Holy - Moly!! Hang on, we are heading into the holidays!!

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring, ting, tingling, too

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, "Yoo hoo"

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

And with the holidays,
comes pop-up shops, open houses, holiday sales and more.

Below is a quick rundown of  the holiday happenings for virginiacreates ....

TONIGHT, December 10th

4:00 - 7:00 PM (basically NOW)
Grand Opening at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Natick
Bubbles and bites and some 'dailydress ...' photos decking the walls!!
@31 South Main Street


Thursday, December 13th, 5:00 - 10:00 PM and

Saturday, December 15th, 4:00 - ?? :)

I will also be at both celebrations at the studios of the lovely and talented Bree Richey, of Bree Richey Designs. Stop by to find some beautiful and unique holiday gifts from local artists, as well as much holiday fun!!

And on-going is the pop-up shop at

Roots and Wings Yoga and Healing Arts

Artisans are back by popular demand. Visit your favorites and check out their new items. Learn about new artists involved in the Roots & Wings community.

Artisans work include pottery, quilts, ceramics, cards, scarves, multi-media sculpture, mugs and accessories, jewelry, New England local honey & candles, and many more unique and finely crafted items. Surely we have something for everyone on your shopping list! We even have a slime-making artisan!

Mon-Fri, starts 11/14 (Opens 11/14, Mon thru Fri thru Dec ??)
4:00-7:00 pm
Pop Up Shop room, 1st fl. across from the rest rooms near the Wings studio.

Some of our Artisans:

Kathy James of Little Bird Beads
Andi Lindsey, Bazaar Quilts
Marci Zieff, Creating Calm Crystals and More
Virginia Fitzgerald, Virginia Fitzgerald Art
Eujin Kim Neilan, myUniT
Cheryl Dunlap, Just Bee and Me
Cathy Weaver Taylor, Phoenix Rising Art
Ashley Kane, Mala Beads
Shop 4-7 pm daily, Monday thru Friday. Or schedule a time to stop in. Contact us: (508) 315-8088

contact@rootsandwingshealingarts.com

IF: journey

mixed media collage: assignment was night traveling in eastern europe

Illustration Friday (IF): 

 a weekly drawing challenge sponsored by Illustration Age, where every Friday a new topic is posted and illustrators from around the globe have one week to come up with their own unique interpretation and share it on the IF home page.

~ 

Off and on, over the years, I have participated in this creative illustration challenge. I would do it every week if I had 48+ hrs. in the day.  

IF has always been a touchstone for me, it gave me a opportunity to be creative. I would participate when I was in-between projects or generally at ~ sea creatively, which would accurately describe my current state.  

So when the IF email popped up in my inbox this morning, with the topic of JOURNEY; 

it felt like a sign.  

I am on a journey, a journey of self discovery and new direction.  I am taking stock to see which and where I go next, how to proceed, especially in the area of occupation, since I was a stay-at-home mom/artist who now needs to support herself and her girls, this is a tricky topic.

One possible career 'trajectory' that has recently been surfacing again and again 

when I ponder said future is:

illustrator.  

Yes, even as I write it I feel a quickening.  

Now this is not a new desire, I have wanted to be an illustrator since I was a little girl, soaking up the riches of Richard Scarry, Margaret Wise Brown, Maurice Bernard Sendak, Garth Williams, Beatrix Potter and Joan Walsh Anglund (click on her name to go to the world of Joan Walsh Anglund :) to name a few.  

I spent hours racing through the halls and riding the elevators of the Plaza Hotel with Hilary Knight's Eloise, and days accompaning Dare Wright's Lonely Doll, Little Bear and Mr. Bear on their many adventures.

As I got older I realized that illustrations weren't only in books,and  I wanted to follow in the foot steps of Sandra Boyton, Sara Anderson or better yet, Lily Pulitzer, designing bold and colorful fabrics with her name hidden in every pattern - a creative puzzle of sorts.

My love of illustration has never waned, however it was damped by the foreboding reality of how impossible it is to become a financially successful illustrator. I took many an illustration course in New York, only to hear that your success is basically based on the chance that your portfolio lands on the top of the art director's desk the day she/he is looking for your particular style . . . it was grim.  

So I decided to make myself stand out from the sea of submissions by creating a name for myself in other creative fields, which I did, which I have, so . . .   

Now I don't believe that the destiny of being a financially solvent illustrator has changed, however I have changed and I have learned much, so . . .  

For now I am going to let this idea of illustrating percolate more, as I take some much needed time to assess.  But I do believe it was providence that I received this IF prompt today,  as it reminded me of a journey that I wish to take, a path that I long to follow.  

Happy Friday & peace . . . .

Illustration Friday: Kernel

When I saw the prompt for this week's Illustration Friday I thought of this surface design I made in another life!!

Each week the topic is suggested by a fellow illustrator, and included in the topic email there is frequently  a quote.  The illustration doesn't need to relate to the quote & mine obviously doesn't, however I wanted to share this lovely quote. 

 “Nature has neither kernel nor shell; she is everything at once” ~ Goethe

This week's topic is "kernel", suggested by Sylvia Liu (http://www.sylvialiuland.com/). Thank you Sylvia and let's go out and enjoy Nature this lovely Spring weekend!!

Peace

A Blessing . . .

my contribution to Illustration Friday, prompt: Jump

As we jump into a new week i felt that this was worth sharing . . .

Lord, bless our week. Help us to take all the necessary risks to become the person we always wanted to be.

Paulo Coelho

peace

illustration, illustration, illustration. . .

last week a 'call for illustration' came to my attention which i could not pass it up. so I started to dig through my portfolios and what i found made me smile.

watercolor

with the submission they requested a web site, however my illustrations have yet to be on my web site, so i thought i'd put a few on my blog and submit this address.

watercolor and inks with resist

for you lovely followers of this blog, you have seen some of my illustrations before and for some of you, they may be a new.  however, i wanted to get a good collection in one spot ~ so voila!!

watercolor and inks with resist

i must confess, rummaging through these images has reminded me how much i love illustration, the visual telling of a story or idea.

watercolor and inks with resist

i have ALWAYS dreamt of illustrating an ABC book - I am amazed on how many letter illustrations i have tucked away in portfolios.  

acrylic

as u can see i work with many, MANY different media and have some different styles (sometimes i wonder if that was/is not a good selling point?!?!) but that is ME ~ many ideas, many media.

acrylic

 years ago, i worked hard to be a freelance illustrator but i was discouraged when so many people spoke of how hard it was to break into that world :(

acrylic

but now i would eagerly to get back to the drafting table and return to this world!!!

mixed media collage

but i am hoping to get my submission in before the nth hour so i must go before exhaustion wins out.

gouache

so, good night & peace

collage with aluminum can

acrylic paint on paper

 

sharpie on plastic board

detail

pen and ink (seen on my daily dress blog)

pen and ink

scratchboard

pen and ink

pen and ink

spot illustration/pen and ink

if: obsession

OK ~ another IF topic that I couldn't pass up however I am feeling like i am cheating, a bit ....

This collage/illustration comes from MY most recent compulsive obsession ~ my daily dress journal/project!! I started creating a page a day in a moleskin sketch book in February. I try to take some detritus from the day and create a 'collage' which includes an origami dress. When i first began I filled a book, creating a page for each day. Since then I have started two more books but the days are not always in sequence, and I skip a day here or there ~ but that is only because of, wait for it.... I run out of TIME!!! but I am obsessed and I am now collecting every scrap of interesting paper that i can find!! and I LOVE it!!! ( I have even set up a Daily Dress Project blog where I am trying to post each page, I am still in March, but plugging away:)

When i was wondering why I was spending time working on these books (when there was amble other things I could be addressing) my very wise daughter responded, without hesitation - you need a creative outlet!! from the mouth of babes!!

So that my contribution to the Illustration Friday community!! a illustration of an obsession which also represents my obsession with making art and my obsession with dresses!!! Which leads me to the other photo in this post - the dress I made with Eugene Quinn for the Barefoot at Rockport event which was held yesterday!! It was a beautiful event and I was so honored to be included!! Thank you Corina Belle-Isle who organized all the magic!! Happy Friday!!

if: remedy

This week's illustration friday's prompt is 'remedy'. For this week i reached back to one of my greeting card illustrations, an illustration for a get well card!!

I think the remedy for most anything is a little TLC!!

Wishing all a happy and safe 4th o' July!!! peace

illustration friday ~ asleep

Once again I feel that it has been too long since I have lasted blogged, which is true. One reason is since I have been away soooooo long there is soooooooo much I want to say so I get stymied. But then I saw today's Illustration Friday's prompt: asleep, and knew I couldn't pass this up...

In fact this is a wonderful prompt for me... so much that I couldn't pick because all three if these are some of my favorite illustrations - from way back, so i'm posting all three.

And I do hope to be posting a bit more regularly because there is just so much to share, to ponder & to post. (also my teaching position is ending so i will have a bit more time on my hands, well at least until my girlies get out of school :)

peace & happy memorial weekend!!

IF:stir & OMG: im @ VSC

Translation :

Illustration Friday: stir & Oh My Goddess, I'm at Vermont Studio Center (pinch me now!!!!)

(warning: writing after little sleep and a long drive :)

now where to begin......so many wonderful things to share!!

First ~ yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to sit down and have a sublime conversation with a kindred spirit, artist Lisa Barthelson. We did this at Fountain Street Fine Art in conjunction with our show. It was an inspiring time and the gallery taped it so those who could not be there can catch it on YouTube!! I'll post the link when i get it. It was quite a thrill for me and an amazing way to head for to an artist's retreat.

Yes this is another wonderful thing!! I am presently at Vermont Studio Center to do art for two weeks!!! I really can't believe that i am here but here are photos of my studio!!! This is an opportunity that I have wanted to do for DECADES!!! Just arrived a few hours ago but already I feel like i am in heaven!! One thing that i am looking forward to is being in the company of other people who just want to make art ALL the TIME. I met the other folks in my studio building and besides being very nice, they said, 'if you need us, you will find us here, in our studios, at any hour!!' I have found my peeps!!! I am already feeling the affects of this place - I have had very little sleep (packing, sick child...), loaded a car and then drove 4+ hours, and one would think that I would sleep but no, I just wanted to set up my studio!!! :)

It was hard to figure out what from my studio in Natick to bring, so many different materials.... But I picked a few 'projects' and we will see where the muses lead. Here is my wonderful and dependable van packed with my stuff and want-a-be stowaway!!

Lastly, whenever i can, I like to participate in Illustration Friday. So when i saw the theme for this week, stir, I thought of this illustration. So voila ~ gotta to love cooking pigs!!!

good night for now & peace for heaven!!

illustration friday ~ reverse

'slipping' in just under the wire ... my interpretation of reverse.

Many Calvin and Hobbes books are scattered around our house, a family favorite!! and i think some of Calvin and Hobbes' antics have soaked into my psyche as i look at how i illustrated this week's theme ~ reverse.

I did a simple pen and ink sketch, scanned it, then 'cleaned' it up in Photoshop. Wonder where that wagon will end up, looks like sock Monkey may have some plans....

peace

Illustration friday ~ chicken

The Illustration Friday's theme this week is CHICKEN!! what a great theme ~ i couldn't let this one pass without posting something!! however I feel although i am cheating a wee bit because the chicken is not the center of this piece ~ but if i tried to paint a new chicken illustration....well lets just say i doubt there would be a chicken illustration friday from moi!!! So I am going with this favorite illustration from a many moons ago!! I love this piece because I LOVE to dance!!! and these guys seems to be having a rip~roaring, hum~dinger of a time!!!

So here is to my chicken and his buddies cutting the rug under the stars!!! Dance on!! & peace!!

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~Agnes De Mille

Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.
Voltaire

Dance as though no one is watching you.

Love as though you have never been hurt before.

Sing as though no one can hear you.

Live as though heaven is on Earth.

illustration friday ~ winter

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show. ~

Andrew Wyeth

Not sure if it the heart-racing exhilaration that comes from being in the middle of a blizzard or the mile long list of things that I need to do (two grant proposals due by Dec. 31st), but whatever it is, sleep eludes me. So when the cold nose nudged me at the break of dawn I was happy to oblige, and Scruffy and I went out into the white wonderland which Mother Nature has so beautifully produced. And it is a blizzard ~ winter tundra comes to mind. This storm has a major wind element which has created magnificent drifts and valleys which the hound and I happily crashed through.

Upon returning I made myself a large mug of hot chocolate, turned on Yo-Yo Ma and planned to tackle my grant proposals. But, of course I need to check my emails and in my typical productive procrastination mode I saw that this week’s Friday Illustration was “winter” ~ how appropriate. So before I disappeared into my proposals I wanted to post this illustration. It was done as an assignment: illustrate one of your favorite childhood memories and mine was the Chicago Blizzard of 1967. I would have been 3 yrs old and my brother was 1. The city had shut down! My parents had an impromptu party for all my father’s colleagues who were stranded in the city. The spontaneity about everything was so magical to me ~ there was excitement in the air. And sometime during the evening my father decided to take my brother and me out for a sled ride!! This was more than exciting! We were all bundled up and the three of us took to the darkening streets. Everything was white and quiet, and what was most amazing to me was that my dad was pulling the sled down the middle of the STREET!! As a toddler who had been told numerous times about the perils of being in the street ~ this was cool!! So we three traveled around the neighborhood, my brother snug in my lap, my father in control, leading us past townhouses with their warm cozy light spilling out onto the snow in front of us. This is one of my fondest childhood memories and I think it works with this week’s IF theme as well as the current Boston weather.

Now, no more procrastination, off to the proposals (or at least until the girls wake up and want to go sledding). Thank you Daddy for that amazing ride!!! peace to you and peace to all!!! xxx

illustration friday ~ transportation

this week the 'topic' for illustration Friday is transportation .... so many possibilities ~ boats, cars and truck, oh my!!! When I finally settled down my creative brain and perused my portfolio for an appropriate illustration, I came across this one. And even though this might not scream transportation, like a big yellow taxi :) I wanted to use it, because this painting was done for a picture book and yesterday I read a disturbing article in the New York Times about the decline in the publication of picture books ~ Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children By Julie Bosman, published: October 7, 2010. Reading this article upset me greatly, as an illustrator and a parent. I believe in the importance of the picture book!!! I bet we all have a cherished memory of our favorite picture book ~ the one we sat with for hours, disappearing into the pictures ~ fighting dragons, rocking with mama bunny or cruising along one of Richard Scarry's wonderfully busy streets. Our house is still full of picture books even though my girls are nine and twelve. I don't think there is an age limit for enjoying a picture book; however this seems to be the main reason for the decline, according to this article. The article concentrated on how parents are pushing their children to read chapter books at an earlier and earlier age ~ ack!!! As a parent I see so many elements of my children's lives disappearing in the name of 'advancement'. How many parent conferences I have gone to where I am told that all these new procedures are preparing them for the MCAs ~ the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. Now don't get me wrong I am all for giving our children a wonderful education with as many opportunities that they can have, but I feel like we are losing some of the wonders of childhood! And this article stirred many of these feelings, especially this section ~

Now Laurence is 6 ½, and while he regularly tackles 80-page chapter books, he is still a “reluctant reader,” Ms. Gignac said.
Sometimes, she said, he tries to go back to picture books.
“He would still read picture books now if we let him, because he doesn’t want to work to read,” she said, adding that she and her husband have kept him reading chapter books.

I read this and it made my heart ache ~ I think as parents we are not only responsible for teaching our children to read but, and maybe more importantly, we need to cultivate a love for reading, especially now that children have so many other entertainment options besides a good book. I know that I am a bit biased on this point (you can ask my girls) but I feel that the written word can take you so many wonderful places and you don't need an outlet!

The article did mention that the cost for a picture book could also be contributing to the decline in sales ~ and I can see that, however then again, authors and illustrators do need to buy groceries and pay rent too!!
So go find a good picture book (or go buy one) and enjoy!! If you feel so inclined please tell me one of your favorites ~ one of my favorites is The Bedspread by Sylvia Fair ~ visually amazing and the story warms the cockles of my heart everytime I read it!!

happy reading and looking!! peace