"Wire" my new addiction

My finger tips may never be the same. I can't begin to tell you how many spools of wire I've twisted in the last few weeks. It started out innocently enough, I thought it would only be one little wire birdhouse, but no, I was hooked the first time I felt the cool smoothness between my fingers. Now I hangout at the local  hardware store, just looking for the right gauge 18, 20, 24, I love them all. My hands just have to be busy all the time, they never just let me sit still, they have to be twisting something, it might be a birdcage, a house, or maybe a flower. Whatever it is, I love to see the end result. Well this strange addiction has taken me into a new type of mixed media, that I'm really enjoying. It has been a great addition to the vintage line of art I've been working on. Several of these framed pieces were sold to a great store in Arroyo Grande called "Serendipity". They look lovely hanging on their pale green walls. Time to stop writing, I hear the wire calling.

Lisa Kaus Workshop

 Much too pretty to mess-up

Fun Goodies

Work in progress

Don't mess with Texas (say cheese)

More talented Artists

Vickie and Cindy

Vickie and my Artwork

Second day of workshop

A few weeks ago I was in Southern California taking a Lisa Kaus workshop with my friend Vickie. I was in heaven, two whole days to learn and create. When we first looked into the room, I thought we were in the wrong place. The room was setup and decorated for what looked like a ladies luncheon, or maybe a bridal shower. But no it was for us. Kim Caldwell did a fantastic job of setting the tone for a great weekend. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Kim's events, you won't be disappointed. Lisa was a good teacher and I loved her style. She uses a lot of squares in her work, like I do. There were about thirty women in the class, and everyone was thrilled with their finished work.

Bring on Summer

I'm not sure how you feel, but I'm so ready for summer to be here. Only one more week of getting up and rushing out the door to get the kids to school. We were talking in the car this morning about all the things we can do this summer. I told them that we needed to hit the ground running, because there were so many things I wanted to get done. I'm sure they were both rolling their eyes as soon as they heard the phrase " hit the ground running", and were thinking to themselves, here we go again, Mom and all her big plans. They would love to sleep, eat, play videos, and watch TV. Then wake up the next day and start it all over again. But where does that get you? You wake up sometime in late August, and say where did the summer go? Not this year, we will look back and say "wow look at all the projects we got done, what a great summer!" Ok I'm not so bad, we'll fit some fun in there also. Whatever we do, we will do it together, and it will be fun. Because I'm Mom and I said so. PS, do you like my latest polymer and tempered glass window?
 

CREATE

I've had a very busy  week. I made everything you see in these pictures from Monday morning to Friday night. I will be attaining Cloth Paper Scissors "CREATE" retreat next week. On Thursday a friend and I will be taking Alisa Burke's class on stamp carving, I'm looking forward to that.  On Friday I will be part of a vendor's fair. I already had a pretty good amount of artwork and nick knacks, but I wanted to add some polymer elements, that other artists could purchase and add to their mixed media art. I'm hoping to meet other artists, and make some new friends at this event. If you are planning to be at Create next week, come by my booth and say hi. I hope you will be amazed by the variety, color, and texture of my art.


 

First Art Show of 2011

Soft Vintage colors

My new concrete cupcake, designed to go in your garden.

Wool Roving

Something bright and cheerful

Well, the art show season is under way. Last Sunday we were at Shell Beach Art in the Park. I was happy with my new products and setup, but  not very pleased with the weather. It turned out to be very windy, not a surprise, wind is the only negative about this venue, especially in the spring. If you live around the Central Coast of California, we will be at the Mother's Day show on Sat. and Sun., in the walnut grove behind the Halcyon Store in Arroyo Grande. Later this month I will be at the Cloth Paper Scissor Create Retreat in Costa Mesa on the 20th. On the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Memorial weekend I will be in Morro Bay Art in the Park. It's just the beginning of a crazy month. I promise to start up workshops in June. If you are interested email me at crimsonheartstudios@verizon.net. Hope to see you soon. PS I would really love to hear from you, if you have time to leave a comment. Thanks, Cindy

Faith Hope Love

I'm so excited, a friend and I are going to be taking a workshop given by Lisa Kaus  at the end of  June. I love her whimsical style and also the bright colors she uses in her art. It's been several years since I've taken a class, and I'm so over due. Just stopping and cruising Lisa's blog inspired me to combine our styles in these two projects. I just couldn't wait until June, so I just had to fake it. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Faith, Hope, and Love will be hanging in a church lobby in a week, and the little houses will be for sale at up coming art shows. If you are not familiar with Lisa's work check out her blog, you won't be disappointed.

Sweet Little Village

I love this project, I just have to smile every time I look at it. I found these wooden blocks a few months ago, while cleaning out closets. Some of the blocks belonged to my husband, and some to my kids. We kept them at our Grandmother's  "AKA Grandma Noodle" house. Whenever we would go to visit her, the kids would play with them on her turquoise shag carpet. Austin would build the city, and Godzilla, I mean Annie would knock it down.  I recently submitted these photos to be considered in a holiday magazine. We'll have to see what happens there. I thought it would make a great center or mantle piece. The snow is laundry detergent, it's kind of messy, but smells good. To me this was the prefect re-purposing project, that hopefully will be passed down to our kids. My husband grew up to be an architect. I'm not to sure what my kids will grow up to be. Maybe they will go into showbiz and  remake all the old Godzilla movies.

Vintage Bird Planters

Last week I found these cute little ceramic birds marked down to $1.25 at Michael's. There were four left so I bought them all. This morning I put together these two planters as gifts. They had brown clay pots at the hardware store, just the right color. I brought them home and using rubber stamps and cream colored acrylic paint, I stamped a script and an angel  motif onto the pots and trays. Next I made a polymer base and put polymer roses around it's edge. Last I hot glued the ceramic bird and centered it into the succulents that I planted while the polymer was baking. This was a fast and easy project that gives a lot of bang for your buck.