My art Undressed

Okay, not really, but I just got a email from Danita Jolly, who is a realtor for here in Burien. She has a blog called Burien Undressed. http://burienundressed.neighborhoodsundressed.com/ She has been very kind and posted 3 of my most recent pieces of art on her site...It is so cool to see your stuff somewhere else.....I enjoy the whole networking thing because it can benefit so many. I love her blog because she takes great photos out and about in Burien and beyond and tells bits of history about he town while promoting it as well. We do have a great little area that we live in. Lots of folks who love to blog too. Check out her blog if you get a chance. Lory

Art for the Normandy Park Cove Show

Yes, I have been off the Blog scene lately, but I have been very busy....Below are a few of my new pieces that I have been working on for the Normandy Park Cove Show. It is this weekend and I am both excited and nervous....Art is done, ready to hang and has even been photographed..Which is why I can share these with you. Tomorrow I will help set up the grids, lights and tables. Then the fun starts....email me- lory@weepingwaxstudio.com if you want more info on the show. Back soon, Lory

Berries and Flower babies

These babies make me want a girl...I guess this is why have nieces. Although, I think they could look cute almost anywhere accept my teenage son's rooms.

Inner Critic

When I went to the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland, I purchased a grab bag of ceramic faces. I totally love them, even when they are broken.

The Sea

I got these cool old lead weights at an awesome garage sale in West Seattle.

Dream Doll

This piece has been under construction for about 8 months now....I finally just kept adding to it and this is what I ended up with...Like floating in space.

Radio

This piece is made with some old ham radio emphemera. My grandfather was an operator in the 1930's.

Art Frenzy

Okay...so I am now in what I would call a art frenzy. I am to leave next week Tues. to Portland Oregon for the Art and Soul Retreat. I am very excited, yet it seems that once again I have left myself short on time.

We were shipped a special item to paint, embellish etc.. It is ceramic fish. The theme for the year is Romancing the Sea. Soooo..my fish is still just as blank as the day I received it in mid August. Must make time to give my fish a makeover. I'm thinking of course about encaustic wax and a bit of mixed media which would be my usual. I really don't have the time to step outside the box but I'm most confident that it will turn out just fine.

I am going to this retreat with 3 girlfriends as I have mentioned. We split up some of the supplies as to cut down on the load of paints, papers, brushes, glues etc....My friend Keli and I are in need of 3 each 8x8" deep cradle canvas. Well, I just ordered them this morning online at DickBlick.com and yes...I will be paying a premium on shipping. I am aware that I could have ordered them 3 weeks ago, but then I would not be doing right by my very random procrastinating personality.

Yesterday I spent the morning with Rachel...the most incredible artist friend. We walked all of Old Burien asking the shop owners if we could put up posters for the November Cove Art Show. This would be another part of my frenzy, since my muse has been a bit out of sorts. Must get going on the art since I only have about a month when taking into consideration the days I will be out of town. Yikes!

Other good news is that I just made reservations for my husband and me to take our 2 sons to Italy in April...I am out of my mind excited. We are going to Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome. The planning has been a bit intense with all the Internet hotel searching and the time it took to score 4 round trip tickets all on Alaska Air partner miles...I have never been to Italy, never corresponded with the lovely people who run the hotels in this far away place, nor have I planned train hopping between cities or vaporetto rides down the canals of Venice, but I actually have enjoyed it. The time difference is a bit of a lag and I now know that 4/9/09 is actually 9/4/09. Very silly. The thought of seeing all that incredible art is a bit overwhelming...where to start, what to see and truly, how many places will I be able to drag my boys. Each one of us will plan what to see in a city. Should be interesting to see what my 13yr. old will plan out for us. Won't be giving him Rome, that is for sure.

It is now almost 5am....been up for a few hrs and need to be up for the day at 6:30am. So back to bed I go.

Peace, Lory

Hellooooo...

Yes, back from vacation, school started, work started, my studio is a disaster and I have artwork due. Help! Summer was great fun, questionable weather towards the end and now the sun is out and I love the warm fall days.

As far at Art goes...I finished my "fatbook" page, made 60+ good copies of the same page and then embellished all 60 pages. The Theme is Romancing the Sea, so I did just that. The first side of my double sided 4x4" page is a encaustic collage of my grandparents in 1919 when they were falling in love and Matilde followed Cyrus from Belgium to the Great NW to marry and raise a family. Photo of him, her and the ship she rode in on...The back side is my parents Herb and Esther in 1945 when the fell in love and married in Seattle. They went off to San Diego for several months where my father was stationed and worked on a ship called the Porterhouse. Photos of my parents(mom is now a mermaid) and my dad is popping his head out of a porthole which has the name "Lory's Lines" on the rim....I do love it, but will never again chose do do bead work as my embellishment on 60 pages. I really am not good at that much detail and given the fact that I am in need of reading glasses over the contacts, it was not such a good choice...Learn from our past I guess.

Today is clean the art studio "again" and get ready to focus. I only have a few weeks left before I am out of town for 5 nights in Portland for the Art and Soul Retreat. I am going with 3 friends and we had a meeting last week to imagine how much fun we will have being creative at the hands of others...I love that someone else is going to give me the inspiration then my lovely little muse will hopefully take over. My classes are: Vintage Metal Treasure Decks, Transfers and Transparencies, Gocco a Gogo, So you want to sell your art and Funky Found-Object Canvas Village . Can't wait!! Art, friends and cocktail hour, what more could you want.

More later, I'm off to organize. Lory

On vacation

Just a quick note because I only have a few min. left on this library computer. I am on vacation without Internet service, so library it is...I will be back on 23rd. But I did want to thank Stacy Freeman for the "I love your blog site award"...Yeah! check out my favorites under An artful life for Stacy's work. The award is so sweet and appreciated. Peace, Lory

A Grand Wedding...

No, it would not be my wedding...because I still have that same strapping young man from almost 22yrs ago and do plan on sticking with him. But I did want to share that my art is being featured on a new website called "A Grand Wedding". The owner of the company contacted me and we had a phone interview....It was kind of fun and hopefully will bring some traffic to my website. I would love for you to check out the interview and the site. The direct link to the article is http://www.agrandwedding.com/FeaturedArticle/Default.aspx?a=10

Besides this excitement, life is crazy as usual. In Oct. I am planning on spending a week at the Portland Art and Soul Retreat with a few friends, very exciting and we are all starting to anticipate the fun we will have playing with "organic" art as one friend mentioned. So, through this retreat I signed up to produce one 4x4 double sided art page with the theme "Romancing the Sea"...sounds pretty easy I think to myself, besides then I will get an entire "fatbook" with 60 pages of all the artists that contribute....Very Cool! The only small problem is that I am now in a time crunch to finish my page, get 60 good quality copies of this page on heavy card stock and then embellish all 60 pages...Holy Cow! what was I thinking. I know I will get it done, always do, but will likely be crazy for a few days. I have until Aug. 23rd to have them shipped off, should be fine. So keep me in your prayers that I get a huge creative surge soon and finish up that page.

Baby News! Again, not mine....My niece and her husband are the proud new owner of a 7lb. 1oz. baby boy named Noah....born 08-01-08. Fabulous year, and he is an amazing little thing. I was very blessed and was present at his birth...Wow! I can't believe I did that twice. She did an incredible job and she, baby and dad are doing great. 17hrs. is a very long time even for those who are not giving birth.

Well, the sun is out and maybe to stay for a bit, so I must go get something done....likely won't be heating up the 200 degree wax today, but must do something creative.

Have a great day...Lory

Best Birthday weather ever!

Today is my Birthday, won't say how old I am, but just that the body is starting to have these odd occurances of pain. Not quiet sure what that is about. My husband suprised me with 2 kayaks this morning on our front lawn. Funny how he gets a gift too, just so I have a friend to tool around the puget sound with. We took pictures that are here on the site, WoW! what a great day! The only casualty was my camera case which fell in the water and then got lost amongst the boats, logs on the beach or who really knows where....since I lost my keys for 5 days last week, this doesn't suprise me.

The art front has been a little slow due to my attempts to relocate my studio to another part of the house with more ventilation. This seems to be a slow process. Summer is crazy busy anyways, much less when it is 80 degrees out, who wants to fire up 200 degree wax?

My niece is so very close to delivering her first baby....A Boy! and I am going to be lucky enough to be there at the birth and experience this incredible gift. She is so totally ready, but I guess the baby really is not. Would have been nice if he decided to come today so we could share a birthday, but a birth month is good enough, since I'm the only July/Cancer in the family. Can't wait to get the call, yet the long hours of labor seem to take forever even when you aren't the one giving birth. This I know since my great niece was born just 3 months ago and I was there for that birth too. By the time the baby came out we were pretty rummy. 3AM is a crazy time to deliver a baby.

More to come on Boy Baby Birth!

Hope you have a spectacular week wherever you are, enjoy each nice day we get.

Peace, Lory

New Elements to Blog

Today I updated this blog...Added an amazing thing called a Badge off Flickr. Yes, I am shocked that I was able to do such a thing. Well, 17yr. old son helped a very small amount. So, if you click on a photo on my badge, Presto....it can be enlarged and there are even captions. Now that is a beautiful thing for me. Also added a few new detailed photos of my art and even some new sites to my blog roll.

The Grand Wedding site should be up and running next week..Keep fingers crossed please. I am working on a 2nd custom wedding art which will have some photo transfers of the bride and groom. I'm pretty excited for the site to go live with my interview as "wedding vendor of the week" so keep checking agrandwedding.com. The last time I checked through Yahoo, even though the site was not up and running yet, my blog came up as #3 because I wrote about the new site. So, right there was a perfect example to me of how this blog site expands beyond my little world.

Last weekend I went to the cabin with youngest son and his good friend. The weather was lovely, took some photos, which are on my flickr and I very much enjoyed my solitude as I kayaked along the shore of Vashon Island. Did I mention that I love the Sea???
The sun is out, sky is pretty clear and this truly makes me happy.

Lory

Back on the Board...

I just realized that it has been a bit over a month since I have written in this blog....I just knew that this might be one of my greatest challenges....keeping up with the writing. My creative side says Yes! write, play art all day, peruse the art stores for new ideas, buy brushes and fun pigment colors...But, my unorganized, mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend etc......(yes, many hats to wear) Well, this side tells me otherwise. It seems that the end of the school year, and the many mini crisis life have taken over. There are books to buy for next year, tutoring to set up, receptions that need to be organized for those of us who are crazy enough to be room parent....Wholly Cow, where does my day go?

Well, it is now officially summer break and I have a plan, maybe not the most organized plan, but a plan at that. I have purchased a very large chalk board from Pottery Barn...It is lovely and with its stainless steel rim so it will look smashing in my kitchen once it finds it new home on the door which leads to the garage. The door we go in and out about 100 times a day. The door where we will look at the lovely chalk board and say "oh my, I have some tasks to do", "do I have everything I need to survive this daily outing?" the to do list for car which usually gets lost, dry cleaning, snacks, swim team & play practice for youngest son, purse, cell phone and possibly my mind too...I like to take it along for the ride most of the time. This lovely chalk board will not only tell us what we need to bring, but the best part is that it will tell us what we need to do before we embark on the big town of Burien. I am certain that whatever I write on this board will get done. Yes, the daily reading, lizard feeding, bedroom cleaning, teeth brushing and dog poop scooping. I'm sure I have forgotten something, but once it gets on the board, it will get done...Right? Well this is the grandiose idea that I have floating around in my head....So today is a new day even if it is only 4:30AM...I have high hopes for new levels of organization for the
summer.

Back to that art thing....I actually have been doing some behind the scene work on that too. In the next few weeks I will have a feature story about my Hand-picked "Wedding Vendors of the Week" custom art for weddings on the new website "A Grand Wedding" agrandwedding.com . I will be one of the Hand-picked "Wedding Vendors of the Week". The service I will provide will be custom mixed media encaustic collages. The size will vary from 8x8 up to as large as 16x20 and will have the opportunity for the bride, groom, in laws, bridal party or just friends to capture that special day in art. Somewhat of a time capsule right on their wall. These paintings will include photos, mementos from the wedding, hand made papers, wedding announcements, paper clippings etc....which will all be sealed in time with the encaustic wax. My website has a sample under custom creations. This particular piece is a wedding invitation that created into art for my niece Kaela and her husband Jon last August. They have it hanging in their family room so they can be reminded often what it is all about...

Your task I am leaving you with (imagine it is on the lovely chalk board) check out agrandwedding.com and weepingwaxstudio.com for more information about the custom wedding gifts.

Have a great week and pray I don't run out of chalk,
Lory

Art stroll update

I was told yesterday that I do need to spend more time keeping this blog site current and I am obviously a little late on my blog entry since it has been about a week...So I am now back on the wagon of blogging and will do my best to stay more current.

The Art Stroll was a great experience. Sold 9 pieces of art....Yeah! and from what I heard from the lovely fellow artists up and down the block...that is a good thing. I think having a reasonable price point in this economy is the way to go. I may only support my addiction to buying fun supplies at this point, but that is okay. The weather wasn't the very best, but there was a good turn out despite the weather. Seattle weather has not been on it's best behavior and I believe we all would appreciate being reacquainted with Mr. Sunshine.

Our little town of Burien, or B-Town as it has been more recently referred to is really shaping up. Being a life long Burienite, this is refreshing to see and get to experience. We are getting a new town square in about a year, and it should be quite nice. Now we just need a turnaround on the gas and money deal that we all seem to have going on. I have just added a new site to my blogroll and it is called Burien Undressed, so check it out. Local Realtor Danita Jolly is doing a great job keeping up her Blog and the info is great even for the locals. She spends time on local hot spots, retail, and real estate...Undressing Burien is actually pretty cool. Great photos of our little town, good foodie options and shopping ideas. Yes, the coffee really is that good at the 909 Cafe as I was reminded this morning. So I'm striving to also be a better photographer and now carrying my camera with me at all times.

My next excitement/challenge is entering the Burien Bird House competition. Entries due by June 1st, Yikes! and I will see how well the encaustic wax can meld with the other materials I choose for my birdhouse. This one will be an indoor house so it doesn't melt in the mass amount of how weather we will be getting this summer...(yes, very optimistic about this one)

Until next time....Lory

Fire anyone???

Yesterday was the deadline to get all of my art done, signed, and backs prepared....Shouldn't be such a big deal one would think since I had most of the day. I started off by adding wax to the sides of 4 of my larger pieces. After the wax was dry I slapped on a layer of shellac, yes I'm on my way and time to light it on fire to burn off some off some of the shellac and get that aged look I love so much. Let's just say that fire and I really shouldn't be in the same room especially alone. I torched the first and largest piece and as it flamed away I came to a startling discovery...I had left the can of open shellac, paint brush and all on the counter a bit too close. Holy Cow! I am now having a barrel fire right there in my work space. Apparently fire can jump when another source of petroleum is near by, who knew? Well, water is not the thing to put out fire and yes, I have seen all the fire safety videos, been on the fire station field trips and even been to safety kids day at the station. When under duress, all that goes out the door. Needless to say, I did put out the fire in the can, my sink and the trash can near by...Whew! Now fully wiped out and only being 9am, things needed to look up. Yes, I do need a fire extinguisher in my work space.

Well, all went well the rest of the day. I was able to finish in time, get all the art and set up supplies up to the Art Stroll location on time. The staging went well, Roxanne was awesome in the help department, all is good.

Today, the sun is out....Bonus vitamin D! It's Grandparents Day at school and my son is not only reading at Mass, but also playing the "Big" drum in the show but also doing a square dance demo too....Wow, those grandparents are in for a thrill.

Have a great weekend and Mother's Day,

Peace, Lory

Website is now up and running

Well, now that I have changed the color combo on my blog site about 10 times...I think I may like it now. Website News: It is up and running, links to my blog and the blog links back....very give and take the way that works, just lovely.

So, the Art Stoll is only 4 days away and I still have several projects underway. I mailed out the email reminder with all the info on it and links to all sites. The goal today was to finish 3 in full...this may not totally happen because life just gets in the way. Dog needed a bath, my mom needed a lunch date, getting a massage at 6pm (no worries, it is not a pampering kind of massage) this one will hurt and my body will be twisted into shapes that only a a gummy worm should go, but it must be done. Too many hours over the hot wax and way too hard of a work on at the club on Sat. Yes, I did say Sat. and yes, I am still in pain, but going back tomorrow in the AM.

Yesterday I played with adding some fun vintage beads to my work with wire and it is amazing how pleasing just one change can make. Very fun. Hope to show you a picture soon of my cool beads.

Thursday is really the big deadline for getting it all done since the display goes up that evening. Thank God that my dear Roxanne will be helping with the display set up. This is where I tend to go over the edge and think maybe I have a slight bit of a O.C.D...but with her there, none of that nonsense will be happening, no sir...serious business , chop chop, very nice looking display then....next door to the Tin Room for two very parched girls....The best is always yet to come.

OK, time to sign off and get something done before heading off to the torture chamber, oops, I mean the relaxing massage place.

Until we meet again, or whenever I make some time to write.

Hope to see you all Saturday at the Burien Art Stroll...Lory

Blog Favorites

This evening I added my first link to another blog spot. Amazing how we are all linked by just one "click". This is all fine for those of us who are old enough to sensor information, which I'm thinking I am. Soooo...why does my 17yr. old son keep reminding me what can and cannot be shared with the public? Rules according to very informed teen: No personal pictures of children, house or personal belongings and no names of children. I think he listens to too much NPR and not enough annoying Rock music. Yes, I did create this cautious creature and proud of it!

I've had a pretty good day...rode scooter to the club to save on gas, worked out successfully without injuring too many body parts, had to kick start scooter due to engine flooding while getting shoe lace caught up kick start "thing" as members of club watched for amusement...very cool. I then had my teeth cleaned, night guard adjusted and so on..pretty good stuff.

I have now just realized that my first official art walk is in just over a week and I can't officially say that I am ready. I have vowed to focus and spend time each day up until May 10th doing what I actually love to do...Create!

I'm missing my youngest son who is off to camp for the week, worried I didn't pack enough warm and water wicking clothes for the crazy Seattle weather. I'm sure he will survive, but I worry anyways. What else is a mother to do?

Tomorrow is another day and I must rest so I can come up with more things to do that may embarrass myself or my teen. And yes, I will play with my art.

Art is now on the blog...WOW!

Well I just wrote a quaint little post and somehow, poof, it disappeared. Amazing how this happens when one does not save before moving on to the preview....So here we go again, but I can't guarantee it will be as good.

Yes, after 4hrs. of insanity I have successfully added some of my artwork to this blog...Yeah! I have yet to figure out how to be able to enlarge the photo but am rather certain that the ever so sweet husband will make that happen tomorrow night. I did change my layout because when I added the art, the layout just wasn't right.

I'm going to the Portland Art and Soul Retreat in Oct. and the theme is By the Sea......I love the Sea! Life should be a beach, the beach is the most wonderful place on earth. Waves crashing, seagulls overhead, sea glass which I love to collect and the tranquility of the waves and tide moving in and out. It's like the water just washes your soul with each break. The mist in the early morning and late evening is the best! More about the beach later.

Next up: Art to be posted on my website weepingwaxstudio.com as soon as I write the text, descriptions etc....should be doable.

Must go to sleep, way too late since my youngest son if off to camp for the week early in the am. Say a little prayer that I packed and labeled all appropriate paraphernalia. that I don't cry when he gets on a bus and leaves me behind and mostly that I actually get up in time to get him there with all the random stuff in tow.

Wishing you a bit of solitude this week.... Lory

Life is precious

Okay, still no photos but I'm hoping that will happen this weekend. I am also needing to get my homepage made and posted for the Tacoma Relay for Life event, which is at the end of May. This will be my 2nd relay and unfortunately, this time I'm walking in memory of my father Herb and my friend Chuck who both passed away in of cancer in the last 6months. On the positive side, I am also walking in honor of my mother who has so far survived a year now since being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. So I guess that I should post my site and get out my letters. Last year I raised $1,800 for cancer research and I had a great time at the relay and hotel with 2 of my sisters and my niece. Girl time is a very good thing when you live in a house of all guys. .. Have a Great Friday! Lory

My very first posting...Yeah!

This is my very first blog ever! I'm really not sure how I want this to play out, but I guess I just want to share my love of art with others, try something new, and stay in contact with other like minded artists who just love to create. My New Years resolution was to get my act together and really make an attempt to get my art out there....wherever there is. I have shown my art at a few local eateries and actually sold several pieces. I am showing my work at the Burien Art Walk on May 10th and am signed up to attend the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland OR in October. I've been getting my very own website, weepingwaxstudio.com up and running with a great deal of help from my husband the Web Guy and now I have a "Blog" WOW! This should be enough for the first day. I'm pretty satisfied with it and now I just need to get some art photos on this space. This should be doable. Peace, Lory