paint cut paste

happy fall, y’all! (ooo, my quasi-southern roots are showing.) today is the first day of autumn, even though the sf bay area seems to just be getting the summer started. regardless, in my body and spirit, it feels like it’s time to bust out the chet baker and a scarf. to celebrate the season, i gifted my little one with a basket of autumn goodies today…

among the treasures was a strand of mala beads i strung just for her. i’ve always intended to make N one of her own (as she covets mine) and i was inspired by this one i saw on little. lovely. i just used 108 (in the buddhist tradition) blonde wooden beads i had on hand and some stretchy cord.

after they were strung, i looped embroidery thread around my fingers, snipped it at one end, then laid it over the cord. i tied another piece of thread around that to keep it in place. this made for a cute tassel.

i also included two wonderful autumn books in N’s fall basket — i just love both of these seasonal series. one is autumn, an alphabet acrostic by steven schnur and the other is by the light of the harvest moon by harriet ziefert. we have the other seasons from both authors, but somehow didn’t yet have these autumn treasures.

additionally, i found a sweet little melissa & doug wooden kazoo, some pomegranates (N’s favorite fruit – she takes after her momma!) and one a replica of one of my childhood memories… a weather telling owl kinda like this one! when i was a kid, i had a ceramic owl exactly like this on my windowsill. he has little clear salt-sized crystals on his head that change color to tell the weather (or so i thought when i was a kid???) when one of these owls came up randomly on my etsy homepage this summer, my heard did a little flip flop of recognition, and i knew i had to buy it!

another fun thing about today is that we got to use the autumn side of our handmade placemats – ah, refreshing change! i can’t wait to have some fun with fall art projects now…

first day of autumn breakfast

happy autumn to all! did your family do anything special to celebrate autumn’s arrival?

in my practice as an art therapist, one area of emphasis is on supporting expectant and new mommas. one of the best pieces of my training in art as ritual during this rite of passage was not only my graduate studies or my own pregnancy/momming experience, but also the pregnancies of my dearest art therapist friends with whom i graduated. as you’ve seen before on my blog, to mark this time as sacred, we hold mother’s blessing ceremonies for one another.

me with kindred spirits from my art therapy program -- momma-to-be in the center. sept 2009.

i’ve shared a bit about one of the art rituals from my own blessing ceremony these friends held for me, and i’ll blog more about it another time…  but today i wanted to share a beautiful and artful blessing idea from one of my dearest friend’s blessing in autumn of 2009, where a group of women gathered (her closest friends and family) to celebrate the new life on the way.

an art table is as essential as the food table at these gatherings - food for the soul!

one of my fellow art therapist friends led the group in a guided visualization about what they wished for the expectant family. she asked us all to notice the images that came to us — the setting, colors, lines, shapes, textures. each person in attendance was then given a piece of watercolor paper, a pallette of watercolor paints, and a selection of brushes. while beautiful music played, each person found a spot in the room where they could work on their piece.

everyone was assured that no artistic expertise or experience was necessary. each of us was asked to just paint the colors and impressions we had, regardless of whether it is abstract or the image of something. we also were asked not to become attached to the image, as it would be torn up to create a larger piece later. (this was very freeing for most of those who might not have been as comfortable making art.)

big-sister-to-be (age 2 here) even got in on the action, as her image is a key piece in the energy of the final product.

after the art was completed, we sat in a circle with the mom-to-be in the middle, and we each told her what we wished for her. the dad-to-be had created a piece on his own, in advance, which we showed to the expectant mom at the blessing. it was so fascinating that their pieces had such resonance!

mom's art on left; dad's art on right

the next day, the five of us you see pictured up there gathered around a kitchen table for tea, coffee, and paper weaving.

we tore the watercolor pages into strips that were one inch wide, along the longer side of the watercolor paper. we prefer tearing the pages along a ruler to cutting them — this way you get that lovely raw edge.

we chose strips from each of the paintings that were most appealing to the mom-to-be, making sure each person’s art was represented in the final piece.

the five of us wove the strips together, trying different configurations out, and eventually arriving at the final piece.

two months after this blessing ceremony, my friend welcomed her second child, a beautiful boy, into her family (who is now almost two!) this awesome piece of art, holding all of the love and supportive energy of his family, is hanging above his bed.

ever since i saw this brilliant post on wise craft two years ago, i’ve totally wanted to make our own everyday placemats! i finally got around to it last week!

i don’t know about your home, but we really benefit from having some sort of wipeable, plastic placemat on the table at mealtimes. we use cloth napkins everyday and when we entertain, we use cloth placemats, but for everyday use, cloth placemats just don’t cut it. while i realize i could achieve this look (and you could too) by laminating beautiful cardstock or paper art work, i wanted the heft of cloth layers for our placemats.

where did those pretty patterns up there come from? well lately, i’ve been OB-sessed with spoonflower, so i could not resist (though i tried) picking a few patterns from their web site to use for ours. the visuals are important to me, especially for something we’ll see so often and will likely be burned in N’s brain if we use them for years of her childhood. because we are very seasonally oriented in our home (from our seasonal altar to food to centerpieces to decor,) i decided to choose one fabric for each season. i made eight placemats total: four with spring on one side, summer on the other. then four with autumn on one side, winter on the other. i got the spring fabric from etsy (i was seeking a hip snail print, as snails are a huge sign of spring here in our backyard, as they SWARM it all season long) and the other three seasons’ fabric was carefully chosen from spoonflower to also be personal to our family in some way.

when the fabric arrived, i was thrilled to begin! (a project with beautiful fabric that requires NO SEWING? this is my kinda creation!)

(i didn't need the pins. they just made the pic cute & were in the box with my fabric scissors.)

i followed the instructions on wisecraft: i began by cutting four 11″ x 17″ rectangles out of each fabric. (i freaked about the measurements here being exact and lining up because i didn’t read ahead in the instructions, but you don’t need to freak at this part. there is a time later when you’ll trim them down again.) i must have looked stressed during this part of the project because N kept rubbing my back and saying, “i like the way you’re concentrating here. good, good, you got it, good.”

then i ironed each rectangle of fabric. (first time i’ve used my ironing board in N’s life – she had to ask what it was. sad, right? uh, i like to tell myself that we mostly wear comfy knitwear and it’s not needed.) after they were wrinkle-free, i used thermoweb heatnbond lite to adhere spring to summer and fall to winter. wisecraft gives a thorough explanation of this process on her blog here.

after they were bonded, right sides of fabric facing out, i trimmed them down to 10.25″ by 16.25″ each. (aaaah, all lined up!)

next i did a little research on the laminating process. i found a teacher supply store locally that only charged 65 cents to laminate something that is 11×17 – score… or so i thought. BUT when we visited the store, i learned that the laminate was very thin and the placemats would still be flimsy like the cloth. so, i decided to go to fedex/kinkos (as wisecraft recommended – no need to try to reinvent the wheel to save a few bucks here.) i found it very user-friendly.

even though each placemat cost $4.50 to laminate at that size, we went this route considering the fabric investment i’d already made. they offer a thick plastic sleeve to put the cloth into. after it’s centered in the sleeve, just run it through the laminating machine that seals it together with heat. i feel like they’ll hold up for years!

about an hour after we laminated them, they were on our table and dinner was served — summer style!

even though this was a mom-made project, i have to say that N was with me every step of the way and takes immense pride in telling everyone “can you believe that WE made these placemats ourselves?!”

recently i blogged about the sketchbook project that i participated in through arthouse coop for the 2011 tour… or more accurately that N and i participated in, as she was indeed a major contributor to that sketchbook. i wanted to report some recent happenings about the project: 1) our book has finally been digitized for online viewing here and 2) the sketchbook project tour was just in san francisco, so we got to visit our book, and the books of some of our friends!

N was quite excited to go to the gallery to visit her art work, as was i! we received very special and official “participating artist” stickers to wear at the show. (stickers are very important, you see.)

the scene was really cool – stacks of sketchbooks and library cards to check them out…

and a loungy area where we could peruse the books of art.

N was very inspired by all of the work she was seeing, and asked to have her crayons and drawing pad, so she began to create right there in the gallery.

"check out this mandala, mommy!"

i highly recommend getting in on the action with the sketchbook project’s 2012 tour — sign up now. and check out the 2011 tour if it comes to a town near you where you can visit our book in person (and so many other totally amazing works!) or browse online.

this weekend we took a long drive down highway 1 along the pacific coast, stopping at various beaches along the way. days like that remind me of how lucky i am to live here in northern california, and on this beautiful earth in general. nature offers some of the most amazing art inspiration!

one of the beaches we visited had amazingly colorful stones all over it. we spent hours wandering this beach, enjoying running from the chilly waves and collecting stones.

when we layed out our bounty at home, it was a rainbow of gorgeous rocks.

i can’t wait to ink some of these rocks – and i also want to learn to crochet around them like i have oogled over on one of my favorite blogs, resurrection fern. but today we opted for a simple rock craft – picture holders. easy peasy. all you need is floral wire (or any other type of wire, but i prefer this wrapped kind in dark brown) and a pair of pliers.

wrap the rock with the wire, then point the wire upwards.

now make a curlycue at the tip with the pliers – you can make a fancy spiral or just a little curl like i did.

wedge a photograph or a little piece of art in between the top spiral, and there you have a rock picture holder.

it’s sort of addictive once you start making these…

i think a collection of old fashioned hipstamatic/instagram/pictureshow images would look fabulous displayed in these. (yes, i’m obsessed with iphone photo apps.) but N’s tiny watercolor paintings make for an awesome exhibit.

i have a penchant for making art in boxes – always have. i most especially love wooden cigar boxes, but in my final semester of my art therapy masters program at naropa university, i was introduced to matchbox art.

matchbox given to me, 2005, image from NCAS-I

two of my amazing art therapy mentors, sue and merryl, created matchbox altars as gifts for each student in my cohort prior to our graduation. each matchbox was so personal and so special – mine (shown above) still lives on my personal altar today, holding the energy of their support and wisdom.

cohort of matchboxes, spring 2005

while i was in grad school, i served as a mentor at naropa’s communty art studio (NCAS). this is a student-run art studio with this purpose: “the guiding vision behind this long-term project has been to provide a safe place for various members of the boulder community to gather and create art together… attract[ing] people who are often marginalized and unlikely to have contact with the humanizing practice of engaging in creative, artistic behavior in community.”  (quoted from link above)

recently, sue contacted me regarding a wonderful project NCAS is heading up called “small resources=big possibilities.” with this project, participants are provided with “one matchbox, bits of paper and trinkets. then artists use the matchbox, items included in the bag, and anything else to make the expression complete.”

oh, the possibilities

the matchbox may be altered in any way as long as it is still a part of the final piece. size limit 6” x 6.” after completion, NCAS will be auctioning off the boxes at a fundraiser gala show, where the proceeds will benefit the naropa community art studio. the money will specifically be used to send naropa art therapy students on “international trips to create of sustainable relationships with social justice organizations in other countries, and, through the application of art therapy processes, to the populations those organizations serve.” what a great cause!!! i was sold.

when i began to work on my creation, i remembered my first day at naropa’s orientation, where the president of the school read to the incoming students what is now one of my favorite poems – mary oliver’s the summer day:

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

i immediately wanted to make a matchbox inspired by this poem.

when my matchbox was complete, i filled out the artist submission form and sent it in with my donation (suggested: $10 per box.)

i loved this whole process and the cause is very close to my heart. if you want to become involved, check out the blog for NCAS and contact them for info. i also wanted to present this art form as an idea for your own projects, groups, fundraisers, or personal art. as for the kiddos, i think it would be a nice project for older kids (perhaps 7+) who may like to work in a small scale.

there are some great slideshows displaying matchboxes made at the kick-off party. check them out here for inspiration on your own matchbox art!

you may have heard buzz around the internet of art house coop’s sketchbook project from last fall or “liked” them on facebook, maybe. it’s this deal where the art house coop sends you a sketchbook to fill, you send it back, and then it goes on tour around the country with a group of nearly 29,000 other participants sketchbooks, in its own little art show. when i heard about this project, i liked it, i clicked “like,” and i signed right up to participate in it. that was back in september.

about a week later, a great little moleskin sketchbook arrived, and i vowed to sketch and create and keep this visual journal with me for the next few months. (i had until mid-january to complete it and send it in.)  i encouraged some friends to participate, as well. i was psyched that i would be making my own art in it! finally – art time for momma! it was ripe with potential! i had to choose one of their “themes” for the book. i picked one i figured was the most general: a day in the life.

i took myself out for tea that day and began the book.

ahhh… that was nice. and then like 16 days later i made another page in the book. darn, have two weeks gone by already?” i wondered. 4 days later, another page. a month later, two more pages. i was slow to start. it was interesting to watch my own mind and my own process around taking the time to create my own art. it is logistically and emotionally challenging to invest in this sort of me-time as a mom of a young kid. but it is oh-so-important.

i was really wanting to do this in an altered book sort of style, but the really thin pages of the moleskin were a bit frustrating to work with… i think they must really have meant “sketch in this book.” i did a lot of pasting other papers into the book so i could use more wet media and saturated colors. and collage.

the holidays came and went, and my book was really quite empty. in the new year, i vowed to knock out some art work in that journal – BE CREATIVE NOW! hee hee… i laughed at the pressure of that, and relaxed a bit around it. i spent a couple weeks really just having FUN with different media.

then the me-time became we-time, as it often just does organically. i enjoy making art with my little lady, and she couldn’t resist helping with mommy’s sketchbook. so i enlisted the help of my favorite tiny artist who can crank out the creativity like no one else i know.

little ghost artist

she was honored to participate. we did a dialog drawing in the book together.

she made some pictures of her own on some of the pages. (thank you, N!)

N's mandala

the last few nights before the book was due were like a creative explosion on my dining room table. i loved it.

in the end, i submitted it in time. apparently it is being digitized by art house coop (in a way higher quality way than i’ve done here with the photos the morning before i headed to the post office in january) and will be available on their web site for viewing.

also my little book is now on a U.S. tour. i think it was in austin last weekend, and is now on its way to portland, maine. it has a tour schedule, like a little paper rockstar in a huge jam band of nearly 30K players. that’s kinda fun. i’m excited to see the exhibit when it hits san francisco in june. if the tour arrives in a city near you, i’m sure it’s a fun exhibit to attend — look my book up when you’re there!

tour image from arthousecoop.com

art house coop has some other projects currently going on that are open for participation. check it out. it’s good stuff.