Mockingbird

This is my entry for LibertyTown's "Bird's the Word". The idea is to incorporate art and words having to do with birds. I chose the traditional lullaby, "Hush Little Baby".

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,

Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And it that mockingbird won't sing,

Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,

Daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke

Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won't pull,

Daddy's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull turn over,

Daddy's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,

Daddy's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Awesome Blaaazh!

I was getting in touch with my inner pirate girl while working on an assemblage piece.
My daughter said, "Mom, it really sounds like you're bragging when you say that."
"Assemblage? It's the proper term -- it's a french word."
She did the preteen eye roll and replied, "Mom, awesome is not french!"

She thought I was referring to my work as Awsome Blazh. As in the most awesome blazh, ever, dude!

Anyway... at the end of May, I had a great time taking an awsome blazh class with Michael deMeng at Angela's Happy Stamper in Reston, Virginia. We had a full house of students working on Cave of Pages creations. Everyone left with a fantastic piece, or a very good start on one.

Can you see the burnt edge effect on the piece on the far right? That was achieved using washes. My piece was still looking kind of bare at the end of the class, but I came home and went to town with the washes.

I also used lots of mica, after learning the "Mysterious Frozen Caveman Trick". It is also featured in deMeng's newest book, Dusty Diablos, Folklore, Iconography, Assemblage, Olé.

The words say, Bloody Bess and her girls longed to return to the open sea.

And no piece of mine would be complete without some broken jewelry and a heapin' helpin' of epoxy clay.

I still have lots of leftover pirate-y things. I think I feel another pirate blazh comin on, mateys!

Leslie Brier, Custom Collage work

This is a detail of a custom collage piece that I did for the adorable Miss Taylor.

Taylor's mom and I met at the Hurkamp Park art show, where I was showing my collage titled "Spring". The girl in the picture reminded her of her daughter. We decided that I would recreate the piece with a few minor changes. I made the hair longer and parted on the side, and changed the word "spring" to the name "Taylor".

It was refreshing to recreate a piece. It felt good to be confident every step of the way because I had already made my design decisions when I created the original artwork. It also gave me an opportunity to make little adjustments that probably wouldn't be noticeable to anyone but me. How often in life do you get a do-over?

Doesn't this remind you of the flowers in the collage? This pin is a gift from my friend Elizabeth Woodford. She creates these fabulous flowers from discarded cashmere sweaters. They are so soft to the touch, and so glamorous! I've been finding all sorts of ways to wear mine. It's my new favorite accessory.

If you'd like one, (or ten) she has them for sale at the LibertyTown Emporium here in Fredericksburg. They will definitely be on my shopping list for the holidays!

Thomas Mann, Art and Soul, and the FOS

I decided that this year at Art and Soul, I would get back to my jewelry-making roots, and learn some new techniques. The first class that I took was an evening class with Thomas Mann, "Learn to Saw". I had limited experience using a jeweler's saw, and had found it very frustrating. The course description guaranteed we'd be sawing like pros by the end of the evening, and we weren't disappointed. I left feeling very proud of myself, and eager for the next day's class, Thomas Mann's Found Object Sandwich Brooch - The FOS.

I came to class prepared with an image, and some found objects, and I was ready to go. Until it was actually time to make something, and then my plan sort of fell apart.

I just had one of those days where nothing came easily to me. I lost a little piece of filigree that I'd brought with me that was a key part of my design. I left at lunchtime to set up my table for vendor night,raced back to the classroom, and got back to work, but I had missed some key information while I was gone. Luckily, I had some of the sweetest classmates in the world, who were kind enough to help me out. I left the class frustrated, with an unfinished piece.

Many of my classmates wore their gorgeous creations to vendor night. A lot of beautiful work came out of that class and it was wonderful to see the variety of FOS pins that were created.

I left my unfinished FOS in my studio, and experienced a feeling of dread every time I walked past it. Last week, I found a new piece of filigree at a local bead store, and some bead caps that looked like flowers when they were opened up. Last night I sat down and completed my piece.

I thought it would take me about 30 minutes, and it ended up taking about three hours. But I did it. I'm glad that I overcame my intimidation and finished the piece. And I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'll probably even use micro fasteners again in the future. But every time I look at this pin, I'll remember it as the dreaded FOS!

The Thingie Revealed

I'm back from Art and Soul. It was an amazing adventure, as always. On Saturday, I left my room at 8:30 and didn't get back til after midnight. There was just too much to see and do! I had a class on Saturday from 9-5 with Thomas Mann. Then, I had my booth to set up for vendor night. And, of course, I had to shop everyone else's booth before the doors openend.  After that, we had Vendor Night from 7-10. Then it was time to load up the van, and do a little socializing.

I've been reading the Vintage Rescue Squad blog for quite some time, and was thrilled to finally get to meet Sue and her sister Michelle. Sue is a junker extraordiaire -a girl after my own heart!

I also meet the fabulous Julie Haymaker Thompson through my friend Elizabeth.  Julie's work is fresh, and hip and has an old-school primitive vibe at the same time. Julie herself is a breath of fresh air. I can't wait to take a class with her in the future. Elizabeth has posted her "Steampunk Lily" class project on her blog. It came out beautifully!

So now that I'm home,  I can post more pictures of the thingie. (Spoiler alert - If you're attending an Art and Soul retreat in the future, and don't want to know what the thingie is - then read no further!)

It was a teapot! I decided to do a memory-jug style treatment on it. I ordered Laurie Zuckerman's memory jug cd for myself two years ago, and finally got to create my first piece. I've been collecting bits and baubles for ages. I was amazed at how many I had that fit the Wonderland theme.

I have so much more to tell about each of  my classes, but it will have to wait for another day.  

Off to Wonderland

I am leaving in the morning to attend the Art and Soul Retreat in Hampton, Virginia. I'm registered for two classes with Thomas Mann and one class with Linda and Opie O'Brien. I had the pleasure of taking their "Who's Your DaDa" class in 2008. This year I'm taking "Alice Meeets the Dali Mama" with them.

This is the setup for my booth Vendor Night on Saturday. I hope you'll come by and see me if you're attending Art and Soul. I'm going to keep this post short, because I have to go upstairs and pack up everything in the booth so it fits in my van. -sigh- Thank goodness for my amazing helpers, especially Janet Moss and my mom. I couldn't do it without you guys!

Art in the Park and the "Thingie"

My booth at Hurkamp Park and my fantastic helper!

This weather here in Virginia this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous, and I got to spend the day outside enjoying it yesterday at Hurkamp Park in Fredericksburg. I have a tent at Art in the Park this weekend. I don't know which I enjoyed the most, the customers or the four-legged-friends they brought with them. Fredericksburg is a very dog-friendly town. My daughter and I considered bringing our own poochables  but decided it would be difficult to help customers and keep track of our happy-waggy girls at the same time.

The show runs again today from 11-4. I hope you'll come out and see us if you're in town. There are fourty-seven vendors with a wide variety of art. I have the good fortune of being located between North Carolina watercolorist Walter Creech and local art-quilter Lori McCown.

As soon as I get home from Art in the Park today, the mad rush is on to get everything together for my booth for vendor night at Art and Soul in Hampton. I'll have photos and a list of the items I'll be carrying later in the week. (These items are completely different from the items I have at Art in the Park.)

In the meantime, my "thingie" arrived in the mail, and I'm using the objects above to embellish it. Art and Soul attendees have the option of receiving a secret "thingie" in the mail to alter and bring to Art and Soul for display. We don't reveal what the thingie is until everyone arrives with their decorated object. It is always amazing to see how much variety is achieved using the same object as a starting point. This year's them is Art and Soul in Wonderland, and the item fits perfectly with that theme.