Tonight I finished a dozen new Art-To-Wear shard “magnetic adornments.” A friend saw these yesterday and said,”They are a combination of your collages and your shards!” Yep. I like the idea of the bar magnet on the back that keeps them secure on clothing without making holes. I’m taking them to the Hyatt Resort Art Faire on Friday – we’ll see how they are received. Now, back to the kitchen to cook!

Here’s a wonderful dessert for turkey day – I used Cajeta instead of melted caramels when I made it this morning for tomorrow’s dinner. It’s essentially the same thing, and easier than unwrapping caramels. Local apples make it even better!

Yesterday, I drove out to the Hill Country to visit a new friend, an artist I had met at last weekend’s Olmos Park Art Faire. She and I hit it off immediately, and I promised to help set up her website. It was a pleasure because her work is varied and complex. She described her studio to me, but nothing prepared me for the place itself. Designed by the Houston architect Cameron Armstrong, the home and workspace is an amazing fusion of metal and organic material. It’s essentially a small compound of three buildings, all of which integrate progressively with the surrounding stone-and-cedar terrain. I can’t wait to go back!

I like this interview because that’s the way it really happened.

Something new! I got this idea the night before the craft fair and made one to wear:

 It’s a pin, but not really, because it’s a small collage with a shard face that attaches to a jacket or sweater with a very strong magnet meant for name tags. I got so many comments on it (and offers to buy it) that I decided to make a few more. Check them out – I think I’ll make some for Etsy or my own webpage and sell them for $22 or so. Apparently, wearing the one I have is the best advertising! Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Yep – today was a sellout at my first “real” neighborhood craft fair. I gave my last Shard face to my hostess as a thank-you for letting me participate. I met so many great people and learned to use my Square software on the iPad to make transactions reliably.
One thing I learned is that set-up and sales in that venue is hard work. There are lots of times one just sits, and then a customer or two come and then more, and the wind picks that moment to blow over your umbrella and scatter your cards. It’s a crazy way to make a living! But it definitely has appeal – and the feedback is priceless.
Here are some photos of my low-tech treeside set-up.

I haven’t done much of this, but will be participating in a large arts fair called Uptown Art Stroll in the Olmos Park Terrace neighborhood. My friend, knitter and weaver Kathleen Messina, has invited me to share her space. I’ll be taking Scent Shards and cover examples. Here’s a map that shows how extensive a “stroll” it will be. Fortunately for art lovers, there’s going to be a trolley, food booths and music to make strolling more fun.

Just returned from a trip to the Davis Mountains near Big Bend where my band played for a 50th high school reunion. The music was fun, but the landscape was harsh. Places have their own beauty – the light here was very different and made photography difficult because there seemed to be no mid-tones. If a landscape can be bi-polar, this was it! Here are some photos from the Davis Mountains near Ft. Davis State Park. The last two show two shops in the town of Ft. Davis. I really liked the shop called Possibilities, and found some interesting essential oils there, as well as a very interesting shop owner.

I needed some batik print accents for a journal cover I created recently, so I turned to my trusty scanner and laid my 35-year-old Indonesian batik sarong on the flatbed of my scanner.

After the image was scanned, I opened it in Photoshop Elements, my graphic design studio’s best friend.

I kept the original version, but also made a version in blue by adjusting the hue settings. I saved them as separate files, but combined them into one sheet to print. I printed them out on a strong but semi-transparent rice paper meant for InkJet printers. The result is amazing- it even has the satin gloss and soft feel of the original fabric. I can’t wait to use it on my next project. As they say, the possibilities are endless.

Wow.

Aargh! My little cat, Pharaoh, was looking out the window in the studio while I was working. When he jumped down, his front paw landed in a bowl of India Ink and he ran across my work table, the dhurrie rug, the tile floor and on and on. I finally caught him and gave him a footbath in the sink, which he did not care for one bit. Unfortunately, since India ink is permanent, I may have a new pattern on the studio rug.
Pharaoh, the art cat –