I had just downloaded a free printmaking ebook from Cloth, Paper, Scissors and I knew I wanted to try some of the techniques. So I broke out the foam sheets I picked up at the Dollar Store and made an A+ stamp. I like that I can just paint on the foam with regular acrylics and not worry about cleaning it. It’s easy to cut and cheap – my favorite part of the process.

One of my son’s friends made a comment about one of my self portraits this weekend that gave me pause. “You painted a picture of yourself?!?!” I’m still not sure if he was appalled that I would do such a ballsy, self important thing. Or if he was impressed by the skill required. So I decided to try to get away from painting my own face so much.

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. I think I was successful in making a piece that feels personal but isn’t obviously about me.

Leaving It Behind, Acrylic and collage on canvas, 12"x9"

And I have good news! I got a piece into the Narrows Baggage show!!! My friend Deb Carlson also got a piece in! Both are from the Sticks and Stones theme at ARN! How cool is that?

Always With Me, Acrylic and Collage on Canvas, 20" x 16"

Always Changing 12"x12" Acrylic and Collage on canvas

I applied to a group show.

This is a huge step for me. I’ve entered shows before and I’ve gotten in a couple. But never in my own city. I’m excited and hopeful. Things have been crazy busy around here since the Great Rhody Yarn Crawl. I have another fiber festival coming up and I can’t keep Maki in the shop. Making time to paint is an ongoing struggle but being the ARN! keeps me on my toes.

Cozy Companion - Oil, conte crayon on paper

I’m back! I haven’t had a moment to breathe lately! The shop is doing very well and I’m very very happy with its success. But I miss creating and I’m still trying to eek out some time to paint. Really paint.

Truthfully, I’ve gotten kind of bored with myself. And as a fiber artist, this just the topic to get me going! So I switched things up and broke out the oils. My parents gave me some oil sticks a while back. I just kind of went at it; I did a very quick doodle to prepare but I don’t think it informed the final piece at all.

I do feel a bit revitalized. Though finding time for larger, more involved pieces will still require a lot of motivation and perseverance on my part. I work best in small spurts with some longer sessions now and then. I’m thinking that’s the way to go. No more procrastinating – a little bit everyday. Slow and steady…Art – tortoise style?

This year’s show was great as usual. There were a couple bumps in the road but we all pulled together to make it work and the museum looked great.

My favorite wall was Deb Carlson’s. I love everything she does but especially her newest piece (at the time) that explores her feelings about  her sister’s breast cancer.

The works of Deb Carlson

I did some larger pieces this year. They look so small once they’ve left my tiny basement studio. Next year – BIGGER!

The works of Chrystee Governo

As always, my boys were in attendance doing what they do best.

The ARN group show is coming up! I’m designing postcards for the group and thinking about my own promotional materials. Where do I direct people?!?!  I have a domain name but I don’t speak HTML or CSS and I have no idea what I am doing!

A friend suggested WordPress so I did some research. I found this great tutorial and I’ve been working my way through it slowly. I’m still tweaking the image widget thumbnail size and trying to figure out how to make this thing look clean and professional. I’d love to figure out how this guy did his widgets thumbnails. Looks like I might be learning some HTML and CSS whether I like it or not.