Morning Rant

Tired, this morning… wanting to design this blog layout so that it looks different… don't have half-n-half… having decaf tea instead… have a lot of things I'd like to do… wanting to buy a typewriter… am enjoying Michelle C. Moode's artwork, she had a piece with something typewritten on it, very sweet, I'm inspired to take a printmaking class, gotta think about that one…

I picked up a a ticket off the ground yesterday for a Castro Valley high school dance, it brought back such memories of me and high school dances… I thought it would be fun to tear up my yearbook and make art of my memories, could be pretty powerful…

Reminiscing about our Napa Getaway

The paint recipe that follows has been on my mind since Tom found it on our Napa getaway. I'm looking forward to painting some pots in our backyard towards the end of the month. Speaking of Napa, these photos are from a Napa house that was for sale. The owner was gracious enough to let me take some photos and then on top of that took us in the back and showed off his backyard as well. So much fun! Oh to have seen the inside! Looking forward to seeing the insides of San Francisco homes on this AIA Home tour in September.

Martha Stewart's Milk Paint Recipe:

Milk paint is an organic material that gives surfaces a distinctive color-washed finish. As the name suggests, milk is a principal ingredient in the material, acting as a binder for pigments the same way polymers do in latex paints and oils do in oil-based ones. People have been mixing milk paint for a long time; it has been found on artifacts dating to ancient Egypt, although it's perhaps most commonly associated with colonial-era furniture. The fact that the material doesn't give off noxious vapors (often called VOCs) accounts for its continued appeal within today's green building community. Craftspeople, meanwhile, value its saturated colors and translucent finish, which can be used to give wooden furniture, terra-cotta pots, and other textured surfaces an antique look.

You can't, however, simply mix milk with color pigment and spread it on the walls. The following recipe will yield enough paint to cover a bureau or other large furnishing:

Milk Paint How-To
1. Mix the juice of a lemon with 1 quart of skim milk in a large bowl. Leave the mixture overnight at room temperature to induce curdling.

2. Pour it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth to separate the solid curds from the liquid whey. Add 4 tablespoons of dry color pigment (available at art-supply stores) to the curd; be sure to wear a mask, and stir until the pigment is evenly dispersed. Artists' acrylic paint also can be used in place of powdered pigment.

3. Add it one drop at a time, and stir constantly until you achieve the desired hue. Whether pigment- or acrylic-based, milk paint will spoil quickly, so it should be applied within a few hours of mixing. Rest assured, its sour smell will disappear once the paint dries. If you prefer, you can purchase milk paint rather than make it yourself. One source is Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Hammie

Hammie (the Hamachi) is our latest project… Tom and I found him at Urban Ore and are very excited to begin painting him. He'll be emerging out of the ground in our garden. We have an early August deadline so that'll get us moving and I'll post our work in process.

Organizing

I'm organizing my files. I'm thrilled, it sounds crazy but there's something about getting organized that is very soothing for the soul. I have my office I'm working on and then I'll conquer the studio garage. Tom and I've put some dates down on the calendar for an open house party and some get togethers, so it'll be even more helpful to get the house in order. A big part of this inspiration is thanks to Alyson B. Stanfield's I'd Rather Be in the Studio recommended to me by Bonnie Randall Boller. Alyson has a very direct, action-oriented approach, that really helps me become more aware of the excuses I've been making.

Another soul-soothing thing I've been doing lately is going to Alice Joanou's Loka Yoga. Besides the great workout, the slowing down and the peace I feel when I'm there, the atmosphere is great as well. It smells really good besides.

There's always more to write. Earlier, I was shredding 2003 phone bills… I'm going to now change my current phone bill to an electronic version!

Daily Practice

One of the benefits of blogging is that you get to meet and interact with people with similiar interests. Tom brought home some old law books that he thought I might be able to use. He suggested I could make books from them and ErinZam posted some recrafted law books on her blog which further lead to this inspiration posted above.

I get a lot of pleasure out of reading Michelle Maule's blog about her daily practice. I aspire to write daily, at least during the week.

On a different note, Tom and I discovered Autobody Fine Art in Alameda. Pure pleasure. It's a beautiful gallery: youthful, emerging, a little "rough" in a good way and brings it out excitement in me. I had a great therapy experience around this as well. Instead of thinking that this gallery is "outside" of me, I can actually relate to it as being "me" and "take this pill" whenever needed to bring that excitement back to my daily life. We had lunch at Burma SuperStar in Alameda. Super yummy and we'll be back!

Alameda Women Artists Group Show Friday

ALAMEDA WOMEN ARTISTS presents A VISUAL WORD
16 Artists at the new Alameda Free Library Meeting Rooms Gallery
1550 Oak Street, Alameda, CA | June 6-July 19, 2008
The Artist Reception is the First Friday, June 6th, 6-8pm. LIVE MUSIC.
Exhibit hours: Mondays-Saturdays 10 am-4 pm, Sundays 1-4 pm.

This is just one of my pieces that's in the show entitled "Rhymes with Pink". I've been collecting aluminum cans (thanks especially to Cheryl and Stephanie) and I'm looking forward to developing more pieces for this series.

Lots of updating on my website tonight. Some photos from Savannah from our honeymoon, one in particular of wine bottles in a garden that has me starting to collect bottles now. I would love anyone's help in this process.

Tom and I are talking about painting a big concrete sculpture that we'll put in our front yard. It'll be obvious that our place will be the neighborhood art house. I'm looking forward to that!

Dreams Do Come True

Photo captured by Mr. Virsik. Thank you.

We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.

~Woodrow T. Wilson (1856-1924, Twenty-eighth President of the USA)

I thought this quote was appropriate for today, brought to me by Cyber Nation. Tom and I had an incredible wedding. So touching and precious to me. Much more than I expected and very easy. Someone asked if my mouth hurt from smiling and when I thought about it, I think it did.

We just got back from from a really enjoyable and relaxing honeymoon. I have lots to share with my loyal readership! Here's just a list to tempt you with… yummy fried pickles from Blowin' Smoke in Savannah, Alligator Soul, gourd trees in North Carolina, sweet grass baskets in South Carolina, wildflowers on North Carolina freeways, Angel's BBQ, Telfair Museum of Art, SCAD shop, sushi/Thai restaurants?, how walking/running is such a great way to explore and cover more territory, Myrtle Beach, metalwork photos in Durham, Savannah Bed & Breakfast Inn , Meredith Brickell's ceramics and paintings in Bull City Arts Collaborative, recycled art show in Savannah, clean restrooms in SC, Chapel Hill, Greek deli, NC fleamarket, grits, croutons, key lime pie (it's not green), live oaks and Spanish Moss, Back in the Day Bakery and much more…