Mary Elizabeth Arts

Nursery Mural

2012-01-07T08:51:00.001-08:00

My brother and sister-in-law are having a baby girl! Julie is due in about a week and for her baby present I painted a mural in her adorable new nursery. She's from New Hampshire, so Birch trees are a little reminder of home and for those who are at all familiar with my work, trees are sort of my signature, so creating a friendly forest of Birch Trees was the theme we both readily agreed on.

The fabrics Julie picked out are covered in cute little yellow and pink birds so I emulated their design on the tree branches. The mural covers one full wall and then on the opposite wall are two additional trees with a "Daddy, Mommy and baby bird" I added a little heart "carved" into the tree where baby girl's intals and birth date will be added after she's born.

Working on the mural was a lot of fun. The canvas of a wall is so big, that you don't really have time to think every stroke through or it would never be completed, so you have to work fast and trust your instincts. This mural took me about 18-20 hours to complete. I used wall paint from Lowes that we matched to the fabric colors so everything tied together.

I hope baby girl loves the mural! I already love her and she's not even here yet.

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of left over scrap silks and fabrics from my various craft projects and wanted to find something useful for them. So I made hand-made ornaments to gift this Christmas. This photo tutorial will show you how to make your own. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Pick out some fabrics that you have on hand. Anything from a pretty napkin, to an old soft shirt will work perfectly. I'm using some old silk scraps that I practiced marbling on last year.

Items you will need:
1. Fabric
2. Scissors
3. Pretty Ribbon
4. Needle and thread
5. Stuffing. I'm using fake snow, $4 a bag at Michaels craft store.
Pillow stuffing works great too. You could even use cotton balls if you had a lot on hand.

Fold your fabric so its ugly side out. And cut out two circles.

You should have two circles of fabric stacked ontop of each other with the pretty sides facing each other on the inside. Then using your needle and thread, stitch around the outside edges. If you have a sewing machine you could of course use it and work a lot faster. I'm a horrible seamstress. Truly I'm terrible. So if I can make these few simple stitches, I promised you can too. If you can thread a needle and tie knot you can make this work. And if you can't do those things, just find a friend who can.

I losely stitched around the outer edges, about half an inch from the edge. Go all the way around the circle, leaving just an inch un-stitched. You need this little opening because you'll need to reach in and pull the pretty side out, and then complete the circle of stitches and tie your ending knot so the thread doesn't come out.

You can see in the photo above, I've left just a little space so I can turn the piece inside out.

Then finished off your stitches.

Next it's time to use the stuffing/filler. Simply place some stuffing in the middle of your circle, pick the ugliest side because it's the outer layer of fabric that will be most visible on your ornament.

Then gather up the corners, sort of like you're making a won-ton.
Yummmy, fried won-tons...

Securely grab the tops. You can wiggle your finger down into the stuffing to make sure it's nice and secure in the bottom and none of the stuffing is sticking out of the top. Then using a piece of ribbon, tie it nice and tight into a small little knot so it doesn't fall apart. Sorry I don't have a photo of this, but I needed both hands to tie the knot around the top.

Next it's time to make the loop of ribbon allowing your ornament to hang from the tree.

For the loop of ribbon, simply cut a string, as long or as short as you'd like. Make sure it's long enough to comfortably hang from a tree branch.Then stitch the ends together. It doesn't need to be perfect, you could even hot-glue or duck-tape it if you prefer.

And then it's time for the most difficult part--stitching the ribbon loop to the inside, top part of the ornaments so it hangs straight. I say this is the most difficult because it's easy to prick yourself with the needle. I certainly stuck myself a few times. I'm sure there is a better way to do this, but this was a fast project and I wasn't worried about making it perfect. Just make sure you attached the loop securely so it won't rip out.

And you're done! You can add some extra pretties such as this metallic gold ribbon for some extra sparkle. I just tied the gold ribbon around the neck of the ornament.

I'll brief re-explain it again with this second ornament to make sure you've got the steps down.

Step 1: cut out two matching circles of fabric.
They don't have to be perfect circles. Mine certainly weren't.

Step 2: stitch your two circles together, ugly side out. Leave an inch open so you can pull it right-side out with the pretty fabric on the outside.

Step 3: After pulling the pretty side of the fabric out through the open hole, finish off the stitches and tie a secure knot in the thread.

See above how non-perfect my circle is? It really doesn't matter.
You just want to have smooth, rounder edges vs sharp, jagged or square edges.

Step 4: Place the stuffing in the middle of the circle.
Don't forget to pick the ugliest side as the outer piece will be the most visible.

Step 5: Gather up the edges and tie the neck off with a tight knot of ribbon. Again, you can wiggle your finger down to push the stuffing to the bottom of the ornament so it doesn't stick out above the knot you'll tie around the neck.

You can see in the image above the tight little knot I made with white ribbon around the neck of the ornament.

Step 6: Create a loop of ribbon to hang your ornaments by. Use whatever method works best for you. Stitch, glue or duck-tape. Then affix the loop to the top part of the ornament.

Step 7: If you want, add some extra decorative ribbon that festively hangs down for a little extra holiday bling. And your done! Handmade ornaments ready for your tree or to give away as special gifts. Happy Holidays!

Hot Toddies and Bonfires

2011-11-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

Fall is my absolute favorite season. This past weekend I feel like I got to take full advantage of the glories autumn has to offer. I spent a cool, sunny afternoon helping to collect firewood with my hubby. Then we had a massive bonfire. Grilled out, watch the embers and sipped on adult hot cocoa. The next morning Nick kept the fire going and we had coffee by the warm embers. It was like camping out but with the luxury of a hot shower and a down comforter. Later that day some friends came over and I painted this quick study of our backyard in oils. It's always fun to paint outdoors--it's a good excuse to really make a mess. By the end of the afternoon I was covered in greasy paints. This painting is more of a study than a finished piece. But sometimes all you want to do is get your hands a little dirty with some creativity in nature.

The evening turned in a beautiful night. Clear skies, lots of stars and another massive bonfire. We lit about 50-70 candles of all shapes and sizes and placed them everywhere so we could see to cook up a feast. It was so beautiful, surrounded by so many candles in the dark, I wish I had taken a picture. My friends are quite the chefs and when Scott and Nick get together the food is an event. They cooked shrimp, delicate thin steaks, chicken and delicious pan fried Pad Thai noodle cakes in cast iron skillets and make-shift grates over the logs and flames. We had sweet potatoes wrapped in foil cooking in the embers. And of course, more yummy adult hot cocoa. The hot toddies were delicious so I'm sharing the ingredients for you to try one yourself.

Per mug:
-A shot of Meyers rum (any dark rum will do)
-A shot of Baileys
-half a packet of hot cocoa mix
(or the whole packet if you like it really sweet)
-fill with hot water and stir

And I added a Hersey's chocolate kiss in the bottom of of each mug just for a little extra love.

Falling for Acrylics

2011-10-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've never really painted with acrylics much in the past. They just don't have that vibrant luminosity that oils do and they don't mix nearly as nicely. But while traveling, and knowing that I had just a limited amount of time, I've been really enjoying the perks of acrylics. For one, they dry so fast that I can create entire paintings in an afternoon. Secondly, they are much less expensive than oils. And thirdly, they are water based so I don't have to worry about toxic turpentine with baby Emma around. Emily still had some large white walls that needed filling so I painted this 3-canvas Almond Blossom painting for her new dining room wall.

The painting was inspired by my old favorite, Van Gogh. It was so much fun to make that I'm thinking of doing another version in oils. This was my first triptych painting (three separate canvases painted to look like one painting) and I love the puzzle look that it created.

Painting with Emma Rose

2011-10-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in California. I flew out to LA to see my college roommate marry one awesome guy. It was a beautiful wedding and I got to visit with some favorite old friends. After the wedding my even older elementary school best friend picked me up for a few days visit out in southern California. I've been spending the whole time playing with baby Emma Rose. My friends recently moved into a new house and they had a lot of big open spaces on their walls. There's nothing I dislike more than giant white walls so we, and by we I mean me and miss Emma Rose, decided to paint a picture. I knew we wouldn't have much time so I picked an easy old favorite. My "Forest at Dawn" but this time done in acrylics rather than oils so the layers would dry in time. I'm sharing a step by step photo journal of how it's painted so you can try one for yourselves at home. It's actually a very easy, basic painting made by layering colors in organic tree-like shapes.

We started with a large canvas and 4 tubes of Acrylic paint. Yellow, Orange, Red and Burnt Umber. Emily already had some white paint white for the moon. And we needed 2 brushes. One really big one to lay in the large swatches and a skinny thin one for the trees. Acrylics are water based so you'll also need some water to thin the paint down and clean your brushes and some paper towels always come in handy. You'll also want something to mix the paint in. I just used aluminum foil wrapped around a platter but plastic plates work really well too.

(obviously you can mix yellow and red together to make your own orange. But I knew I'd be covering a large canvas and would need the extra paint so instead of buying extra yellow and red and just bought a tube of orange.)

You start by laying down a layer of yellow across the top with the big fat square topped brush. Leave a little round blank space for the moon. Then add in your orange. Mix some of the orange with the yellow to create a pale orange. Lay in a band of this orange with your big flat brush. Turn the brush sideways and paint in downward strokes to create the distant tree line. As you move down the canvas intensify the color to be pure orange with no yellow.

Then repeat this same process moving down the canvas with your red. Mix the red with the orange for the lighter top shade and then use just the red for the bottom most part. This light to dark effect is what makes the painting look like the sun is just rising behind the forest. You can paint in the white of the moon as soon as the yellow sky is dry.

Once you have the background laid in you can start with the tree details. You'll want to switch over to your small thin brush for the trees. You create the detailed trees by drawing long simple lines with the dark orange that overlap the lighter oranges and yellows. Then for the "branches" simply paint horizontal dashes and run down the length of the lines. I often angle them so the tips of the branches flair upwards. Be careful to vary the placement and thickness to create a more natural look. When painting nature you don't want things to look perfectly proportional or even.

I used the Burnt Umber for the closest trees. They are in the foreground so they are bigger and taller and more detailed. At this point you should also mix some of the dark brown with the red and layer in some dark foreground areas with your big flat brush. Careful not to create the dark areas all over in an even pattern. You want to create some variance so it doesn't look the same all the way across the canvas.

After you lay in the darker, more detailed trees you are done! You can add birds in the sky if you'd like but Emma and I decided to keep it simple today. We are surprising Marco, Emma's daddy with this large painting tonight. We hope he likes it!

Mushroom Foraging

2011-09-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Fall is finally here in North Carolina. I love this time of year. It's the season I wish would last forever. Cool pleasant days, excitingly brisk evenings, little humidity and the most gorgeous colors everywhere. I've been spending more time outdoors with the cooler weather and have noticed all sorts of mushrooms popping up in the woods around where I live. So today I decided to take a painting break and go mushroom foraging. Below are pictures of my bounty.

I was really lucky and found two treasures. My mushroom finds range from very poisonous, like liver failure poisonous, to just a tummy ache bad for you, to not poisonous but not very tasty to delicious and a rare gem. I'm not a mushroom expert and would love some corrections or comments from more knowledgeable foragers.

This bright red capped mushroom you see growing is one of my rare finds. It's commonly called a Caesar's Mushroom and is considered a delicacy in Italy. It has a poisonous twin so I won't besampling this guy just in case I'm wrong. I saw the bright red peeking out from underneath some dark leaves while on a walk today and you can imagine my surprise when I unearthed the whole thing.

My second tasty find were these wild Cinnabarre-Red Chanterelles. I LOVE chanterelles. Whenever I see them in bulk at Whole Foods I'm tempted to buy a whole cart full. I've always loved mushrooms. I must have been such a strange child. I love them so much that as a kid I collected scratch and sniff mushroom stickers and plastered them all my bedroom walls. I canremember smelling the stinky stickers and wishing that I could eat mushrooms every day. Weird, I know. I've done some research online and am confident that these beauties are true red chanterelles and I'm going to be sauteing them in butter and salt for a tasty snack.

I also found plenty of poisonous and not so tasty shrooms. Some that looks like sponges and coral, some with purple hues, and more red and orange topped mushrooms that I have yet to identify. I found lots of Death Angel Mushrooms which if consumed will cause liver failure and death if a liver transplant isn't possible. But don't let that scare you from mushrooms! Even ifyou aren't a fan of eating these fabulous fungi, everyone can appreciate their visual color and texture.

It's the next day. I cooked the Chanterelles and they were so delicious I went back out with my mom to see if we couldn't find some more. Further back in the woods we found red gold. A forest floor of these beauties. We picked just a bag for dinner tonight, Red-Chanterelle bruschetta with truffle oil. There's lots more where these came from so we will be happy to cook some for you to try, but we aren't sharing the hiding spot!

Painted Baby Clothes

2011-06-11T12:18:00.001-07:00

I'm at that age when all my friends are starting to have babies, including my sister-in-law. I just found out I'm going to be an Aunt to a little baby niece! She's due in January which is exciting because Jan 6th is my birthday. I'm really enjoying all the new love that's entering the world around me.

I've started painting babies clothes to give away as gifts to all the new little ones. Each piece is made of organic cotton that I've hand-painted with textile paints that are heat-set so they can be machine washed. My painted baby clothes won't be for sale. They take so long to make I'd have to charge outrageous prices, but they are perfect for gifting to all my new momma friends. I'm taking requests so let me know if you'd like an outfit.

Glassware Photo Shoot

2011-05-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

I decided a few months ago that it was time to increase the quality of my glassware photographs. I fell in love with my wedding photographer's style of capturing moments rather than posed shots so I once again called on talented Annemie of megapixie.com to help me with my project.

I spent a month painting inventory for the event and coercing my friends into showing up for the big photo shoot. I asked them to bring their pretty smiles and a few changes of clothes.

The day before our photo shoot I polished glasses, ironed table cloths and staged tables. The wind was so strong I had to do all the prep work indoors because the wind threatened to blow away all my glassware and flowers. I was really worried the wind would continue and our Sunday photo shoot would end in a flurry of shattered wine glasses.

Sunday came and it was as if the weather had be pre-ordered. It was a gorgeous, calm. sunny day. My friends showed up, beautiful and ready to pose.

The photo shoot started off with some polite smiles and awkward delicate sips but as the wine flowed the photo shoot became less of a staged production and more of a real party.

We all had a lot of fun and felt like models for a magazine. My gorgeous friends played their roles beautifully and we spent the next few hours changing outfits and switching out glasses. I wanted the pictures to look natural and Annemie is a professional at capturing those special moments for the perfect shot.

It helped that I had such beautiful, fun people to work with.

My brother and I are in the picture below. George was so cute, he changed his cuff links to match the glasses for each shot.

My sister-in-law Julie, was on her fashion game and came with a ton of dresses. I love how the turquoise in this dress picks up on the turquoise of the Peacock feathers.

We even staged a wedding! Amy was kind enough to bring her wedding dress and her good looking husband along for the shoot. You can't fake these sorts of lovey looks and I was so thankful to have a bride and groom to showcase my best selling champagne flutes.

As dusk arrived, the smiles grew larger. I lost count of how many bottles of wine and champagne were poured but I think a good time was had by all. You can see the rest of the pictures taken on my websites, both on Etsy and BigCartel.

I owe everyone involved a giant THANK YOU!
Thanks for making my glassware look beautiful.
Cheers to you!

A Kaleidoscope of Spring

2011-03-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

A Post Christmas Update:
Images are of marbled fabric, cotton and silk

This past holiday season was insane. Mary Elizabeth Arts in the past year has more than doubled sales from last year and we've run a projection and are on track to double them again this year.

My repeat customers are becoming my favorites folks. It brings me so much joy to be able to create pieces for special people I'm getting to know. Their generous feedback is what keeps me going. One of my favorite customers this year was the sister of Etsy's Founder. She purchases some glasses for a friends birthday and some pieces for her mother. I love knowing that the mother of the guy who created Etsy uses my work. That's just awesome!

We are on the hunt for an artist agent! This is very exciting news as it means that in the near future I'll be signing contracts with larger companies who will be reproducing my designs in factories and selling them in larger department stores. This will allow me to create new designs and pick back up on all my unfinished projects such as my hand-painted lingerie and silk painting.

There are two new babies in the family! My best friend of BlumeBloom just had her first baby, Emma Rose. And my sister-in-law just had her second baby boy, Christopher. Both babies are healthy, beautiful and perfect in every way.

This April I'm very excited to say that there will be a professional photo shoot of my glassware. All my product images I've taken myself and it's time to increase the quality of my listings. We are staging a faux dinner party, although I'm sure in the end the photo shoot will become a decadently staged real party. I'll be working with a few of my gorgeous friends as they sip champagne under twinkly lights this early spring. I am truly excited about this and can't wait to share the images with you. My wedding photographer Annemie of mexapixie will be taking all the shots. She's the gal who photographed my wedding so I already know her work is fabulous.

We've re-painted and re-carpeted the house! Having my studio, my packaging warehouse and inventory supply room in my home makes it easy to find living in total chaos a complete norm. I've grown accustomed to paint stains on, well, everything. And instead of scented candles and charming decorative figurines my house is constantly in a state of disarray. I secretly laugh when customers mention "stopping by my studio for a tour" I can image myself saying, "Welcome! Please just sit directly on the pile of laundry as it's the only clean place in the house." And on the way out the door everyone gets a complimentary lint roller to clean off the cat hair. So Nick, seeing my insanity grow deeper every day, has given me a new home. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint and new carpet will for the the soul.

I have a few new oil paintings in the works. Canvas paintings are always a treat for me. It's hard to sell original art for walls these days. People tend to prefer spending their money on functional art that they can afford--and I don't blame them! But I'm trying to make it a goal to paint more with oils and canvas, even if it is just a few hours here and there. Right now I'm working on two piece from my honeymoon. A lake and mountain vista from Alaska and a Sea Cliff scene from Maui.

Back when I first started selling my artwork online the focus was on fine art prints of my original paintings. Over the past year or so I stopped making the prints and have been focusing on my glassware, until now! I'm working with Through This Lens, a local Durham photography studio and Roylee is not only making prints of my paintings but he's matting them as well so they are super easy to frame. These prints will be available in my shop by the end of the week!

And even more exciting, is my dear friend Lindi has created a small book with a whole bunch of my paintings. When I first saw it I seriously couldn't believe what an amazing job she did paring paintings. I couldn't have done it any better if I'd spent months laying it out. I was really impressed and remember thinking, it's almost like Lindi is a professional at this. Then I remembered she is. She has her masters in Museum Management and arranging artwork and displays is her specialty. Think coffee table book full of my colorful artwork--professionally arranged. The book isn't for sale just yet, but I hope to have it in print within a month or so. I'll keep you posted as to when it's available.

I'm so happy Spring is almost here. Yesterday I went on my first bike ride since last summer and I'm excited to see more sunny days and blooming trees. Happy Spring Everyone!

Black Friday Sale

2010-11-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everyone!
I'm starting the shopping season
off with a 10% discount on everything in my Etsy shop. One day only, Black Friday (Nov 26th) Just type in BLACKFRIDAY2010 when you check out and you'll automatically get a 10% discount. The code will only work on Friday Nov 26th. Have a great Thanksgiving!

In the Studio with Mud Pie

2010-10-03T14:43:00.001-07:00

I've always found pottery to be a little soulful. There's something about holding a hand-made mug warmed by hot tea that evokes a sort of poetic mood. It's like holding a little bit of the earth, just polished and smoothed by an artists touch. I met Stacy of Mud Pie Studio over a year ago after I contacted her for a trade. In exchange for some of my work, I got some hand-made mugs for Christmas gifts. Ever since our trade we've gotten to know each other and our crafts a little bit more. Stacy invited me over to play with some clay in her home-based studio and I brought along my camera.

She sells her work full-time on her Etsy shop: MudPie

It's great to have a fellow Etsy friend to share in the ups and downs of running your own home-based business. She's just as swamped as I am, and often even more so because her work is so labor intensive. From raw clay she creates her custom pieces, each one made from scratch in her home-based studio. Stacy has become a well known potter on Etsy for her custom name and monogram clay creations. She even has a few copycats out there trying to achieve her success.

Below are her signature monogrammed pitchers. First pictured is a work-in-progress. Each piece requires at least two fired in one of the 3 kilns she maintains in her backyard.

My favorite pieces are the mugs with couples names on them. I've bought some for friends but want one for myself!

Stacy's most recent works include hand-carved graphic details that require an illustrators steady hand and an eye for precise detail.

This is her dedicated studio assistant taking a break from the photo shoot.

Stacy has an impressive collection of letter press block she uses for her personalized pieces. She even has some elvish script for the fantasy fans.

There are a lot of items ready to sell that she hasn't had time to list on Etsy. Top of my wish list are these clay earrings. Each one is hand-crafted from scratch.

Stacy let me play around with creating some pieces of my own. I'm no potter, and of course was once again drawn to creating trees. I made a simple little clay dish with trees etched in the clay. It's such a treat to get to take a break from my own mediums and explore another art form. If my little dish survives it's first trip through the kiln I'll be back to the studio to glaze it and hopefully make some more. There's talk of Stacy and I possible co-creating some pieces for sale next year.

Mud Pie, thanks for sharing your space and time with me! If you want to purchase some of Stacy's work you need to buy now because she's already limiting the number the holiday orders she'll be taking this year. So Shop now!

A Birthday Painting

2010-08-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was my dad's birthday. We were up till 2am the night before ringing in his 60th--not bad for an old man! The next day, a little less than top notch, we decided to tackle another "father daughter" painting. You can read more about the history of these paintings in a previous post here.

I bought the biggest canvas I could fit in my car. It was about 4x3 feet. The day was so beautiful and pleasantly cool for August in North Carolina, so we decided to paint outside. We wanted to paint a friendly landscape of a summer day.

I laid in the clouds and then the blue sky while dad put down the green fields.
We both worked on the trees. In this photo you can see where I've just begun to layer in the grasses down on the bottom of the canvas.

While I continued to build up the field and add in red little poppies dad painted in the dirt path winding off into the horizon. He did the wooden fence with a palette knife to give it some rough, splintery character. We both love painting with palette knives. I first learned how to use the palette knife in high school while copying some of Van Gogh's work as he use the tool a lot in his paintings.

We didn't have time to finished the canvas before folks started to arrive for the birthday party but we got about 3 or 4 hours in. The painting isn't finished so we'll just have to wait until the next beautiful Saturday to finish. We're planning on adding sheep in the field as well as continuing to build up the grasses, flowers and the background trees still need quite a bit of work. And the path and the fence will get some highlights and shadows to create a more defined look. But I think it's a great start. And we certainly had fun painting it. Happy Birthday Dad!

Somehwere Over the Rainbow

2010-08-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it was a fabulous wedding. That's the great thing about weddings, every one is different and it's just a matter of making it work for you. Ours was complete with a 45 minute rain delay with a loud clap of thunder during the outdoor ceremony. In my opinion, this was the icing on a perfect day. While dad and I sat excitedly in a car waiting for the clouds to clear, our guests sipped prosecco under a big white tent and listened to Mozart across a manicured lawn.

The day started out at a blistering 97 degrees of North Carolina humidity. I planned a morning of "wedding yoga" to help de-stress any wedding jitters I might have had. A bunch of other folks joined in on the fun. But as we began our yoga class in the loft of the house, the air conditioning went out and our relaxing yoga morning turned into a sweaty Bikram class. This ended up being amazing because we all sweated out any hangovers we may have had from the rehearsal dinner the night before. The intense heat threatened to turn our wedding day into a sweaty mess.

About 20 mins before the 5pm ceremony the storm clouds rushed in with a flurry of cooling wind and shade. You can see pictured a large patio umbrella that went for a swim in the lake. The showers came and cooled everything down with delicate drizzles and it couldn't have been more perfect.
.

At 5:45 with wedding guests a little looser thanks to the prosecco we started the ceremony. Nicholas and I were actually married in the lightest of rains and it was perfect. A family friend, Mary Gayle Green, who just happens to be a professional Opera Singer sang out over the balcony as dad and I walked down the aisle. After the ceremony we were showered with rose petals from above. We walked back down the aisle to "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by the late Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole. A fitting song for our Maui honeymoon where we saw rainbows daily.

Before we get to the party, I'd like to mention a few of the details about my handmade wedding. The dress was actually just a simple BCBG white dress that my mom doctored with some vintage lace. I wore red ruby shoes because I'm the bride and I can do whatever I want; and there's really no place like home.

All the flowers were done by my talented best friend Emily. My bouquet was so stunning that even the fabulous photos can't capture it. She put some pears in it that were growing on a tree out back of the house. The house by the way is a beautiful Italian Style Villa my parents have flipped on and it's for sale.
The programs were made by my friend Elizabeth Turnbull and the adorable birdcage veil by talented Etsy artist Marisol Aparicio

Our dear family friend Wally Turnbull performed the ceremony. We are so honored that our wedding was his first! There is a beautiful image is of Wally outside just before the ceremony praying away the storm.

You can see images about my wedding ring here in a previous blog posting.

I told my hair stylist that I wanted her to do whatever made her happy with my hair. I wanted her to have creative license and she really came through with something stunning. The little silk flower clips were also made by Emily on the day off the wedding. The pearls I'm wearing were a lavish gift from my late Aunt Becky. She knew she was dying of cancer and wrapped these pearls up as a gift for the day I was married. She even included some pearl studs for my future husband which Nicholas wore on our wedding day.
The gorgeous photos were taken by local photographer Annemie Tonken of Megapixie Photography. Her work is, as you can see, stunning. I asked her to capture moments rather than staged pictures and she really came through with fabulous work.

The party afterward was a joyous blur of sparklers and dancing late into the night with the talented band Boomerang. There was an improptu late night limbo contest. It wasn't until I was one of 3 left that I realized everyone had been cheating for me. And the whole time I was excited to be doing so well as I'm terrible at limbo.

As I mentioned before, it was a wonderful wedding. Two days later we were off on our honeymoon. A 5 day stay in Alaska and then 8 days in Maui. A special thanks to Nicholas who took the traditional bride's role and essentially planned the whole event. I just got to enjoy it all.

In 8 days I’ll be a Mrs.

2010-06-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Basically everything is taken care of, mostly thanks to my efficient fiancé. He’s been busy putting this wedding together while I’ve been focusing on getting my last minute orders out the door (and insanely agreeing to do a craft show today). I took care of the “fun stuff” the photographer, the wines and champagnes, music, flowers, rings…those sorts of artsy tasks. Nick got stuck with tent and table rentals, food ordering, technical music set-up--the logistical tedious parts. This is just one reason why we work so well together, he does all the hard stuff.

I find myself in a unique position, being 8 days away from a Mrs. There’s no stress or nervousness about actually getting married. That’s the part I’m ecstatic about. It’s the pleasing family, friends and expectations that are stressful. As an artist who works with brides-to-be daily I now better understand their messages and custom requests. These girls aren’t being “Bridezillas” they just want everything to turn out perfectly, and for a good reason. It’s a special day and everything about it should be special, down to the particular shade of green in their peacock toasting flutes.

There is a light at the end of the planning tunnel (besides the "I do's"). The honeymoon! Nick jokingly says that our honeymoon is great wedding insurance. Even if I get cold feet I wouldn’t back out. Not with Alaska and Maui just 10 days away. We aren’t yet sure exactly how one packs for glacier hiking and snorkeling in the same suitcase—but that’s what the day of the flight is for. We’ll have about 4-5 hours to creatively cram snorkel gear, parkas and trousseau pretties into a bag before for the 12 hour flight to Anchorage. I’m looking forward to the 12 hours of nothing--nothing in my hands to paint, nothing on the computer to check, nothing on my to-do list to prepare. But back to the wedding….

My dress(es) have been an adventure. My grand plan to have an artist make them backfired. After two attempts I finally gave up and bought one at a store from BCBG. It’s adorable and with a little added lace that my mom stitched on it’s just darling. My two “disaster dresses” will be put to good use. But I don’t want to spoil any surprises so you’ll just have to wait for the photos on how I plan to use them. The ceremony music will be performed by a professional Opera singer Mary Gayle Greene, who just happens to be a close college friend of my mother’s. Everyone attending will be spoiled by this musical treat. Not many of us have the chance to visit an Italian Opera Hall. So the opera is coming to Durham and will be sung from an outdoor balcony overlooking guests sipping Prosecco with raspberries and a very nervous bride hopefully not biting her newly manicured nails. It will be one of the rare days that my hands aren't covered in paint, I hope.

The flowers, thankfully, have not been on my mind one bit. My best friend and professional florist is flying in this Sunday to take care of everything. I’m just going to set her loose and see what magic she comes up with.
I'm mostly nervous about leaving my shop for so long. Owning and running your own business certainly has some cons to go along with the many pros. I'll worry about customers not being able to reach me, I'll worry about the amount of work I'll have waiting on me when I get back. I'm hoping all this preemptive worry will be for naught. Etsy what? Etsy who? I'll vaugley recall something about glasses and packages 10 feet under turquoise water with a bright red and yellow fish lazily swimming by.

A Video Tutorial on Painting Lavender on Glassware

2010-04-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

An easy step by step video tutorial on how to paint Lavender Buds on your Glassware. Perfect for Mother's Day gifts. Here is a finished image:
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=27971394

Sweet little lavender buds to enjoy with your bubbly. I've hand-painted delicate stems of lavender with non-toxic ...glass paint. The flutes are dishwasher safe and are perfect for everyday toasting. Notice the tiny detail of the two-toned purple lavender buds.

Cheers to Spring!
Check out more of my work here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/marywibis

Soapy Treats

2010-04-13T07:58:00.001-07:00

I'm really excited to share this post with you. My friend Laura and I have been toying with vegan soap-making. We've made a few batches before--some more successful than others, but our most recent batch turned out far better than the rest. In fact, I think it rivals some of the finer soaps I've purchased from well established soap makers. I'd like to take you through a photo tutorial of how we created our soap. As you'll see in the photos it's a real ugly duckling story. We turned lumps of fats and oils into beautiful, sweet smelling, soapy treats. Here's how it starts:

We measure out the lye using a postal scale. I knew exactly what I was doing asking Laura to be my soap making partner. Laura, thankfully is more scientifically minded than myself. When I want to eyeball the measurements it's Laura who speaks up and says "Let's actually measure it out exactly Mary, so we don't die."

We pour the lye into cold water. We have to do this outside as the chemical reaction heats up the water instantly to well over 120 degrees. We have to let it sit and cool until it's the right temperature to add our oils and fats.

The fumes that come off from the lye and water are really intense. Laura and I will take turns stirring, rotating every 15-20 seconds it's that intense. You can feel a sharp, scary burn in your lungs if you get too close. We always keep a bottle of vinegar close by in case there is a spill. The vinegar will neutralize the lye. If any of you have seen the movie Fight Club you'll remember the vivid demonstration of how dangerous lye can be on the skin.

While we wait for the lye and water to cool down, we measure out our oils and fats. We wanted to make our soaps vegan. The idea of using lard or bacon fat like in the old days really grosses me out. In our most recent batch we used Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, and Palm Oil. Everything gets measured out exactly and melted down in a large pot.

When the temperature of melted oils is within 10 degrees of our lye it's time to combine the two.

The lye is always poured into the oils rather than the oil into the lye. At this point the danger zone is over as the fats help to neutralize the lye.

Once the two mixtures are combined it's time to mix. Our first batch we used simply a metal whisk and the whole process took well over 3 hours. Thanks to a purchase of this cheap immersion blender the mixing time takes only about 10 minutes.

The soap is ready to pour when tracing occurs. Tracing is when the soap changes from a thick liquid to more like cake batter. It is at trace that we added our spearamint essential oils to give the soap a refreshing scent.

Pour the soap into a wax lined cardboard box. It will sit in this box for a few weeks while the soap hardens and cures.

Laura and I added cosmetic grade French green clay to our soap. French green clay is great for facial masks and is known to draw impurities out of the skin.

A few weeks later the soap has hardened and is ready to cut.

We found this soap to be so fabulous that a tiny amount goes a long way. It lathers quickly and the soapy lather is silky and luxurious. I cut the bars down further into tiny squares and wrapped them in bits of silk that I had previously marbled.

The end result is a precious little bar that smells of delicate spearamint. I think they look lovely dusted with the green clay. A little bit goes a long way so if you're one of the lucky ones to get a bar use it sparingly!

Wedding Ring

2010-03-26T12:22:00.001-07:00

My wedding ring is finished! I'm very excited about how it turned out. Wren, the artist-owner of Goldworks in Chapel Hill hand-crafted my ring based on some shaky sketches and a description of my vision. She called me to say she'd worked on an example--she wasn't sure it was exactly what I wanted but she was pleased with the piece. So I went in for a look. I fell in love with it instantly and wouldn't you know it, she made it in my size. It fit perfectly and Wren didn't even know what my ring size was. I picked out this cute elephant ring box. The poor little guy has lost an eye but he's still got the goods.

The ring is made of all recycled metals. Palladium white gold intertwined with rose gold. The effect is meant to be an abstract twist of metal vines intertwined with some textured leaves.
Nick loves it because the two different metals represent the two of us. He's such a romantic.

This last image is of my tree-bark engagement ring made by Etsy artist Beth of bcyjewelry and my wedding ring together. I wasn't planning on wearing both the rings when I got married, but after seeing them together I'm reconsidering. Thank you to both fabulous artists for creating such beautiful, special pieces for me.

Easter Eggs

2010-03-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

In honor of the Spring Equinox my future sister-in-law and I marbled some Easter Eggs. The weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees, probably the prettiest day of the year so far. I'll let the pictures tell the story. If you have no idea what I'm referring to when I say "marbeling" check out this post first: http://maryhining.blogspot.com/2009/11/hydro-printing-at-penland.html

Happy Spring everyone!

I started by boiling a few dozen eggs.

I created a large bucket of Methyl Cellulose for my
"slime bath" which is the medium the paint is dropped onto.
It looks and feels just like slime.

The eggs need to be coated in alum, which is what allows
for the paint to bond to the surface of the egg.

Just a quick 5-second dip per egg does the trick.

The fun part is using the eye dropper to add your colors to
the slim bath. I'm a little short on professional tools so I used
a fork and a chopstick to manipulate the paint into various designs.

I tried two approaches to coating the eggs with paint. The first was simply dropping the
eggs into the bowl. But It wasn't working very well and ended up just making a big mess.
So I started rolling the eggs on the surface of the slim.

I think the eggs turned out fabulous. I'm not going to risk
eating them as they are coated in paint and alum, but they
certainly are lovely to look at.

3 Months and Counting

2010-02-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

I have a little over 3 months before I get hitched. I haven't done much planning for my wedding and maybe that's the reason I haven't gone into any stress induced panic attacks. Sort of hard to work yourself into a wreck when you aren't doing anything. I'd like to assume that means that I'm just one of those level-headed, super cool chicks who can handle anything. But then I remember it's me--and that I stress about EVERYTHING. So I figure I better get started. As I mentioned before, I want an all Etsy wedding. I've since broadened my range and am including local artists in the mix. But the idea is the same. Every aspect of this party is going to support hard-working artists with more talent and heart than money could buy at generic "wedding-y" places. The fact that they are all one of a kind originals is just icing on the cake. Speaking of cake--I'm doing a trade for mine. A painted mural for a decadent spread of locally baked goodies. But more on that later.

Ironically my journey started at the one place I vowed I would never step foot in. There is this giant multi-chain bridal shop (that shall remain nameless) that makes me feel like I'm in a morgue. Rows and rows of ultra shiny white dresses zipped up in clear plastic garment bags. The place personally gives me the creeps. But I needed a little research. I've never been very interested in wedding dresses. They always looked so uncomfortable and as a girl who wears flip-flops year round the idea of wearing spanks, heels and a corset fits in with my morbid morgue analogy. I tried on a few dresses mostly to find out what I know I don't like. My mom was crucial in helping me with this. We would stifle giggles as I posed in front of the mirror in ridiculous Disney Princess fluff. It took about 30 minutes of trying on various styles of dresses to eliminate what I know I don't like, which turns out to be, wedding dresses. Apparently I still can't stand them. So we walked over to a restaurant, sat down over a drink and designed the perfect dress on a paper napkin. I'd describe it but I don't want to ruin the surprise. The next step was to find someone to make this untraditional dream dress. Her name is Ting and she's fabulous. Her etsy shop is full of her own designs and it's obvious she knows what she's doing. I can't wait to show off her talents.

As for other wedding must-have's I'll quickly summarize and will get down to the details later when I have better images to show. My ring will be made by a local designer, Wren. Her work is incredibly original and unique. The ring will be mixed metal, predominantly rose gold with white gold and look more like a twisting vine of ivy than a traditional band.

My photographer is also a local gal. Annemie Tonkin is a labor and delivery nurse at UNC hospital. You can check out some of her pictures on her blog, Carrboro Clicks.

My florist is very conveniently my best friend. Emily Wootton is a rare talent. She's studied in London under the world's premier florist Paula Pryke. Until just recently she ran a florist in Waco she started with her mom called Rosetree Emily is now living and creating in California. You can see some of her silk floral creations in etsy shop.

The food is going to be provided by friends, family and Nick. Nick has restaurant connections all over town and as a cook himself we are looking forward to sharing our favorite foods with our guests. Top of my list is my very favorite Enchiladas Poblanas. A cheesy enchilada drowned in the most fabulous Mole sauce you'll ever have. Made by Taqueria la Vaquita. A local Mexican restaurant that is so small there isn't even an inside to the restaurant. It's an old dairy stand that's been converted to a restaurant serving Mexican dishes so delicious it's been featured in Gourmet Magazine and The New York Times just to name a few. We want a fresh guacamole bar as well. But it isn't just a Mexican themed dinner. For our meat-eating guests we'll also have grilled chicken, steaks, seafood and there's talk of a whole pig. For my fellow vegetarians, don't worry--I've already requested the pig not be out in the open visible to everyone. I think that is so gross.

The band is still up in the air. Nick and I are both leaning towards a rockin' blues band. Maybe something with a south Louisiana vibe. Fitting as I was born in Baton Rouge. I'm looking forward to the "research" of finding a band. There is an open mic blues night at the local Blue Bayou Club. Some pretty impressive names show up for the fun.

So that's about all I've got so far. I'm planning on doing my own hair and make-up but I've been getting some concerned comments from friends and family about that. So I can't help but wonderful what I must be doing wrong ;-)

Website

2010-02-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make an official post announcing the launch of my new website maryelizabetharts.com

As all website are, it will be an on-going labor of love. If anyone has any input on how I can make it better and more user friendly please share your thoughts!

An Exciting 2010

2010-01-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

You might have been wondering where I've been for the past few months. It's not that I've been ignoring you, in fact you've been on my mind for quite a while--it's just I needed to take care of a few things before I was able to write again. Namely, snagging a fiancé. It was a wonderful (overdue) surprise. Nick proposed with boarding passes leaving for NY two hours later. It took an hour for the excitement to settle down enough for me to throw some clothes into a carry on and make our flight just in time. It was a perfect weekend. Well, actually everything went wrong--but we didn't see it as wrong. I could have been hit by a taxi and you still couldn't slap that giant smile off my face. I don't normally delve into my personal life in blog posts, but what the heck, it's a great story and I feel like sharing.

The day we arrived Nick had dinner reservations at the swanky Italian restaurant Paolas. This is the type of restaurant with an international sommelier always on staff. We were told they had an extensive wine list and would help you choose the perfect wines to pair with your meal. We left the taxi and crossed the street when we saw the Paolas restaurant sign. We had trouble finding the entrance on this strange corner block until we saw a side door. My first impression was, “huh—this isn’t exactly the décor I imagined.” But like I said, nothing was getting the happy grin off my face this evening. The restaurant also acted like they didn’t have our reservation and told us to sit wherever we’d like. I was handed a menu with 5 wines on the list; a shock for a restaurant that was known for it’s wine selection. My blissful grin only started to fade when we were introduced to our waiter. Imagine a failed male model greatly resenting the fact that he was waiting tables rather than posing for a Calvin Klein billboard shoot. Nick tried his best. “Mary enjoys Malbecs, Tempranillos, Grenaches, anything that’s along those lines. Do you have a recommendation?”

“Yeah, we got a Malbec.” He said without actually looking at either of us.

“Okay then, I guess we’ll have a glass of your Malbec.” Nick requested then looked at me for reassurance that he isn’t just imagining how incredible inept our waiter is. It wasn’t until I started reading the menu that I realized something was amiss. For the sake of the restaurant I’m omitting the name, but as you may have guessed, we were at the wrong restaurant. Nick immediately started back peddling. The wine was already poured, he paid cash and after explaining our mistake we sat chagrined in a window seat gulping down the wine as fast as we could.

Walking into Paolas was like walking into a little piece of heaven. We were immediately ushered to our private candle lit table with fresh red roses. A complimentary bottle of champagne appeared and all memory of the bitter male model faded away into dishes like house made warm Mozzarella, twice crisped artichock hearts and asparagus filled ravioli topped with butter, sage and shaved black truffles. I should also mention that an international sommelier spent no less than 5 minutes discussing my wine palette before appearing with the most fabulous bottle of wine I’ve ever had. It was decadent, it was long and it was fabulous. It was over espresso that Nick realized he didn’t have his wallet.

He ran back to the other restaurant hoping it fell out on the window seat while we chugged the bad wine. But it was gone. Fallen out in the taxi no doubt. I was dolled up in a dress with no pockets and didn’t have anything but a very strong wine and champagne buzz. Everything was in the wallet; hotel keys, both our ID’s, which meant we couldn’t get back on the flight. I was going to have to spend my engagement dinner washing dishes. I panicked. Nick left me again to search for the wallet. So hear I sat, alone, drunk, terrified that our waiter would ask me how we would be paying for our elaborate two-hour meal. So I did the only thing I could. I uncorked the bottle of wine and kept on drinking.

It all ended perfectly fine. The restaurant was very gracious--we called in a credit card a few hours later. Getting into the hotel is another story and talking our way past New York TSA without ID’s an even better story. But for another time…

I just wanted to write to let you know there are big things on the horizon for 2010. Namely, an Etsy Wedding. The date is set, June 12^th. And everything from the dress down to the wedding bands and flowers are going to be created by Etsy sellers who I’ll have the pleasure of introducing you to in posts to come. I’ll also be launching my new website shortly. So check back soon, I hope to go live later this week.

Here’s to a prosperous and eventful new decade. Cheers!

Hydro-Printing at Penland

2009-11-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

The name of my week-long class at Penland, "Hydro-Printing" sounded technical and intense. But really it ended up being one of those instant gratification projects. While the process is fast and simple the set-up is a horrid flash back to chemistry lab. Any task that requires a particulate dust mask and more than one measuring device frightens me, so I'll leave the scientific bit out of this post and get right to the fun stuff. Hydro-printing is just a fancy name for marbling. Having never been exposed to marbling before I had no idea what to expect. My friend Ana described the whole process as magic and I couldn't agree more. You start with a large tray container fill with what is most appropriately called "slime." It's a thick clear liquid made up of mostly water, methyl cellulose and a few other dabs of magical potion. Paint is dropped lightly onto the surface of the slime with an eye dropper. You can see my friend Liz working on a piece:

Add as many colors as you like, then manipulate the floating image with various tools. The design possibilities are endless, as are the color combinations. When you're satisfied with the liquid design carefully lay your fabric, or paper, onto the surface of the slime. (The fabric or paper you're printing on will need to have been pre-treated with alum). The alum allows for the paint to instantly bond with your piece. Rinse, hang to dry, iron and repeat if you wish to over-marble. I did a lot of marbling on hand-dyed fabrics as well.

My favorite pieces to make were the long scarves. Mostly because I'm impatient and like to get straight to the good stuff. The scarf trays were obviously much longer and I plan on utilizing my bath tub for future marbling projects. The week was intense, up at chilly 8am on my feet non stop until around 2am. The whole process is beautiful and photos rather than words document it best. I'm planing on having a "hydro-printing" party soon after Christmas. Any and all are welcome.

Coptic Books

2009-10-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

I've always loved journals. When I was a little girl I had this particular pink hard-covered journal with a real metal lock and key. Filled with secrets and dreams--little books have always been something I've treasured. These days my thoughts don't make it into any journals, but for a change I've started making books. These 3 books are my very first attempts at Coptic book-making. If you feel like challenging yourself, making books is a fun project to start. All you need is some paper, waxed thread, needles and something hard to cover or use for your covers. In these books I've used papyrus, wood and covered hard board. I have a fourth in progress that has a copper cover and it's ity-bity, just 1.5" square. I'll take photos when it's complete.

Misery Loves Company

2009-10-09T13:30:00.001-07:00

Today is one of those days that makes me want to clear a space on the floor so I can sit down and cry. For over the past several years my little 1270 sq townhouse has been my studio, storage facility, packing factory, and my home. It's always in a state of chaos but today, as I trip over boxes and struggle to find a clear, clean space to simply sit I decided that rather than wallowing alone in my own filth--I'd subject everyone else to it as well. I took a few photos--a behind the scenes tour of what life looks like when you craft and work from home. I've spared you photos of the closets. They are filled from floor to ceiling with boxes full of inventory. I don't actually need real clothes as I live in old clothes ruined long ago from oil paints and greasy turpentine spills. It isn't pretty folks.

Hand Painted Lingerie

2009-09-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

What a great day! The weather was fantastic and I managed to get my new hand-painted lingerie photographed and am happy to debut the first pieces. These are all made of organic cotton from Asheville, NC The next sets will be silk nighties! Oh-la-la

How to Make a Black Widow Spider Wine Glass

2009-09-18T10:26:00.001-07:00

******* Click here for video tutorial *******

If you'd like to make your own Black Widow Spider Glasses for this year's Halloween party. Have a peek at my Video Tutorial and I'll talk you through the easy steps. Of course if you're not feeling crafty, you can always just buy them from my Etsy shop.

Penland

2009-09-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

photo by dsherrilldesign
Fall in North Carolina is my favorite time of the year. The whole world turns into a brilliant painting. Perfectly clear blue skies, glittering golden yellow and pumpkins orange leaves and just enough crispness in the air to keep your skin a little tingly. I want to spend every meal, every moment outside. Sleep with the windows open and buy a new favorite sweater for my forest romps. But this fall is going to be even more special. I'm going to be spending a week of it in the mountains of NC. For those who have experienced fall in the mountains of North Carolina I can feel your pangs of valid jealousy, and for those who haven't--it's time to add a destination to your life list. But it gets even better. I'm spending the week at Penland. I like to call it an artists commune because I think that sounds cool and hippie. Imagine vast green fields surrounded by mountains in all the varying bright shades of fall. There are small buildings all around the "campus" where classes are taught throughout the day. Metal welding, glass blowing, paper making, painting, ceramics, letterpress, photography..the list is endless. I'll be emersing myself in a week of textiles. Hydro-printing and marbling on a varying fabrics. I don't even know what hydro-printing could mean. I'm assuming water is involved. By the end of the week I hope to be well versed, creatively energized and full of mountain air. I'm sure it will result in many new blog posts of my creations and I plan on sharing everything I learn with you in a video tutorial so you can see each step easily.

Cheating

2009-08-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

I've been regularly cheating on my boyfriend. Not in the horrible I should be ashamed of myself, how the hell could I sort of cheating. He'll laugh about it one day if he ever finds out. He's fallen in love with me, and my homemade pizza. I load it up with Portabella mushrooms sauted in butter and fresh oregano, onions and garlic caramelized in white wine, crispy baked salted paper thin potato slices, fresh chopped home-grown tomatoes and a pizza base of pesto and ricotta. Top it off with fresh sliced mozzarella and shaved Parmesan. It's all pretty incredible, but his favorite part is my crust.

"This is the best pizza that has ever been created" he'll mumble between savory bites.
"But this crust! How did you do it? It's amazing--it's thick and light and soft and crispy all at the same time."

"I'm so happy you like it. I made it just for you."

"No really--it's incredible. It tastes just like it's made by an old Italian who's worked in a Pizzaria his whole life."

"Well, I just hope the next one is as good. Dough is really hard to get right--I think it's more luck than anything."

"You've got to teach me how to make it like this. You're incredible. Tell me how you did it."

"No Nick--a girl's got to have a few secrets."

I hope to take this particular secret to the grave. I pick it up fresh, already made (but still unbaked) and ready to go at any number of the local pizza joints around town. It costs me $4.00 for an extra large and I get to chat with the old Italian guys, who have been making it their entire lives, while they flour and box it up for me.

I love how impressed my chef boyfriend is of my pizza dough. This remarkable light, crispy creation coming from the girl who can't even bake boxed brownies properly. He's totally clueless and even though it's cheating--his reaction to the taste is worth it every guilty time.

2009-08-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

007: Windy Blue Skies
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
$50

Click here for more views or to buy:

I am in so much trouble.

2009-07-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

I’m the sort of snob that is snobby about not being a snob. I pride myself on not shopping in the malls or subscribing to fashionable trends like TV or magazines that most gals my age read for pleasure by the pool. I eat organic vegetarian and snub my nose at chain restaurants, blockbuster movies, cruises, pharmaceutical medicine and tanning beds. I dress in organic cotton handmade in someone’s backyard with vegetable dyes and the sound of free-range chickens cooing in the background. But now—my entire disdainful cover is about to be blown apart.

Anthropology has opened a store at my local mall. I’m so screwed. I have a burning need to put on make-up and heels, swing by Starbucks for a caramel macchiato and spend hours on a credit card spending spree; then maybe easy my tired feet with a pedicure, an apple martini and a romantic comedy. I’m going to need to find an AA to join.

2009-07-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

007: Sicilian Landscape
size 8x10 inches
oil on stretched canvas
$100

Click here for more view or to buy

2009-06-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

006: Palette Knife Tomato
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
SOLD

If this tomato looks a bit off to you, it's because the entire painting was created with a palette knife. "No brushes were dirtied in the creation of this painting." A palette knife is a tool artists sometimes use to create rough, quick paintings. It looks like a thin triangle shaped piece of metal on a handle. It allows paint to be scraped away and thickly applied. The result, as you can see, is heavy texture with a lot of personality. This tomato was picked from my own garden and now that I've painted it I plan on eating it for lunch.

2009-06-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

005: Purple Iris
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
$50

Click here for more views or to buy:

2009-06-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

004: Forest at Dawn
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
$80.00

Click here for more views or to buy:

003: Rosemary Seedling
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
$100.00

Click here for more views or to buy:

A Painting A Day

2009-06-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been feeling like I'm more of a factory than an artist. Selling hand-painted glassware is my bread and butter, and while it's crafty, painted glasses are hardly "fine art." So to combat my insecurities as a lazy artist I've taken on a challenge. I'm going to paint an oil painting a day. That's right. From start to finish, a painting a day. They are obviously going to have to be small, but I think small might be better anyway. The giant 5 feet canvases sure are a lot of fun but honestly, who has the wall space for a 5 foot painting?! These paintings will all be small enough to fit on any wall, and they'll be ready to frame when finished (and dried of course). I'm not alone in tackling this challenge. I've seen a few other artists doing the same thing. They mostly sell their works on ebay for anywhere from $100 to $500. The work is impressive and I was shocked to learned that each painting was done in one day. Well, I'm now two days into my challenge and I can't believe how much fun I'm already having. It's so rewarding to start with a blank canvas and then just a few hours later have a finished piece. Even just two days in I can already feel myself becoming more atune to art in everyday things. A ripe green lime and a few garlic cloves look more like a still-life than guacomole ingredients. I'm excitied and nervous. Please try and keep me on track. If you notice I've missed a day or two--say something! I would love the encouragement and any comments you'd care to share about the daily work. Each painting will be available for sale on Etsy. I also won't be creating prints of any of the paintings. So once it's purchased, that's it. This is going to be fun...

001: Blue Hydrangeas
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
Sold

002: Beer and Peanuts
size 11x14 inches
oil on stretched canvas
SOLD

Sold

Father-Daughter Paint Night

2009-06-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

The oil painting above is 4x5 feet and was painted in 3 hours. Normally a painting this size would take me months.

It starts with a quick home cooked meal. Crab cakes and a simple salad. I open a bottle of wine and listen to the gurgle of the first fast pour. Dad cracks the pop of a cold PBR and takes a satisfying sip. There’s excitement in the air because tonight the two of us are going to create a painting. It a giant white canvas--I mean this thing is big. It rests directly on the floor and leans against the wall. No easel could support it. I turn The Stones up a little louder on the stereo while dad adjusts the lighting. The room is now very bright and it’s late and dark outside. We’ve done this a few times before. Sometimes we start with a photograph, the painting above we call Elk Creek. It’s on property our family owns in the mountains of North Carolina. The photo was taken in early fall just as the leaves were really starting to change. Or sometimes we’ll create something totally abstract--just because it’s fun to sling paint and see what happens.

There aren’t any real rules. Dad will sketch out the horizon line. I’ll squirt some green and blue paint onto my palette. Pick out a paintbrush and GO! It’s fast and furious. We paint like crazy people. The music is loud, really loud. No close neighbors out in Hillsborough to complain. I’ll create leaves on a tree that hasn’t been painted yet while dad fills in the deep rust color of the ground. After about an hour it’s starting to take form. It takes that long just to get paint over most of the large canvas. We’ll step back ten feet to get a good view of our progress. Make some suggestions, grab another beer, change the CD and hit it hard again. About two hours into it I’m covered in paint. All I can smell is the nutty linseed oil and the sharp note of oil paints. It’s really starting to take shape and I’m having a hell of a lot of fun. Dad starts critiquing my paint application and I tell him to shut-up and work on his shading. Somehow in the midst of it all, a random blob of yellow ended up in the creek. Neither of us know where it came from, probably a glob of yellow paint intended to be a leaf but fell onto the blue of the water. We decide that we love it and leave it to be. Sometimes art creates itself and you just get to be a part of it all. After 3 hours neither of us can believe how incredible our painting looks. Maybe it’s the booze, maybe we’re both high from all the paint fumes. But each time I’m incredibly shocked at what we’ve created. I would never have been able to paint this on my own, and the same for my dad. We each bring something to the canvas that is special. My mom can usually tell who painted what, but she’s known us for our entire creative lives. Others can’t tell all at. Somehow our brushstrokes and color choices are able to work together, as different as fingerprints but all on the same hand. We’ll price our paintings out loud. “This one is definitely worth $3K easy!” “No, there’s no way I’m letting it go for less than 5.” But we’ll end up donating it to a charity auction. The one below is being sold at A Tasteful Affair this year, a benefit for the Ronald McDonald House if you’d like to have a look in person.

One day dad and I hope to have a gallery showing of all our joint paintings. We’ll wear black and sip martinis and pretend that we knew exactly what we were doing every stoke of the way.

The Art of Boredom.

2009-06-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid complaining of boredom during those long lonely summer days before drivers licenses and boyfriends, my mother would say “Honey, intelligent people are never bored.” Even then—bitter from the lack of sympathy--I knew she was right.

To this day, that simple truth resonates with me during my long lonely days of solitude. Now that I work from home as a full time artist I don’t have a boss to hand me work. I don’t have focus groups to keep me on track, no co-workers to fill the social void and the most foreign, I don’t even have a reason to get dressed for the day. I--like one in six people my age--don’t work for anyone. This recession has hit everyone hard. Thankfully I have a way of supporting myself. Art has given me a means to an end. I’m probably one of the luckiest people out there. I call all the shots and I can call them while in my pj’s after I roll out of bed around noon.

Most people stare at me with jealous awe when I tell them about my typical day. While more practical people instantly say, “I could never do that! I wouldn’t get anything done.” And they are right. It takes a certain kind of personality to be able to work for yourself. You’ve got to have an inner drive that never shuts up and you have to have a desire to create, produce, market and grow. Some days I don’t feel any of those things. Some days I just want to sip my coffee and think about all the other things I could be doing, rather than doing nothing at all. And then I start to feel sad about my lack of production, which turns into melancholy, and by the time I’ve poured myself my 3rd cup of 2pm coffee the boredom and depression sets it. Here I am. 28, in my pj’s while the rest of the productive world is working making money.

“Honey, intelligent people are never bored.”

The message hits my numb brain then slowly starts to sink in. My brain starts turning, my adrenaline squirts a little creative juice into my bloodstream and I begin. I start with something fun, painting bamboo cloth napkins. I’ll finish, photograph and post them for sale. Two days later they sell and I’ll have made $60. Inspired from having created something beautiful and profitable I’ll move to something more intense, a canvas painting or a new line of dinnerware. It’s addictive, creating that is. Once you’ve started—it’s nearly impossible to shut it off. The next time I look at the clock, it’s 10pm, I’m starving and thirsty for wine. I have an entire days worth of work to show for myself and it feels so good. So rewarding. I’m excited for tomorrow and I feel good about myself. So the next time you feel stagnant or bored. Remember my mother’s words. “Honey, intelligent people are never bored.” Get off your ass and do something. You can even do it in your pajamas.

Sticky Stickers

2009-05-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I had a sticker collection. But I wasn't a normal kid with a normal sticker collection. I would collect stickers anyplace I could then I'd stick them to a nice marble antique desk. Mom wasn't exactly pleased when she discovered my collection, but it was an impressive assortment of glittery hearts, fuzzy bears and my favorite, a few treasured potent scratch and sniff mushroom stickers. Like I said before, I wasn't a normal kid.

I'm less obsessed with stickers now that I'm in my late 20's, but the addiction has morphed towards decals. My personal favorites are from Mixed Species. I love their decals that say "You Park Like Shit." They aren't permanent, so when you do get the courage to actually put one on a motorcycle taking up two spaces or a Porshe in a handicapped spot you won't get sued for ruining their paint as they peel easily and harmlessly off. Their "Oil Whore" is just as much fun, but more permanent so careful not to upset a big burly man driving his monster truck through town.

I'm equally enamored with less offensive decals just in case you were staring to think about my strange childhood...

The decals are perfect for your walls when you can't paint because your renting or in a dorm room. Most vinyl decals peel easily off without damaging your walls or paint.

I've even created my own glass decals for wine glasses. So now people can dress up their glassware for a party without having to invest in new glasses. Think of them as a temporary tattoo for your glassware.

Don't deny your inner sticker collection. Below are a few great options for all your collecting needs.

Tying the Knot--Creatively

2009-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

My brother, George was recently married. No one ever believes that he's younger than me--but I've got 2.5 years on him. He and his new wife Julie had an awesome blow out wedding. I don't plan on having a traditional wedding myself, but I enjoyed all the lavish celebrations and friends and family around at theirs. Not to mention, it was the best dance party I've ever been too. That's George and I swing dancing. But just take one look at my mom pictured below and even total strangers will have to agree. Weddings are really a time to let your inner self shine through. Now I'm talking about brides, not controlling wedding guests-bitches. If I ever were to decide to throw a big wedding bash, I'd want to do it with the help of fellow artists and crafters. Everything thing would be unique, one of a kind, and have a special touch that reflected my personality (oh yea, and the grooms, sure, whatever). I think many other women feel the same way I do. There are so many awesome possibilities at your fingertips. It only takes a little exploring to find the perfect pieces. Who knows, with such incredible work, I just might end up having a wedding myself. Take a look at what I've fallen in love with on Etsy :

Soapy Suds

2009-04-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've been a huge fan of homemade soaps ever since I discovered Etsy. Just one read of homemade soap ingredients compared to store bought soaps and you'll start wondering how the mass produced soaps are even legal. For example:
These are the ingredients for Lever 2000 soap Pure Rain:

Sodium tallowate, sodium cocoyl isethionate, sodium cocoate, water, sodium isethionate, stearic acid, coconut fatty acid, fragrance, titanium dioxide, sodium chloride, disodium phosphate, tetrasodium EDTA, trisodium etidronate, BHT, FD&C blue no. 1, D&C red no. 33.

Eww..do you know what that first, main ingredient sodium tallowate is? It's what's created when you combine sodium hydroxide (lye) with beef tallow. That's right folk. ANIMAL FAT! GROSS. And how about Stearic acid. Any idea what that is? It's a saturated fatty acid that's usually derived from tallow or lard. For those greasy animal fatty soapy suds we all love. The rest of the ingredients are mostly petroleum products, synthetic preservatives and synthetic detergents many of which are proven irritants. Feelin' clean yet?

Now, lets take a look at some homemade soap ingredients:
This is a beautiful bar called "Pink Grapefruit"from Etsy seller Besem Naturals Scents

Ingredients: saponified oils of olive, palm kernal, coconut, rice bran, castor oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, rose clay, pure essential oils and fragrance.
Also, 10% of profits are given to orphan relief.

And rather than smelling like chemicals it smells like sweet, ripe grapefruits. I'm not missing the beef tallow. Would you?

There are so many wonderful choices when it comes to buying handmade soaps. You can buy organic, vegan, completely free of dyes or any scents, and you can buy handcrafted soaps for specific ailments you have that I promise, will do wonders for your skin that beef tallow, stearic acid and trisodium etidronate couldn't even touch. Pictured above are a few of my favorites. Make the switch!

Do You Speak English?

2009-04-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I've heard a lot of travel horror stories. People sitting on the runway for 6 hours, broken seats, terrible customer service. It reminded me of a flight I took; but it wasn't the terrible customer service or any issue with the airline that stuck in my memory. It was the poor, single flight attendant who had a nervous breakdown on the flight. It's a long re-telling, but if you're looking for a laugh this should do it.

I recently witnessed a flight attendant having a nervous breakdown on a flight from Raleigh to Boston. I knew from her black frizzy hair splayed around her head that something was wrong from the start. The plane was small; the kind that makes you feel nauseated even before take-off. It was a full house and everyone was in their best cocoon posture. Elbows tucked politely in respective personal space bubbles. Knees pressed tightly together like good private school children. Everyone seemed content, after all, it was going to be a short flight.
Our flight attendant had dark brown eyes to match her hair. Big and bugged out. There was definitely more cornea showing than could be healthy for any sort of high altitude. She was a tall woman, with a healthy amount of American style living on her Hellenistic frame. I’m not sure of her name, so we’ll just call her Jane. I’m told that back in the day, flight attendants were classy. Outfitted with stylish, flattering uniforms and matching sophisticated little hats. Jane obviously thought that sort of dressing old-fashioned, perhaps it made her feel too confined with-in the labels of femininity. Jane wore the sleek, city color of mourning. A big chunky black sweater, with plastic white buttons. Black knee length shorts with black opaque hose and black Reebok tennis shoes. The whole ensemble, topped off with the bugged out eyes and spray of frustrated hair was quite impressive.
As with most problems in life, it all started with personal baggage.
“Please make sure all your carry-ons are placed completely underneath the seat in-front of you.” The voice was friendly enough filtered through the intercoms professional accent. But passengers are like children and have to be told most things, at least twice. “A reminder, that all carry-ons and personal luggage must be placed completely underneath the seat in-front of you. This includes all straps that may be attached to your luggage.” I took a look down at my small knapsack, feeling confident in its ability to pass the “underneath the seat” test. Jane walked down the aisle. Her eyes had an odd familiarity about them. I felt like I’d seen them before, maybe on the nature channel. Jane stopped. Her eyes seem to actually zoom in on a bag. I could see them extend like the lens of an automatic camera. “Sir, would you please make sure your personal items are completely underneath the seat in front of you.” The Sir gave his leather bag the obligatory nudge with his foot. Pushing it under the seat a few more inches. “Sir, I can still see your bag. I need for it to be completely underneath the seat.” By now a gathering of curious eyes had turned their attention to the scene. Woman in black versus the Sir with leather bag.The man leaned down, using his hands to push the bag even further underneath the seat. The situation became more tense. Jane got down on her hands and black hosed knees, her head nearly in contact with man’s knees. She pushed, shoved and grunted in-between words, “You must (shove) make sure (push) that your bag (grunt) is completely (breath) underneath the seat!” All the pushing and bending made Jane’s hair—grow. As she rose to her feet, and brushed off her hands leaving small bits of dirt on her sweater, Sir looked up at Jane. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I know they must have shown fear. Fear like tribal people hold for their gods. But Jane’s appeasement wasn’t to be met with just that one leather bag.
After the little hands-on demonstration, we fellow passengers quickly reached down, and pushed and shoved our own bags as deep as we could into the under-seat abyss. “Hurry!” I heard my brain say “Hurry, here she comes!” Her acute eyes swept my personal space. I was evaluated, calculated and judged worthy. As she passed, I must admit I felt relieved and strangely violated as well. Other weren’t so lucky. A woman, three rows behind me was made to stand up, and move out of the way as Jane demonstrated the correct way to make a carry-on completely disappear before your eyes. She was like the Mary Poppins of underneath the seat spaces. Cramming everything from duty-free to Louis Vuitton bags out of site. When she moved to the front of the cabin again, I’m pretty sure I heard a collective group sigh.
“For those passengers seated in the emergency row, you must be able to assist in the case of an emergency, those passengers unable to do so must move to a different seat.”
Her voice, even through the filter of the intercom had acquired a peculiar ring to it. Like an out of tune note still ringing in the air. I was seated in row twelve. Praise the computer ticketing gods. Row eight was the emergency row. There were four people, two on each side of the emergency row. They never saw it coming.
Jane put away the intercom microphone and headed straight for them. They had no where to escape, they were already in their seats in upright and locked position with seat belts securely fastened! Jane spoke to the middle aged man sitting by the window first.
“Sir, are you confident in your ability to assist in an emergency, by opening the emergency door and helping others without causing harm to yourself?” The man nodded, anxious to be free of her unblinking gaze. But she didn’t look away. Rather, she leaned in over the woman sitting in the aisle seat. She leaned in so close that the woman was eye level with Jane’s left ear. In a much louder voice, Jane repeated the question. He nodded several times, sort of in a panic stricken kind of way. I’m sure his face was beginning to sting from her gaze. His brain was probably screaming “Oh, look away! For the love of god will you just look away!” The plane was silent. There was an electric tingle of collective anxiety in the air. Jane stood up. The woman in the aisle breathed. Jane was still looking at the man. I think he was beginning to turn gray. “Sir” Jane said in a very loud, but slow voice, “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?”
With every syllable she said, she sort of nodded her body toward the man. There was no answer. “SIR, DOOO YOUUU SPEEEAK ENNNGLISH!”
“Yes, yes, I speak English.” He stammered, finally out of his trance. The spell broken with the woman beside him pressing her body as far back against the seat as her spine would allow. Her quick shallow breaths’ mimicking everyone’s pounding hearts.
Jane straightened. Her frizzy hair dusting the top of the plane. “Oh, well, you didn’t verbally respond so I just assumed you didn’t understand me.” She then looked down at the woman pressed deep into her seat. “Ma’am, are you confident in your ability to assist in an emergency”---“Yes!” the woman blurted. “Ma’am, please wait until I’ve finished asking you the full question-- by opening the emergency door and helping others without causing harm to yourself?” Jane stood waiting for the woman’s response. The woman nodded, and then remembering the rule, quickly said “Yes, I am able to assist in opening the emergency door.”
Without changing the angle of her shoulders or neck, Jane turned her body around. I swear, she still hasn’t blinked. The next two passengers seated in row eight. Japanese business men, the look of a long flight from Tokyo still in their eyes. Jane didn’t even give them a chance. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?
There was an announcement from the cockpit. “Flight attendant, please prepare the cabin for take-off.” Jane immediately ran to the cock-pit. Her hair disappeared as she spoke to the captain. A few moments later, she was back on the intercom. “I’m sorry ladies and gentleman, but we will not be allowed to prepare for departure until everyone understands the rules of this plane. I have spoken to the captain, and explained that we cannot leave the runway until everyone is properly seated and their belongings are properly stored.”
“Can she do that?” I hear a man in disbelief behind me.
“I need for the isle to be cleared. This mean you sir, yes, you in the blue coat. I need you to make sure your feet are not in the aisle.” I saw a foot disappear from the isle four rows in-front of me. I was seated next to a teenage girl. She leaned over and whispered, “Hi, I’m Ellie, do you speak English?” We laughed then quickly stifled our giggles and looked down. Jane was eyeing us.
Once all passengers were mentally handcuffed, tied to their seats with feet nailed to the floor. Jane allowed the captain to take off. We had been in the air about fifteen minutes—long enough for most of us to have temporarily forgotten the bizarre enthusiasm of our flight attendant. Suddenly, Jane unbelted her own seat belt and came sprinting down the aisle. Her eyes wider that I’d seen yet, and her hair flapping above her head. I now understood the Reeboks. Most everyone leaned away from the aisles, as she flew past. Jane reached the end of the cabin and was now pounding with both fists on the bathroom door. I thought we were all going to die.
“Sir!” she screamed in hysterics. “Sir! The Captain has not turned off the seatbelt sign!” I heard a quiet woman’s voice behind me. “I think he just really had to pee.” The door opened and a man, ashen faced appeared from the bathroom. I’m sure he thought he was going to die too. “I’m sorry, but you are not allowed to leave your seat until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign.” He nodded then ducked his head and slipped quietly into his seat. I’m sure he was trying to focus on his happy place. Someplace safe on land.
Jane returned to her perch at the front of the plane. Buckled in, she could resume her watchful gaze. A few minutes passed. The seatbelt sign was still on. I began to panic. The morning’s grande coffee was beginning to create a lot of pressure in my bladder. I glanced around, fearful Jane would know what I was thinking. I half whispered, half whimpered, “I have to pee.” I heard a strong, deep voice just behind me. “Don’t worry, I got your back.”

Let's Finish that Scarf

2009-04-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

I last left off with how to paint a silk scarf. We previously finished applying the paint and the next step is to set the ink. You want to "fix" or "set" it so that when you wash your scarf or it gets rained on, the colors won't bleed and ruin your lovely design. Setting the ink is really easy. You just buy some dye fixative. Follow the instructions which involves pouring a small amount of fixative in a cold water bath. Then swish and soak your scarf in the fixative bath water. Don't freak out when when the water turns dark blue, or red or any other color. It's normal for the inks to bleed out into the water. It won't hurt the rest of your scarf. Let it soak for about 5 mins. Hang to dry and you're done! Well, sort of done. With this scarf I decided to get a little crazy and experiment with some gold metallic paint. I painted it on just like the other inks except the you don't have to use the gutta resist. The metallic paint acts more like regular acrylic and you don't have to worry about it bleeding. To set the metallic paint you just iron it, essentially melting the paint into the fabric itself. Then the only thing left to do is have your scarf professionally dry-cleaned. This will cost about $4-$5. I've tried doing it myself with Dryel, but it doesn't work. The reason you have to dry-clean it is to remove the yucky, sticky gutta resist. Once it's dry-cleaned all that will be left is the pure white of the silk. Soft and luxurious and worth a million bucks.

Lets Paint a Peacock Feather-On Silk

2009-03-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd photo document my most recent scarf creation. Hopefully you'll be inspired to create one yourself. Painting on silk is really very easy. I taught myself by simply watching some YouTube videos while ironing laundry.

What You'll Need:

1. silk you can buy this online or at Jerry's Art-O-Rama
2. silk paint
3. A tiny paintbrush
4. Gutta Resist and little squeeze bottle with a metal hollow tip (like a mini cake decorating tip) You can get these online or at Jerry's Art Store as well.
5 A frame. My awesome boyfriend made this frame for me with pieces of scrap wood. But you can use anything that lifts and stretches your silk off the table.

Using thumbtacks securely stretch your silk across the frame. All four sides would be best, but as you can see in my picture. My silk scarf is long and thin and I'm only able to affix three sides to the frame. That's okay, as long and it's tight enough that the silk won't touch the table.

Using the Gutta Resist draw out your design. It can be a simple geometric pattern. I'm using free flowing lines to create the individual feathers that make up the Peacock feather. The resist acts like a barrier and has the consistency of liquid rubber cement. Make sure your lines are thick enough to ensure that the ink won't bleed through. The resist can be removed after the scarf is finished by dry-cleaning it. And all that will be left is the pure white silk beneath.

Pour a tiny amount of the highly concentrated silk paint into separate containers. You can use water to decrease the intensity of the ink color. But keep in mind the ink will dry much lighter than it looks when it's wet. Use your paint brush to "color in the lines." It's that simple. The resist will keep the ink from going places you don't want it too--as long as you can color in the lines.

Careful for drips! The silk acts as a wick and it only takes a tiny drop of ink to create a large area of color. Feel free to mix and blend the paint/ink however you like. These paints do a lovely job of looking like a watercolor painting and it's hard to go wrong with color combinations

Half-way though my project I decided that I didn't have enough individual "feathers" so I went back in and created more using the gutta resist. You can always add to your design. This scarf is going to have several separate painted areas. Just make sure the ink is dry before you move the silk around.

Now one section of my scarf is finished. I'm going to let it dry before I move it to work on other areas of the scarf. Still to come... setting the ink so the scarf is machine washable and the colors won't bleed.

My Blood Type is A Minor

2009-03-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

I'm a music junkie. I'll buy gas station coffee instead of Starbucks to cut pennies, but will open my wallet for any good new song. Thankfully I have a lot of really awesome people in my life who are constantly introducing me to new, amazing music. So now, I'd like to return the favor and pass on some songs that I think you need to discover. A lot of these songs you can download for free, or at least listen to on their myspace pages. So grab of cup of coffee, cheap or otherwise and start exploring these gems. I've listed 20, and yes, it was painful to narrow them down to just these.

Northern Lights by The Thoughts from the album Consider the Bear

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie from the album The Opposite Side of the Sea

Tickle me Pink by Johnny Flynn from the album A Larum

I by Andrew Bird from the album Weather Systems

Down at Columbia and Cameron by The Physics of Meaning

Astral Weeks by Van Morrisson from the album Astral Weeks

Fire Door by Ani Difranco from the album Like I Said

Two Blue Lights by Songs: Ohia from the album It Didn't Rain

Sawed-Off Shotgun by Luego from the album I Know, I Know

Wagon Wheel by The Old Crow Medicine Show from the album O.C.M.S.

Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs from the album Consolers of the Lonely

Long Way to Go by Railroad Earth from the album Elko

Black/White by The Raveonettes from The Sound of Color

Anthem for a Seventeen-year-old-girl by Broken Social Scene from the album You Forgot It in People

Skinny Love by Bon Iver from the album For Emma, Forever Ago

Beat Beat by The Nation History from the album Beat Beat Heartbeat

Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap from the album Speak for Yourself

Only as the Day is Long by Sera Cahoone from album Only as the Day is Long

Bass Song by Hayden from the album Skyscraper National Park

I Was a Lover by my all time favorite group, TV on the Radio.

When Hunger Strikes

2009-03-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Image by ElinJernberg

I'm curious how many other out there have that dark angry side of them I like to call, the Blood Sugar Bitch.

It was my boyfriend, Nick and my two-year anniversary. We decided to start the celebration with a cocktail out on the front porch. Life was good and we chatted happily as the sun sank. It was decided we'd get head out to my favorite restaurant Magnolia Grill for a lavish celebratory dinner.

"I'm just gonna get dressed honey" I say as I head to my bedroom to freshen up.
"Take your time, I'm in no rush" Nick sweetly replies as he pours himself another cocktail.

It happens so subtly and so quickly that you don't even have time to take action until it's too late. One minute I'm humming to myself as I put on make-up and the next I'm cursing and screaming "I don't have anything to wear!" As I frantically pull clothes from the closet and throw them violently on the floor. I scream out again. "I don't have a damn thing to wear!" But I'm not the only one who's been overtaken by the Blood Sugar Bitch.

"What's taking you so long! We should have left 30 mins ago!" Nick angrily yells up to me.
"Shut-up you JERK! How dare you talk to me like that!"

We have now reached the initial Blood Sugar Bitch Stage 1. After a few more fits of panicked rage an equally angry Nick manages to get me into the car. It's at this point I decided that my outfit looks so bad, there's no way I can possibly go out to a nice dinner. Now please understand that I'm a flip-flops and jeans kind of gal. I'm not normally one to obsess about my clothes in this manner. I decide that I can't go anywhere until I have outfit validation, and the only other person around to ask is my younger brother, George. The poor guy never saw it coming.
"Well, honestly Mary, I have seen you in better looking, classier outfits. I mean, this one looks just fine, it's just not your best."

So now Nick and I are back in the car, headed home again so I can change. This is when Blood Sugar Bitch reaches stage 2. I break down in tears.
"What's wrong now?!"
"I'm hungry!!"

We now, for the first time, realize what has happened. We've been through this together many times before, and have an emergency plan in place. Find food immediately. I would have eaten a bag of raw popcorn kernels on the spot, but it was our anniversary and I had my heart set on a special meal.

"Sushi!" Nick cries out frantically. "It's the closest nice place. We can be eating apps in 8 mins flat"
I can hear the desperation in his voice and I begin my practiced breathing techniques as we drive to the restaurant. I should mention that once I realized that the Blood Sugar Bitch has taken over, I'm not allowed to talk. So we ride in silence each praying that there won't be a wait.

Min of 1.5 hour wait. I almost break down in tears again.
"Are we gonna break-up on our two-year anniversary" Nick genuinely asks.

We then head immediately to Harris Teeter and buy three frozen pizzas and a celebratory boxed cheesecake which I ate frozen in the car.

A favorite love poem

2009-03-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

Image by: PhotoBird

Lines

Draw a line. Write a line. There.
Stay in line, hold the line, a glance
between the lines is fine but don’t
turn corners, cross, cut in, go over
or out, between two points of no
return’s a line of flight, between
two points of view’s a line of vision.
But a line of thought is rarely
straight, an open line’s no party
line, however fine your point.
A line of fire communicates, but drop
your weapons and drop your line,
consider the shortest distance from x
to y, let x be me, let y be you.

-Martha Collins

Champagne on a Beer Budget

2009-03-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not a wealthy girl. And while the term "starving artist" would most appropriately label my income, it in no way defines my lifestyle. As I type, I'm nibbling on a Ganache brownie made by a professional pastry chief who sells tasties from her Etsy Shop "Fancy That Cookies". I'm not exactly sure what ganache is, but I'm pretty sure it's the closest thing to heavenly sent manna. Along with my decant brownies I have a Chocolate Torte that's literally too beautiful for me to eat, so it's going to my mom as a gift. Now why, might you ask, does a girl who makes such little money, invest in professionally baked goods? No, it's not because I'm a fat girl with a chocolate addiction. (not that there's anything wrong with a chocolate addiction--for the record.) It's because I traded, bartered, exchanged goods for them. Trading has become my favorite past time. I trade for whatever I can get my greedy snobby hands on. Fine pastries, lavish homemade soaps, custom fitted hand crafted jewelry, fine art prints, soy candles and vegan organic face lotions. Items that even if I made a lot of money, couldn't afford on a regular basis. But little broke Mary can, and frequently splurges on herself and loved ones.

But how? It's simple. I have talents and items that others want. And I want their talents and items. Why would I spend overvalued government issued paper money when I can use my arts as commodity? But don't think it's always easy finding fellow artists and crafters who are willing to trade. It takes some patient and kind queries. Don't pressure others to trade and don't get your feelings hurt if no one wants to trade with you. If you aren't successful in finding folks to trade with, it just means that you aren't asking enough of the right people. Or, maybe you just aren't giving them enough options to choose from. I've had a few people ask me to trade and when I have a look at what they have to offer it's a poor showing. Make sure that what you have to trade is a valuable commodity. It might be something like housecleaning skills. But you better be a good house cleaner! Or maybe you can crunch numbers for taxes, but make sure your math is a hell of a lot better than mine or I'm never going to trade with you again. And of course, some people don't trade simply for their own personal reasons which are really none of our business.

Here's how I generally think about trades:
I could spend 1 hour at an average 9-5 job making $8-$12 an hour or...I can spend 1 hour painting some of my glassware for a woman's wedding toast worth $60. The value of the glasses is in the time and talent I put in. But my raw cost is minimal. Now this bride-to-be makes beautiful sterling silver jewelry. We make a trade. She gets the glasses-- an expensive set to boot-- and I get a pair of custom created earrings worth about $60 that I can't afford.

I could keep going on and on about trades I've made but my brownie is gone and I've got some cookies to sample next.

(items pictured above are from previous trades that I've made. All images link to the Etsy shop where they were sold. Please admire their work and do not spam them for trades unless you ask very politely and won't get your feelings hurt if they say no)

And to start: a poem

2009-03-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've given myself the task of starting this blog. I have a degree in Creative Writing and my fingers freeze over the keyboard when I think about having to write for an audience who is essentially, the entire world (and whatever alien life forms are secretly tracking our existence). I think this must be the crux of my blogger's block. It's one thing to write for an enthusiastic small classroom of ten, but the world!? Pressure is on. So I thought I'd start with a little warm up--or cheating-- and post a poem that I've already written. This poem was published this pasts year for the Syracuse Cultural Workers, 2009 Women's Date Book. A publication for peace, justice, equality and all sorts of other warm and fuzzy good things. But the best was the check they sent for the grand sum of $125. Follow the link and you'll find my poem first under the "dedication spread." I hope you'll all be inspired to submit a poem yourself. (There will be a book signing following this blog.)

Misread

I'm laughing, but I don't think it's funny.  
People explain my words to me. They say  
My face is an open book. How unfair.  
Blue eyes and big teeth, that's my face.  
That's not me. My skin says I'm Caucasian,  
But maybe I want to be blue. A cool blue,
 The color of tropical water rippling beneath  
A palm tree shadow.
 I have small ears,  
Do you think that means I can't hear you?
 Well I do.  I hear you loud and clear.  
And I laugh out loud with my big teeth showing
 And my blue eyes squinting. Because I can hear you,  
You and your tone, your condescending jokes  
And your patronizing explanations.
 I'm laughing, but I'm not amused.
 My squinting eyes can see you. My big teeth want to bite you.  
This face ain't no open book. This face is cliff notes
 To the book you never took the time to read.

My Esty shop

2009-03-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

My awesome friend David set up an RSS feed of my etsy shop marywibis.etsy.com
He also created my entire website meharts.com So he's pretty much the best guy ever.