I haven't done any wood blocks in awhile, so I started 5 simultaneously using a couple out-of-the-box ground colors for me. Usually, I've got the vivid blues, reds and magentas going on, but this week I wanted to create some moody pieces that have more subtle undercoats of colors. I found some pressed rose petals in a heavy book that I forgot about, and I was experimenting with stamps and abstract shapes. I like how the petals kind of look like wings. Any thoughts for titles? I'm drawing a blank for some reason!
In the past few weeks, I've been busy finding and organizing artists to participate in a community art project for The Museum School. Katherine Kelbaugh, the principal, had the idea to have artists come up with creative interpretations of The Museum School's mission statement. The vision is to have an original work of art that would hang in each classroom. There are a total of 7 classrooms at the school and the artists that have agreed to participate range in style from polymer clay artisans, photographers to mixed media artists. The deadline is October 5, just before The Museum School's first exhibition night on October 7. 
Saturday's show was really fun, and a little bizarre, but in a good way! Everything from the art that was created for art's sake to the music and spoken word performances definitely made the experience truly unique. Sylvia's space at Sycamore Gallery is kind of like going on a treasure hunt. You walk in the purple door and pass several working artist's studios down a long corridor that takes you to her gallery and outdoor courtyard where art is always introduced in a creative and spontaneous way. A couple of us painted murals on the wall and used it as a backdrop for our work. Asian effigy papers were strung from the ceiling and creative video imagery was shown on the outdoor wall behind the band. And Holle Black's amazing cranes and Chinese women (below) were absolutely stunning! There will be another short afternoon reception the second weekend in September, date and time TBA. 
I'm moved in and getting settled in to my new studio space-yay!! Everything has a spot and I finally have everything in one place! It's amazing, actually, I don't have too much space to spare. But summer is winding down and I've got some projects that will be getting into gear, so it will quickly become a messy space, but in good way, of course! Here are a few pics to give you an idea, it's a quirky space, with a pole here, and a soffit there...but it all works! I can't wait to really get grooving and working on some large scale pieces, it's going to be so fun! Enjoy the tour.
I took this pic a few weeks ago, right when my hydrangea started to bloom. Right now, with 90 degree plus days and no rain, it's not looking as lovely, but hanging in there none the less. When I planted it, we had just put in the retaining wall, so there was quite a bit of masonry grout and some crumbled stone mixed in the soil. I had meant to clean it up more, but ended up amending with some good soil and just threw in a transplanted hydrangea and gardenia. Now these two shrubs are huge and thriving and are my favorite things to see when I walk past them each morning on the way to the car. A little tidbit, I found out that we don't normally grow pink hydrangeas in the south because of our very acidic soil, depending on the acidity is how you get blue or pink hydrangeas. The soil in my retaining wall is very alkaline because of the stone and cement that was mixed in years ago. So now I know why I get pink hydrangeas!
