AT THE GALLERY

THE GREAT GERMAN SHEPERD

I have a german shepherd.  He is my baby and he is the silliest dog I have ever owned. We got him as a pup and right from the start we knew we would be in for a ride!  Exept we didn't anticipate that the only issue was going to be that he hates riding in the car!

Like many large breeds, he has no clue about his size.  Only that he thinks he can sit in your lap.  There he is sitting with his auntie (or should I say (sitting on his auntie!) watching daddy making something in the kitchen.  He helps me with the laundry and takes off my socks in the evening.  Actually, once the sun goes down he will try to take off anyone's socks should they be dumb enough to take off their shoes while in the house.  Doesn't matter who it is, guest and family alike.  A firm no puts a stop to it of course but you have to give him an A for trying.  I also taught him to say banana....well, he doesn't really say banana but he will try to say it al long as there is a treat involved.  And can he talk?!  If and when he is in the car all he does is bark.  You can hear him coming in the next town.

I am a german shepherd owner and it takes a rare breed to own a rare breed.

Yippy Yuppo

Ink and yuppo

I am having so much fun with alcohol inks and yuppo.  Even though these are pretty, I am still not getting the effect that I want.  Practice, practice, practice.  It is an experiment where the potential is limitless.  Once I get an effect I am happy enough to reproduce I will be putting them in the shop.

Thursday and Friday I spent an overnight at the camp.  It was nice to be off the grid (again).  So quiet, no phones, no cell service gave me time to reflect on the different directions my company can take.  And even though it is very exciting I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the possiblilites.  If anyone in the Catskill region reads my blog and would like to have a very part-time job, or internship, let me know.  I would love to talk to you.  The business is small but there are several areas I need help with.  Organization, marketing, packaging...... And I am always looking for another artist to play with!!!!!  If you are interested send me an email.  Reply to andrea@creativezenart.com.

TANGLES AND QUILTS!!! OH MY!

A little fun with scrap quilting

Happy Super Saturday everyone!  Today is a beautiful sunny day and the air is so crisp and wonderful.  I love this time of year!

I am still unpacking boxes for the studio.  It seems like a never ending project.  I keep asking myself "how in the world did I fit all of this stuf in about a third of the space.  Well, I think I had more shelf space but that can be easily remedied.

In any case, one of the boxes I unpacked this week was all of my practice quilt pieces.  When I begin to quilt, I practice on a scrap quilt sandwhich to make sure the thread, tension, and machine are all working in harmony.  Most quilters do this.  What happens is that you end up with lots of practice quilt sandwhiches.  I was collecting quite a pile of them.

Then Zentangle came into my life and I began to tangle one of the sandwhiches.  It was so much fun that I have decided to do a series of them and hang them all over my studio.  The practice quilting pieces already have the "strings".  All I have  to do is tangle.  This is going to be so much fun that I think I will design a class for other quilters who may want to explore this technique.

HAVE A SUPER SATURDAY

NAMASTE

HOW WE CELEBRATE

An interesting thing happened to me over the weekend that I would like to tell you about.  I always wear my fitbit (except when I am charging it of course).  My fitbit began to vibrate as I was walking. It was telling me that I had reach 10,000 thousand steps for that day!  Now here is the interesting part....I immediately began thinking about celebrating my wonderful achievement!  Visions of goodies began to flash through like lightening.  Would it be icecream?  cupcake?  pie?  cake?  Then all of a sudden I stopped in my tracks.  Wait a minute! I realized I had somehow gotten turned around in my thinking?  I asked myself this question......

When and how did sweets become the poster child for celebration?

When the pilgrims decided to celebrate their good fortune and new friends did they think  Oh, yes,  Ladies, let the pie baking begin!? No, and was their celebration any less celebratorial?  No. There are lots of arguments about what they actually ate but ice cream was not their first thought I am sure. And there are so many other examples but you get the picture.

What a time I had arguing with myself over taking care of myself in a better way.  After about an hour (no, I am not exagerating), I decided that I would celebrate by NOT having icecream or any sweet for that matter.  Instead, I had a nice healthy dinner and it was soooo good.

HOT HOT HOT!!!!!

Fabulous Frock

The weather wasn't the only thing that was hot on Saturday.  The Greene County Coucil on the Arts hosted a wonderful fashion show right in downtown Catskill.  The first ever!!!  And there were wonderful designs to see.  These pictures are just a small sample of some of my favorites.  The captions underneath the pictures are mine just so I can remember the design.

Go Ask Alice

Joe's Garage on mainstreet has been totally renovated which made it a wonderful venue for the show.  And it was a packed house.  I came home very inspired to create more one of a kind in my studio.

If you missed the show come and see it at the Council on main street where you will be able to get a close up of the fun and fanciful offerings called "wearable art".

SWEET SUNDAY

ZenQuility

About two weeks ago I posted about Slow Sundays.  The problem is that Sundays aren't so slow anymore.  In fact, without the Sunday family gatherings, I am not sure what Sunday represents.  I have given it a great deal of thought actually and decided that as much as I want the old Slow Sundays to come back I know they can't.  It is time to create a new Sunday, a Sweet Sunday; a Sunday where we find time to savour the day like we used to savour our Sunday meals.  It is ok to create new traditions.  So from now on, Sweet Sunday is what I will call this day.  My awareness will be about finding something sweet or good in my day.  What will you call your Sunday? 

The photo to the left is a combination of quilling and zentangle.  I will be teaching this class in the near future.  To sign up visit www.creativezenart.com or send me an email at andrea@creativezenart.com and in the subject line put ZenQuility.  Make sure you leave your full name and address so I can add you to the list.  Once I have six people signed up I will announce the class date and time.

SWEET SUNDAY TO YOU!

SLOW SUNDAYS

 It has been such a busy day today and yet it seems like it went slowwwwww.......which is nice being that it is Sunday.  I spent the last few hours working on the website and sending out email campaigns for my next drawing meditation class that is coming up this Wednesday at Columbia Greene Community College in Hudson.  The class is a more advanced class where students will explore drawing on a tan tile with brown, white, black and blue pens.  I hope I have a full class because this one is going to be fun.

When I was a child, I remember Sundays as being full of family and food!  It was amazing to watch the adult talk and laugh.  My family was full of characters who had gone through a great deal and still managed to come away with the most amazing sense of humor.  Most of them are gone now but the memories still make me laugh out loud sometimes when I think of them.  And the food.....oh my God!!!!  How many of you out there remember having Sunday dinners with the family including grandparents, aunts, and crazy funny uncles? I wish we still had Sundays like this.To my Grandmother's and Grandfathers.  May you live inside of me until I am with you again.    I love you all.!!!!!

WACKY WEDNESDAY

Quill & Tangle

Boy, what a month June has proven to be!  It went by so fast but we got so much done around the house with a few flower gardens. But the most exciting thing I have to tell you is about the trip I took to Buffalo to attend Midsummer Tangle 2, a four day, CZT workout retreat.  We learned so much in such a short time that it was amazing.  Unfortunately, I came down with the same thing Jay had and today is the first day that I have been feeling good enough to go through all of my stuff.  

I will post some more pictures in a later post but everyone was so excited to learn about Sonya's class involving tangles and quilling. What a perfect combination.  I will be teaching this class in the near future for sure.  This is the picture of her work.  I will post mine when it is finished..  Until then, I think I will take a nap.

MAGICAL MONDAYS

moving day!!!!!

This morning as I descended the stairs to my studio I had a flashback of what it looked like the day we moved in.  Holy Cow!!!!  Actually, move in day was about getting our stuff into the house.  The day after moving day was the real challenge.  How was all of this mess going to turn into a productive studio space.  I did not even know where most of my stuff was.  Everything was packed mostly carefully........at least it started out that way.  By the time the 11th hour approached however, I was putting stuff in wherever they would fit.  That turned out to not be such a good idea.  But, we got through it and today I am happy to say that the studio is up and running.  There are still things to be put away.  Thread to be organized and material to be folded.  I am happy to report that the longarm is up and soon will be busy quilting a large quilt.  Mostly though, studio looks something like a studio and less like the disaster it once was.  

/TV/learning center

Projects/Classroom area

 Gibbs likes it off course.  He comes down to visit me at least once during the day.  Mostly to tell me that it is time for lunch or dinner or that he wants to play.  I love my new studio and our new home.  This is my Magical Monday thought of appreciation.  Do you have anything that you appreciate today?  I am sure that if you thought about it you could find something.  Large or small, I am just as grateful.  HAPPY MAGICAL MONDAY TO US ALL!!!!!

THE PAINTED PIECE

Painted Samples

                                                                    Catskill has this wonderful shop called THE PAINTED PIECE where you can browse for antiques and refinished furniture.  They also sell wonderful Chalk Paint in beautiful colors.  Yesterday I got to take a class with Cathy Hennessy, the owner, who taught me all of the different ways to turn wood into beautiful statements with the paint she sells.  I had so much fun and when I brought the pieces home my husband thought they were great and agreed that we should paint our kitchen cabinets blue to match the rest of the the kitchen.  Yessss.  Did you hear that Cathy?  The lesson was so helpful that I decided I would share it with everyone who loves DIY projects along with refurbished furniture.  Cathy is a delight and very open and friendly and she is so willing to share what she knows about painting and special finishes.  I hope we become fast friends.  If you want to see more of her shop visit her here at www.thepaintedpiece.net.  Or better yet, come visit her shop on main street in Catskill, NY.

THE CREATIVE HABIT

I read Twyla Tharp's book with the same title years ago. In it she talks about how important it is to have creative rituals.  It is important to be dedicated to yourself by having a daily routine.  It allows you to flow through your day like a gentle river that takes you to wonderful places and allows you to discover beautiful and creative things that surround you.

But a routine takes practice and isn't practice another word to use in the same way as routine?  Yes, but I know that if I practice my daily routine it will become part of my daily creative rhythm.  Is that what a daily routine is?  A daily rhythm?  I think I like that notion.  I will create a daily rhythm.

 

MY FRIEND THE GODDESS MOTHER

Isis

      I have known my friend Joann for many years.  Way back to college/task force days!  Where has the time flown.  We spoke a week or so ago about what has been going on in our lives since the last conversation.  Well, rest-assured, lots has happened in between our talks; some of what we shared was not good news.  Yet through all we talked about one thing remained in focus.  Both of us have been creating no matter what.

       It is always fun to share what we create.  Over the years we have shared gardening, herbal wisdom, patterns, dreams.  I am sure you get the picture.  We always come away feeling energized.  This time however, She gave us a new name........WE ARE THE CREATRESSES!!!!!!  Girlfriends are the best.



I have two classes coming up this weekend.  

April 2nd is going to be held at Olana Castle in Hudson.  The class will be held from 3PM -5PM
Contact Amy (518) 828-0135 

CREATE SOMETHING

FACE OF THE GODDESS

I am a reader.  My husband says I have been that way since I was a child.  It is true.  These days I do more research type of reading concerning my business and how to promote it.  There is so much information out there.  To much actually.  The last market research indicates that good old fashioned mailings are wonderful for small businesses like mine.

I did do a mailing for Creative Meditations and I was invited to three wonderful places where I give classes.  It is fabulous and I love the settings that each one presents.

The picture on the left is one I did quite some time ago but is still one of my favorites.  I am considering putting it into the next gallery show titled Faces and Facades and I am excited for sure.  But the show that is really exciting me is the one they are doing later this summer which is titled Wearable Art.  The images running through my brain are crazy.  I made a vow to myself that I was only going to use whatever material I have on had and boy, do I have stuff.  What a great way to clean up the studio.  Create something while you organize!  I like it.

SHARING A STUDIO

I love to create in my new studio.  It is large and full of light. Sometimes I get my inspiration just looking at all the material, paint, and ink that surrounds me. Other times it is a ride in the country on bright sunny days.

There have been moments, recently where I wish I could share my studio with other artists who mostly work alone but would love an occasional collaborations (otherwise known as someone to play with.  Sharing a space with another like minded individual can be so fruitful.  Maybe I should do a shout out for a once a week studio party where we could join together here at Creative Meditations and simply have fun.  I am serious.  If you live in the Catskill area and want to come play, send me an email creativemeditations1@gmail.com.  Let's have some fun.

SIMPLE LIFE, SIMPLY CREATED

It goes without saying that living simply is something many of us try to do.  Not so easy though as you go through life trying so hard not to gather so much in the way of material things.  Yet, here I am, looking around my house and studio thinking "Boy, do I have a great deal of stuff".  I would feel worse than I do except that I do recycle when I create my art.  But even in the world of recycle, you can turn into a hoarder pretty darn fast.

Psychology has not done enough to study what seems to be a human compulsion to have stuff.  The percentage of people who seem to subscribe to major consumerism is far greater than the percentage of people who try to live by simple means.

My goal for the month of February is to use whatever I have in my studio to create my art.  I will not purchase another blessed thing.  And when the spring comes I am having a yard sale that will interest those who love material, yarn and other such notions.  I am on my way to a simple life, simply created.