Playing with Copper

This weekend I did a little bit of experimenting. When I made the piece below I used part of an old copper plant stake that I had in my garden at my old house. It had a beautiful patina on it and I just loved the texture.

Well that was the only one I had, but then I got to thinking. . .

I have a bunch of new ones that have never been used in my gardening box! I figured maybe, just maybe I could "quickly" duplicate that beautiful patina?  

 These are the plant stakes I started off with - you can get them in the $1 bin at Target every spring or Home Depot whenever. They come with 6 in the pack

 

 Next step was my "beautiful" aging station on my patio, complete with Vinegar & sea salt. I prefer cidar vinegar but I was out and had to use plain ol' white vinegar. I soaked the stakes in the vinegar/salt solution (2 parts Vinegar to 1 Part salt) all day.

 

 Then that evening I placed the stakes in the lawn so that they touched the grass (thankfully the lawn needed mowing) and waited for the sprinklers to come on that night. By noon the next day this is what they looked like!

 

 I plucked them out of the ground and then pulled the copper plates off of the stakes                      (they just slide off)

 

 Aren't they pretty? They aren't quite as "blue" as the 10 year old stake, but I am sure if I wasn't so impatient, and left them out a few more days they would have gotten there.

I can't wait to use these little beauties now! Who knows, maybe they will show up in a class soon???

 

I hope you are all having a great weekend and doing something FUN and CREATIVE!!!

 

till we meet again. . .

 

I've Been at it Again!

That's right, I have been busy in my studio again the past few days.

So here is my latest creation

"The Way"

 

 

Do you remember a few days back I showed you this picture of the overpass at the 101 & Shea Blvd? I told you I always get stopped at this light on my way to my friend's house.

Remember I told you that it always inspires me and that eventually I would make some art of it?

Well, I did it!

I like to name my art and I like to build in as much symbolism as I possibly can. I also like to use my time in my studio as a time to pray and listen to God.

 

This one is called "The Way" for the obvious reason but as I worked on this piece and I was praying about it God brought to mind the scripture John 14:6

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"

As I pondered this verse and worked on it some more, it became obvious to me that this was the purpose and meaning of this piece. After all what better friend is there than Jesus!

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends"

John 15:14

So you will see there is compass, a cross and a big gear, all of them painted black and red at some area. This symbolizes the darkness our lives are without Him and His blood that changes all of that!

There are a ton of arrows on this piece as well as a reminder of the "way"

The large nuts on this piece are even covered with the above scriptures and others

 

I knew this was going to be a heavy piece, structurally, so it is not on a canvas. It is actually on a pine "canvas" that I built. Well, I didn't build it all by myself. . . I got frustrated when my cordless drill ran out o juice and I couldn't get the spent battery out to put a new one in it. This made me drive to my friend Rooster's house, where her dear hubby John helped me out - Thanks John - you are my hero!

 

So this is what I have been up to - tomorrow I am actually heading back over to my friend Deborah's house and I will probably get stopped at this light again!

 

Enjoy the rest of your week

till we meet again. . .

No Sense Crying Over Spilt Butter and Pepsi!

Okay, so these are NOT the typical pictures I share with you on my blog but. . .

I just had to share with you what I woke up to this morning.

 

 Typically in this spot is a relatively clean concrete garage floor and a refrigerator that holds all of the cold drinks and back-up items. But this morning I woke up to my Mother telling me that the garage fridge had been left open all night! I wasn't too worried since like I said - it mostly just holds drinks. So I go out to check on things and I see all of this "liquid" on the ground around the fridge and figured it was just water. I grabbed some towels and went back out to clean up the mess and found that the "liquid" was actually melted butter!!!!! FIVE POUNDS of melted butter!!!!! That's right 5lbs! My Mother had done a bit of Costco shopping and stocked up. So it had melted over night and ran all over the inside and out the open door onto the concrete floor. GROSS!

So now I have to move the fridge and all of the shelving around the fridge so I can clean up all of the butter that ran under the refrigerator. Mom had also purchased canned soda when it was on sale and had stacked it next to the fridge, as I went to move one of the 12packs it decided to explode inside the box and run all over the garage floor and me! Mind you it is now about 11:30 (I didn't start right away because I thought it was just water) and about 105 degrees outside and hotter than that in the garage.

I had no idea how to clean up this mess so I found this little 1" scouring brush and some baking soda and went to town. Nope that didn't work so I tried bleach - nope that is not the solution either. Finally after a couple of hours I just mopped it up and called it good. Sadly after all of that work the concrete is completely stained, the fridge is not cooling anymore and I think I lost about 5lbs from sweating!But on the up side, my garage is cleaner than it was when I woke up and I got a couple of hours to just listen to my music and got to say hi to my neighbors as they passed by. Gary stopped by to pick up his golf clubs and when he saw the mess he expected me to be cranky (I hate messes and dirty stuff) but he was pleasantly surprised that I was not. I just kept thinking of these two Bible verses as I cleaned up this mess. I even quoted them to him -

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice! Philippians 4:4

and

Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people.
Colossians 3:23
 

He just laughed and said "whatever gets you through this Babe". It is amazing to me how you can CHOOSE to have joy even while doing something you don't enjoy doing. Not too long ago this would have ruined the rest of my day. But today it was just something that happened and needed to be taken care of. So today I share with you my spilt butter and spilt Pepsi and my choice to find joy in the middle of the mess.

I hope your day was full of JOY but without the mess!

till we meet again. . .

My Time is Finished. . .

I started a new mixed media piece on Sunday after church and I just finished it this afternoon. I am calling it "This is My Time". There is a lot of personal symbolism on this piece for me about where I am at this time in my life and I must say I am very happy with how it turned out.  

Here it is. . .

If you had told me 18 months ago that I would be creating art anything like this I would have told you that you were crazy! Up until now I have never really created anything that I would call "art" I was, as Bryanna says "crafty". I dabbled in any kind of paper art, some sewing, some photography, but lately I feel as though I have found a new part to myself. I just love getting my hands all dirty. I just love watching something come together, with each new step and each addition of product and color. I even love how with each mistake that you make you think to yourself "it's ruined" and then the joy when you realize it isn't. And I love that one moment when you know it is finished, you have given everything you had to give to that one piece. BLISS!

 

A friend of mine talked to me a week ago about creating some pieces for a gallery in Texas that is interested in seeing some of my work. This is the first of those pieces. Sadly I am not sure I can sell this one - but we will see.

 

So here is a little bit about what's on this piece in case you are interested. It is a 10x10 stretched canvas mounted on a 12x12 canvas board. There is a ton of fun texture on this baby - modeling paste, computer components, lots of bits and pieces from guitars (thank you Deborah!), some Tim Holtz metals and lots of stuff from the hardware store and several mulberry paper flowers, just to mention some of the many embellishments on this piece. Then of course there is a ton of acrylic paint, inks and sprays.

I love the look of the double canvas construction on this piece - but it does present some hanging issues. I have to add a wire hanger to the back still so I can get it up on my wall, but I could not find my  mounting wire today.

 

So this is what I have been spending my time on the past few days. It was a great time for me!

What have you been doing that you can say was BLISS? If your answer is "nothing" I challenge you to find your bliss this week!

 

until we meet again. . .

 

Having Too Much Fun!!!!!

Came home from church yesterday all fired up and ready to use my gift!

Here is a sneak peak at what is on my work table right now.

While I am waiting for glue to dry I decided to pop on and share .

 

Hopefully I will have a finished piece to show you in a couple of days!

 

So what are YOU doing with YOUR GIFT this week???

 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. . .

 Colossians 3:23

 

until we meet again. . .

Inspiration, Friends & Snow

Can you believe I have been away for a whole week? It has been busy around here!

Here's a little bit of what I have been up too. . .

 

 

I had a play date (that is what Monkey calls it) with my friend Deborah this week. I love hanging out with her! We have way too much fun. Our fun typically involves some crafting of some sort, lots of gabbing, and of course some food.

 Each time I go to her house I get stopped at this light and am forced to stare at this fence that is next to the overpass. I am not sure why, but I love this - it really inspires me to want to work on some art! But by the time I get home I have forgotten about the fence. So this time as I sat at the light I pulled out my camera and took some pictures. So don't be surprised if something similar shows up on a project soon!

 Our crafting projects this day ran the gammet of making springs out of guitar strings, dismantling guitar parts for mixed media projects and jewelry making.

I think she has created a new monster in me! Yesterday I made all of these bracelets! Well, not all of them - the last one on the right was the one I made at her house on Wednesday. Just what I need - another hobby!

 

 

 

I really don't wear jewelry - but I do wear bracelets - but I only have a couple. Now I have several and can really spruce up my new wardrobe! I am not really a "clothes person" either. It is hard to find clothes that fit me and since I quit working (in 1999) I have just given up on buying myself stuff to just stay home crafting and cleaning in. But this spring I just decided I was "worth" shopping for and bought myself a whole new wardrobe. It is so fun to get dressed now - and now I have fun new bracelets to go with my fun new clothes!

 

 Christmas in July!!!!

Each summer I do a "Christmas in July" class and I just finished my sample for this year's "CIJ" I hope you will like it. It is called "Silent Night" and you can sign up starting this weekend by calling The Occasional Artist.

This was a hard project to photograph but you can see it in person at the store this week. It is a backward canvas full of shimmering papers, glitter, rhinestones and pearls. Even though it is all black, white and silver I think it just screams Christmas!

I love how the light glows from the little windows during this snowy night as Santa and his reindeer fly through the sky.

So this is a little peek at what I have been up to this week. I hope you have been having a great time and have been staying cool - can you believe it was 112 today!!!

Have a great weekend 

till wee meet again. . . .

Happy Memorial Day

Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13
 

On this Memorial Day I would like to honor ALL that have served our country.
But in particular I would like to honor those I know personally.

My Brother Steve served you and me during the Vietnam war

 

He was 11 years older than me and I thought he was such a "man" now I see he was just a boy!

 This is one of my brother's friends/shipmates John in front of their ship
 

  This is another of my brother's friends/shipmates Rocky on the flight deck
 

 Lower left, Rich Kramer with his arm on Steve Vandeschraff, then, counter-clockwise, Stever Tiller (my brother's best friend, also named Steve), Mike Schmidtman, and Pete Kazura.
This picture was taken on the "Connie" in the offices

 

I salute you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Not just for serving our country but for introducing me to my big brother. I would never have known him without you all!

My brother was hurt in a motorcycle accident when he came home on leave. He spent the next 30 months in a coma before he died. A few years ago I set out on an adventure to get to know my big brother. These men and more came to my rescue and shared stories and photos that no one in my family had ever seen. They became "big brothers" to me

 This was "his" ship - the US Constellation CVA-64 (those are all cars on the flight deck)
 

The "Connie" as they called it has now been retired and is being parted out in Northern California and will eventually be sunk.

 

Thank you . . .

Steve Peterson - Brother - Vietnam

Steve Tiller  - Friend - Vietnam
Rich Kramer - Friend - Vietnam

John Winther - Friend - Vietnam

Rocky - Friend - Vietnam

Bob Jackson - Friend - Vietnam

Allen Mikeska - Nephew - Peacetime

Winford Schell - Uncle - WWII

Gaylord (Al) Schell - Cousin - Vietnam

Titto Ferrera - Brother to my SIL - Present