I've been spending some time perusing the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) contemporary art exhibits. I recently visited their enormous Frances Stark exhibit. The exhibit is a melange of collage, video art, and mixed media pieces. I took photos of a very small percentage of what there was to see. There is some graphic language and images of male genitalia, fyi. There were a few other pieces, from elsewhere in the museum, that also caught my eye. I hope you'll also find them intriguing: Tomorrow I'm going to share some more photos from the museum. I saw a really great... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. Searching through the #ArtJournalEveryDay hashtag is always a delight! One of the things... Read more →

Mom and I recently took an art workshop together at the Harvard Art Museums. It was part of their Materials Lab series in which they examine a single material. This one focused on carbon. We entered the classroom and there was a large table filled with different kinds of paper, inspiration images, and a variety of carbon-based art tools: The instructor gathered us together for a brief lecture. Some highlights: Carbon is the 15th most common element on Earth and the 4th most common in our universe. Carbon can be found in a wide variety of drawing materials, including: graphite... Read more →

This project came together in two phases. First, I decided that I wanted to make stencils with my ScanNCut to decorate some cookies. But then, I was really bad at stenciling the frosting onto the cookies. So then I developed plan number two: an outer cookie stencil or cookie shield to make the stenciling a bit neater. Watch the video for the how to: Here are the cookies from the video: And some of the others I made along the way: I also used my ScanNCut cookie outline stencils with some existing stencils -- clean never-before-used Balzer Designs stencils, in... Read more →

As you know, my friend Riv is getting married. She and her fiancee, Jason, asked me to make their ketubah for them. If you're unfamiliar with Jewish weddings, a ketubah is a Jewish wedding contract. It is often a beautiful decorative document. Here are some images of ketubahs that I found online -- traditional and modern: source source source source source source source source source source source source source Riv and Jason sent me dimensions, text, and these inspiration images -- noting that they liked the colors and abstract images (I only have sources for a few of these): source... Read more →

Halloween is an excellent opportunity to put your art on display. Carved pumpkins tend to rot and get eaten by animals pretty quickly, but painted pumpkins have a way of lasting a long time. They're perfect for putting on display outside or inside your home. Last week I roped a friend into helping me to carry a bunch of heavy pumpkins home and then we spent an evening painting pumpkins and listening to Halloween music. As a side note, I didn't think there was a lot of Halloween music out there, but we turned on Pandora and asked for Halloween... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. Today I've got a process video for you! I shared a super fast... Read more →

I'm delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here. You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire. I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art. It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art. I start today's... Read more →

My Brother recently celebrated a birthday. I was crazy busy around the time of his birthday and I didn't have a chance to make him a card before I headed to NYC to celebrate with him. However, being a crafty girl, I figured I could make one once I hit the hotel room. So I packed: cardstock watercolor set with waterbrush craft knife self healing mat I got up early one morning and decided that not only would I make the card, but I would share the process live on Periscope. I called on my inner-MacGyver and strapped my cell... Read more →

Ooops! Apparently I had the wrong link yesterday. This is the correct link to LifeBook: http://bit.ly/LifeBook2017. Thank you! I was in New York last month and I just *had* to go and visit MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art). Much of the museum was off limits for exhibit installations. But what we did see was compelling. I was so impressed with the final exhibit (last photo above -- no photos allowed in the exhibit) that I bought the exhibit catalog. You can read a bit about Bruce Conner and see some images from the exhibit in this NY Times review... Read more →