Lady Bug Circus

Humor in Craft a new book by Brigitte Martin

and on page 60, 2 images of my recycled tin artwork. This is a huge ego boost for me.

click on image to enlarge.

Thank you Brigitte from the bottom of my heart.

Arthouse Sketchbook Project Was Here in Seattle

Some Pink Flowers came from Florida and Rodrigvitzstyle came from Colorado to see some of the sketchbooks that were here in Seattle for the weekend as part of the Art House Sketchbook Project tour. We had an amazing few days! Sign up for next years project! Or check the tour schedule and see if it's coming to your city and  then go see for yourself, they are truly incredible works of art. Oh and also there is an article in the Seattle Times you can read.

Wisconsin Death Trip

Priscilla recommended this book to me and I can hardly put it down. Newspaper articles and photographs from the 1890s in Wisconsin. Insanity, suicide, fires, starvation, haunted houses, morphine addiction and other bits about life and death during that time. There's more to it than just that, pick up a copy and see for yourself.

Molly Norris has a book!

Check it out by clicking here, then buy it, you won't be disappointed.  It's funny and brilliant at the same time.

Alan Lau and Blurb

Alan Lau is a painter, author/poet and produce worker. I met him though our friend David Ishii about 20 years ago.

I took 33 snapshots of Alan as reference shots for making his portrait out of tin. Anyway I thought it would be fun to put 20 or so of the photographs together in a book. Proceeds from the book to benefit  the Pacific Reader, a book review supplement of the International Examiner.Thanks to Stephanie mentioning Blurb on her blog; I was able to do this. To see the cover or order one click here .

Great Books for Metal Work

The first edition of Bobby Hansson's book is what originally got me interested in tin work.This is the revised edition, now out of print I believe.Try to find it though, because the addition of the Old Friends, New Faces is well worth it. Harriette Estel Berman's tea cups grace the cover. Please check out her site and send your unwanted pencils to her for the big project she's working on.

This book by Linda and Opie O'Brien has tons of information and project ideas. I especially like the photos of the tools they show, very helpful. They also have a web site where tools and their book may be purchased. Click here .

Honey Cake and a Great Book

If you enjoy quirky, imaginative illustrations (really little paintings) and funny, well-written ramblings of one year in the life, this is the book for you, The Principles of Uncertainty. Toward the end of the book Maira Kalman gives you a recipe for honey cake. I made one this evening and it is very delicious.

The Secret Life of The Lonely Doll

I'm not a person who reads much. I've probably read 15 books for pleasure and the first two books on the list are by E.B. White. Seriously, maybe it's an attention span problem because anything longer than a New Yorker article and forget. Unless of course it's a reference book. Give me a book that will teach me how to do something that I am interested in and I'll devour it.

So imagine my surprise and delight when a good friend loaned me this book and said I might like it. He suggested it because of my fascination with Grey Gardens, as this book is largely about a relationship between mother and daughter. (It's available on Amazon in paperback) Just by reading the prologue I was hooked. The serendipitous way that the author, Jean Nathan, came about writing the book in the first place was a enough to suck me into wanting to know more. Check it out. Anyone out there remember the Lonely Doll books in the 60's?

Alphabet of Shoes (footwear)

It's an A B C book of footwear that is about the size of a deck of cards. To see more pages and read more information about it, go to www.ladybugcircus.etsy.com

Golden Books

The other day I was thinking about style and the personal choices we make in how we decorate our interiors. Back in the 1960's our house looked, a lot to me at the time, like the Adams Family's - but it was really thrift store chic with well placed unique furniture finds, oriental rugs, palms and a wicker fan chair. There is a lot to see on the blogs out there about style and trendy furnishings, whether it's the dining room or your person that sends out the message that says, "I know what's what, and I can prove it!"(not that there is anything wrong with that). Not me. I wear men's clothes mostly and when it comes to our house's interiors, well, I find that I have decorated from the pages of my favorite Golden Books from childhood.

Mixed up sheets are great. I buy them at Thrift Stores. A woman I met once thought that was horrible. "Used sheets? That someone else has slept on?" Yes, and what do you think you are sleeping on in the nice hotels you stay in? Well, I thought that but I didn't say it.

Lucky Mrs.Ticklefeather, one of the more curious Golden Books back then, was the story of an old woman with a big vase she wanted a sunflower for, and her pet puffin, Paul, goes out to find one for her while nearly ending up as soup. I have a large vase with a fake sun flower or 2. It's hard to have fresh ones all the time.

The Three Bears, Illustration by F.Rojannovsky     Lucky Mrs.Tickelfeather, Illustration by J.P. Miller