Published! Plus Some Button-y Goodness.

Welcome Somerset Studio readers! I was thrilled to see that my altered Halloween picture frame is publilshed in Somerset Studio's Vintage Halloween Issue (September/October 2010). I did a blog post about it last year. Click here to go to  the instructions. You can click the button in my sidebar to go to Somerset Studio.

 Last Friday, my friend Elizabeth and I managed to find a few hours to do some sun printing. I'd been wanting to learn for a long time and we never seemed to be able to fit it in. We finally got a chance to do it, and I can't wait to do it again. It is such a fun process! Elizabeth has photos on her blog.

Before we started, we even managed to sneak in a quick trip to an estate sale. Elizabeth got an amazing assortment of antique doilies, and I got a nice tin full of old buttons. When I got home, I decided to go outside to sort them. Miss Bordeaux was happy to come outside and "help".

Here is a closer view of the button-y goodness. There were two beaded initials in the box - an "S" and an "R". I need to think of something wonderful to do with them.

If you click on the photo below you can also see the big coat button that is right in the center and some wooden buttons at the bottom. The bright green ones and the bright blue ones with the gold border are pressed glass.

Off to the left are some rhinestone encrusted buttons. I think they would make beautiful centers for some of Elizabeth's sweater flowers. Do you think I should share some of my new toys?

Cleaning and Tossing and Sorting - Oh My!

I've been busy cleaning out my studio. I started by cleaning out my downstairs office, and realized I had to sort through fabric. Some of my fabric was upstairs in my studio. After I went through the studio looking for fabric, I decided to go through all the beads, papers and rusty things that were all over the table. Once I cleared the table off, I realized that I needed to sort through my bins in order to put everything away and...you know the rest. I ended up spending three days on my office and studio.Some may be shocked to know that this is the "after" picture. I'll leave the "before" nightmare up to your imagination! You can click on the photo for a closer view of all my stuff.

 The studio looks pretty good, although I've already started playing again, so I have some little messes started that will no doubt grow into a great big mess within a few weeks' time. I guess I have a rusty thumb!

 This little guy was the first thing I made after the big cleanup. LibertyTown is having an art show called 6x6x6. All the art submitted must be no larger than six inches in any direction. This guy is about 5 1/2 inches tall, so he made the cut.

His pal will have to stay home because he is too tall for the upcoming show. They are posing in front of an antique doll piano that I got at an auction recently. The guy on the right reminds me of a piano player in a saloon. Both of them need some adjusting and final attaching. I'll get right on that as soon as I go through the stack of papers on my desk.

What Lies Beneath

Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

I go to the Old Town area of Fredericksburg several times a year to take photographs. Usually, I am there to get beautiful shots of Old Town, such as the church spires, the Rappahannock River, Civil War-era graveyards, or one of the beautifully restored historic sites. The items that invariably draw my attention away from those things are the rusty, grungy underpinnings of the town  that I see on the side streets, or in alleyways.

Most people associate cities with sleek modernity, but when you get down to it, cities are really, really old. And when their ancient roots are showing, I have to stop and marvel. And sometimes, I even take a little piece of it home with me.

This is an assemblage that started with photographs that I've taken of bits and pieces of Fredericksburg that I love. I printed the images on canvas and attached them to a wooden base. Then, I attached some of the treasures that I've aquired on my walks through the 'burg. For me, this is the graphic equivalent of comfort food. It sums up the things I love about my adopted home town.

Pumpkin Palooza!

by Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

My September/October 2010 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors arrived on Friday. I always look forward to receiving this magazine in the mail, but this month was really special for me, because I have an article in this issue: Paper or Plaster? A Plastic Pumpkin Makeover.

The articles details my technique for repurposing those little plastic halloween jack-o-lanterns that kids bring home from parties, as well as the big ones that they carry while trick-or-treating. (The photos in the article are much nicer than these.)

I spent a lot of time during last year's snowstorms working on these guys. They were all over my house. I had to remember to explain to visitors why my house was full of Halloween decorations! (There's nothing like a little creative anachronism to make the neighbors think you've lost your mind.)

If you'd like to make some of these with me, I'll be teaching a workshop on October 23, 2010 at Artistic Artifacts  in Alexandria,Virginia. Details coming soon.

She Waits

Several weeks ago I set out to create a piece for the Uniquely Fredericksburg show. I thought I was going to do a horizontal piece with three of these windows. However, the piece had other plans.

I laid down several layers of background paint, and when I looked at the picture vertically, I could see the form of a woman, so I decided to use water-soluble pastels to sketch in her head and neck. Once I got that in, I could see there would only be room for one window, with a lot of blank space at the bottom. I decided that the woman was waiting for her husband to come home from war. I sifted through some old family letters and came across one that told of a father dying in a civil war hospital. It said that he was buried a few weeks before the family knew he had died.

The next day, I went to the Confederate Cemetery on Amelia Street to take some photos. Then, for the next three nights, I pushed and pulled and struggled with the piece. I kept telling myself that I didn't need to make this deadline; there would be other shows.

I put a man inside the window, and realized it wasn't working for me. The panes in the window cut his face up in a strange way. Plus, the man was gone... he wouldn't be looking out the window. The family would be looking for him. I quit working on the piece.

Two days later, at an estate sale,  I found  a photo of a girl. On a whim, I put her behind the window, and
she fit perfectly. By this time it was the night before the deadline.

While I was rummaging in my studio for a tool, I found a second photo. The woman in the photo looked to me like the woman I had painted. The piece was completed and I hadn't missed the deadline. I got up early the next morning to hammer the frame pieces onto the finished piece.

Tonight, at the Uniquely Fredericksburg Show, She Waits won a second place ribbon in the mixed media category.

Fun in the Sun

The Children's Art Expo was held this weekend at the Dorothy Hart Community Center.

On Friday, I helped Sherry Donley build a Greek Temple out of boxes. Temperatures of 105 degrees were predicted for Saturday. We couldn't help wondering...

If we build it, will they come?

Despite the high temperatures, the little ones turned out in droves. All the rest of the activities were indoors, but many of the parents told us that this was their child's favorite activity last year, and they couldn't wait to come. So the parents braved the heat, while the little ones didn't seem to mind it at all. Many had to be coaxed inside, with the promise of a cool drink, more activities and the chance to use... glitter!

As an artist, it was refreshing to see these little ones painting for the pure joy of it. They had no fear of "making mistakes" and they didn't worry about what anyone else was doing. They were in the moment and making the most of it.

I learned a lot from them!

Squidonaut

Here is what I did with the water bottle, toy doll's eye and teeth. His beaky nose is a dinosaur skull.

Here is a view from the back. He has a "spine" going down the back of his head, running through his shell and protruding, tail-like, underneath the shell.

And here is he with some color added.  I need to go in and do more with the colors. He's a little bit monochromatic at the moment, and probably a little too bright as well.

He definitely needs some kind of environment to stand in. At the moment, he's in a little brass soap holder. I think my family is starting to like him more. The kids have named him Squidonaut. To me, he looks like a diver merged with a squid, and left under the sea for a long time.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Squidonaut.