More from what was Panoply

Just a few more photos of some work i did for the Panoply that wasn't. I have an opportunity coming up to try the Polly Crockett Festival in a couple weeks - hoping to try it out!

Panoply Tailings

So i have a few little photos of some of my artwork... my Panoply leftovers that I never got to show. I tended toward several different styles over the course of working. These are some of the more abstract pieces i did. Collage background, nice bright fabric colors and ceramic detailing.

Creative "Brain Dump" Inspirations

So there are some things that I come accross that inspire me so much I have to take note of them - beit music - or a design - or art - or movie - or a picture or even an online article. I usually collect them in a list of sorts - or tear out the page from the magazine - or just remember them but its rare that I share the inspirations with others - especially in a "brain dump" kinda of way... but today is different. So here goes nuthin!...


1. Vacu Vin's Party People Glass Markers. A creative crafty clever product. (and much more fun than just a simple old wine charm - and i dont even drink!) I ran accross these little guys on the shelf at TJ Max and was like.. wow! Hopefully going to put these to good use during my next get together. They also have some for football season, Christmas and Halloween!

3. Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros An incredible, happy-go-lucky song with an awesome message and sound like something from the hippie past. You'll listen over and over!

2. Preserve Toothbrush Subscription An environment saving - cavity fighting combo pack! So the Preserve company makes the coolest best designed stuff I've seen out of #5 plastic (typically yogurt cups and other food-safe plastic items) But this... is pretty darn brilliant. 4 toothbrushes - mailed to you every 3 months - just what the dentist recommends AND once used - you can recycle it yet again by sending it back - postage paid!


4. The Spirit - Modern film noir with plenty of action and enough cheesyness to make you chuckle combined with scenes so artistic they will make your jaw drop. This neat little jaunt into a comic-booked world comes complete with handsome hero in a mask, black overcoat, hat, and a signature red tie. And for you boys - plenty of hot dames.




5. This photo "Eos" by Dennis Calvert's A feast for the eyes - some beautiful light painting indeed! ... super dreamy!!


6. Sewing Green - A nifty crafty book by Betz White with some brilliant idea on how to repurpose and recycle items you might have or can find at your local Goodwill and sew-a-new. I am currently working on the awesome leaf scarf on the front of the book - and with a bit more juice drinking... I'll have a Capri sun Pouch car shade for the FJ!

Kat's Good Mail Day

Kat is a good friend from college that I still keep up with. Both of us appreciate artsy mail. We kinda send each other fun postcards and letters rather randomly. And everytime something arrives from her (and others friends too of course... I'm a sucker for real mail.. letters and such) its a "Good Mail Day" for me! I've been collecting fun random items for a while now to send her something extra-special for totally no reason at all. The light streaming through the kitchen window last Friday afternoon was screaming at me to take some photos to document Kat's artsy binder, so I did. Then I carefully boxed it up, wrapping it in brown paper and sending it on its way across the united states. I dropped it in the mail on Saturday...so hopefully any day now she'll have a "good mail day!"

I started with a short three ring binder which I re-covered in vintage old maps. The pretty satin and grosgrain ribbons are recycled from presents and packages of old.


This is a Florida orange bag that I'd stashed for future use. I stuffed it with the random goodies and tied it up with a recycled ribbon.


The random goodies: Cardboard "KAT", a little Memo pad, some fun fruity paper from a cool recycled paper bag, one of my letterpress bookmarks, some carboard postcards & some funky gauzy ribbons in brown and fluorescent yellow.

This is part of a neato bag a friend gave me 2 years ago. I kept it because I liked the interesting cartoons and writing on it. I added a little cardboard heart business card that I'd letterpressed. Inside the bag is an oversized postcard with black and white flower stickers.

There are two other "pages" with various goodies - stationary, writing, some cool old silly stickers that I thought were fun and another decorated blank postcard.


The last "page" is a little stash of goodies I brought back from the Yucatan last summer. A hand embroidered bag from Yaxuna and two woven bracelets from Merida.

Trains, Medieval Art, REI & The LOVE Project

Today Paul and I went to Nashville to the Model Train Show, then we swung by the FRIST to see the Medieval Treasures Exhibit and finally ended up at one of out favorite Nashville stops - REI! Paul was a bit disappointed with the train show since they only had 2 vendors - lots of booths - but no one selling the fancy DCC engines and cars. They only had catalogs - which was lousy - because the whole reason we'd waited to go to the show was so we could see the items in person and not pay shipping fees. So, no DCC engine for the HO scale model we're planning on building. We did find several nice building kits for the industrial switching layout - and a cool gas station - a mobile home, an airstream and a citrus packing plant (I'm going to do an orange grove somewhere on the layout) one box car and a few small tools to help us in the building.

The DCC engine Paul in planning on buying.

The really snazzy Lionel booth.

Paul on Broadway Street in Nashville.

The FRIST Medieval Exhibit was phenomenal. I've seen my fair share of reliquaries for a while - which I'm really surprised aren't still in churches somewhere. There were wooden carvings, and ivory boxes and oil lamps, jewelry, several iconic images, an altar section depecting several stations of the cross. My favorite part was being able to stare long and hard at the Illuminated pages and several whole books of the most gorgeously gilt texts and pictures. It made my jaw drop - literally. They had a Book of Hours from Charles the Noble King of Navarre, ca. 1404 that was just... wow... words literally fail me in trying to describe it. And all I saw was the two pages upon which it was opened. I think my brain would combust if I had the chance to turn each page.

We stopped by REI and Paul got me a new left handed QAS, (for my new frog) and a few other supplies for caving and camping then we toodled on home. All-in-all - quite a LOVEly day indeed.

So this being the day of commercial LOVE (Buy a card! Send her flowers! Stuff your face with chocolate!!) I thought I'd do a little gentle reminding. Love without a price tag or any expectations. I had letterpress printed LOVE cards and bookmarks several days ago from a design my dad and I drew. I felt like I need to share so I did a little covert art installation at 7 locations in Hunstville and Nashville, posting them up in prominent places. Here are a few that I managed to snap photos of before I left them to the fates:

At the train show.

In a parking garage elevator.

At the post office.

Headed out the door of McAlisters.

A Happy Valentine's Day to You!

The Ghost of Christmas Past #1

Oh wow do I have a lot to tell about Paul and I's trip to FL for Christmas. In the two weeks we were there we did a lot, drove a lot, saw a lot, laughed a lot, ate too much, hung out with friends and family and as usual it was all over way too quickly.

We went to a little dinner theatre that my cousins - Virginia and Dennis - put on for their church congregation.


I swear these were THE coolest Christmas trees ever. I have to make one of these tree costumes for Halloween!!


Some of my family on my Mom's side.


Paul and My Dad and I headed to Webster - the Monday flea market town. I love looking, haggling, and finding treasures. Flea markets are always so full of life and color and interesting people. Much better than a mall. You'll see the latest rage next to fantastic pieces of history. Webster is the only place I know of where you can you go to see ancient dinosaur fossils and "Jingle Jugs" (yes - this is a relative of "billy bass" - the singing fish - the items in question jiggled while music played - I couldn't believe my eyes! - I had Paul cover me while I took the photo but I think my hysterical laughter kinda gave me away) all in one place.





These bottles were just gorgeous - had to snap a pic.

Mod Podge Madness 2 - The Return of the Mod

So now that these have safely arrived in Jacksonville, I'm no longer ruining the surprise if I show them to you. Last week I dabbled in some collage and mailed two of the creations (above) to Laura and AM as a thank you of sorts for putting me up for a few days. I made two more that are now up for sale at my friend Jen's awesome art gallery in Cowan, TN (below).


Here are the ones that I brought up to Redstreake Gallery. Jen liked them so much she asked me to do a few more. So we'll see what I can come up with in the next couple of weeks.

Mod Podge Madness

So when I was visiting with Laura and Annamaria in JAX, we walked into Anthropologie before we got dessert at the Cheesecake Factory and perused - because for the most part that's all you can aford to do there - just peruse. Anthropologie is where they tried on those fun aprons that were in the last post. Anyway we saw these cute box canvas prints - please keep in mind I said PRINTS - for $108. Our conversation went something like this:

AM: Oh look at those - they're fun.
Laura: Yeah... I really like that one (points to one)



Me: (taking a closer look) Holy Crap! They're $108! You've got to be flippin' kidding me!
AM: WHAT?!
Laura: Wo.
Me: And they're PRINTS! Its not even original artwork!
AM: How'd they make it?
Me: Cut fabric, paper, a bit of decopage glue, a bit of good photography and then printed it on canvas and stapled it to the frame... easy.
AM: Hm. (nodds while thinking)
Me: Oh I could SO totally MAKE one of those. And it would be original too - with real fabric and everything, albeit with a bit of my style thrown in.
Laura: Ok - make me one.
AM: Oh! Me too.
Me: (takes photos of all three pieces)

So I figure - its like an art challenge - And the challenge has been accepted.

The Adventures of the Rob of Ohio

My good friend Rob came to visit Paul and I for a leisurely weekend.

We went to an awesome art show on Friday night at the Lowe Mill on June 20th. I bought one of Corry's great infrared pieces which now proudly hangs on our black and white wall.

Corry and some of his phenomenal infrared photography. The piece I bought is the on on the bottom.

Saturday Paul, Rob Geoffery and I played a second round of frisbee disc golf at UAH (they'd played one round already while I was learning some basic epee fencing) Geoffery won and Paul and Rob tied for second.




You can see the coveted "Sty-ro-foam Playoff Cup" Geoffery took home as a prize and I'm sure it is now displayed above his fireplace.

Sunday we had lunch at Joe's pizza and then Paul took Rob and on a small tour of the NASA part of the arsenal.

Rob's trying to open a pair of small doors. This is actually where they stored some of the parts from the ISS.

Some of the older historical rockets on display on the arsenal:

The Saturn 1.

Hi Paul!

The main space shuttle engine.

A nice little detail shot.

Paul and Rob checking out the engines.