Taking a Holiday Break

 

Hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the Holiday Season.  I am busy with last minute gift buying and gift creating.  I am going to take a blog break so I can focus on spending some extra time with my family and friends during this festive time of year. I will be back after the New Year on Monday, January 3rd to write my first post of 2011!  I would like to say thank you to everyone who has stopped by to visit my blog this year and wish all of you a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. Warmly, Stacie

More Jewelry!

I've been busy making Christmas gifts and making some last minute pieces of jewelry for Etsy.  Here are a few pieces that I will be posting over the next few days:

Love Watch

Wish Necklace

Happy Earrings

Flower Watch

Friends Earrings

Dog Earrings

If you still need gifts, make sure to check out my Stacie Jewelry Shop on Etsy over the next few days. 

This weekend we are getting our Christmas Tree and decorating the house.  Can't wait! We even got a little unexpected snow today to start off the festivities!   Have a wonderful weekend & I will see you Monday.  Stacie

Artist of the Week - Louise Gale

Inspiration Tree

This week's Artist of the Week is Louise Gale. Louise's artwork is filled with color and inspirational messages.  I was immediately drawn toward the nature theme and positives messages that are part of Louise's work.  

Delight the World

When I began my research about Louise and her life in art I found that her "Story of Me" on her blog profile really gave me a feeling of where Louise and her art originated from, so I decided rather that try to rewrite her story, I would borrow it from her blog.

The story of me
Louise grew up in South London, England with her mum, dad and younger brother, being encouraged to be creative everyday. As a child Louise would draw, paint and create patterns with her beloved spirograph after school and make all kinds of decorations for Christmas, Easter and Birthdays. In the summer Louise, her brother and cousins would build and decorate teepee tents so they could camp out during the school holidays and play in the dressing up box. Louise got accepted to art school at 16, studying drawing, photography, sculpture and design, then spent two years in the “potteries” in Stoke on Trent, England learning ceramic design and surface pattern.

Deciding to join the corporate world and keep art as a hobby, Louise continued to add a spark of creativity in everything she did. Finally deciding to emigrate to Australia after living and traveling there for a year, fate instead brought her to over to the USA in 2004. It was here, Louise then found the courage to realize and reconnect her to her true calling and after 5 years took the plunge to follow that dream and become a full time artist.

Louise now lives in a leafy street in Hoboken, New Jersey, close to Manhattan, where she paints, writes and enjoys all that life can offer. 

 

Louise is primarily a mixed media artist, creating using collage, acrylic, paper and all sorts of thing that she can find.  Recently, she has been working more with acrylic and loving it.  If you'd like to see more of Louise's art, visit her Etsy shop, Louise Gale Dream, Inspire, Create.

I Carry Your Heart

 

When I asked Louise what her favorite part of creating is, she replied; "I love that when creativity flows, it gushes out. I usually create multiple pieces at once, so work on one for a little bit then switch to another. I tend to spend a whole day creating and then maybe doing other things for the rest of the week (like working on my online business, blog writing etc) My recent work (tranquility tree, mystical garden, lotus bloom) all came out of spending time meditating and going to yoga, so amazed and excited by the results. I love how creating is so intuitive."

In the past Louise has worked primarily creating small artworks, but is currently experimenting with Painting with more passion on larger canvas and loves it.  She just moved into a new home with an art studio with lots of space, so that should make creating larger a dream come true.

Not only is Louise an artist, she is launching a new ecourse this January called "Big Dreams. Small Wonders".  It's a 4 week program to help other artists and creative souls to identify their dreams and goals and create roadmaps for the year ahead.  She uses the tools that she has included in the class to move her own creative business forward so she is excited to share her ideas with others.  Registration is open, if you are interested click on the link above to find out how to register.

Mystic Garden

I hope you have enjoying a glimpse into the creative life and artwork of Louise today.  If you'd like to find out more about her, take a peek at her blog Louise Gale Dream-Inspire-Create.  Thank you so much for joining me today. See you Friday. Stacie

Living in the Moment

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I am currently taking a course called This Moment with Mindy Tsonas.  To be honest, I've had a hard time keeping up with the class and the inspirational daily posts.  I guess it's the time of year.  Last night I had a little alone time at Starbucks so I caught up a little.  I just have to share three of the ideas that Mindy shared about living in the moment:

"remember:

if we sit too long in a past we can not change, we are not in the moment.

if we focus too much on things ahead and that don’t even exist yet, we are not in the moment.

if we react to what is going on right now with judgment and anticipation and emotive labeling, we are not in the moment."  mindy tsonas

Her ideas about living in the moment just really make sense to me.  Mindy is offering the course again starting January 31st if your interested follow the link to her blog wishstudio.

I will see you on Wednesday for the Artist of the Week post.  Meanwhile Live in the Moment! Stacie

Weekend Craft Fair

Oh Christmas Tree Wood Collage Box

My sister, Renee is exhibiting at a craft show this weekend in Annapolis Maryland.  If you'd like to see her one-of-a-kind artwork and live in the area stop by and visit.  Above is a sample of some of her creative collage art.  If you'd like to preview more take a look at her Etsy shop, Where the Grass is Greener.
You can also learn more about Renee and her artwork by reading the Artist of the Week Post I wrote about her in September. I will be at the craft show Saturday to help out and enjoy some sister time.  Here is the  Show information:

Broadneck High School Craft Bazaar this Saturday from 9:30 AM to 3 PM. The high school is located at 1265 Green Holly Drive, Annapolis MD.

Renee just wrote a great post about setting up a Craft Show Booth on her blog, Where the Grass is Greener. She has some great pointers for anyone who is interested in doing a craft show and looking for display ideas. 

I did make silver this week, but I can't post any photos...they are all Christmas gifts! I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! See you Monday. Stacie

Artist of the Week - Sondra Borrie

Sondra creates her amazing artwork she has entitled "Mark Making" using many different techniques. She uses painting, dyeing, silk screening, batiking, printing, use of notans, and digital manipulation.  Sondra views making marks as any process where we use our eyes, hands, media and creative energy. To find more of her work, check out her Etsy shop at Modernmarks.

Archival print of original india ink drawing - Recs Emplode

Archival Digital Print of Original Silk Screen 5 - Fushia, Purple

Archival Abstract Print - Colorful Angles

All of Sondra's pieces are original designs.  Her frame of reference is modern, retro 50's and minimalism.  Sondra has been doing some type of "making" her entire life and has always been interested in modern art.  Her aunt, Margaret Milliken was an abstract expressionist in the 60's and was a very special person to Sondra.  She has a post about her amazing aunt on her blog, Modern Marks.

Margaret Milliken

Sondra is also a business owner of Contemporary Cloth Inc. which is an online fabric business that she opened in 2001. About 15 years ago she started taking workshops at QSDS and the Nancy Crow Barn.  Jane Dunnewold, a fiber artist of Art Cloth Studios is her most favorite instructor.  Sondra credits Jane Dunnewold for opening her eyes to the world of surface design.

When I asked Sondra what types of artwork she would like to work with in the future, she replied;

"Wow, this is a tough one to answer because my main problem right now is finding time to do mark making and also focusing on specific areas.  I am interested in creating in too many areas and running a business.  But, I am definitely working on focusing on specific areas.  One huge help will be having a better space to work , it is being remodeled right now.  I am very excited about it!


I have many designs and thermofaxes/silk screened designs that I have not printed yet.  At this point, my main interests are mixed media collage, deconstructed silk screening, digital manipulation of my photos, mono prints and gelatin plate prints - on fabric and paper.  I started the blog, mark making 365 to help me reach my goals."

Digitally manipulated

I am sure we can all relate to Sondra's too much to create and not enough time problem! If only we had those three extra hours a day...

Thank you all for joining me for the Artist of the Week post. I will see you on Friday! Stacie