Have you ever used reflective Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV)? I tried it out for the first time and I had my doubts. I mean, other than reflective stripes on bikes or running clothes, I just wasn't sure what I'd do with it. However, after some experimenting, I'm a fan now. The reflective nature of the HTV is like a fun bonus that makes your handmade objects that much more special. This weekend, I made this super fun bag... ....which totally transforms with the addition of light in a dark room... The reflective HTV changes color when the light flashes across... Read more →

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. It's a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered. We are headed to our local town parade where, no doubt, there will be lots of American Flags being carried. Over the years, I've created a number of artistic flags -- aka, not totally accurate to what the flag actually looks like, but close enough that you get what it is. This one is from my art journal in 2014: As you can see, it's a flag with some artistic license taken. Instead of stars, the white script ends... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Check the blog archives for posts going back to the first Art Journal... Read more →

You may recall that Steve and I took pottery classes before we had a baby. I love the pottery that we made and use it often in our daily life. When we took the classes we talked about getting a wheel and a kiln. But it never happened. So, recently, I decided to give air-dry clay a try. I did a lot of research and decided to go with Crayola-brand air-dry clay (there are others). Here are some things to know about air-dry clay: Air-dry clays harden within a few days and do not need to be fired in a... Read more →

I am currently working on a massively large (for me) art quilt. It has gone through 10,000 iterations. At the moment, this is my favorite arrangement: But it all could change tomorrow. To get a sense of the scale, you can watch this 12-second video: And here are a few close-up photos. It's almost all hand painted, hand stamped, hand dyed, and/or hand screen printed fabric. I'm currently taking a "class" with Irene Roderick that's all about personal style. I put "class" in quotes because it's more of a critique group. Each week Irene gives a short lecture about some... Read more →

Massive Four-Month Art Supply Subscription Box Unboxing! My year-long Scrawlr Box subscription has come to an end. I saved the last four boxes, unboxed them all at once, and had an art supply party! You can learn about all the supplies -- and which ones I liked and didn't -- in this massive Four-Month Art Supply Subscription Box Unboxing Video: As promised, here's a list of all of the supplies in the boxes: Derwent Chromaflow Pencils: http://shrsl.com/3io06 Uni PIN Extra Fine Brush Pen (Black): https://amzn.to/39dPGBO Staedtler Metal Double Sharpener: https://amzn.to/39iwsLd Factis P36 Eraser: https://amzn.to/3wp3CAP Marabu Markers Alpha Robot Set: http://shrsl.com/3io0m... Read more →

As part of my ongoing series about artists I admire, I wanted to share a bit about California artist, Anna Valdez. photo source From the Hashimoto Contemporary website: Anna Valdez (b. 1985) is a multi-disciplinary artist who examines the relationship between objects, cultural formation, and collective consciousness. Creating epic tableaux in her studio, Valdez moves seamlessly between still life and landscape painting, collecting objects and making new ones, and cultivation, observation, and fictionalization. Valdez received her MFA in painting from Boston University in 2013 and her BA in Anthropology and Art from University of California, Davis in 2009. Her work... Read more →

I stumbled across a pair of excellent videos from artist, Alice Mumford... ...and I had to share them with you. In the videos she asks the question: Are you a dabber or a slabber? I won't be as eloquent as she is in the videos, but the quick and dirty version is: A dabber builds up a painting over time in small bits and pieces with consistent attention. A slabber creates artwork with large shapes, often in a short and intense period of time. And, of course, many of us are both dabbers and slabbers. Alice shares a host of... Read more →

This past weekend my local quilt guild held its biennial quilt show. (Special shout out to blog reader, Martha, for coming by to say hello when I was working the mini quilt table!) I thought I'd share a peek at some of my favorite quilts (and quilted pieces) from the show: There was a great mix of traditional and art quilts. I, personally, tend to gravitate towards the art quilts -- which you can see in these photos. Here are links to some of the quilters websites/social media where I could find them. I also included links to the quilt... Read more →

Hello friends! I have an enormous amount of artwork that I've made in the past six months. I've been a busy bee and I'm excited to share. You can expect to see lots more over the coming weeks. I've shared all of the paintings on this wall, except for the one in the center. There's something so wonderful about seeing lots of pieces of your work hanging on a wall, even if it is an imaginary wall! This piece has lovely deep edges (it's a 12x12 wood panel), but was spectacularly difficult to photograph because I finished it with a... Read more →