Arts Benicia Show Opening

Went to the opening of The Art of a Community exhibit at Arts Benicia tonight. I was so happy to have found this arts organization in my somewhat nearby neighborhood. Although I live in Vallejo, I find myself on First St. in Benicia far more often that any downtown Vallejo street. 

I spent an hour or so looking at the work of 180 different artists. I was pleasantly surprised by the vast range of mediums. Being especially into book arts right now, and as always, anything precious and delicate, I was drawn to this altered book by Karen Hatzigeorgiou.  While butterflies are not my favorite motif, the all white frames of these paper insects cast shadows on the book. They leap off the page only to be suspended, unmoving, yet flickering in the light. I like how the forms create other shapes, constantly changing and shifting in its environment. To be honest, there were so many people, I didn't get a very close or intimate look at any one piece, but I was happy to have spent my night there.  The show will be up through most of March, and I will like to see it again, without the buzzing crowd.

New Workshops

I am happy to announce I will be teaching workshops out of my studio at the Napa House. Check out the Napa House Blog for a class schedule!!! Coming up on Sunday February 22nd, I am offering a class in image transfer techniques for collage and paper arts. I will also be creating a Spring Schedule of new classes at the^workshop in Berkeley shortly. I have a renewed sense of purpose after the past few weeks of not wanting to even be at my house, let alone making anything. I hope to kick of the new year in February since January wasn't a proper send off into 2009. Hope this surge will last!!!!

Sticky Sushi Rice

Thanks everyone for all the support!  It helps tremendously!  I will be posting more regularly now. The last 10 days or so I have been hiding out at my boyfriend's restaurant and so I haven't been home much. Good stuff to come..

Went to Ichiban Kan (my favorite japanese dollar store) and bought these plastic molds for making rice balls and sushi. I made the girls avocado sushi for diner and they had cucumber rice flowers and hearts for lunch the next day. I had so much fun making them. I even have a little bird shape to try also. 

A Collection

I am a collector. It's in my nature.  I appreciate old and worn things, throw away things, miniature things, things that tell a story, things that I can tell a story with or through, and all these things end up a part of my space. I love to scour the thrift stores, antique shows and flea markets for unusual objects. But I am lucky enough to also have friends who sometimes collect on behalf. This little numbered bottle set was given to me by Ellen, a friend and co-owner of the^workshop in Berkeley. She said now she has a "Courtney" spot in her home of things she might find in her travels that no one would appreciate but me. I am so lucky to have such friends!

I'm not sure what I will do with these once I've put them in order. Undoubtedly fill the tiny vials with something... 

We'll just have to wait and see!

A Picture A Day

My picture for today is of a fox I met this afternoon at Ardenwood Farm. I've been going to this farm since I was a child, picnicking with my grandparents spending lazy summer afternoons under the eucalyptus. I would pick tomatoes in the fields during the summers and carefully select plump orange pumpkins in Autumn. As an adult, I have returned to enjoy the beauty of this park with friends. I was there today with MJ and her family and met this wild red fox. I was so taken with his beauty! He lounged like a farm cat on the picnic benches. It was incredible!

He was so cute, I had to share.

The Chair: Revisited

So this was posted on Apartment Therapy and received 27 comments so far. Wow! People really hate this chair! Some had really harsh things to say and others had some really good and funny comments. I must say its weird to be fully critiqued  on design aesthetic when this was a 24 hr job. I find the whole thing hilarious! In the end, I am happy with the chair and hated the other fabric, although there were many on apt therapy that loved the before! And for the person who thought I should use velvet on the back of the chair... I did! Thanks for all the feedback!

I love it! I'm keeping it just how it is!

What do you think? A design dilemma...

Painted my living room wall a persimmon color and am adding the brown stencil motif. I had originally wanted to create an all over pattern but am really liking the asymmetrical stripe. I especially like it because the fireplace is off center to the wall so it helps to fill the space. Should I leave it as is?                                

Another trip to one of my favorite shops, Filthy Gorgeous in Walnut Creek to check out their holiday goodies. As always, the store was beautifully merchandised with unique and wonderful items, both antique and antique inspired. The staff is friendly and I always find something inspiring and reasonably priced. These pics were hurriedly taken with my iPhone and don't do them justice, bit I highly recommend Filthy Gorgeous for unique finds all year 'round!

Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday was spent preparing an Indian Feast. My boyfriend, Aaron, and I elected to spend the holiday together...just the two of us...and it was perfect!  We made samosas with several chutneys (including a cranberry chutney), chana daal patties, curried pumpkin soup and plantain curry with basmati rice. We drank homemade Chai throughout the day and finished our evening with ginger creme brulee. I think we'll do this every year. Its nice to have a day to ourselves before the rush of the Holiday Season. 

We made party crackers today for our house warming tomorrow night. The girls were occupied for an hour and did a great job making them! We used toilet paper rolls, filled them with candy then rolled them in crepe paper. The girls used a sticker to seal the paper, then they tied the ends with baker's twine. It was a fun and easy project and they turned out so well! The rest of the afternoon was spent doing other arts and crafts projects and cooking, but I think this was the success of the day!

Halloween Hi Jinx

Went to Rachel's annual fancy dress Halloween part last night. I decided to be a witch, MJ was a bat and her boy, Dusty, was a psycho killer (but his costume resembled his own sculptures more that anything else). I made these popcorn treat bags. I printed the mouth graphic on the front, and "Eat Me"on the back. I made 4 different kinds of popcorn: butter and salt, Parmesan, chocolate and orange peel, and Cajun spice. They were pretty cute!


Found these shoes at the thrift store and added the orange tissue paper bow. I was surprised how comfortable these were considering I do not wear heels. I kept them on all night without incident! I love Halloween!

Is it the 1st yet?

Pics of our new house. We move in on the 1st of November and the wait is killing me...
My tiny little apartment, which has housed me, my boyfriend and those two little girls 3 days a week for the past year is a disaster! Some things are in boxes, some things aren't, things in general, are a mess. My small space is now claustrophobic. Knowing that there is a larger space waiting for me makes things even harder. I am so excited to move, and yet this move is stressing me out! Kids, work and the dirty dishes don't pause long enough to get anything done! And once the boxes are packed, where do you place them? Currently, they're blocking the back door, barricading us in! Aaahh... I just keep thinking of what I can do in this new house! I will have a workspace, the girls will have a room, there is even a clawfoot tub! sigh... is it the first yet?

Pumpkining, a Grand Opening and a New House

A busy, busy week. The Grand Opening at Maison Reve finally happened yesterday after so much hard work and long nights from our entire staff. Aaron and I signed a lease for our new house (more pics to come) after a couple of weeks of stress and worry, and we took the girls to the pumpkin patch (which was great). I am excited and exhausted!

New Business Cards

front

My new business cards came today! I am pretty happy with the design, but the on screen color is much better than the printed color (no real surprise there). They'll work for a bit...or at least for the next 1000!!!!

back

Gocco Class at the^workshop

Just taught Gocco printing on the PG5 at the^workshop in Berkeley. It was a great class especially because two of my flickr friends attended and we met for the first time!

Marilyn aka Spiced Coffee gocco'd this Japanese wave image. It looked great on this coaster and on the tea towel she made!

Sheila used an abstract image of telephone wires, and she printed it on tee shirts and her orange nylon bag. It looked great on the bag because the transparency of the sack gave the image some depth and made it more ethereal!


Hillary aka lily lemon drew this owl image and printed it on her tee shirt (the one she wore to class)! It was pretty cute on the tea towel and fabric scraps, but I loved it on the striped background of her tee!!!!!!


Sonia printed her tank top. She used an image of a doorway with Chinese characters above. I love the distressed quality of the image! The printed turned out really beautiful.

Celebrated my 1 year with Aaron by spending the day in the Marin area. We went to this elk preserve near Tomales Bay and then went to the beach just below. It was beautiful, and we had a lot of fun...although we didn't pay so much attention to the elk. I took this photo of one of the abandoned structures on the property. I loved the star cutouts!

Presents for Aaron

I celebrated my 1 year anniversary with my boyfriend, Aaron. I made him this little rabbit scene as we have decided were are "rabbits." I have made many things over the past year for him, some of which uses rabbit iconography. Other things are from fairy tales and bits of things we have said and discovered together over the past year. Here are some of the things I have made...

The second book I made for him. Its called "Melting Point," and is an altered book.


The text is from this "found" story. I cut out everything that didn't apply. What's left are these little fingers of conversations, spindly and fragile. It was spooky how appropriate the text was... from how we met to how we spent time together in the beginning, etc.

There is a semi transparent leaf after the text, and when you turn the page, you find a moth, which was our first sort of totem animal.

An Easter present...

A tunnel book made from a fairy tale Aaron read as a child from the Purple Fairy Book.

A card to cheer him up on a hard day.

Another Halloween Craft

A paper witch soars amidst the smoky clouds atop her black and orange striped bird. Moonlit stars sparkle in the black and white night. A burnt orange pumpkin houses this scene in its empty belly...a Halloween present for my Mom who's birthday we are celebrating tomorrow night.