Margot Mondays - Advent calendar part I

Monday is the one full day of the week that I have with Margot. She is in preschool the rest of the week and so it's a precious day. However, like many of you, I also have work to get done, groceries to buy, dishes to do, laundry to wash, and email to check. Many Mondays are spent doing far too much busy work. I have missed connecting with my kids through art making (one of the original ideas behind this blog)  and so I thought - let's make Monday all about Margot. 

I know it's Tuesday and I'm a little late getting this Margot Monday kicked off, but to be honest I didn't think of Margot Monday until the wee hours of Tuesday morning! So here we are, and I want to show you what we did yesterday. 

Margot loves art projects just as much as I do, and so we came up with a fly by the seat of your pants Advent calendar idea. This week we used stamps, ink, and glue to make envelopes for each day of December and Margot painted clothes pegs to hang them up with. Next week we will do the really fun part of dumpster diving (or walking to our local grocery store and asking) for a palette to break up and use for the back of the calendar.

Come back next Monday (or probably Tuesday) for the next installment.

Sunday studios - flat files

Hello!

I'm pining after some flat files. Do you have any? Are they useful? I've twice been offered some, and have missed both opportunities. I'm kicking myself now. I'm salivating over these wooden ones I saw on Blissful blog, 

Photo: Diana Lovring

and this set that looks a little worse for wear, but very loved and still functional.

  

I have a  feeling I may be more in the Ikea budget range, but you never know what you might stumble on. I love this use of multiple files to create a large work space. The photo is from this interior design firm, but it looks like a possible Ikea hack to me. 

I will leave you with this exquisite set of drawers. They are part of the collection of Alketas Pazis, who runs a  prop house in Greece.  Follow the link to see his exquisite showroom. The collection is extraordinary.

sunday studios

Jenny Saville in her studio

 ‘Motherhood has also taught me to cut the crap. I used to come in and make coffee, read the paper, have lunch. Time was fluid and I probably wasted it. Now I come in, take off my coat and start.’ -taken from royalacademy.org.uk

Irene Lagut in her studio, Paris, 1922

One of Picasso's most famous works, The Lovers (1923), is based on their relationship which began in 1916 and continued, on and off for many years.

sunday studio

Here's a new idea: Sunday studios. I've been finding studios on Pinterest that I'd love to work in. I do love to have a good browse and pin, but I also miss the flick of a magazine page and the surprise and sense of discovery there was in it. On Pinterest you just expect to find inspiring things. It takes a little of the joy out of it for me. BUT...

I'm not going to complain when I find such a sweet space as this. It took me a little while to find the source (another thing that bugs me about Pinterest), but finally I traced it back to a ceramic artist who's space is named "Up in the air somewhere" studio. They make exquisite ceramic vessels, but it would be hard not to in a space like this. I love the windows, quirky floor, cluster of lights and collection of mis-matched tables.

So long Sunday.

it's that day again

I'm thankful it's Friday, but also kind of wishing it was Tuesday as I have so much to do. I'm trying to stay in the moment and be present for my daughter painting next to me, and take in the trees changing color outside my studio window, but all I can think about is the fact that I have things to print, and make, and do do do!

Slow down I want to yell at my freaky self. It. will. all. happen. SO first things first - here's a Freak Flag for Friday. It's a fun one I think. Circles are always happy for me, as well as the color green.

You can purchase a print of this collage on my etsy shop. I've done a lot of updating recently to include some new prints, and hopefully in the near future, some tea towels and cards. You can click on the link to the right to see the shop, but here's a preview of some of the goodies you can find there.

Have a great weekend. 

Remember to crunch the leaves, 

carve a pumpkin 

and smell the crisp Fall/Autumn air. 

Freak Flag Friday

It's been a while since I did a

Let

Your

FREAK

flag

FLY

painting and post. It was fun to do this one as I was thinking about what makes people call someone a freak, especially children about one another. Red hair, weird clothes, lone wolf behavior - all of these things are, in fact, intriguing, beautiful and unique. 

Let that freak flag fly, and while you are at it, don't try to control everything so that you miss the gifts in front of your nose.

Have a great weekend.

xo

back, and in the studio

Hi. 

I'm back.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a little caravan in the woods?

A quiet spot to think.

Mist in the trees.

Mossy scents

Birds and small creature sounds.