Art Therapy #18

Yes, as you know this is where Rae and Nancy make art postcards and mail them to each other to bring some art and and sanity into our lives.

This is a change of address postcard. It will be available early April at Hatch Art House here in Madison as well as here on my site. Perfect housewarming gift or a closing gift for all realtors. Sold in packs of either 20 or 40.

Here I am playing with the brushes in Procreate on my new iPad. I can see how this is going to be a great tool. Once I learn it. So much to learn, so little time. Always.

Again trying out art supplies... markers, nail polish and stick on letters. Not crazy about this but then we don't love everything we make.

Here is an interesting non-postcard from Nancy. It is a pop up card that she made. She said if I liked it I could keep it. I do and it will go in my ever expanding Christmas file.

As I have said Nancy is multi talented. She writes, sings and is a band. Here she is singing her 3rd song. Enjoy and see you next week.

Art Therapy #17

This is where Rae and Nancy make postcards and send them to each other, more or less weekly. Frankly I am surprised we have continued to do this for so long. We started this after the last election to bring something happy into our lives. I am always excited when I see a craft envelope in the mail.

I made a series of these lake watercolours because I got new art supplies. Arteza all lead watercolour pencils. I like these pencils but because they are all lead and no wood they break like crayons which I always hated. Some strokes were made with Derwent Inktense Blocks. These are very strong colors. I also like working with them. And they also break. I like pristine art supplies.

This one was made because I am thinking about abstract painting and composition. I was making this while watching an online Illustrator class. And, of course, made from scraps in my tiny office. No wonder I am always living in paper mess.

Quick sketch from Nancy... Winter acknowledges Spring.

Another card from Nancy. It explains itself.

Happy Monday. And see you next week with more Art Therapy!

Palm Springs... Part 3.

On the way to Salvation Mountain we passed by the Salten Sea. The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake in the Sonoran Desert of extreme southeastern California. It occupies the Salton Basin, a remnant of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla. It is bordered on the south by the rich agricultural areas of the Imperial Valley and on the west, by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Both the Salton Sea State Recreation Area and the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge are located on its shores.

Read more: https://www.desertusa.com/salton/salton.html#ixzz58ndnhYvs

Leaving Salvation Mountain we drove through Slab City. Very, very interesting. Slab City, or The Slabs, is a free campsite and alternative living community located near an active bombing range in the desert city of Niland, California. Previously an old WWII base, Marine Barracks Camp Dunlap, the campsite earns its name for the concrete slabs that remained long after the military base had been bulldozed and abandoned. More here https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/slab-city-california

The other side of this building welcomes you and this is the message on your way out.

Of course there was golf for John and some shopping for me. As far as I could tell the shopping was all DT. One end the nicer stores and as you continue you get the souvenir shops. If you like the artist Shag's work stop in his store. I always like to get a piece of art when we travel. This time I got this graphic on a pillow and similar coasters. Goes well in the living room with the green couch and loveseat which although new has mid-century lines.

I also shopped at Dazzle which has old 80s plastic or bake light earrings. I am collecting some for Summer.

I can recommend the Eight 4 Nine restaurant for lunch near the Shag store. I am still thinking about the smoked salmon nicoise salad. Ask for the happy hour menu. Even if it is lunch time.

We enjoyed our first visit to this area. I had some preconceived ideas about Palm Springs that were wrong. The house colors were almost always white and sandy earth tones. I was looking for the old Palm Springs. I expected an old area that was pastel stucco, especially soft pink. I hoped to take photos of old signage and didn't find any. I thought there would be an area that would have supper clubs and tiki bars where we would have old fashioned cocktails with Frank singing in the background. Not so.

And that is the end of a lovely week.

Palm Springs... Part 2

Mid week we took a day trip to Salvation Mountain. It is a bit of a trip from Palm Springs. But it was a good way for us to get out in the desert. I love kitsch. Salvation Mountain is visually Grandma Moses gets religion.

Salvation Mountain is Leonard' Knight's tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Leonard's passion has lovingly created this brilliant "outsider art " masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord's Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner's Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. - Official Salvation Mountain Site

For some reason I really love this composition.

Thanks for traveling along... one last post next week.

Palm Springs or an Escape from Winter!

This was my first trip to Palm Springs. Land of blue skies, sun and warmth. We stayed in a great house with a pool. Bliss.

Our first day was spent looking at open houses, mid century modern, of course. And a visit to the stunning Palm Springs Art Museum.

Heart Cone Chair was created by Verner Panton. and Produced by Vitra in 1959.

I have one of those chairs but mine is matte black and is vintage. I would love to have that little TV.

Bird. 1996 by Enrique Martinez Celya

This was Modernism Week. Unfortunately we did not attend anything. Since this was our first trip there we kicked back and played tourist, lounged, napped, drinks by the pool.

We left Wisconsin which had typical Winter weather. We came home to find my Mini's tires frozen in a little pond of ice which is our driveway.

Next Palm Springs post will include Salvation Mountain, Salten Sea and Slab City.

Mike's Dish Towel Fabric #1

Here is another set of wilderness dish towels. These 4 dishtowels are one yard of fabric 54"x36". You need to cut the dish towels apart and then hem the edges. Or find someone who will do that for you.

These are tighter shots so you can bet a better look at the designs.

This fabric is printed by Spoonflower.com. Spoonflower is a print on demand online company. This means you can have any pattern on their site printed on a variety of different fabrics. You can get one yard or many yards. 

These make great hostness gifts when visiting your friends at their cabin, cottage or lake home.

These  dish towels were inspired by my font Wilderness Doodles.  These were drawn after an amazing trip to Alaska. And were a Christmas gift a year ago for our friend who lives there. You can see them here.

Hey DIYers... make your own Valentines!

I know it seems like Christmas was just here. But I am here to tell you that Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Frankly, I like Valentine's Day more than Christmas. Expectations are lower, little kids exchange valentines in school, it involves candy.

And I know you DIYers start early making things. I think early is now. So here are 4 fonts for almost nothing. You can make Valentines for years. Plus they can be used for weddings, birthdays, invitations, flyers. I know you are a creative group you probably have more ideas than I do.

But I'll share a couple of mine...

This is an old card I made. It was initially for thank you notes after our wedding. But have been used as note cards and Valentines over the years. Our wedding announcement was a seven panel accordion fold piece also using these hearts.

You can make smaller notes with 1 or 3 or 4 hearts.

This is a personal favorite. The inside says, "I love you more than bacon." And who doesn't like bacon? It could also say, more than sushi. Or hunting season... or Paris... you get the idea.

A multi-use blank card. Very simple. Use it to convey your thoughts on a break up, death, heart break, when someone is sad, a loss of any kind. It is actually an all-occasion sympathy card without all the hearts and flowers.

These 4 fonts include over 100 hearts, something for everyone.

If this at all interests you visit my store here. You MUST buy from the link that is for the 4 fonts in order to get this deal.

Happy making!

Art Therapy #16

Yes, it is postcard post time again! This is where Nancy and I exchange postcards that we make and send them through the mail.

Samsara: In Hinduism, the cycle of death + rebirth to which life in the material world is bound.

It appears that we started the new year with New Year's cards. Look carefully to see Nancy's wishes in the above shot. Nancy's is a collage and mine was made while cleaning my office. My rule is that I have to make my cards with what I have in my studio area. And to work quickly.

Another thoughtful one from Nancy, meant to be a sort of New Year's resolution. She puts so much into her cards.

This is the view from my desk. Well, not today. Today it is all white and shades of grey and snowing. I want to paint again and want to do something abstract and quick looking. So these were some quick scribbles. And then I did 4 more. That is often my process. Although I think this was the first one.

New paint brushes, new watercolor pencils. Arteza 24 woodless watercolor pencils. I do like these. First I drew with these and then used a watercolor brush to soften some of the lines.

I also love these. You can get intense color with these. Derwent Inktense Blocks. They are ink sticks. I know I did the red line with one of these. I waited until the paper was damp, not wet. When the paper was dry I went in again with a blue colored pencil and added some black lines for the waves too. These are great fun. Make some art today. You know you want to.