Christmas Cards (again)

Are you more dog or cat? Another fun quiz...

You Are: 60% Dog, 40% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

What type of artist are you?

You Should Be a Painter

You have the vision, patience, and skill to bring your unique visions to canvas. And you're even tempered enough not to cut your ear off in the process!

What Sort of Artist Should You Be?

Another Cute Quiz....

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

I'm not sure if I fit this or not, but the Cookie Monster was my favorite Sesame Street character when I was younger.

Who's My Muse: Installment 3

My third muse for the challenge is very near and dear to me: Books!
Books have nearly always been a part of my life and by extension, libraries. I was a library helper in 6th grade and again in junior high. Then in high school, before I even hit 16, I started my first job, working as a page shelving books at my local public library. After 4 years of that I went off to college and two years later got another job at a library while finishing off college... this changed from shelving books to being a student artist assistant. After graduation I was able to get on full time and was there for 25 years! A recent job change took me from one library to another and into the world of academia at Ohio State University Libraries... still doing art and design and still in the library and book world! I'm just happy as can be to combine two of my favorite passions, art and books.

I've snapped a short sampling of just a few of my favorite books or types of books to show how the book muse works for me.



Included here: Stamper's Sampler magazine, Celtic Art by George Bain, Medieval Calligraaphy by Marc Drogin, Polymer The Chameleon Clay by Victoria Hughes.
These show my interest in art and calligraphy and books are a great source of inspiration for ideas or techniques, it's a great place to go when I want to work on something but am not sure what direction I want to go.







Somerset Gallery (I have some artwork published in it!), The Joy of Peanuts Christmas (a gift from a friend), Timeless Places: Provence by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (great example of a coffee table book with great images to inspire, this was also a gift), True Balance by Sonia Choquette (an example of a spiritual self-help type book... I love these, they help sometimes with journaling or just to help my frame of mind or to understand myself better)






Exploring Scotland - Fodors (I love travel books, especially England and Scotland), Edgar Cayce on the Millenium by Jess Stearn (I love Edgar Cayce and other paranormal, psychic type books - very interesting), The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (LOVE this book from my childhood... kind of nonsensical and Alice in Wonderland like... very fun read even for an adult... I re-read it from time to time still), If You Want to Write by Brenda Euland (absolutely fabulous book on being creative, not just writing... I highly recommend it, it's awesome)








The Tarot: Art, Mysticsm, Divination, Dictionary of Symbols by Carl G. Liungman (I was obsessed by pictoral symbols a few years back and they still fascinate me...this is an awesome book), The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (his work is so inspiring and wonderful...it's great to watch him in interviews on tv and video), Quotable Quotes (great inspiration and good to use in artworks), Elf Quest by Richard and Wendy Pini (a lovely graphic novel with awesome art and an amazing story as well), Creating With Paint by Sherrill Kahn (her work is lovely and quite inspiring - I love her use of color).








Ornament Magazine, Morning Star by Nick Bantock (any book you can find by him is wonderful.... he is a great muse), The Write Brain Workbook (a gift from another art friend... great excercises in the book, loads of fun and very inspiring), The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff (a fun little book that is spiritual and serious without seeming to be)

More later...

If you want to participate in the GPP Street Team Challenge #14, Who's Your Muse or Imaginary Friends.... go to:
http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/
and play along with the rest of us!

More Christmas cards

Who's My Muse: Installment 2

For my next installment of Who's My Muse... it's my Mother... she was such an inspiration to me and was always encouraging me, especially in my art. She did crafty and arty things herself all the time... especially at Christmas. She also taught me to save EVERYTHING... you can use almost anything for a later craft project. Being raised during the depression herself, she hated to waste anything so was always finding ways to recycle and reuse items to give them a new life. She even took taperecorders and other electronic equipment apart and fixed them herself! I'd never try that, but she was amazing!

She loved candles but didn't like to burn them so she bought flicker light bulbs and bored a hole through her big candles and wired them up to the flicker lights so she had candles that never burned down but they looked amazingly like real candles! She was so inventive that way.

She always made sure I had enough drawing paper and markers or crayons or whatever it was I was into at the time. And she didn't balk when I wanted to go into art as a career, although my dad was pretty unsure... heck, the art college didn't even have a football team! But even though she's no longer here to cheer me on she still is inspiring me in countless ways, mostly by having been a wonderful example to me all those years growing up in a house filled with creativity and fun. Thanks, Mother!

If you want to participate in the GPP Street Team Challenge #14, Who's Your Muse or Imaginary Friends.... go to:
http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/
and play along with the rest of us!

ATCs from this weekend

I made these this last weekend from a luggage circular I got in the mail... addressed to the former homeowner! So much for junk mail... these are a little different style than I usually do and I found it fun. I kept them all in the same color family and made them like a set.

Who's My Muse: Crusade 14

The new Street Team challenge has been added... it's Who's Your Muse? This is my first entry as I try to answer that question... not as easy, at least for me, as one might think. I think it changes from time to time, but I think my inner child is with me more often than any other muse that might help me out from time to time. She tells me to play, to not be afraid, to try new things just because they are fun... she always sees "neat" things and points them out to me... she's a pretty neat kids who loves to explore and learn. She's not shy and she's nearly always happy, though sometimes quite impatient. As I think of more of my muses who are by my side I will add installments to this challenge, but I thought I better include this little beauty first of all since she's pretty special to me!

Street Team Crusade 14

Me enjoying Journal Revolution

This was actually a few weeks ago, I rushed out to get Journal Revolution at my local Barnes & Noble... and while checking it out (I couldn't wait!) I decided to snap a photo of myself and risk looking a bit odd, what the hey, right? Then I could journal about it! It's a super book, chock full of inspiration and ideas to get you going. I've been journaling more as a result (when I can find the time).

Starting on the Christmas...