"The Annunciation" Assemblage

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

This full size (small framed) torso is decoupaged with brown paper bag material, which was ripped, crumpled, then mod-podged on. The angel-faced bust is actually a wall hanging which I attached to the torso. The "womb" is a rusty iron pan, inserted into the torso.
The embryo in the womb is a drawing done by Leonardo DaVinci, which I doctored a bit in photoshop, and 3-D'd it, adding a brass crown and rhinestones around the baby.
It is covered with a domed glass piece surrounded by brass tack edging and a few metal leaves for decorations. It has 7 coats of polycrylic on the torso (hence the glare and light reflection which makes the color look a bit different than what it really is.)

Featured in Episcopal Life (June 2008)

This is pretty awesome... I am honored to have a picture of my "Portrait of the Self" assemblage in the June edition of Episcopal Life, the national Episcopal Church newspaper. Part of my artist statement is featured on one of the continued pages...but here is the center spread and a small picture of a part of the piece is there... thank you to those responsible for including it! I hope that people, who know me, will know it IS me, my last name was spelled wrong, but it's still exciting to see my art acknowledged!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY.....

Rain, rain, go away...come again some other day... or better yet, go to California where they really need it!!

We are lucky to be dry here at our home, so far... all around there are flooded farmer fields however, rivers way over flood stage, roads closed...
2 hours north lakes are no more, and some people's homes are no more either... More rain is coming... off and on this afternoon, and severe storms they say too.. just in time for the DDHS graduation ceremonies tonite.. ugh!

Good thing I'm married to a builder... we can make our OWN ark at least if needed.

Jazz in the Park & Auctioning of Cheeseboxes... among other things today...

"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages - and kings." So, today I have all these unrelated ideas...some say to combine unrelated ideas is at the very heart of creative thinking.... if so, I must be some really, really GREAT creative thinker! *L* BUT, how to combine some of these ideas is the question!

I have no new art to show, too bad I can't get pictures from my imagination/brain and post them here for everyone to see, I have so many ideas floating around that I've taken to writing them down more and more so I don't forget them as they get lost in the rest of the stuff that floats around in my mind lately....
I can't get these ideas organized in my mind either... they seem to be as un-orderly as the bins of cool stuff/found objects I have stored in my basement for future art assemblages.
Hmmm, and just now another idea comes to my mind in reference to what I just typed..*L*
Anyway... I'm elocuting here .... and not getting any concrete things done....

This afternoon is the Jazz in the Park event where they will auction off the 60+ altered, decorated, transformed cheeseboxes that were done by area artists. I donated two of them to the cause... to benefit the Friends of the Visual & Performing Arts. It looks like it may be a rainy stormy day here... guess that means it may be held in the school gym instead of in the new band shell at the park...too bad.. wonder if there is AC in that gym? It's gonna be muggy and hot and miserable if not.. ugh!

Soooo... guess my rambling has gone on long enough... time to get to some of those ideas floating around in my head... or wait, I just saw the neighbor put out a rummage sale sign.... another place to look for more junk to put into my already full unorganized basement!..*L*
I know, I know...I'm just walking around the ideas in that brain of mine now when I should be grabbing them and running....
I'll do that after I run to this one rummage sale... (well, maybe I'll hit a couple)...

More to come later.....

Pedestal...the continuing saga...

So, I have been sitting looking at the pedestal that I added some hands to about a month or more ago... it's been sitting here decked out in white gesso just waiting for me to do something to it. I was going to add some kind of decoupage tissue paper, or paper bag material to it, but thought that the detail on the hands wouldn't come out as well if they were covered up with even thin tissue paper. So, I was looking at spray paint the other day and saw some of that "hammered look" kind, so I bought a couple of cans and thought I'd see what it would look like.

So, here it is ...
I don't really like it, too plain, plus you can see the patch job I did to fill in the places I had to cut away to add the hands. It's a smoother texture in those areas and is too noticeable... sooo, it's back to staring at it again for inspired ideas. I'm thinking maybe I'll leave the hands this color, and decoupage the rest of it with something? Hmmm, still thinking on that... any ideas? I'd be glad for ANY from anyone.

Cool Idea,... FANS

So, here's what I did today instead of planting my flowers and plants that have been sitting on my porch waiting for the frosts to stop... (well, that's my excuse as to why I haven't finished my planting anyway). *S*

I found this old cardboard hand fan at (where else) Good Will, it had advertising on the back for a funeral home, and the front was the picture of "Christ at Twelve". I had made hand held fans from card stock before, advertising our church and activities for the last few years, and thought this picture was something cool to use... not to mention the fact that I had just had another hot-flash during the service this morning (you'd think after 6 years of hot-flashes that I'd be done with that, wouldn't ya? sheeesh), anyway, I decided it was time to start making more of those fans for people to use this summer at church.

So, I incorporated the picture into our church info...and VOILA! Here are the results....These are just SOME of them, I am making about 75 of these...30 down, 45 more to go.


I like it because they look old fashioned... I scanned the picture, added the scripture passage on the front, the service information on the reverse, cut them out, glued them together with a large tongue depressor/Popsicle type stick in between, sprayed glossy acrylic on them, added a ribbon tied on the handle, and they are ready to cool off many a parishioner or guest..and ME! *S*
Feel free to use the idea at your church or business. I had a girlfriend who used it for a tea/fashion show she was hosting... she made them and personalized them for her business and event, they went over well there too.

A Few of My Oddities & Favorite Things....

I was looking around my house last night and wishing I could haul out some of my tools of the trade and be creative, but realized I had no time to do that since I have tons of plants waiting to be put into planters and garden beds, and tomorrow is grandson day, so I'd just have to clean up anyway... instead I thought I'd take a few pictures of some of my assembled assemblages and other oddities I have around here...my decorating style is a bit eclectic, but I like it!
The first picture are some ideas that float around in my head and I sit them out to see how I like them, and wait for more inspiration before setting them permanently into an assemblage piece... some of my sisters are freaked out by the things I have sitting around, and they'd really be freaked if they went in my basement and saw some of THAT stuff....bwhahaha I think my sister in law, Lisa, would like that scepter thing I have sitting there, so if it's ever missing, I WILL come to see if you have it Queenie!! *L*

This is part of my husband's offering to our decorating... a wild boar head... ugh! We have TWO of these ugly things on our walls... below it is a coat rack with some of my old wooden canes hanging around, and a shoulder blade of a moose made into a canoe paddle (a friend of my husband's made it for him).

This eye is some art that my daughter Kasey made and I asked to have...it sits by a brass lamp I found at Good Will, I want to patina the brass more so it's more green...someday I'll get to that. The signs I found at a crafters mall.

Another contribution to our walls from hubby... I tried to decorate them up a bit... hee hee... dontcha love that sign!! G*

And these are some holders...one for the cell phone (yes, I have an antique cell phone..*L*) is from my friend Deb...the eye glass holder I found at Good Will... cool eh? *S*

So...that's it for now...gotta get my day going...

"Quackery or Miracle Cures?" a.k.a "This Won't Hurt A Bit" - latest assemblage

So here is an assemblage I'll submit for my sister in law's "Step Outside Your Box Saturdays" challenge from a week ago...better late than never, eh?
I think it could have two titles, since I seem to remember from my childhood some doctors telling me "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!" when I had to have some procedures for various things... yeah, riiighht!!

The assemblage includes at the top a mini skull crusher (really a nutcracker.*L*), a bed of nails with a wooden foot "walking" on them (ok, ok, it's actually more of a wooden shoe on the nails), some bottles of potions, pills and a bottle of holy water, the background is an advertisement for some bogus miracle cure. I may add more to this at a later date, since I found some things that I may be able to use for this particular topic...we'll see.


Check out my SIL's blog and her latest challenge at A Note From the Queen.

Cheese Box Art Finished....

Last month I decided to try my hand at altering two large round wooden cheeseboxes for an auction that will happen in June to benefit Jazz in the Park and Friends of the Visual & Performing Arts in our community.
So, I am finished... and here are some pictures of the two finished projects.

One is a Hollywood Silver Screen Star Theme:
It includes tissue paper, pictures of starlets, a glass door knob, some beaded trim , 3 small frames (which still need the mirrors inserted into them) and a silver painted metal stand. I also finished it with about 10 coats of polycrylic.


And the other is a Nautical Theme:
It includes brown paper bag material, that I crunched up, then mod podged on the box, it also has two tin shingles with a greenish patina that are some original shingles from the 1800's that were once on our church. (I did some dumpster diving while it was being re-roofed a few years ago).
On one shingle is a brass anchor door knocker and on the other one there is a brass propeller that can actually spin. On the two sides it also has some brass drawer pulls for decorative uses. It has a porthole on the top, which can be opened to insert things inside, it has a mirror instead of a window inserted into the porthole. It has 5 coats of polycrylic and sits on a wooden base.

I can't wait to see all of the boxes which will be on display in various places around the city until the auction on June 7th.

An addition to the pedestal.... HANDS!

I was going to just decoupage the pedestal...but I awoke in the middle of the night, a few nights back, by the idea of adding these hands to it. The hands are a gift from my friend Deb, who found them at Good Will...they at one time had a big bird attached to them, but I got rid of the bird and liked them this way instead. I've been holding on to them for months hoping to find a cool use for them... I think this is really cool! Thanks Deb!

I don't know yet what exactly I am going to do ...paint this?...decoupage tissue paper on it?... the paper bag material is too heavy for the hands and for the details of the hand to come through I think? Gotta think on it some more and then decide...

I should be working on my cheesebox entries anyway... only have about 10 days to finish them! Yikes!

Pedestal remake

I found this pedestal at GoodWill a few weeks ago.. it's not wood, I think it's some kind of fiber board or something and it's pretty tall...over four feet tall. It was painted blue and had some kind of bumpy coating on it, so I sanded it down, and gessoed it in preparation for decoupaging some paper bag material on it. Not sure what I'll use it for yet, but it will be a cool thing to exhibit some of my assemblages on perhaps?
More to come...

Silver Screen Star Cheesebox.... so far...

More of a sneak peak at one of the cheeseboxes in progress.... There are three holes cut out where a fancey framed mirror will be inserted, and on the top will be a silver star out of which will be a glass door knob handle. It will sit on a silver metal stand so it can be used as a table or night stand.

If it looks familiar to you, it's because it is a lot like my Hollywood Glamour Gal Torso...same pictures ... they would look great together as a set... hmmm, maybe I could sell whoever gets the cheesebox, my torso as well...*S*

Time to put another coat of polycrylic on it....

More to come....

Grandma Bragging Time...

Well, my laptop is still in getting repaired (it needed to have a part sent for I guess?)... so I haven't been posting much on my blog.. my old dial-up connection is the pits for places like here and Facebook..arrghh! Takes forever..but I decided to bite the bullet and try to post some pictures from last week here. Granddaughter Jorden came to visit (along with her mom and dad) for a few days and we all finally got to hold the precious baby!

So here are family pics of some of us (after waiting half an hour to load them...ughh!!)...Grandpa John and Gramma (ro)Berta
And Papa (great grandpa) and Nana (great gramma).


Please continue prayers for Jorden (and Kaine and Erin too)... she had some more tests on her liver to see if things are okay, she had a blood test on Monday and some other tests today on her liver (results back next week sometime), because her coloring isn't looking so good I guess? But they say she is sleeping and eating well, and doing good other than the color, so hopefully the doctor is just being extra cautious and making sure things are okay.

Thanks for the prayers.. we ALL appreciate them!

Hopefully I'll get my laptop back soon (oh how I yearn for my wireless connections from it!) and then I'll be able to post more art things, and other random stuff. *S*

Busy Week, Glad for the Weekend!!

Whatta week it's been! Busy with bookkeeping, vestry meeting, family, prayer sponsor dinner, family, bookkeeping, family, family, family and the best part of it was FAMILY!

New granddaughter Jorden was finally discharged from the hospital on Monday, and on Wed. night the kids came with her to visit for a few days. We FINALLY got to hold her...what a sweetheart, soooo small, and light like a feather!
We took a ton of pictures, but alas, without my laptop here (it's in the shop being fixed - I hope?), I can't post the pictures here yet...my old computer doesn't have the ports to be able to get my camera card into it to retrieve the pics...but once I am able to, there will be some here to show off! *S*

We had a family dinner on Thursday and all the kids were home to see the newest addition to the family...fun times!

So now the kids have left, and it's just us old empty-nesters again here... but, it looks like the weekend (except for Sunday morning) is clear to be able to work on my cheesebox altering....yay!!

More to come later....

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 77th birthday! Not bad for someone, who told me long ago, he never thought he'd live past 55 years old!

My Dad is someone I look up to and admire (my Mom is too, but this is Dad's birthday, so this is about him), and when people tell me that I am a lot like my Dad, I consider that a wonderful compliment... but one that would be difficult to live up to. Dad is a wonderful guy, a loving husband, a great father, a loving example of a Godly man. I hope my own son's and grandsons (as well as my daughter & granddaughter) will grow up to be like my Dad.


My Dad has a wonderful sense of humor... he's a good joke teller and story teller (some of those jokes I wouldn't DARE repeat here, but believe me, they'd make you laugh and blush at the same time! *L*)

I once wrote a piece for a magazine publication that asked people to write in about their fathers or father figures. Mine was published, and in it I told of how my Dad could fly! Or at least I thought he could when I was little... he could make his ears wiggle, and suddenly he'd be on his tiptoes, almost ready to fly off, if he hadn't stopped himself! *G* And my Dad was stronger than any other Dad in the neighborhood - at least that's what I told the neighborhood kids when we'd get into "My Dad's Better Than Your Dad" contests! *L*


I always have a problem thinking up something really, really great to give either of my parents on their birthdays or Mother's or Father's Day... but I think for part of Dad's gift today, I will make a copy of this blog entry when I get home, and include with our gift, a small token of our love, which can never really show Dad just how MUCH he IS loved and appreciated, and just how glad I am that God gave me THIS father!!

Happy Birthday Dad!! I love you!!
xoxoxoxox

Grandson Friday - AAACCKK

Today is Friday... Grandson Day.. and most Friday's it's a welcome event.. it started out good this morning when the son dropped them off at 7:00 a.m.....

I had a lot to do today however,... getting ready for a conference workshop tomorrow in Madison, and making soup for the Saturday luncheon were some of the things I figured I could do while the grandsons were here.

Sooo, we had some fun time with blocks and cuddling, then they wanted treats, so they helped me make popcorn.. Yum! We sat and ate some, then I went into the kitchen to start making chicken soup... tossing the chicken into the pot to simmer, etc.

How much trouble can an almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old get into? They had popcorn, sippy cups, blocks and toys to keep them busy for a few minutes while I was just in the next room, in the kitchen.....

*screaming sound* aaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkkkkk... HERE is what they CAN do, in a matter of minutes!

Josh tried to blame the mess on the Popcorn Ninja... yeah, uh huh..*L* So, here is a lesson for others... Never, I repeat NEVER, get your grandson's one of those Popcorn Ninjas!!!

Okay... the mess is cleaned up, Gramma Berta has calmed down....but I am seeing another lesson in the making... I should rethink giving them a deck of cards to play with....arrrgghhhh!!!!

Cheese Box - Call for Artists - What do you expect...it IS Wisconsin ya know!

Our town has an annual event called Jazz in the Park, and the city's Friends of the Visual & Performing Arts is having an art auction during the event. The last two years they had artists decorate park benches and then they auctioned them. This year there are 16" diameter x 13" high round wooden veneer cheese boxes to decorate, alter, paint, or whatever one wants to do to it.. there is no category we have to follow, we can think outside the box (pun intended)..or even inside the box.

So, I decided to try my hand at decorating, or altering one... This is the box prior to any work... I have about 5 weeks to complete it and give it back, and then on June 7th it will be auctioned off and the money will go to help the Friends of Visual & Performing Arts and the Jazz in the Park event.

Should be fun... and interesting to see all the others too!

EDITED POST: Check out my May 9th blog post for the finished cheese boxes I did!

On This Date 36 Years Ago, We Were Married! Where Oh Where Does the Time Go??

April 8, 1972 was a cold day, and there were still piles of snow here and there... so I guess it was a lot like today almost... who says global warming is worse, eh?? *L*

Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary... I just can NOT believe it's been THAT long... I feel like it must be someone else and not us celebrating that many years of marriage. I was a child bride, don'tcha know? *L* Actually, I was 18 1/2, a year out of high school, and John was 20 (2 years out of high school - yes, he robbed the
cradle! *L*).. back then it seemed lots of people were married young... I recall going to at least 10 weddings the summer after we were married, of high school friends.

Yes, those are yellow ruffled shirts the groom and groomsmen are wearing!! Back then we thought that was cool...*L*

So anyway... now I am an old married woman, with three grown children and 4 grandchildren... funny how I don't feel like I am as old as my parents were when they were my age...*L* (shhhh, don't tell mom and dad I said THAT - hee hee).

So, it's off to domestic chores for me before we head out to have a dinner together to celebrate.
Thank you Lord for my husband, and for our years together, strengthen our union and help us to love one another more and more in the years ahead... in Jesus Name I pray... Amen!

Portrait of the Self Exhibition at ECVA

Yippee! My entry to the Call to Artists for Portrait of the Self at the Episcopal Church & Visual Arts online exhibition site is here ---> www.ecva.org

There are 40 wonderful entries... check them all out by clicking on the thumbnail provided, it gives the artist statement and then a link to their artist registry information too.

I'm excited to be part of it and loved reading and viewing all the other wonderful portraits of the self featured.

Check it out... you'll be glad you did!

Here is one of the pictures of my entry...
Because of space limitations my whole artist statement explaning the entry wasn't printed at ECVA, but if you scroll down to my blog entry here dated February 26, 2008 you can read the whole thing.

Finally able to hold baby Jorden...

Grandbaby Jorden has been weaned a bit off the oxygen and so today, for the first time, Erin & Kaine were able to FINALLY hold her. Hopefully in a few more days the grandparents can hold her too. *S*



Jorden even looks likes she's smiling in one of the pictures! *S* And Grandpa John shown with Kaine and Jorden was the proud gramps too! Jorden still needs to have a few days of treatment for jaundice and more weaning off the oxygen, and needs to see if she can eat normally instead of thru a tube, so it may not be Tuesday when she gets to come home... but we are thankful for how well she is doing. Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers...please pray for Erin and Kaine too.