Art Sale::50% Off All!!!

Today is the day! All of of my art work will go on sale at 50% off in my etsy shop at 1:00 p.m. EST. If you have specific questions about art work or are interested in commission work please feel free to contact me. All orders made with in the United States before December 15, 2008 will be shipped before December 25, 2008. If you live locally, alternative delivery options may be available.

I want to thank you all for coming out yesterday to Holiday in St. Elmo. Even though it was cold and rainy we had a blast! Your support and encouragement is appreciated and motivating. I will be taking a break over the holiday season from making art. I am moving next weekend so that leaves art supplies to be unpacked at my earliest convenience.

Happy Shopping Folks! See you at Phantomcrimes!

::saving genevieve::& number 500

with two very well baked (twice baked) pumpkin pies checked off the list and laundry drying i can now relax, catch up with the thanksgiving parts of this day. i just completed my last piece (most likely) for holiday in st. elmo, ::saving genevieve::, a 15"x15" mixed media collage on gallery stretched canvas, paper backed and ready to hang. the title of this jellyfish tree piece is a tribute to the long ago small children's book i once collaborated on with a friend. where a fish named ferris mistakes a bright yellow balloon, genevieve, as the sun and accidentally pulls her down into the ocean with him. i cannot help but remember the painstaking hours practicing drawing the perfect balloon shape and now the shape has morphed into a jellyfish. it seems i've been drawing these shapes for a long time.

with a day to go until h.i.s.e, i've got a packed out list of things to do to get ready. thankfully i'm still not stressed, except for the reports of possible rain on saturday. we're just going to have to bite the bullet, i know most have been through worse, outdoor festivals are almost always an adventure. i am terribly excited, to say the least, to be showing with kk, to have this opportunity.

and today, this post just happens to be # 500! i would never have thought this milestone might've been possible. i guess because as i look back on years of blogging, the numbers didn't matter, i only loved the process of expressing myself here. and most give up, fizzle out, at least here you can see how much things have changed in my life. it is rather embarrassing at times, something hilarious in the way i used to get so passionate about certain things. i have oft changed my focus over the last four years and now phantomcrimes feels more like a showcase and less like a forum or pedestal. thank goodness i came around to having some sense. there have been some memorable moments, too many to count.

in one short week i'll be changing the scene again, posting might be sporadic for a bit, until i get settled into my new place. i have really no idea what to expect. next weekend, i'll just have to take things as they come, accordingly, i'll be showing a piece at the MAINX24 Artist Showcase and attempting to unpack, hit a couple of key events and decorate for christmas. by no means do i see impossibility. maybe just a little more heavy sighing and thanks-giving to and for all of the happy art buyers, happy moving helpers, happy hot beverages and spice cookies! i am hinting around here, aren't i? nonetheless the sun is shining, certain my clothes are well done, and a dog show is about to begin. have a super day! be back asap.

::jellyfish trees::

more trees, new lines, new inspiration and motivation to continue to try and build and grow. i love this one and will begin today on another larger version. i went to fitness together yesterday to pick up the majority of my work and thank goodness i did. i found two of my pieces in the very back closet and on another two pieces i found dust an inch deep had landed and been neglected. totally fault of mine for not considering or thinking about my art there. so it's a week away from holiday in st. elmo, once again crunch time and i'm feeling pretty good about it all. i'll have work that has all been completed in the last year plus many new smaller affordable pieces for show and sale. what isn't sold will then be added to my etsy shop, selling at discount. it'll be the first time i have ever sold major stock at discount. should be interesting. right? until then i'll keep you updated on new work completed between today and the friday after thanksgiving. after i make two pumpkin pies, i'll pack the dishes. see you back here soon. have a nice and cozy sunday.

::silently trees::

i seem to be nursing the sniffles tonight but got a shot off of my newest piece, ::silently trees:: i think i am finally finished with these trees. i spent a couple hours drawing and have come up with at least one new idea. it's not like i have become lazy or that these little pieces take any less time, it's just the design feels flushed. i have absolutely no idea. i love painting in and layering so much, i find it addictive but it does not help the maturation of well anything but repetition or something.

does anyone know how to finish packing up their home? this last little bit has me baffled. shoes? how will i know which ones i will want to wear again or more than any other pair before i move? dishes? it's just me, i only need one of everything i am going to need between now and then but, it feels complicated. is it not? oh well. i'll figure it out. i'm just thinking about thanksgiving and making pumpkin pie and more spice cookies. oh brother.

save it

counting down

last weekend my treehouse apartment looked and felt rather overwhelming. i took ten bags of "giveaway" stuff to the salvation army, which alone helped me with the flooding affects of stuff. i still have about three weeks to go here but, i think the countdown can begin. the only things i have left to pack are clothing, dishes, and the art supplies i'll need for upcoming shows.

last night after work i went to bed at 6:30 p.m. and slept until my alarm went off this morning at 7:00 a.m. i did wake at around 4 a.m. and ate some tuna, did a crossword puzzle and then slept again. with me, this nervous energy had to be slept off. today is going to be a little different. i am going to paint and begin the process of packing dishes. i dread the glass, and thankfully have little of it to worry about. most of my dish ware is of the melmine or melmac sort. the plastic colorful kind you might have had when you were a kid.

i have got to be at home this morning, the maintenance men are coming back to finish off patching the drywall in my ceiling. i was hoping they'd wait until i moved out but i cannot be completely selfish about this process. i've been so fortunate up until now, with provision after provision, there is little or no complaint. i'm working hard to prevent negativity from entering into my thoughts, it is so tempting but alas, celebration is in order, the brand new southside flats await.

coffee is brewing, going to get myself another cup. have a nice weekend, i'll be back with new art works by the end of the weekend.

favorite & thinking

this time of year is undeniably my favorite part. i must say it every year to reassure myself or spread the autumn gospel truth. i feel like i have a secret sense and am able to see things that others do not. the light changes and my stomach turns over on to itself, like it used to, when starting back to school in the fall. nervous energy nudges me awake in the morning before it's time as if the day holds a gift yet to be unwrapped. something happens during this time. i like taking more photos and now after a long year of creating a lot of new art work, i am finding new places of comfort with the brush, pen and pencil. coffee and biscuits taste better. caramel apple cupcakes from rembrandt's are no longer too sweet. i remember family fall hikes and mom telling us we oughta walk like indians through the woods. i sing the praises of light, filtered, waning sun.

oh i am nervous about moving. it seems like this place has been my home for so long. i see now how seriously settled in here i have become, even more than i thought. i will not miss the neighbors or the terribly loud street noise. i do not think i'll even miss the view. i think i'll miss the fact that i made it my home after so many years of neglecting home for so long. this place was a refuge, protection needed from stormy thoughts and tidal wave consequences. november holds a few unknowns yet. i'll know more, more towards the end of the month after a couple of art shows. i know these next three weeks are going to be the best, packing, dispersing and then recreating a home. i am glad that the heat of the summer has passed, for that loading and unloading boxes i might not break a sweat.

this morning i posted all new art works in my etsy shop. a total of three pieces for your hemming and hawing pleasure. i have decided "the" sale will be at the end of november. i'll mark whatever is left from showing at HISE down 1/2 price. how's that sound?

have a nice sunday. i'm off now.

::pbn trees::&::speaking to me trees::

apparently the trees keep coming and it does not seem i have done anything to stop them. i am beginning to wonder if i have any control at all, of the forest growing. i find that i still need to learn something in this series and keep finding new ways to layer and describe lines and posture trees against the sky. ::pbn trees:: in the top photo is another small one for holiday in st. elmo. i happen to think someone might like this one, it's soft on the eye and quiet. i keep thinking about how fun it would be to create landscapes in animation. i still wish for a way to get these trees compiled into a nice big cardboard coffee table book. it is going to happen, along with a album of forest growing music. one day.
i had the opportunity to show in AVA's three day all member salon show last weekend and happened to get a shot off of ::speaking to me trees:: this one seems a little neon-y to me, no so sure. i think i look at it this way, all the little squiggly lines are actual parts of the trees and you have to imagine getting glimpses of the branches and leaves through the light. the idea is that the light is flooding out the trees, blinding one's few from seeing the entire tree. i feel like the rocks in this one are pretty nice too, if i can say so myself. i got some pencil in there and went a little crazy. oh well. this one too will be in the tent at hise! i have a couple more 8x10's and then i have been called to create some bigger things...sortof.

these days are quite amazing, every moment seems a little more breath taking than the next. do you feel it too?