200th Sale--Free Earrings

While tidying up a bit in my Etsy shop today, I noticed that the package I just mailed away was sale No. 199. Seems like a good opportunity to celebrate a bit by giving away a pair of earrings (customer's choice) to buyer No. 200. Will it be you?

Tincaustics

I've been playing around with encaustics for a while now, but recently I forced my own hand. I've had this idea that I would paint in my "free" time, yet, amazingly(!), that free time never materialized. I got a few small experiments out here and there, but nothing ever amounted to more than that.

A few months back, WEST (the brand new west-side version of EAST) was announced. Since my friend Holli was planning to participate, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to join her and a great chance to show only encaustic paintings. The fact I had NO (zero, zip, nada!) finished encaustic paintings didn't really register at that point. With five days left before the show, I'm officially and publicly acknowledging my foolhardiness. However, in the face of adversity and in acknowledgement of those earlier brave souls, we press on!

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Mini Maker Faire This Weekend

Be sure to leave some time in your busy ATX weekend schedule for a visit to the Maker Faire this Saturday, May 12. (512!) It looks like a great lineup of makers and vendors at the Pine Street Station location. I'll be there for a bit wandering about and then later (1pm) in my official capacity leading a workshop on, you guessed it, "Turning Old Tins Into Jewelry." If this doesn't inspire you, maybe one of these will:

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freeArt ATX a Success

I can't believe how long it has taken me to report back about our freeART day. It doesn't seem like life has been any busier than usual, but apparently it has been.

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freeART Today!

It's National Arts Advocacy Day today, so we'll be downtown in a couple of hours handing out the lovely freeART so many of you donated for the cause. Here are just a few of the amazing pieces sent in.

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freeArt!

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Too gorgeous to be inside, really, but several creative souls did stop by to make some beautiful art for our project. Here are a couple of quick pics.

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Come Make freeArt Today!

We're all set up here and ready to make some art. If you can, stop by and join in the fun. Need the address or directions? Just email me and I'll get back to you asap.

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freeArt Making Meetup

We're still working on our freeART ATX project and thought it would be fun to round up a bunch of people to make freeArt together. We're going to open up the house this Sunday (March 25) afternoon from 1to 5ish. We'll have lots of 6" x 6" paper, plenty of collage items, some paints, colored pencils, markers and just about anything that might be construed as an art supply available for your creative needs. If you have some favorite things you would like to bring along for art-making, please do.

I hope you can round up some folks and stop by for a while. If you have kids who would like to join in, be sure to bring them along. Need the address or directions to the house--just shoot me an email.

Up -- Dispatches from an upcycled world, March 2012

The current installment of Up is now available! 

Find out how to help with the freeArt ATX project! 

Discover new upcycle-y artists! 

Learn how to make your own upcycled firefly jars! 

Impress your friends with healthy snacks!!!!!!!

Upcycler of the Month -- Valerie Mann

Evening Bag for the Midwestern Woman, Potluck

wood, found objects, 13"w x 8'h x 2" deep, by Valerie Mann

I've been meaning to post about Valerie's work for a while now, but holidays, post holiday de-stashing and new interests have all gotten in the way.

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freeArt ATX

I was cleaning out email the other day and I came across this interesting article in a recent Cloth Paper Scissors newsletter. Apparently the project was inspired by an article on guerrilla art by Fred Free. Basically they just requested 6" x 6" collages (or other flat art) from folks all over the world. They collected up the pieces over a few week then chose a day to stand on a corner in NYC to hand out freeArt to anyone who passed by. Lovely and simple. Too lovely and simple to NOT replicate here in Austin as well.

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Austin Mini Maker Faire--May 12, 2012

Maker Faire is back. They've miniaturized it, but I'm okay with that. This is a quick post to get the word out that they are looking for makers of all types. If you make something cool and want to share that with your fellow citizens, this is your big chance. The deadline for applying is March 7, so get on it and get all the details here.

Getting the event together is a big undertaking, so consider donating a modest amount to help them out.

Hope to see you at Pine Street Station on May 12!

I Did It!

It has been a long time since I've sat down to post anything. Partly due to the crazy holiday season and partly because of Pinterest. It's just so dang easy to pin something and be done with it. When I want to remember that really cool piece of upcycled art, I just have to go to my Upcycled Art board and it's waiting there with the original link embedded. It makes blogging seem a bit cumbersome.

That said, Pinterest doesn't allot much space for one to ruminate about the interesting things found both on--and in cases like yesterday--offline. After seeing the Lance Letscher show at D Berman Gallery in Wimberly, his work was in my head the rest of the day. Pinning a few images to my Favorite Artists board didn't allow me to process any of what had been spinning around in there.

My good friend Lee Anne and I had been scheming for weeks trying to get to the show, but it took not just the finality of the last day, but the actual closing of the gallery on February 1 to force our hand. I'm glad it did. Lance's work is just amazing and being able to see it with another artist was a real pleasure.

Images courtesy of D Berman Gallery

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Blue Genie Art Bazaar in Full Swing

Once again the folks at Blue Genie have outdone themselves. Not only have they created a mesmerizing shopping experience, but the have also perfected an art show model that allows artists to show their work without being tied to their booth. I love the diverse mix of great work* and am overjoyed to have a place to show and sell my work for the entire month of December. If you haven't

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EAST--Weekend Two

Weekend one of the East Austin Studio Tour was a blast. The weather was splendid and folks were out in force. We had a great time chatting with everyone about art, demonstrating some of our techniques and even creating some community art together. We are looking forward to more of the same this weekend, so make sure to stop by No. 133 either Saturday or Sunday between 11am and 6pm.

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