Stocking the Shop

My mom recently unloaded some new treasures to put in our Etsy shop. I'm kind of a sucker for collecting jewelry, it's small, and sparkly. Need I say more? My vast collection can be confined to a few shoeboxes without completely overrunning my house. Jewelry is so interesting to me, because rather than something that someone owned and had in their house, they wore it. It lived on them, went with them to glamourous parties, remained with them day-to-day to commemorate a loved one, celebrated a special occasion, perfectly completed an outfit, or left them aghast after receiving it from an eccentric aunt. Jewelry boils down the essence of an age and tells a story. And I collect it all, from Victorian lockets to art nouveau lavalieres, kitschy pins to garish clip on earrings, Rosaries to cocktail rings.

Boom! Done

BAM! I finished the chair and I didn't even have to reupholster it. Surprisingly enough, I fabric painted it with that t-shirt paint, it's still a little stiff but I figure that it will soften a bit with time. It is going to look great with my basement redo. True it has its little flaws, like the three holes in front, but i just painted over them and the paint magically sealed them ha ha! And actually they aren't as noticeable when you see it in person.

I love my Mother...

I love my Mother, she is the epitome of generosity and she has the finder power to boot. She can't resist picking up things or giving people oddities from her own personal collections. Almost every time I visit home or she stops by she drops something off. Yes. The big-eyed cat, owls, locket and bracelet were left on my counter just the other night. The chair, well she took me to Teen Challenge, this hole in the wall thrift locale where if nothing is priced then you name it. I got this awesomely ugly chair for $5 and I've been nearly unable to bring myself to sit in it but I couldn't help but like the form. It's my fixer upper project of the month, and it's nearly done, just wait until you see the transformation!!!! I will definitely be sitting in it now :) Let's turn this Ethel into Edna Mode.

A New Jewelry Collection coming to Relics...

I've been making jewelry for the past 7 years, maybe even longer, I haven't stopped to think about it in a while. I still love making it, it's therapeutic, something about taking these beautiful little shards of chaos and turning them into something even more beautiful and hopefully functional. Recently I met with Deb Opyd from Relics, the hottest little gift stop in Peoria. Deb has serious good taste and travels all over to find just the right selection of unique items, and I would be broke if I were allowed to spend a lot of time there. I showed her my jewelry and said that I could have a trial at selling a special collection there. Relics is having an Open House this weekend Sept 14-16th, so if you are in the mood to see the rest of my unique wares, feel free to stop by, I will be there on Saturday helping out!

A night out on the town

Jared Bartman and Friends is my favorite local band, they span genres, perform amazing original music and a cover here and there, they have the occasional string section and a six month old baby that wears noise-canceling headphones - what's not to love about this band?! I met the lead singer and his wife through Numéro and I've designed two album covers for them. Friday night they played at the Contemporary Art Center downtown and they were fabulous, if you ever get the chance to see them live, do it. I'm partial to their version of "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles and "Born Too Late" by the Ponytails. After the show I hopped over to May Street to visit another new artist spot as a part of CIAO first fridays--local artists open up their galleries for viewing and sometimes showcase live music and food. CIAO first fridays reassure me that Peoria is moving in the right direction as far as the arts go. Some people wonder why some of us artists stay in Peoria, given that the scene is not as developed as the bigger cities, but to that I say, if no one stays then nothing is going to get any better. There is a lot of diversity here, you just have to put forth the effort to support it.

Back to Painting

I have not completed a cohesive body of artwork in a few years now, but I'm slowing edging my way back into painting. My art and hobbies go through phases and lately I've been more into writing lately, as well as jewelry making and maintaining my Etsy shop. This painting I recently did as a gift, was a pleasant exploration of acrylics. What artistic hobby have you explored lately?

Butterfly Effect Album Design

The man who used to occupy the office across the hall from me at work was a videographer and rap artist. He asked me one day to design an album cover for his new music project titled "Butterfly Effect". I still haven't heard any of the music on his album but he had a vague direction and so I came up with this design, he loved it, assignment complete in less than an hour. Those jobs are a blessing because you never quite know how your taste is going to mesh with someone in a completely different field. I should probably do a critique of my favorite album covers, what's your favorite album cover? Or if you have a band (or always dreamed of being in one) I'd be happy to design you an album cover :)

I have several exciting projects in the works for this Labor Day weekend that I will post after the weekend is through but for now I thought I'd post my whopping $6.99 splurge at the Goodwill yesterday. For those who don't know me, I have a shoe fetish. I'm not usually a fan of animal print but I couldn't resist and I think I'm going to wear them to work just for kicks, life is too short for boring shoes. The sun is shining here in Illinois and today consisted of Mass, lots of singing, visiting with friends, and lots of painting. I hope your Sunday is an uplifting one :)

Shades of Grey (not what you're thinking)

So last night I finally finished a book that I've been reading for a year, one of the most complicated and just plain weird books I've ever read. I "reviewed" the book for the Gray Matter issue of Numéro but never actually read the whole thing until now. It's set in a totalitarian, dystopian world 500 years in the future where society is ordered by your color perception, the higher perception, the higher position in society. And everyone's name tells you exactly what sector they are from. The Greys are those in society with basically no color perception and they are the workhorses, forced to serve. The interesting thing that I find about science fiction literature and films that I think the general populace fails to notice at times is that often it exists not just for expressions of imagination and whimsy but for social commentary. They are like parables, revealing more about the way we think and act, and bringing those uncomfortable topics to the forefront in the guise of the unbelievable.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek all those years, after reading a few scripts she began to notice some common thread in the stories. She went to Gene Roddenberry, the director and creator of the series, and said to him, "I know what you're doing, these aren't just space stories, these are morality plays." Gene looked at her, put his finger to his lips and said, "Sshhh," with a smile.

So under the blanket of the colortocracy, killer swans, man-eating plants, smuggling of colors, and dangerous romance, Shades of Grey has a thing or two to say about social prejudice, hierarchy, government control, fear, and original thought. A very interesting read with more twists and turns than a yateveo tree.