"And, after all, isn't art in all its forms the beautiful trail of our all-too-human attempts to say, again and again, I Am Here." (Mark Nepo) Yes. I am here. And I see you. And beyond all that we see, we try to share with our own souls and the souls of those who take the one moment to stand in the presence of our small humble offerings of art, no matter the medium...no matter the perfection...we offer. We offer. And we say...I am here. And I see you.

Aloha Nui Loa

I greet you of art-a-day blog-dom with an aloha and cheek kiss from Oahu. Vali

I'm in!

Hi there,

Thanks for doing this again! I hesitated at first because I have major life transitions going on (again!), but decided if nothing else I would like to commit to sketching every day with the goal of tapping into my emotional reflections of my surroundings. That much I feel confident I can do in spite of whatever else is going on, so I just got home from the new Dick Blick on Capitol Hill with a couple new moleskins and some killer pens. I'm excited and ready to roll. I trust the exercise will yield growth and perhaps new insights.

In the mean time, I thought I would share a new girl I completed this year. (Proud mama!) She's a glorious 30X40; gawd I love to work big!

Looking forward to seeing all your beautiful and interesting work! Happy New Year! Shelli

My first blog entry

I did it! My first blog entry ever. My art has been dormant for years. This activity will kick-start me. Am completing my second commission since starting up again, just in time for Christmas, then I want to go in a new direction. Not sure. I want to push colors, open up more to expressionistic painting.

Great to be participating in art-a-day.

Welcome!

Welcome to All and particularly those who joined us despite my less-than-graceful invitation letter. I misspelled "repetition" and "soliloquy" and, so help me, I never get recieve right.  So much for spellchek. :-/

So delighted to have you here for Art-a-Day! The challenge officially starts January 1st but the fun starts now! I'm getting pumped. I have three challenges in mind for myself.

1. try totally new forms, materials, aesthetics and whatever else new and untried I can figure out without buying any special supplies.

2. stretch my metalsmith skills on a new jewelry concept. However, this one I want to hold close and dear so might not share many pictures of these. We'll see...

3. Play with dolls! During the first Art-a-Day I made cut-out type dolls from copper and a little stage for them thinking something along the lines of Kabuki theater. Actually, I was thinking "Noh" theater, and since it was neither I called it Noht Kabuki. (*pa dum pum*)  That never came to pass so, for my own sheer delight, I'm going to pose them and share pictures. Hopefully a new one each day.

This last one blows my mind since I so totally never "got" playing with dolls as a child.  Bouncing Barby on her dainty little feet, talking dribble in a tiny little voices and pretending to shop, drink tea and talk to boys while being all stiff and, well, weird???  I don't get it.  I couldn't even "pretend" with my children.  Thank goodness they had friends.

I look forward to the ride with you this month!

Test

So this works like any other blogger blog...right? just post away.....here's a pic I'm going to post to see if it works like my blogs.

Trouble Posting?

You must receive an invitation to become an author on this blog.  Without authorship you can comment but not create new posts.

If interested, send me a note at bobiwilson2@gmail.com with the email address you use for your google account. (Creating one is easy).  Then watch your inbox for the invitation. I'll get to it ASAP.  Following the link as instructed within that email and you ought to be in! 

I had all kinds of challenges when I first linked in - including it transcribing my words into Hindi! - so I understand how frustrating it can be.

testing

January Blog

Get your creative thinking cap on and prepare for the upcoming challenge.
I'm testing to see if this works for me...
And excited that I had written down my passwords so I can still get in.

Ready for Art-a-Day 2011? Woohoo!

I'm getting excited.  It's become very Pavlovian for me - I begin salivating at the thought of honoring my studio time, planning for it, prepping for it, holding the time sacred.  Perhaps this year the habit will stick!  My hat's off to all artists who have developed (out of need or discipline) good work habits.  I kneel at your feet.

DZ Place

Hello...

I don't know if anyone is reading anymore. But I started a piece today that is for commission, er well at least I think so. 24 x 36 Acrylic.. so far I just call it DZ Place

Thank you Art-a-Day Heroes!

Congratulations on an excellent show and THANK YOU to all of you who stepped up and made it happen while also holding me so lovingly at this time.  You are the best.

Keep January 2011 in mind.  Keep creating.  Keep posting.

See you at the Show!

The Art-a-Day 2 Show:

Studio 17B at 17-1/2 N. Auburn, Downtown Kennewick (next door to Laura Gable Studio Gallery)

March 4, 5 and 6

Thursday:5pm – 8pm (First Thursday Art Walk)

Friday and Saturday: Noon – 6pm

Check out the First Thursday write-up in Friday's Tri City Herald "Atomic Town" insert, page 8.  Lots of great art!

See you there!

So much fun!

I am having oh-my-gosh so much FUN in my studio these days!!!

I had to put Art-a-Day aside for the first couples of weeks of February to tend to other interests and deadlines that were backing up. I got in to the studio somewhat but am really pouring into it this week – and having SO MUCH FUN! Have I mentioned that yet? I don’t think I’ve had this sort of sustained fun in the studio –ever!

I’ve given over to my secret love affair with minutiae. I have this thing for tiny boxes, little bits of scraps and intriguing cast-offs and the intricate relationships they make. Relationships to one another and relationship to an emerging theme that, I hope, engages the viewer – or wearer.

Years ago I made little Jack-in-the-box lapel pins.I didn’t have the skills back then to do what I can now – so I meticulously cut, glued and painted tongue depressors into boxes with hinged lids and then made teeny little clowns on springs to go inside. My siblings find me a bit twisted in this regard, I think, and pertaining to the time and effort required for each one commented something like, “…that’s why God invented the Philippines. “ In my kid-sister wispiness I think I allowed that to put me off – but now I’m back – and having so-much-fun!

The Art-a-Day experience allowed me to “mess” with things again and I got caught up in the little boxes. I diverted from the path yet again by trying to make teensy jewelry works with scenes but they fell flat, uninteresting. So I let go of rules and let myself play, even using glue (*gasp* a metalsmithing no-no) when the occasion called for it. Once I let go of that rule I started experimenting and lo and behold, ended up bettering some of my metalsmithing skills along the way!

I’m telling you this Art-a-Day thing is magic. Show up. Let go. See what happens. Someday soon I hope to post about exciting things coming to pass from last year’s Art-a-Day process. Too much still pending, stay tuned!

Art-a-Day show

In case the email didn't get through, my apologies!   Let me know if you have questions.

Dear Fabulous Art-a-Day'ers,

This is a quick heads up and a few details about the Art-a-Day gallery show.    More information to follow,

Important!  Please respond to this email "yes", or "no" if you will be participating in the show. (or respond on the blog if you have not already confirmed)

Please join us!  Last year's show was a delightful event with great art and a nice diversity of works, good traffic and art being sold!  People have been asking if we are doing it again and are looking forward to attending.

Some Basics

   Where:

           Studio 17B, 17 1/2 Auburn St,. Downtown Kennewick

  

   Deliver Art:

           Tues: time tbd

           Wed: time tbd

   Show hours

           5:00 - 8:00pm -Thurs, (First Thursday Art Walk)

           Noon- 6:00pm  - Friday and Saturday

   Pick up art: 6:00pm Saturday.

There will be a 10% fee this year, collected on art sold.  This helps defray some of our costs and helps you price to sell. 

My sincere thanks to each and every one of you for this wonderful Art-a-Day experience.

Bobi
509Art: making a difference. making art.

Still Painting

Hello, yes I have missed the blog as well. I have nothing to show right now, probably unorganized, but I have painted every day since this started Jan 1st. Well there was 2 separate days where I put varnish on paintings, so I counted that. This is a first for me to paint that many days in a row. I even painted over the weekend. Went to Vancouver, WA Friday night and came home Saturday but painted a bit before leaving and then some when I got home.
It's amazing to see how much one can get done, even if you do just a little bit.. :)
Ashby

Yeah, I miss the blog activity too.  Haven't had much opportunity to post lately but would like to pop in for a quick fix now and again.

Very successful meeting of arts and civic leaders today.  Eager to learn what "next" will look like.

Some Days......

I miss sitting down with my morning cup of coffee and reading the Art-a-Day posts. That was my morning kick in the butt. So, in case there's anyone else out there in the same boat I post a new one. I collect great sayings. Not necessarily "presidential", earth moving or life altering ones, but ones that speak to me at that moment in my life. This morning I came upon one that screamed of my art-a-day experience. Doing something creative each day became easier, but something always seemed to get in the way when I was trying to sit myself down to post about it. This quote kind of sums it up. :0) “I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” ― Jennifer Yane

One more

Funky Egyptian necklace-the medallion is something I worked up years ago-(when I moved here 16 or so years ago I had a jewelry line...so I have a plethora of findings, beads and interesting baubles that I have collected through the years...you never know when they might come in handy) so now it's been reworked into this necklace