It's Monday.

I actually don't really mind Mondays. Work is slow, we don't receive very much freight and things just seem more relaxed.

I also have three days of art making to look forward to.

Little Squirrel

Last week I received an e-mail from local shop Tilde asking if I'd like to be the featured artist for April. One of their scheduled artists couldn't make it and so I was asked and of course I said yes!

So, I have a couple of weeks to put together a show from all of the animal pieces that I've been working on. I'm really excited to show the originals. I've been loving this series and I want to share them with everyone.

I do want to create a few more pieces the show. There's always that chance of added pieces looking awkward with the rest of the series, but I'm going to try to avoid that as much as I can. Maybe I'll set all the pieces around me while I work. And maybe if I'm aware of the weirdness that sometimes happens, I can avoid it.

Narwhal Etching

I've been working on some new etching prints, and I'm experimenting with collage and maybe beeswax. I don't really know where I'm going with it, but I love the juxtaposition of the etching with the collage. I'm going to keep working with it and see what kind of results I can achieve.

fox. Etching with collage and paint.

I'd love to make a book with the etchings and maybe include some sewing. I have a lot of ideas about this and I wish there were more hours in the day.


Well, Monday calls and I have work to get ready for. Happy Monday, friends.

Let's go. Let's Fall in Love. Let's Toss Our Cares away. Forever.

I started to feel very upset, overwhelmed and over worked today. I couldn't get my camera to upload some photos and I sorta kinda lost my composure. Tears, and anger, and lots of swearing.

Yes.

I felt like running away. I just wanted to drive and drive forever. I felt tired of schedules, deadlines and the general day in and day out of everday. I wanted to feel that new love feeling for something. I wanted to just leave everything behind and toss every little care/worry away. 

Done. I think.

I managed to pull myself together. Finished cleaning the house. Took Chloe for a walk. Took many deep breaths and realized how ridiculous I was being. It is easy to get to this point. I've been working a lot and not getting the best sleep. Not a good combo.

More of this.

I sat down at my desk and thought, "How can I run away, feel that feeling when you first fall in love and AND (big and) toss my cares away?"

Well, I just started tearing and gluing and painting and making marks. It's quite amazing how 2 hours and a box of scrap paper can make me feel so much better. It really is the little things.



I want to make more of these collages. I used to make so many when I was in school. I loved it. I love finding that perfect piece that just makes the piece. I love gluing and tearing and making marks with my pencil. I need to do more. So much more.

Share Time

I'll Protect You

I have new art! I actually have a lot of new work, but I'll share that later.

Remington Rand Love

Chickadee 58

So here they are. New things! Maybe you'll like them. Maybe you won't. Maybe they'll make you smile, or maybe they'll make you angry. Maybe they'll inspire you. Maybe you'll think they're boring. However they make you feel, I hope they make you feel something.

You can find the Chickadee here and Remington Rand here. 

Happy Wednesday folks!

Wake Up

Trying to wake up this morning. It's a work day so I don't think that is contributing to my sleepiness. I always seem to want to sleep in on the days I have to be at work...

Number 51

You Can Stay as Long as You Need

It's also very grey and rainy outside and that is not helping the situation either.
Sunshine, please don't hide out for too long. My garden needs you. I need you.

In other news, I've added two new pieces to my Etsy shop! Yes! Here and here.
I feel like I return to collage because it is such a meditative process for me. I rip and tear paper and find places for them on a small piece of paper. alone the torn bits of paper are just that. Together, they make up an odd pattern. They become cohesive. a lot like a quilt. So, I tend to return to this medium when I want to make art, but I don't know where to start.


anyway, I hope you enjoy them as well! Have a great Wednesday.

Collage

Happy Wednesday!

I've been adding some new pieces to my shop the past couple of days! Yay! I like adding new work.

These pieces were in the Ristretto Roasters show that I had this past summer. I sold quite a few, but these were the ones that didn't find homes...

I'm hoping to add some brand new items, that I've been working on, tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great day! 

The start of tiny arts.

The start of tiny arts.
Originally uploaded by michele_maule
I've been asked to participate in a tiny art show at Tilde, in Sellwood, this coming December!

I got started on working on these 4x4" panels today. I'm thinking about doing 6 collage pieces, and 6 simpler pieces.

We'll see. I'm focusing on what I want to create rather than what I feel people will want to see. The ongoing struggle of an artist/people pleaser :)

I've been taking a lot of time to mull my art over. Taking my time, writing, and wandering around the city. I'm hoping to absorb all the inspiration that I can from the place I live.

In other news, I found another lump on Chloe last week. I'm taking her in to the vet tomorrow. Send good, positive, thoughts our way. Not that we'll need them, because it's just a weird little bump, right? :)

Collage

Hey!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the work I'm doing for the Ristretto show :)

My focus is on, neighborhood, neighbors, and the place we live.

Two New

It's time for a beer and some Thursday evening television. 30 Rock is on! Yes! I love Tina Fey. So much. :)

Here are my two newest. You can find them here.

and with that, I say good night!

Art.

Okay, so on Friday I went over to Megan Chapman's Blog, to read her weekly post.
When I got there, I was a little surprised at what I saw...

She had posted several of her early works, and I was completely floored because they all looked so similar to my work. It's seriously creepy, but in a good way! :D

So I thought I would post some of my earlier works as well. You can see the all here, on my Flickr page.
These are pretty similar, but, I have several paintings at home in Portland, that I swear are pretty much identical...I wish I had some photos of them.

Oh well.
Anyway, looking at some of my earlier work has really made me think about my work now, and the direction it's going...
I will admit that I am really confused about where it is going.
I really enjoy some aspects of my early work, but I also really enjoy many of the aspects of the work I am doing now. I love the drawing, and illustrating that I am doing, and I would love to continue that. I also love many of the collage elements that are going on in my earlier work.

I feel like I have so many ideas, and so many things that I want to do, and there just isn't enough time or energy in the day to do them all.

Sitting here looking at this work, and thinking about my current work is a bit frustrating.
Maybe I just need to go bigger. Like, 16x20" or 4'x4' or even bigger...

I sometimes just feel like I have no idea what the hell I am doing.
Oh well. Just under the four month mark before the big move, and I gotta stay focused.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday. :)

Unmotivated!

No motivation today.

I cleaned my apartment, and had big plans for making things today...
Then I actually sat down to do stuff, and well, really not feeling it.

Today got off to a rough start. I really thought I was going to be wallowing in my own self pity for the entire day. Missing home, missing friends...but then Mikey came home with a soy latte and news of a financial aid check that they overlooked at the beginning of the semester :)
So I quickly got over myself.
Soy lattes and money make things so much better!

yay! Rent is paid! Well, it was going to be paid anyway, but this makes things much better this month.

Anyway, not a lot of work done today, but I did get quite a few things posted in my Etsy shop. If you get a second, go take a look!

Hope everyone is having a good Friday, and hope everyone has a great weekend.

Something Different

Hey!

It's a really beautiful Thursday afternoon here in good old Pontiac, Michigan.
I am really excited because I got a message from my friend Nate yesterday, and he might come visit! yay! He's going on a road trip from Portland to New York and he might stop by on his way :)

Yay! It's always so nice to see familiar faces. My friend Nishiki is going to grad school in Indiana, and is moving out here next month...so hopefully we can get together too.

So I finished this painting today. Something different. I originally made this into a screen print, but I have the wrong kind of black ink, so I will have to get some regular acrylic ink...anyway, I really like the screen print so I thought I would make a painting out of it. I like it!

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Ho Hum

Yeah.
It's one of those days.

Good new is that it is exactly one month until my birthday!

I love my birthday...

Saturday

What a beautiful day!
It was 40 degrees and sunny all day.

Chloe got not one but two walks in today!

Ok, so New York. I really really want to go the Etsy weekend that is going on May 17-18th in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. My friend lives there, with his girlfriend, and he said I was welcome to stay with them whenever. So I am going to do it. I am really excited. I wasn't going to go. We don't really have the money to do it, but I feel like this is such a great opportunity. Butch is going to be moving back to Portland in June, and I feel like if I don't do it now, I'll never get a chance to go. So, I am going to do it. I don't know how I am going to pay for it, but I am going to make it happen.

So that's that.
I got a lot of work done today, and need to do some more.
I had to take a break though. I got a little painting of an iron done, and I want to post it on Etsy tonight.

Things have been a little slow going over in the Etsy shop, but I have a couple of custom orders that I need to start working on.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Mini Art

I made a lot of art today. Yay for me!

I decided that I would make some collages on printmaking paper for my shop.
When I was in college I worked really really small. I loved it. I still work relatively small, but that's due to a number of factors I won't really get into right now. Anyway, they measure 2.5" X 3.5" and they are just some mixed media collage pieces.

They are very reminiscent of the work I was doing in school. I find this way of work so cathartic for me. Tearing paper, painting it down, all while not really thinking about it or planning it out. Just making something almost subconsciously. Really getting lost in my thoughts and later looking down to discover what I made. It sounds kinda weird and almost hippy like...but I remembered how much I really like working like this.

So you can check them out in my shop. All together I made 8, but I felt only 6 were really successful.

I remembered this little cupboard I made for one of my book arts classes when I was working today. I had forgotten how much I love it and loved making it. I found the cupboard itself at a Ross Dress for Less and collaged it with the graphic design paper samples that I had gotten for a class. Then I made all the tiny little books to go inside. There are little photos on the inside of the doors that are just the contact sheets I got from the photolab. They are pictures of San Diego and Disneyland...

So yeah. That was my day. You can see the destruction of my house in my photos. Ah! Working at home has so many joys....I had more pictures, but my computer is hiding them for me. It likes to see me get angry.