French Toast Girl

Please, try a pee

As I had been steadily losing my voice* for the past few weeks due to the constant repetition of key phrases and the high volume in which I have to yell to make myself heard, Paul has made me a couple of handy recordings. This is my favorite one. (The other so far is "Please clear the table." I'm also hoping for the combo "Go try a pee and put on your pajamas".) Please feel free to download it and use it in your house. The secret is to loop it so that they HAVE to go try a pee to so that you will make it stop.

Enjoy!

PleaseTryAPee.mp3

*voice is getting better, thanks

Labels: creativity, family, kids, motherhood

french toast girl

flower girl

I did this one with the kids sitting at the dining room table after school one day. Sophie had a hard day and I wanted to cheer her up, so I sat her down and sketched her sweet face. The kids told me I should make her a fairy, what color to paint the petals, and when I said I wanted to try tea instead of coffee this time, they cheered me on. The bizarre part is that the tea went on pink (Red Zinger), dried a gorgeous slate-greyish-green, and has now over time settled into a more warmish grey. Again... the scan doesn't do it justice, but the detail helps a bit.

Labels: art, creativity, fairies, family

french toast girl

dryad

More coffee, more glitter, more watercolour. The inspiration for this dryad was the creative totem/fertility goddess I created last year in clay - she sits in my studio and just makes me smile. Although I have once been called a dark-eyed naiad, I have a real connection with trees, and I've been looking for more ways to bring nature inside in the cold weather. And what I really need to do is bundle up, go outside more, and BE among the trees.

Labels: art, creativity, inspirations, nature

french toast girl

riding the tiger

A metaphor for my life right now. I'm doing my best to ride in peace, wherever it takes me.

Closeup: coffee, glitter, watercolour. These paintings are making me really happy, how about you?

Labels: art, creativity, illustration, inspirations

french toast girl

the night tree

Inspired by a new favorite Christmas book, The Night Tree, and Soulemama's solstice tree, we set out on New Year's to make our own tree for our little friends. In the book, you think the family's out searching for a Christmas tree, but they're really going into the woods to decorate a special tree for all the animals in the woods.

We made popcorn-and-pomegranate chains, chains of cheerios, orange slices, and the ever-popular pinecones with peanut butter and birdseed. Was it messy? Absolutely. But lots of fun. Sophie finished her string first, so she read us The Night Tree while the rest of us finished up.

Peter and Sophie join hands in front of the two arbor vitae we decorated. As we don't have the woods in our backyard, we thought we'd put the goodies somewhere near a window so the kids could watch the birds.

In the story, after the tree is decorated, the family sings a carol (I think we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and we did it ala A Charlie Brown Christmas with our heads thrown back and noses in the air) and then drinks cocoa. As my kids don't really eat sugar, this suggestion was met with much excitement.

Angela is making the most of her hot chocolate experience.

The view out our window, which now boasts a proper birdfeeder as the kids wanted to feed the birds all year long. The lumpy thing in the corner is a canvas-wrapped amaryllis, which we planted while the girls sang "The Garden Song." You don't know how badly I wished I'd filmed it.

Labels: creativity, family, inspirations

french toast girl

The color of a new year

According to Pantone, the official color of 2008 is Blue Iris, otherwise known as 18-3943.

In a statement, Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said: “Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspects of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic.”

The New York Times (where the above quote comes from) did a write-up featuring the past 7 year's official colors. All of them seem to be variations on red or blue, except for "Sand" which left me pretty cold. So here are my ideas for the color of 2008:

PMS 375: a clear green, the color of new leaves, new growth.

PMS 413: silver.

PMS 130: a citrusy orange, to remind us that life is juicy.

PMS 7504: a woodsy brown, the color of mushrooms, bark and fur.

What color would you pick for the year's color? It doesn't have to be a PMS color, give a hex value, describe it, or just post a link to it.

♥ if you are coming here from Blogger's end-of-the-year writeup, hello! Nice to meet you!

Labels: art, creativity

french toast girl

Illustration Friday: Soar

(Watercolour, pencil, and coffee)

Unlike previous years, when I've done a "Big" list on my birthday, I had no "Big 36" list this year. I've found that making a laundry list on one day of the year makes me feel obligated and doesn't take into account the fact that I change, darnit. But I do like to have a goal and a purpose and a reason to things. In 2007 I tried a lot of things, and some worked, and some didn't. What I want to do this year is to let my focus go to what is most important to me: my family, my artwork, my self. Once I have down a clear set of priorities I can figure out if other things serve my purpose or just distract me from them. For instance, after the craft fair and NaNoBloPoMo, I realized that more than a month had gone by without painting. And for me, painting is a necessity; I was shocked that I had let so many days and nights go by without it. Sure, I spent time on my site, and on scanning in and making prints, and framing things, but not painting. And that's where my heart lies.

I'm working now through this list: the Simple Living Manifesto. I really think it's going to help me focus and get back to basics. Paul's trying to do it as well, including naming Sunday nights Art Night for him as well (although in his case, it'll be Piano Night.) But I love the idea of the two of us filling the house with creative energy from top (me in the Tower) to bottom (his studio is on the first floor) at the same time, while the kids are asleep. We will also be making some plans on what the focus is for our family, as well as planning some regular date nights.

So here's to a new year. And to letting your imagination soar.

Labels: art, creativity, family, illustration friday, inspirations

french toast girl

required reading

In any cases where I've found my work being used without permission, a simple email has cleared everything up. Most times people don't even realize that artwork on the internet can have a copyright. This blog post about Lane Hartwell (and from there, you can find links to several points of view) outlines the dilemma of people who want to share their art on the internet but not have people use it for free simply because it's easy to right-click.

I'm interested to know - if you are an artist, do you care if others use your work in a youtube video? Can people use it as long as they link back to you? If you're on the other side - an appreciator (is that a word?) of art - do you only use work where people have used a Creative Commons license? Or does that not really enter into it?

As for me, I'm pretty easy - if you ask permission, 9 times out of 10 I'll say to go ahead and use it. But that's only if you ask first.

Labels: art, creativity

french toast girl

NaBloPoMo

View my profile on NaBloPoMo

It's that time again! I will be posting every day in the month of November, and you can too! The site's moved, so go here and sign up to get registered. (And then make sure you friend me up and I'll friend you right back!)

Some people are posting on a theme for the month, but I can't think of one single thing people would actually want to read 30 posts on, so I think it's going to be a mixed bag, as usual. Unless anyone has suggestions... ?

Labels: creativity, diversions

french toast girl

a moment, please

Screen cap of test for 2 scans of the unicorn painting that usually hangs in my kitchen.

Spent this weekend on a trip to IKEA for some Christmas shopping, but mostly FRAMES! Mom came, and her help was invaluable, to say the least. She has such a great eye and is incredibly artistic herself, and is one of my biggest cheerleaders. Whenever I would suggest something, she would go one better; I looked at unfinished frames that came in packs but said I wasn't sure to get them, she grabbed them and said, "Tell Daddy what color you want them, he'll paint them for you." (Dad didn't mind being volunteered at all.) When I picked up a frame with a mat cut for three pictures in it and said I could see putting three unicorn or fairy pictures in it, she reached over and got three more. I said, "Do you really think I would sell them?" She said emphatically, "Oh, definitely. Perfect for a little girl's room." Did I add that Mom's manning the table with me? Nobody is going to be able to resist her!

So as I saw the cart full of frames of varying sizes, I started to have a Moment-with -a-capital-M - I rarely see my art framed, hung up, or anything, other than in my own house. Many times I paint, and the artwork just stays in the closet or never makes it out of my sketchbook. The idea of a whole table full of my artwork for people to take home just kind of overwhelmed me for a moment. And then I looked over at my mom, and I knew I was totally taking a step in the right direction.

Labels: art, creativity, family

french toast girl

chalk = graffiti?

I had to share this story, sent by both my brother and Jill: City calls girl's chalk drawing 'graffiti,' issues $300 warning. My favorite quote is where the mother shrugs (because it got washed away by rain) and she says, "It wasn't her best work."

and now, a crafty update
This weekend I went to the art store where I bought tons of frames, those little brackets that people put dishes on (you know, for one picture) and teeny woven baskets to hold business cards. Either that, or tiny silk bags - one iridescent green, one blue, and one deep red - I may have the cards spilling out of them. What else did I get.... baskets with liners, all different sizes, to put Christmas cards and prints in, and a yard of leaf-green chenille/velvet with huge raised flowers on it, to put across the table for color. Should pick up the colors of the framed 16 x 20 fairy print I plan to have on an easel in front of the table nicely. Slowly but surely... this is starting to come together.

Labels: art, crafts, creativity

french toast girl

Illustration Friday: Open

Open, a bookstore and art gallery in Long Beach, California in Long Beach, California is sponsoring this week’s topic, “open“, and in a show opening November 3rd — in less than a month — they will display 25 IF entries. Which 25? That’s up to you, the loverly IF community! You get to vote on your favorites to decide which ones go up on the walls.

(ahem) New painting.

♥ These are the last few days to cast your vote (until Friday 10/19) so if you are so inclined: Go here, and click the text that reads "Vote here for entries on the theme: open". You'll see little stars (wait for them to load, there are a lot of entries!) next to each thumbnail. Clicking on the star turns it red and registers your vote. You must be logged in, and you only get 5 votes. Enjoy!

Labels: art, creativity, illustration friday

french toast girl

Step-by-step

A few years ago, I documented step-by-step my endeavors to get my Christmas cards, including finishing up a new one, to the printer (start at 10/13 and work your way up if you want to read). I was pregnant with twins and had a 8-month old that needed surgery, but I was determined that if nothing else, these darn things were going to get printed or I would die trying. So I held myself accountable by posting every night what I had done for the day, just to keep myself moving forward.

So now I have two large items on my plate that I want to get done in the month of October:

1. To have all the Christmas shopping done (yes, I know y'all think I am insane, but I like to have it done super-early so that I can spend more time making cookies and watching Rudolph and enjoying my family). November is for cards and wrapping and making stuff.

2, which is way more urgent: I am doing a craft fair in the second week of November. I have never done anything like this before. So, other than knowing I want to bring my holiday cards and prints to sell, I have to figure out all the other details - what else do I want to make? (I'm thinking magnets and possibly magic wands.) Do I paint anything new for this? How will I present it all? Holey moley, I need business cards, so I better send those out first so I have them back on time.... see what I'm talking about? Massive amounts of planning will be needed, and then swift action. Oh yes, and heaps of creativity, which I'm not worried about so much as being too tired to carry an idea out.

So. I'm going to post here, every day, some sort of accountability note that I did something towards one or both of my goals for that day. You might learn something new, or you might be an old hand at this and have great ideas to pass on. In any case, don't be shy and feel free to comment.

And if nothing else, I hope this message comes through... you can do pretty much anything if you have a plan and work hard.

Labels: art, creativity

french toast girl

Snapshots around the studio

Alice In Wonderland painting for David T. This pic is older, just acrylic and coffee, now there's way more color. I will post more in-progress pics as I take 'em.

Unicorns, natch.

I think a fairy's going in this tree. Note the Henson poster to the side, waiting to get hung on the wall.

The painting for Petey with 25 more birds. I also painted him, by request, a chocolate-chip cookie; so that's up on the wall as well.

Hmmmm... I get the feeling that I like to paint trees, unicorns, and I like the color blue. :)

What are you working on now?

Labels: art, creativity

french toast girl

The week of magical thinking

Me and Sophie in PJs, in the backyard.

This past week I started an experiment that's been so successful I'm doing it for another week (and another, and another.... ). It's rather simple: whenever I have a choice, I ask myself what the most succulent option is. Every time I can, I try to make something everyday, more magical, more artistic, more creative. I found I was getting into a bit of a rut and this has helped lots.

So, for example....

♥ Flowery sundresses win out every time over jeans shorts and a tank top.

♥ I wore my "good" jewelry even though nobody was going to see it except us.

♥ I spent a few extra minutes to do something with my hair that did not involve me pulling it quickly out of my face into a ponytail. Braids, jewelled barettes, you name it.

♥ Meals, with a little planning, have been more exciting ... penne with broccoli rabe and soy sausage; tortellini with homemade spinach pesto, black olives, and salmon; tofu, grilled veggies, and couscous. I baked two loaves of bread and the house smelled wonderful. And I had wine with dinner! We've always eaten healthy, but this week we ate dinners with more creative flair. I even packed myself nice lunches so that I could look forward to it the next day (instead of my usual scrounge around the fridge).

♥ "The fairies" left another note in the backyard for the kids.

♥ I cleaned like mad, did some redecorating, bought lots of frames and took care of some paintings that have been waiting to be hung up for years. I also got into a very "zen" mindset about mat-cutting (usually stresses the heck out of me) and cut beautiful, stress-free mats instead!

♥ I found old paintings and gave them new life - one painting that originally had two birds in a tree, got 25 more brightly-colored friends. :)

I had a few other simple guidelines:

♥ I would paint every day.
♥ I would spend some time, by myself, in nature every day.
♥ I would write in my journal, every day.

And PJs in the backyard? Always a succulent choice.

Labels: art, creativity, family, inspirations

french toast girl

pass it on

I got the loveliest email from Jo and her class about their own adventures in chalking, and she was kind enough to give me permission to share the story here. (Hi class! You guys are fantastic chalkers!) It put a huge grin on my face; I hope it does the same for you.

[Jo says.... ] I asked them what they would write if they were allowed to. Some just wanted to see their name, others wanted instructions (danger road!) but most of the girls wanted to make people smile with cool pictures and nice words.

We had a good chat about graffiti and how this version was not permanent and all the better for that.

Then they got into groups of two or three, chose a word or a phrase and set to. We decided to have a go in our 'secret garden' so that it wasn't so public as it was our first try.

The results are amazing. Some of the children started small and then discovered they had no limitations; it wasn't like using a piece of paper. we were out for a hour and everyone concentrated for the whole time...not bad for a group of seven and eight year olds.

They were so delighted with what they had done, they wanted to show everyone. The best view was from an upstairs form room but you had to get close to appreciate the detail and the joy in every inch.

Sadly the rain came a few hours later, but not before we had recorded our 'adventures in chalking'

Hope you like the results ... We are now plotting more 'Phantom chalking'

Labels: creativity, inspirations

french toast girl

Create a totem.

Part two of the "Exorcise a creative demon" exercise (ha! how often do you get to use those two words together in a sentence?) is to make a creatitivty totem. Because of the deep connection I feel with this painting of mine, I thought about how I could interpret this into something 3d that could sit on my desk or drafting table, and not be so fragile it would fall over.

I thought, a doll! I need to sew! But then I realized I wanted it small enough to sit in the palm of my hand, so I stopped mid-iron (I didn't want her to have wrinkles!), unplugged the iron, and ransacked the house for any kind of modelling material. You would think with 3 preschoolers I would have lots of stuff, but all I could find was brightly colored Play-Doh and I wanted white. All I could find was the world's tiniest can of white. I was so frustrated! So I sketched out what I wanted to make, and waited, rather impatiently.

Finally the weekend came, and even though there wasn't really any time for me to go to the art store, I threw dinner in the oven, gave Paul instructions on what to do with it, and ran (with his blessing). I can't really explain this whole thing except to say that there was another force guiding me and urging me to create. As long as I listened to it, things were good. When I denied it, I got cranky. Very cranky.

I grabbed 10 lbs of clay at the art store and ran home just as dinner was cooling on the stove top. We ate dinner, put the kids to bed, and I escaped upstairs to my studio to GET TO IT. I am by no means a sculptor, so I decided ahead of time to forgive myself and all my mistakes, and just go for it. I spread out all my newspapers and supplies, and opened the box to see that I had not, as I thought, bought 10 pounds of white clay, but instead, bought 10 pounds of brown clay. I took a deep breath, decided that for whatever reason, I was supposed to have brown instead of white, and dug in. Wrapping it back up and returning it to the store was not an option.

I let go of any preconceived notion about what this was supposed to look like, and just started. I thought, dryad. Nurturer. Mother. My figure initially was too girly and I added more and more curves so that she was more fertile and weighted. I made the bird separately, originally so that I could paint the figure better. But now I think that the bird won't always sit there. I want to fill that lap with flowers, shiny rocks, acorns... whatever I find on my walks that speaks to me for the day. When I finally stood up and looked at her, I realized I had created a fertility goddess.

I'm quite pleased with her, but she's not done yet; I plan to paint her vine-y hair green and brown and those tiny leaves bright green; her legs and lap dark brown and black, and paint tree branches growing up her front and winding around her arms.

Or maybe I'll just live a spell with her as she is, naturally. It really doesn't matter because I simply can't mess this up. This is all about the act of creating. As long as I'm creating, and honoring my creative spirit, there are no mistakes.

Labels: art, creativity, WITW

french toast girl

Exorcise a demon.

So my demon is that I constantly compare my work to other people's -- if I'm not in the perfect frame of mind, I see how everyone else's art is so perfect, well-known, ground-breaking, acknowledged... and I can't create anything, it just freezes me up instead of inspiring me and lighting a creative fire under me. I sit and watch bad TV and eat potato chips instead of painting up a storm.

So.... what I did was take a stock photo promo that had come in the mail with lots of other people's work on it. I cut a monster's shape out of it, with horns, big claws, a pointy tail. (My kids, by the way, were fascinated and wanted ones for themselves.)

Then I painted green over him (for envy, natch), and splashed some red paint in the general vicinity of where its heart would be. And a little coffee.

I wrote all over the back of it with my feelings of jealousy and inandequacy, hole punched him a few times in the heart (take that!) and then burned him and watched him writhing on the fire. HA! We made a little ceremony out of it.

Not only was it fun to create this little demon, it was quite fun destroying it. I could have buried it in the snow, ripped it to shreds, spit on it, run over it with the car... my only complaint about the fire was that it burned rather quickly, for all that effort!

But isn't what this is about? I put in all this effort into whining and feeling inadequate, when I really had the power to banish all of that in an instant.

(Tomorrow.... the Creativity Totem makes an appearance.)

Labels: art, creativity, WITW

french toast girl

Task: Perform an Exorcism

I haven't been blogging at all about "Walking in This World", mainly because I've been too darn busy doing the tasks and keeping up with the others in our group online to get to post much. We are just starting Week 10, which astounds me, because it means I'm in the homestretch! And what an amazing journey it's been!

Anyway, this task is too good not to share, and I invite anyone at home to try this and share your story here. I'll be sharing in parts, as soon as I can get my images off the digital camera and loaded here. I suggest you do both parts of this task.

1. Exorcise a creative demon: Reflect on a creative injury and make a creativity monster embodying all the nasty elements of your tormentor. Then destroy it! MUAH-HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!

2. Create a creativity totem: Make a being that embodies all the spiritual forces you would like to muster to your support. And then give it the honor it deserves.

I will be sharing mine here in the next few days. Can't wait to hear what others have come up with!

Labels: art, creativity, WITW

french toast girl

ART, iNSPiRATiON, AND WHY LiFE iS LiKE FRENCH TOAST.