Getting Back Into It... That Would Be Making It... Art, I Mean

It's been months since I did anything even remotely creative.  I have been concentrating on working out and changing the landscape of my body since the beginning of March 2013.  Everything else has taken a back seat to my body modification project.  So far, I have lost 45 pounds and about 35 inches overall.  I took beginning photos of myself, and my son just took photos of me just yesterday.  I have been keeping track of my weight and my measurements for about 6 months now, so I have plenty of info to start on this new record of my progress.  I am about a third of the way to goal... another 60 pounds and I think I'll be closer to my internal image of what I want. 

I have had this idea of making a "Body Journal" for quite awhile and finally got the book sewn together.  I took a vintage photo album cover and turned it into my cover.  Three signatures of water color paper and now it's ready to be used.  Just have to start painting and gesso-ing the pages.  It will be cool to have a visual record of this long and challenging journey.

 Cover, measurements and inspirational text to include in my Body Journal

Inside pages

 Spine with exposed stitching... long strings will have beads attached

The second art project has been recycling security envelopes and vintage photos into frame-able art pieces. These are the first stages - with more embellishment to follow.  Have an art show coming up in November, so I've got to hustle on these....

Vertical format - love the bright colors

Women and Children

Horizontal format - more muted tones.

All for today, my lovelies...

see you soon <3 p="">

Venice 2014

here are a few photos of my travel journal for the trip I want to take to venice in 2014.  this is my ticket to venice journal for the on-line class that mary ann moss taught - 

great class with all kinds of videos!!

i used a vintage photo album cover  - which i cut in half and then created a spine for

folded over - bones of the journal

here are six signatures - i ended up only using 5 and kind of rearranged them just a bit

half way through my diamond stitch binding

journal fully bound and fanned out - yeah!!

the cover

inside one of the signatures

painted page in one of the five signatures

recycled calendar page and some scrapbook paper

i will finish up tomorrow by making the closure and filling the pockets with ephemera to put in the journal when i take my trip...  feels good to have this put together.

i'll show a few more photos when it's all prepped for the trip :-)

ciao for now babies,

kso

xoxoxo

Never to Old to Learn New Things...

well today i just bit the bullet - took the bull by the horns - jumped in feet first - and any other cliche one can think of...

i made a video of my bermuda journal.  hadn't a clue about what i was doing.  didn't even know if my camera would record sound.  dug out the old tripod and pushed the record button and this is what i got...

Bermuda 2012 from Kim Owens on Vimeo.

hope it works

i guess you can teach an old dog new tricks or more correctly this old dog taught herself a new trick :-)

ciao for now babies
kso
xoxoxoxo

Fabulous Find

i have been resisting the pull of thrift store shopping for a few weeks now... i have so much stuff to use up i cut myself off.  today i had this overwhelming urge and followed it.  to my delight i discovered these books from 1961 and thought they would make fabulous travel journals.  i will gut them and make some wonderful "ticket to venice" style repositories.

 four books with lovely and colorful printed covers

 british isles and western europe

the near and the middle east

baltic states and central europe

southern asia and the far east

i think the graphics are just stunning and i can't wait to play with them...

ciao for now,

kim 

xoxoxoxo

My Bermuda Travel Journal

In December I enrolled in a class to be taught by Mary Ann Moss, of Dispatch from LA fame.  She entitled this class "Ticket to Venice" and you can find the link over on the sidebar.  The class involved constructing a travel journal from start to finish and travelling with Mary Ann as she took her winter holiday to Venice.  We tracked her adventures through her blog posts, emailed postcards and the videos she made while she was in Venice.  It was an amazing experience and has inspired me to start saving for my own trip to Venice in 2014.

My first travel journal for MAM's class is not for a trip to Venice - that will be my second one.  I am in the hunting and gathering stage for my Venice journal.

In the meantime, I need to finish this Bermuda Travel Journal...

This is my diamond binding stitch - which I am very pleased with!!

The cover is not done.  I think I will take some sand paper to it and make it a bit more weathered.  The foundation for the cover is a recycled Ritz cracker box.  I began this journal a few months back and never got beyond the cover.  I constructed the cover using suggestions by an art journalist in the UK... check out her blog at Jennibellie  She has a lot of really fun ideas.

This is a shot of the journal fanned out so you can see all the sea blue and golden colors.

My goal was to use Mary Ann's techniques and ideas to finish my travel journal for a trip I took with my kids and a group of friends in the summer of 2011.  In honor of my friend Derek's 50th birthday, we went on a cruise to Bermuda - there were 19 of us all together and it was a blast!!  

This is the first page of the first signature -

 I painted it with the colors of the houses we saw in Bermuda.  

The flowers were made using a plastic thread spool as a stamp - I thought is was an interesting shape.  The very left blue paper is a bag from the shop on the cruise ship which I used to line the inside of the cover.  The butterfly and flower illustration comes from an old Haiku book from the 1970's.

Page 2 and 3 of the first signature...

For this folio I used a photo of the Statue of Liberty from the 1940's, washi tape and an art card my friend made for me.  She gave it to me as we were sailing down the Hudson River past the statue.  I have left plenty of blank space to transfer my journal writing into the travel journal.

All for tonight my lovelies,

kim

xoxoxo

... more tomorrow

Word for the Year

after much thought i have finally chosen a word and it fits with my 365 days of writing project.  i have written in the past about feeling very disconnected over the past 18 months - maybe longer.  so after really thinking about what i want to do this year it came to me that i needed to take steps to reconnect with life.  i can't just wait for this feeling to magically happen.  i have to be the driving force.  my word for the coming year is

"connections"

i want to forge...

connections to friends...

connections to family...

connections to my children...

connections to my creativity...

connections to the world...

connections to my spirituality...

connections to my body...

basically connections to life...

so today....

i will go out to dinner with my friend angela

and i will make some art

ciao my lovelies...
kim

xoxoxo

Day 5/360

so far, this has been an easy project to keep up with... granted it is only the first week!!  when i first thought of doing this i wanted something simple - something that didn't take a lot of artistic prep time.  the more art involved the longer it takes for me to complete a project - i get bogged down in the details.

every night i wrap up my day by writing a quick note to the boy and the girl - then i write a list of 5 things i am grateful for.  it's a nice way to finish the day.  the girl has been surprisingly respectful and calm this week.

i am hopeful.  we had nice conversation on day three of this project - that hasn't happened in many months.

today i am going to make some art and work in my ticket to venice journal - was gathering italian stuff last night...

ciao for now,
kim
xoxoxo

365 day project

2012 was not the most fabulous year - nothing bad happened.  it ended with a splutter  and never really got going the way i imagined it would.  just couldn't get focused on anything.  i always seemed to be running behind the bus. trying to catch it at the next stop.  i ended up feeling disconnected all year.

the boy is out of high school and still living at home. going to college locally.  working part-time.  so i am trying to navigate this parenting thing while not being an overbearing parent.  freedom with checking in - odd place to be. more new territory.

the girl has been a challenge.  i am a passenger on the teenage roller coaster ride and i am not enjoying the experience.  so this part of my life is very different from what i have with the boy.  still finding my way back to the little charmer she once was.

a lot of folks in the art groups i belong to are doing some sort of 365 day project for 2013 - thought i would too.  my 365 project will be to write daily letters to the boy and the girl.  not pages and pages - but little notes written on colorful paper and placed in a special box.  my notes will not be about the things they don't do, or the mistakes they make.  they will be notes of love, laughter, reminiscent thoughts of childhood, compassion and joy.  i hope to strengthen my relationship with the boy and to find a way back to the girl.

for myself there is a box to place my written notes of gratitude each day.  everyone needs a little love.

day one is under my belt... notes written and boxes delivered... 364 more.

peace to you -l
kso
xoxoxo

Let's Try This Again....

Okay, so it's now been about 4 months since I last posted... so lame.  My only excuse is that my life is an ever changing adventure.  I started selling vintage photos on Ebay just over a year ago and it's become an almost full time job.  I am hoping that in about 6 months it becomes my "day job".

Art making has been on the way "down low" for about 18 months - but I have been dabbling again.  I've been getting together with another artist every couple of weeks to get the creativity flowing again.  Trying to put together a travel journal for the trip we took last summer - that is going slowly.  Pulled out my art journal and doing a bit every weekend.  And lastly playing with my photos, paint and envelops.  

I picked up a box of envelops at a thrift store thinking they were a good deal for shipping my photos.  When I got the box home and opened it, I found they had security windows in them - not a good fit for my extra special, ironclad shipping.  Later in the week I woke up at 3 am  - sadly, my now normal, aggravatingly unexplained wake-up time..... with an inspired idea!!  

Those little windows are a perfect fit for some of my vintage photos that don't sell - yeah!!  I have been selling about 70% of the photos I list on Ebay, so that leaves quite a few wonderful photos that don't find a new home.  I think this will be a fun way to prolong the life of the images.  The child in the photo above didn't sell - so I'm keeping him to play with.

For the last week, I have been playing with scraps, washi tape, paint, gesso, photos and those very plain white envelops.  I think they will look so cool when they are finished!!  I showed them to a friend - at our weekly business meeting - she thinks I should remove the cellophane in the window.  She wanted to see the photos more clearly, but I kind of like the intrigue created by the hazy quality.  I am undecided, so I'll do some with and some without.

On the continuing path to more creativity I am going to sign up for a couple of classes this winter...

Mary Ann Moss has a new class coming up in December called Ticket To Venice  I am expecting that this class will help be finish my travel journals from our trips to Utah in 2008 and last summers trip to Bermuda.

Heather Murray is also teaching a cool class called Mixed Media Portrait  I signed up for it today and can't wait to check it out.

Anyway... my new goal is to get more art in daily and I'd like to get into the habit of blogging a bit every couple of days - might be too much to say everyday :-))  

Caio for today...  

Kim

xoxoxo

Well, it's been almost one year since I blogged... I'm not sure why it was so long.  I just kind of hibernated and put all my art journaling, yahoo group and blog contacts in a holding pattern.  Concentrating on my Ebay & Etsy business and art just got pushed to the background.  I am dipping my toe in the water this morning...

Later today - after I get done with work - I will take photos of my latest pseudo-art attempts... glass magnets and little jotter journals. I am participating in a little art fair at the end of the month and I am going to see how these babies sell.

Off to work now... also trying to join the rest of the world without a car.  Walking and bus riding to get to work - a new experience!!

See you all later,
kso

Symbolic Moments

I have been reading the story of Diana Nyad and her quest to conquer the waters between Cuba and Florida. She tried it when she was 28 and had to give up, so she is trying again today. What makes this absolutely stunning? She is 60 and needs to see if she can do it. I cannot imagine the physical endurance and fitness this must take... some days every joint in my 52 year old body just aches.

She is hoping the this quest will be seen as a symbolic moment - nothing earth-shattering or politically moving. Just a event or accomplishment for human beings in both countries to appreciate - "a human moment between the two countries."

Life is full of these sorts of moments - some large and some small. Swimming the shark-infested waters of the Atlantic Ocean is a rather large "moment". My moments are much smaller, as I am sure most of us feel. As a matter of fact, I cannot think of anything symbolic or monumental that I have done in the last few weeks.

I have been feeling very disconnected and without purpose. We had a really lovely vacation trip to Bermuda and NYC, but I couldn't enjoy myself 100% - worried about money and feeling guilty about spending so much. So, it was not what I imagined it would be - my head was completely to blame, as it really was a great trip!!

It could be the really poor attempt Mother Nature has made to send a little summer sunshine and heat our way. We've had a few days in the last two weeks, but for the second year we have not needed fans to cool down.

It could be that my kids have been gone for three weeks - summer visitation with their dad - it's the first time they have been gone that long and NOT traveling. Weird to know that they are 10 minutes away and not at home. Today they left for another week on a church youth group mission trip to Leavenworth - which they go on every year and LOVE!! They'll be home for about a week and a half then they are off to dad's again and traveling to Canada for a family wedding. Then school starts and the madness begins. My son will be a senior and in about three months he will be 18 and I just keep wondering how that happened so quickly!

the kids and gang departing today

I am tired of my job... and while I do appreciate that I have one (so many don't) I just hoped that I'd be further along the road to doing something different. Life is full of adjustments and I find myself working my way through many this year.

I recognize that I am being a bit pathetic here. I think I need an Oprah intervention, you know "write 5 things you are grateful for each day". I really do have so much to be grateful for -

1 lovely home
2 a healthy family
3 kids who still talk to me and tell me "things"
4 a job
5 my creativity
6 my growing business through Etsy
7 sunshine
8 my friends and my First Friday night time with them
9 a juicy nectarine
10 the laughter of my children and the joy they bring me

Now, that's better!!

On the art front... here is the additional layering I've done on that larger piece I am trying out

before

and after

all for today my dears

Art Card Sale

I don't know if you all remember, but last year I took a class on how to turn your art into notecards - it was a gift from my girlfriends. So, I made a bunch of cards right away - then I gave some as Christmas gifts to family and friends. Listed a few in my etsy shop - I didn't sell any there. So for the last few months I have been sitting on them - not having the courage to peddle them to local card shops... that old inner critic at work :-)

This one could be for Bon Voyage or just dreaming of a trip

My version of a Father's Day card

Well, I bit the bullet!!! On Monday I whipped up a little flyer, saved it in PDF format and then set out an email invite to an open house/art card sale at my house on Saturday. I was pretty freaked out about hitting the send button - had to close my eyes and just do it.

The response has been pretty positive so far - many are out of town, but want to come to the next sale. Quite a few have promised to come and see what I've got. My friend Mary has offered to connect me with a friend of hers who has opened a new art studio in town - she is looking for art teachers and someone to share the studio space with. That could be really cool!

Anyway, I am nervous and excited - but I can't wait for Saturday!!

All for tonight my lovelies,
kso xoxoxoxo

New Art Attempt

This weekend has been very relaxing... three days of minimum work, no transporting kids, no cooking for kids - just me, myself and I. Spent the whole day yesterday working on my store and had one of my best sales days so far - very exciting!! Taking photos, uploading, packaging, and shipping - it's all very satisfying. I was hard at it until about 10pm and then I had to force myself to stop. Lots of new travel ephemera and a new batch of photo grab bags - check them out :-)

1965 Brochure for the Trans-Canada Highway - lovely

TWA City Map from the 1960's - very colorful inside with cool stewardess graphic images

Early 1900's authentic French Post card with a pretty long note on the back from an aunt to her nieces.

Today, I will be mowing the lawns today, going to get my passport photos taken downtown and then I'll be back to the business of art. Then a little creativity will continue... as in making some actual art. I am also finally trying to do some larger art pieces - just playing around at this point. Scraps, gesso, acrylic paint. I have been looking through my art journals for inspiration - this is what I have so far -

These are 12" x 12" plywood panels

I either painted with acrylic paint or gesso to start
Then I added a few scraps of papers. I will continue to add layers until I am satisfied :-)

I hope that you all have a lovely, creative day also my lovelies... kso xoxoxoxo

Gathering or Purging

Which is it?

I have been a gatherer most of my life. I am the great saver - of just about everything!! We moved on average every 18 months when I was growing up and that usually meant getting rid of things so we could travel lightly and cheaply. It got old and by the time I was sixteen I was done – I wanted to live with a different family and stay put. Over the years, I developed a simple way to get through it - I collected bits and pieces that could be kept in a compact shoe box - thus the ephemera addiction!!

When I discovered art journaling a few years ago I thought "Yeah!! Now I have a justification for saving things". The main problem with this is that you have to be very organized and/or you really should use it right away. Otherwise, you get overwhelmed by all the crap! I have reached that point and really need to let things go.

I have resolved to purge for the rest of the year. It's not a revolutionary idea for me – I’ve done it before. I have reached that stage in my life when I am no longer creating a home for my children to grow up in. They are each spending less time at home – school, friends, first loves and time with dad – it all adds up to more free time for me. I’m now preparing for the day when they will be leaving forever to make their own homes. I am thinking of downsizing and possibly traveling more, so I need to lighten my life and eliminate some of the clutter.

My son will be graduating high school next year and will most likely stick around and go to community college – he may or may not stay at home – he’s undecided. He is more relaxed in his approach to life - he really lives in the moment. He is a home body - and while he loved his trip to Peru last month, he missed his love and the cold, grey and dreary climate of Seattle.

My daughter - on the other hand - hates Seattle and can't wait to get to NYC. Her goal is film school - more specifically the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television. She is anxious to be gone and away from the drama that has been created by dad (and mom) battling in court, the weather, boring high school and she wants to be on her way.

Anyway, I appear to have more time to figure out what I want to do when I “grow up” and I do believe it will be traveling. I imagine working for a few months each year and then traveling for a few – nice dream eh? Or maybe just a little place to land for three quarters of the year – kind of cottage by the sea? I tease my son that all I really want is a little shed in his back yard – “You’ll never even know I’m there.” Then I can leave on a whim and have someplace to visit. Anyway, wanting to travel means not really needing much. I’ll do a little bit each week and eventually I’ll get there…

I have put a few things in my shop this past week – collage packs, vintage photos, british magazine pages, yearbooks from the 1940’s. I’ll keep purging and maybe someone else will treasure them or make something new with them – either way it’s time to move it all along to someone else.

Collage Packs

British Mags

Black and White Photo Packs - great price!!

The flowers are beginning to bloom, inspite of the crappy weather. It's getting a bit aggravating - one nice day out of seven. And it's almost June and the heat is still needing to be turned on - I see $$$$ floating away. It should be warm enough to forego paying to stay warm - where is the sun???? I am going to get back into posting more frequently - as things have settled down a bit here on the home front. I will also get back to posting art again, so stay tuned.

All for today, my lovelies,

kso

xoxoxoxo

Art Reception a Great Success

Well, I am feeling a bit less pressure today :-)

The big student art show that I work on every year is almost done - we had our big artist reception last night. Met many of the artists this year - so many of them showed up to meet the public. It was a lot of fun - and plenty of great art. Many who came to view could not believe that it was all created by 15 - 18 year old students... I felt the same way.

And then there is always that urban experience that happens in the city - the local skate boarder boys and the homeless contingent dropped in and devoured the food and drink offered to the art show patrons. Great juxtopostion of culture and grunge :-)

The evening was filled with live music provided by the BHS Jazz Combo - they performed to rousing applause and gave the whole art show a very coooool vibe! Five boys and one girl - fabulous musicians!!

We had a special room for veiwing student produced films. Five films which were really intriguing and thoughtful. Matt Lawrence who is the head of this department is a wonderful teacher - positive, engaged and enthusiastic. He has sent many students to NYU Film School and his students continue to win national awards for their films. My daughter is in his program and loves it - NYU is her new goal!!

The films were -

HENRY by Amelia Elizalde, Levi Friedman, Sean Hendricks, Sheridan Koehler - about our local Ballard artist who paints murals on just about any open, used space. Playful works of art that our local Seattle Times art critic hates!! The film was a contrast of interviews between her and Henry.


BURSTING by Misko Crkon, Alex Johnston-Thomas, William Westgaard - a techno visual music video. Reminded me of a 1970's drug induced experience - really cool!


WITHOUT OUR CARS by Sydney Jarol, Dylan Miller, Ryan Zemke - about the bike community in Seattle and the movement to get people out of their cars.


REAL WORLD by Matt Law-Phipps, Tony Meyer, Ryan Zemke - a dramatic story about why it's important to get an education and enter the real world. You really cannot get a job when all you do it play with your Legos, video games and hang out with your friends :-)


REVERIE PORTAL by David Moore, Kenji Takada-Dill, Blair Scott - my fave!! An abstract film that follows a boy and a girl throught the woods to a door and heartbreak. The filming was beautiful with many interesting angles, shots and movement!


Last week a couple of us Art Boosters were interviewed by the Ballard News Tribune and I was quoted - kind of cool!!


Today it is once again raining - blah... it just doesn't seem to ever stop!! I
am going to hole up in my house and work in my journal - I have lots of
catching up to do.

All for today my lovelies,
kim
xoxoxoxo

The Last Few Weeks...

This is what I have been working on - the Student Art Show for Ballard High School. It's sponsored by the Seattle Public Library and takes place in conjunction with the Ballard ArtWalk that takes place on the second Saturday of the month. Every May, for the past five years, we have partnered with them to showcase the artwork of our local high school students.

This year 55 students contributed ceramics, photography, fine art, jewelry and video shorts to the show. That means there are over 250 pieces of some form of art to display.

We are having a reception this Saturday evening - live music, food and drink, a "Showing" of the films and lots of fabulous art to view.

So, in preparation I've been picking up, cataloging, tagging, pricing, transporting, setting up and then standing back and admiring all this artistic glory!! I had many helpers, for which I am truly grateful!!

It is a mammoth job. I will relax a bit on Sunday. But for now here's a small look at what these kids came up with this year...

On the art/business front I am continuing to purge things that I will never be able to use in my lifetime. I am selling little packets of vintage photos in my etsy shop

25 random photos for $3.75 plus shipping - that works out to 15 cents a photo - a bargain!! I went through this phase a couple of years ago and bought way too many - time to move them on to another who will actually do something creative with them. Take a peek :-)

All for today my lovelies,
kso
xoxoxoxo

A Lovely Dream: The Poodle and the Baby Head

Suzi Blu is having a give away if you post this button. And since she is the reason I became an art journalist I thought I would put it up today. I think is was about 4 or 5 years ago I stumbled onto her and the rest, as they say is history. She inspired me to start making art just for myself - that, and I love her art. I love her quirky, honest spirit!! I have a Suzi painting hanging over my bed - it was my birthday present to myself for my 50th :-))

So go check her out, grab the badge and link to her blog by tomorrow night and you might be the winner!!

all for tonight my lovelies,
kso
xoxoxoxo

Spring is Finally Here!!!

Wow, we have been having some crazy weather in this country lately. I am happy to say that the sun was shining today. Unfortunately that means I had to get out there and mow the lawn - which with a push mower was a bit of a challenge.

I had hoped that my son would have been able to do it before he left the country. He has gone to Peru with his biology teacher. They are gone for 16 days of study in the Amazon at the Tamshiyacu Tihuaya Reserve It takes over 24 hours to get to their destination - Seattle to SanFrancisco - then SF to Lima, Peru - then Lima to Iquintos - then a 4 hour speedboat ride up the Amazon to the lodge. I dropped him off at the airport at 5 am on Saturday and he was to arrive in Tihuaya at around noon on Sunday. I hope he is having a fabulous time!! Only 13 days 'til he gets back!

On the art front I have been too busy to eek out much time - a few minutes here and there... but I finally finished a little Remains of the Day journal. Here it is -

The journal when it is closed - all sunshine and spring time

Partially open with daisies and buttons

The first page in the first signature. Measures about 6x6, perfect size to carry in your bag. I am selling it in my shop here Take a peek :-))

All for today my lovelies,
kso
xoxoxoxo