread!  As usual, there is a coin purse, some rulers and old rubber stamps. You may notice that one rubber stamp and the metal number are both "3" - my magic number. 

I'm so excited that I found two things I can use for my jewelry displays at art shows. This is pretty cool - rusty and pretty large - with a hole at the top where I can mount a sign or flag of some kind.  In the first picture, you can also see something leaning against it that will work for hanging necklaces.

I do love my little red vintage metal box - perfect for carrying tools for bookbinding or jewelry making.  

The "Field Book" is an old leather bound journal with surveying notes.  All in all a lovely haul...but OH, the things I left behind!

How about you?  Did you do any flea markets, junk sales or yard sales this weekend?

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.

Getting My Feet Wet

Well, yes, it has been raining here, but that's not what I mean.

I am going back to teaching art classes.  I had quite a run years ago, long before my bookbinding fetish started. This time around, I am teaching bookbinding in all its variations.

First class - Long Stitch Binding.

Sunday at Zinnia in South Pasadena. A small class but fun and talented ladies, assisted by the wonderful Joe and Ali the Cat.

Skillful hands.

Intense Concentration.

And, voila!  A book!

The folks at Zinnia are great and even let us stay late to finish up. Not to mention keeping Ali Cat off the table and out of the glue!  

 

Lessons learned:

#1  Next time, schedule more time.

#2  It's even more fun than I remembered!

Hope you can join us next time.

Bookbinding Class at Zinnia

I'm so excited to go back to teaching!  March 18th at Zinnia is S. Pasadena, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Details and links will follow, but for now, please share my excitement! I love bookbinding and handcrafted books so much that I'm delighted to be able to infect others with the joy.

For the first class, I'm doing the oh, so easy "long stitch".  All the above are long stitch journals - see how versitile it is?  And the best part is that the pages fold down flat so you can easily write or paint or draw.  

 

Join me? 

The Studio-Part Deux

Well, at least I found a home for all those pens and pencils!

This is actually an old unit that I got at a flea market from the son of one of the old Warner Brothers animators.  Nice to have a bit of history.

I haven't changed everything in the studio.  I'm keeping all my hands nearby, for instance.  

And, the chandelier of joy is still hanging right above my desk.

Taking a break from organizing to actually create things.  I have a bookbinding class coming in at Zinnia in a few weeks, so I have to make samples and write the instructions out.  More on that later.  Hope you are having a wonderful week so far.

Deconstructing the Studio

I have emptied the studio in a fit of early in the year, well-intentioned reorganization.  Seems that all around me, other artists friends are doing the same.  Must be something in the air or water. Global warming?  Here is what happens first:

So sad to throw away so many pens, but they do eventually dry out or get used up.  On the other hand, I still have these:

I've removed all the decorative items from the studio space and it looks so empty!  I now have about a dozen cardboard boxes full of treasures.  No wonder the studio was so cramped!  Now, I'm setting up stations for painting, metalwork, bookbinding and journaling.  I'll post the progress over time and hope this reorganization prompts me to be creative!  

Are you purging at home, work or studio?

Journal Madness

I must confess to a very bad habit.  A very strong habit.  A habit I am unlikely to break.

I make books.

I make blank books.

I create journals and don't write in them.

 

Confession is good for the soul.

Actually, I seem now to be able to create a very specific journal and work in it.  It took a class with Judy Wise to get me in there and I have, for the first time, completely filled a journal.  Every page is painted, collaged and written.

However, most of the ones you see here are either empty or have a few pages completed.  I obviously have a ways to go in conquering my addiction.

Next time up, I'll post some pages here.  Perhaps it will keep me on the straight and narrow.

 

 

I Still Love Rubber Stamps

Well, not ALL rubber stamps.  Mind you, I've been using them since, oh, about 1970, when I made my own.  And I still own over 3,000 (though I haven't counted in years).

But, I don't use them a lot now except for some background patterns. And more than that - letters and numbers.  I have a couple of sets of antique rubber sign makers stamps and they still work, after almost 150 years!  I don't know how many alphabet stamps I have, but lately, I've been especially enamoured of numbers. 

Last week, I found this very simple set of numbers at Kinokuniya in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo.  I love them!

Acquisitions

Isn't that a lovely word?  It sounds lovely; sounds important somehow.

Could also be related to the not so lovely avaricious. Hmmm.

Anyway.  Have you seen this very cool tape at Michaels?  Wouldn't you like to "acquire" some?

This is just a stop-gap post until I can show you all the acquisitions I amassed at the Pasadena City College Flea Market Sunday.  Amazing.

Just because.....

I always wanted to make one of these.

So, I did.