Shows

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OCEANSIDE DAYS OF ART :

I had a really fun weekend.  I did my first street show!!!!!  Doing shows for me is like a candy lover going to a candy store.  I just LOVE meeting all those fascinating people who walk in and of my booth.  They have such interesting stories to share and it makes me feel good that they admire my work enough to add it to their homes.  

I love the fact that rock collectors can be ANY age or any nationality.  I can never predict if a person is a collector until I see that excited look in their eyes as they handle some of my stones or gaze at my paintings.  I can tell that they are excited to find someone who understands and shares their love of stones and simple, natural things.  There are far more rock lovers than I thought there were out there.  Most of them tell me stories about their rock collecting adventures.  I LOVE hearing about their collections and when they fell in love with stones.

This weekend was the first time I set up my new booth for a show.  Good thing I kept my sense of humor while setting it up!  The booth looks professional and shows my work well … but it was not easy to set it up or take it down.  Thank goodness I had the help of my brother, Brad!!!!  I can’t imagine trying to do it by myself.  What a challenge!  However, we were a pretty good team even if we did have the walls fall down a couple of times in the process.  (giggling here!)  I would say we both survived the ordeal and it was fun to share the process with my brother.  Thanks BRAD!!!! I don’t know what I would have done without you!!!!!!

Oceanside Days of Art was a Saturday-Sunday show.   It wasn’t huge … just few city blocks …  but it had a nice variety of quality, professional artists on display.  I enjoyed the process very much.  It felt good sharing my talents in my city for a change.  I have shown artwork in many places but this was the first time in a city I call home.  That was exciting for me!

Copal – an American Indian Healing Stone

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Copal

 

I have started adding Copal to my paintings. I found it at the American Indian store that I like to haunt in town. I was drawn to the clarity of the light yellow stones. I found my research of Copal very interesting! No wonder I was drawn to them!

Copal
The term “copal” was derived from “copalli,” a Spanish word meaning incense, which is what copal is used for. Copal ranges in color from pale yellow, orange, red and white.

This resin comes from a family of trees known as Bursera. These are small trees that are related to both frankincense and myrrh. Copal producing trees can be found growing in all of the Americas and is a few million years younger than true amber, but the untrained eye has a hard time telling the difference. Copal is a young amber & the vast majority is 50 years to 10,000 years old whereas, some amber is up to millions of years old. Columbian copal is usually about 250-10,000 yrs old. Some scientists claim the oldest copal is 33,000 years old from Misunani, Japan. Copal will eventually become Amber as it ages and has a very similar vibration.

It is considered sacred to many peoples of South and Central America, including the Mayans. Mass quantities of copal resin were burned atop the Aztec and Mayan pyramids.

Copal resin incense is burned year round in the churches of Mexico and has been used as an offering to the gods in Central America. It is best known for its use in Mexico in the homes during Day of the Dead. The familiar scent of copal helps the souls find their way back during their annual visit home. Maize(corn) is the food of the people, so copal is the food of the gods, they went even so far as to shape the copal into ears of maize.

Copal incense has a clean, light, woody scent similar to pine or turpentine, almost fruity or citrus at times. Some people say it is similar to a very light myrrh scent, or a combination of frankincense and lemon. It is great incense for clearing negative energies and making positive changes. An extremely positive and loving energy, copal can help one to feel more content and peaceful with life, but also can aid in making changes when life is not as wonderful as it could be. To use just sprinkle a few granules onto hot incense charcoal and add your intentions.

Gum copal resin incense is excellent for smudging. If the space is full of negativity, stagnation, or a loved one has been ill, copal can cleanse the space quickly and raise the vibrations at the same time. If one has been feeling stuck in present circumstances, copal can be a true aid in helping to move forward in a positive direction.

Copal unites the energizing force of the Sun with the grounding, transmutative properties of Earth. A powerful yet gentle healer and cleanser, copal draws out and transmutes negative energy of all kinds on all levels. Copal aids in physical self-healing, emotional healing of depression, and environmental clearing.

One of its most unique characteristics is that copal never needs “clearing.” Copal opens and cleanses all of the chakras. Highly protective, copal also aids in the manifestation of ideas to reality. The life force trapped within copal promotes fertility, and its protective and environmental clearing properties make it a good stone to use to prepare a healing or birthing room.

Use copal with the solar plexus chakra to increase confidence, mental clarity, and creative self expression. Copal also links to the crown chakra, allowing awareness in during deep meditations. Copal awakens psychic abilities and boosts the auric body. Copal can remove energy blocks and aligns the physical with the etheric bodies. It increases the awareness of each person’s individuality while maintaining a strong connection to humanity as a whole.

Now you know why I am adding Copal stones to all my Touch Stone Artwork paintings!

PS:  I would love to give credit to the author who wrote this copal article but I don’t know who wrote it.

Interesting People I Know

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#1 The first friend I would like to meet is Gail. Gail contacted me via the Internet through my figurative web site I think in October of 2010. Soon after that my husband had a business meeting in Northern California and it just happened to be close to where Gail lives. We got together and spent hours chatting about all sorts of topics; family, sculpting, jewelry, ceramics, my new art adventure, and even tug boats (yep, she and he husband own a tiny one!). At the time we met I was madly getting ready for my first art show with my new stone line. I was working hard on them even in the hotel room while my husband was at his meetings. Gail was very encouraging. Meeting people like Gail is one of the blessings of being an artist. And who knows? I may be up in Gail’s area again someday soon!

 

New Friend #2

Yesterday I visited an American Indian store in town. I love the place! It is full of all sorts of

Dani

incredibly cool stuff. They have some rocks but they also have beads, nature sculpture, all the supplies to make Native American costumes, leather, sage sticks, native medicines, jewelry, shoes, coyote bones … the list goes on and on. But what I love MOST about the store is the person I MET there yesterday! It was so much fun to meet this little exuberant Chinese lady named Dani. She has only been in the States for 4 years and she speaks wonderful english. I felt very special as I talked with her. She was interested in what I had to say … and I learned so much about her in the process. She had always dreamed of marrying an American guy and her dreams came true! Dreams do come true if you believe!
Dani is very busy with Social Media and she says she has loads of people who follow her posts. She is such a little charmer it is easy to see why an American guy would fall in love with her and bring her home to the States! Dani asked me all sorts of questions about my life, and my art. She even checked out my blog last night. I can hardly wait to take her a rock next week so we can keep our friendship going! Thanks Dani for putting a smile on my face! See you next week!

 

Friend #3:

My friend Kay is very creative!  She has loads of talent and for many years she has inspired me to keep pushing my creative boundaries.  Thanks Kay!!!!  Kay takes incredible photography.  She snaps photos of what I call “moments in time.”  Her photos remind me that I need to take the time to really look at my world not just walk through it blindly.  Weeds next to a fence become art through her lens.  Tree bark

Kay’s Photograph

becomes a study in texture and movement.  Lines on asphalt become contemporary art.  I love her sunsets!!!  She snaps pictures of things we would like to keep in a file in our mind forever if we could.  :o]  This year she has challenged herself to post a least one picture a day for EVERY day this year.  She calls it “Project 365.”  I look forward to seeing her daily photos.  I never know what she will see through her lens each day.

You can see her Project 365 here: www.kweststudio8.blogspot.com   You can see other photos of Kay’s here:   www.kweststudio8.Etsy.com

Kay is also a wonderful jewelry designer and a painter.  Her beautiful jewelry can be seen on Esty.  Check them out!  She is really talented.  :o ]  www.Birchbaykay.Esty.com

 

 Have you ever met  someone who seems so much like you that you call them a “Spirit Twin?”  I met one years ago at an art show in New York City.  We accidentally met in a crowd around her artwork.  I thought it was interesting that her work looked a lot like mine!  When I showed her mine she agreed.  Like twins though we each had just a little difference … but over all our worked looked very similar.  Through the years we have learned to laugh at the similarities in our lives.  Marleen lives in The Netherlands and I live in California but we stay in very close contact.  Marleen is very talented; she sews; she sings in an opera group; she GARDENS; she is a wonderful grandmother; she sculpts; she teaches; she cares for others; she travels; she paints.

Recently, she has started painting again … just like me.  Her paintings are different from mine but we found it interesting once again that we started to doing the same thing without telling each other.  Twins again!!!

Jonah

This is a painting she did recently.  Isn’t Jonah adorable?  Don’t you just want to play in the sand with him???  Marleen is so talented!!!!  I love her to pieces!!!!!

On top of all the things Marleen does she also collects rocks for me during her travels to interesting places.  Thank goodness she gets to travel a lot.  Now I have rocks from places I only dream about visiting someday.  What a good friend she is to send rocks from Europe so I can use them in my artwork.  Marleen I adore you!!!!  Holland is too far away!!!  Twins forever!

“The Birth Of A New Idea”

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#1 post:  For years I have given single rocks away as gifts but selling them and adding them to canvas and sculpture is a new adventure for me.  Since 1980 I have been actively engaged in producing realistic figurative sculptures. Thankfully, I am finding a lot of my former art experience is useful as I meet the challenges of a new business.

I recently took an Internet conference (www.smartist.com) that was centered on the business aspects of being an artist. I listened to lectures by successful art professionals on a wide variety of topics. Some of them I totally understood and already practiced; some were completely new ideas to me.

During some of the lectures I kept picking up the word “branding.” Since my husband supports us financially I have always had to luxury of creating any sort of artwork that I liked, and thus, my artwork has been full of variety. My figurative sculpting was definitely varied and I found I was again making a wide variety of products with my new Touch Stone Artwork business.

Where others lack for creative ideas … I find I have TOO MANY ideas. My brain is overflowing with options. Take a look at my portfolio and you will find a wide variety of rock art products. They all have a rock theme running through them, of course, but “branding” means that if you spread my work out between other artwork in a room mine should be easily recognized. I don’t think that would be the case with the variety of rock artwork I have created up to this point.

After pondering the information I gathered during my Smartist lectures I came to the conclusion I need to focus my creativity.  One of the speakers asked a question that got me thinking. He asked us to pick the two kinds of artwork that we liked doing the most if we did more than two styles.  I immediately chose my canvas paintings with embedded rocks and my ceramic Keepers.

As soon as I made that mental choice I saw in my mind a painting. It was a combination of the two kinds of rock art I love the best. A NEW CREATIVE IDEA WAS BORN! Creative ideas are easy for me.  Sometimes I have to think about putting things together to make something new and sometimes the ideas just spring into my mind.  I call those times “inspiration.”  I am not sure where they come from.  I usually think they come from some sort of higher power who is just handing me a gift.  At times when I work hard at putting things together I imagine two electrical impulses speeding down a line and when they intersect a little light flash occurs and a new idea is born.  The new art idea that I had was ”inspiration.”  It just happened in my mind with very little work on my part.  I figure it is a gift and I need to act on the idea.

I am now engaged in making my idea a reality. Tag along if you like and follow me as I start creating artwork that combines rocks from all over the world, with simplified figures, a bird, and a healing rock called Copal.  I will also be making ceramic sculptures in the same style ’cause I LOVE sculpting!

Budapest Sky 1

 

“Budapest Sky” is the first painting in my new inspired style.  It is not finished yet but you can see how I am working on it in stages. The figure and bird are added to the canvas with a mache product.  The rocks in her hand are from Budapest. They were picked up by a  sweet Dutch friend of mine on one of her vacations recently. Thanks Marleen!!!!

#2   Post:

Keeper 1

 

Today I finished sculpting two new ceramic Keepers in my new style. I made them much larger than the Keepers I had sculpted before. They will require larger rocks to go in their cozy holes. On one keeper I used a fork to texturize the clay. She is older looking and just a bit sad I think. The little bird on her shoulder helps to keep her friendlier I think.

Keeper 2

 

The second Keep I sculpted looks like a child. He/she has three little birds dancing around his head and shoulders. The one on its head is larger … baby birds are below. The texture on this Keeper was made by pressing a rubber mold into the clay. I like all the pattern in the texture.

I am enjoying working with these new ideas. They seem very uplifting and please my soul.

I also worked a bit on my Budapest Sky painting. I added some swirls in the sky, and some highlights.

Budapest Sky 2

 

I also found faces on the rocks from Budapest that she will hold and outlined them with a permanent pen … now the rocks she will hold are drying. I should be able to glue them in tonight so I can seal the painting tomorrow. At least that is the plan!

#3 Post:

Today I finished my Budapest Sky painting. I cut the canvas and glued in the rocks in her hands. I also added some light colored copal stones on her dress. Copal stones are petrified tree pitch that are slightly younger than Amber stones. American Indians use them as healing stones. I like the idea of including them in my paintings. I am planning on using at least one copal stone in each one. It gives each painting another spiritual connection I think.

Budapest Sky finished!!

 

I also sealed the acrylic on the painting with a matt varnish and added some clear crystal sparkles on the dress. They sparkle only when light hits them so they are not very noticeable. They are my quiet “Thank you” for the first stone I cracked open when I was 8-ish that had a crystal cave inside. That is when I fell in love with rocks.

I also started a new smaller canvas of an angel this afternoon. It is only
9 X 12″.

Pleasanton Angel 1

 

#4 Post:

My new little angel has his own sort of charm. He definitely looks like a man not a woman. The rock he holds comes from Pleasanton, CA (which is east of San Francisco). The light yellow rocks are copal; American Indian healing stones. I would be happier I think if the bird was more abstract. I sculpted it quickly but it came out looking like a cute bird. It even has what looks like an eye which I didn’t put in. Next time I guess I will have to close my eyes when I add a bird! This one looks too normal to me!  This angel has his own masculine attitude. I like the way his expression came out … I wonder what he is thinking? Whatever he’s thinking I’m sure it might be interesting coming from a male angel dressed in brown who seems to like cute bluebirds and rocks. And I wonder … is he dancing or is he swaying in a breeze? He certainly is an entertaining little fellow!

Pleasanton Angel finished!!!

River Rock Series:

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I just love to look at a stream-bed.  All rocks are so much prettier under water; all the colors are so bright.  I have always marveled at Mother Nature’s painting techniques.  River Rock In ResinRiver Rocks come in so many beautiful colors, shades, sizes, and shapes.  River-beds are magical.  The sound of moving water and the buzzing of dragon flies is like music to my soul.  My River Rock series was designed to help you remember the real river-beds you have seen in nature.  Now you can hang one right on your wall.  I hope they give you a feeling of calm  and and remind you to be grateful for all the beauty of this world.

How My River Rock Series is created:

My River Rock series uses a variety of colored river rock.  I start with an idea of what the whole piece should look like.  Then I edge a canvas with sides so I can contain the resin water that will eventually will be poured over the piece and I let the edges dry.  Resin will find the tiniest holes to escape through, so I am very careful to make the sides “water tight.”  Then I find the right rock to cover with pen drawings.  The canvas is layered with a  good, fast drying, clear glue and covered with a layer of sand.  After the glue dries  I layer a collage of river rock, smaller stones, pea sized stones, or shells and I add the special “Touch Stone” I have drawn.  The sand gets a sprinkling of glitter and the first layer of resin gets poured over all of it.   I usually wait two days until the resin sets up completely before pouring my second layer of resin.  Sometimes I need three layers.  It can take up to 8 days for the resin coatings to be poured and to set up completely depending on the weather.  When the resin is as high as I want it to be and fully set up I carefully take off the boundaries.  The sides of the canvas are then layered in three coats of acrylic texture medium.  Each layer has to dry before the next is added.  The final layer is then coated with matt medium for protection.  The back is covered with paper and the wire picture hanger is screwed into the frame, and it is strung with wire for hanging.  Each River Rock piece takes about 10 days to make.

I hope you enjoy them!