First, thank you so much for all of your input on The 100 Day Project. I think I'm going to take the advice to sit this year out and focus on the house. There's always next year! As for right now, I'm busy creating samples for my upcoming class, "Collage Faces" on April 6, in Hanover, MA. These are the two faces I made this week: And here's a video that shows the process of making them and talks about the class: Have a great weekend! Read more →

I need a good talking to. I'm thinking of doing The 100 Day Project again. It starts on April 2 (next week). If you don't know, the premise of The 100 Day Project is simple: Do some act every day for 100 days and post it online. I chose the quote above for this blog post because I think it's at the heart of #the100dayproject. Small steps every day to become better at some act you choose. And that is soooo me! I love practicing and getting better and working on my skills. But, it's also such a drag and... Read more →

I can't decide whether this is two paintings or one diptych? Painting #1: I took a photo of it in black and white -- to make sure there was balance: And here are some details: Painting #2: And a photo in black and white to check the balance and composition without the clutter of color: And some details: And here are the two paintings together: What do you think? Do they belong together or perfectly fine apart? I'd love to know! Read more →

This is a quick and easy way to add beautiful custom décor to your home. And it’s a low sew project, with just a bit of decorative stitching added at the end of the project. Let the ScanNCut do the bulk of the work, cutting an intricate pattern from your favorite fabrics. Supplies: ScanNCut DX ScanNCut Mat with High Tack Fabric Support Sheet Fabric with Fusible Web Brayer Pre-Made Pillow Cover Iron & Ironing Board Sewing Machine with Free Motion Foot Thread Pillow Watch the video for the how-to: Instructions: Choose a design. I’m using one of the built-in designs... Read more →

On Friday I talked about wanting to try painting in black and white. And so I did! Here are the two pieces I made: Working in black and white was really intimidating at first. I tend to use extremes of color -- bright white and deep dark black. I'm not a mid-tone person. But, once I stopped fighting it, I really started to get into the subtlety of tone. I used black and white paint (and mixed them together) along with black and white pens and markers and pencils. I think the first piece is somewhat more successful than the... Read more →

I'm in a period of change with my art. I'm searching for something new. Trying to make myself a little uncomfortable. A little better. As a result, I've been marching myself through a series of artistic exercises. First, there was Notan. All that black and white design made me really think about my painting. Was I using color as a crutch? And/or was it blinding me to design problems in my work? To answer this question, I started with the work that was sitting on my table. A poured painting: I used the black and white filter on my phone... Read more →

In light of all of the enthusiasm about yesterday's knitting-related blog post, I thought I'd share a post from the archives. Originally posted on August 8, 2011 (almost 8 years ago!!), this post is all about my first experience with crochet. I did intend to keep it up, but somehow it was a craft that fell by the wayside. I'm delighted to be picking up knitting now and who knows? Perhaps I'll head back to crochet too! ____ I hosted a little Crafternoon at my place this weekend. Two of the funnest and funniest guys I know... ...offered up their... Read more →

Yesterday, I had my first knitting class. I once tried to knit a scarf in eighth grade. Never finished it and kind of assumed that I couldn't knit. But, I wanted to give it another go. So, I signed up for a local class. Soooo fun! The teacher is a little bit scattered and doesn't give great instructions, but I'm already hooked (no crochet pun intended). I came home from class and looked up some knitting videos. This was my favorite: So, you may be wondering why I'm taking a class if the instructor isn't that great and there are... Read more →

You've probably seen the photos online. Super cool candy-colored photographs of this place called "The Color Factory." It was a West Coast thing for a long time and then I heard that it was finally coming to NYC! Well, I knew that I had to book tickets and go! And so we did. And it was super duper fun! Take a peek: Paper strips hanging from the sky! Giant color buttons on the walls! You have a timed ticket when you visit The Color Factory. And you walk at your own pace through a variety of rooms. You can take... Read more →

I loooove going to craft fairs. There's something so wonderful about buying art from the person who made it. My absolute favorite is when the artist is working on new projects in their booth. It's an opportunity to see how they create the beautiful products they sell. When I walked into Jessica Joy's GOLDYFISH Handbags booth, she was sitting at the sewing machine stitching up a storm. Her booth was filled with unique handbags -- no two exactly the same. She uses a collection of several (hand drafted) patterns to create her handbags, but she uses different fabrics for every... Read more →