new beginnings

it's great that we always have a chance to make a fresh start at the turn of the year. remember to make 2 new years resolutions this year-one that helps you and one that helps someone else.

last year on january 1st, my husband todd and i decided to keep all the money we found while walking on the street, the total to go to a charity that we would decide on at the end of the year. our total this year was $58.01 (amazing how those pennies add up!) which we'll give to www.amnion.org

have a very happy and creatively abundant New Year!

bradley wester

mirror 2005
14x12x5.5 inches
3-D gouache, cardboard, stickers, plastic, graphite, canvas


reflection 2005
12x17x16 inches
3-D: gouache, graphite, cardboard, wire, metal, canvas


untitled 2005
18x13x6 inches
Acrylic gouache, paper, tape, stickers, graphite, plastic


i love these quietly dynamic sculptural 'paintings' by bradley wester, whose use of simple everyday materials is just wonderful. go to his site to see much more including laminate, sticker and sculptural drawings.

monday studio tip of the week

Choose 5 words randomly from the dictionary. Working on the same paper, spend one minute ‘drawing’ each word (marks may overlap or remain separate.) Use these random marks as a basis to create a cohesive drawing.

sunday church drawing

wimp.com

my husband and i love this site. the author daily searches the internet for the best videos and he's got a great eye and a great sense of humor. it's perfect if you just need a quick pick me up.

found drawings

i stumbled upon the term 'found drawings' about five years ago while searching for information before teaching my first drawing workshop. learning what these drawings were and how to find them totally changed the way i approached my work and the way i looked at the world in general.

the term 'found drawings' was coined by TRACEY, an online research tool sponsored by loughborough university. the TRACEY site contains everything you've ever wanted to know or think about in terms of drawing, including research papers, images and an extensive links list. the idea of found drawings came out of the comprehensive research of scholars and artists who contribute to the site and is defined as 'by-products of other processes, organic forms or discarded materials-images arising by accident, rather than from any conscious process'.

on the first day of my drawing workshop, i discuss found drawings and challenge the students to find as many as they can during the duration of the workshop. i also go out for long walks and just take images all day, which i then use in my work. The TRACEY site has many examples of found drawing images here and above are some of mine.

merry, merry!

Happy Holidays to you! see you on friday, but first...make sure you give to your favorite charity this year!

mission possible by my sister, debbie altomare. winning entry for habitat for humanity of bucks county's Christmas card competition a few years ago. the card is still available if you purchase their Christmas card variety pack, all proceeds benefit habitat for humanity.

new piece

come early morning, encaustic, human hair, mixed media on rusted and branded silk on wood, 24x48 diptych

monday studio tip of the week

start your studio day with 5 one-minute drawings of anything-even scribbles. working your eyes, hands and brain in an intuitive fashion like this really gets the juices flowing and timing yourself frees you from thinking too hard.

sunday church drawings

i draw in church during the sermons. it helps me hear and retain the words. i usually begin by drawing the first thing i see-a piece of furniture, the shadows in the architecture, the pattern of someone's shirt-and let the drawing take on a life of it's own. most of the time, the object or pattern i started with isn't recognizable. i only work on these drawings for one sermon and rarely work back into them. here's one from a few weeks ago.

more raw art

the fabulous work of lori field-all pieces below are color pencil drawing, thread, encaustic, poured beeswax on panel

pinky and the brain


the singing woods


blissful ignorance


raggedy ann and andy


fantastic voyage


the little death

astronomy pic of the day

i've been visting to this site everyday for years. there is a new stunning, astronomy-related image uploaded to the site everyday and the images are archived in case you miss something. click the image on the main page for high resolution version.

megan bisbee-durlam

i'm so inspired by this young, prolific artist. go to her web site to see more sculpture, awesome paintings and works on paper.

Rainbow Deli Planet, 2008 24" x 24" x 20", mixed media


Rainbow Deli, 2008, 14" x 12" x 6" mixed media


Folded Landscape, 2008 14" x 12" x 14", mixed media

raw art

i'm a huge fan of raw art (art brut, visionary art, etc.) which is defined as work that is "uncooked by cultural and artistic influences." i look at work from these artists more than any other genre. here's a sampling of work by one of my faves, irene hardwicke olivieri.

tail for blanket and pillow


still a tadpole, already a frog


warmth, moisture, light

what i'm working on

three paintings that are almost done-two largish, one small-trying to get these done by Christmas. i'm applying to woodmere art museum's annual juried show and R&F encaustic works as well as sending out workshop proposals to haystack and penland-everything due in january. i'm also starting two more large paintings that i'll try to get done by the deadlines. posting work in progress is like picking a flower before it's bloomed, so i'll post finished pieces when i get there. in the meantime, here's a detail of one of the pieces.

robert genn & the painter's keys

who's robert genn you ask? he's a renowned artist and author of a twice weekly e-mail letter called the painter's keys which he sends out FREE to all who subscribe. the short, 4-5 paragraph letters range in topic from tips to expanding your creativity, marketing your work, keeping a disciplined studio practice, teaching art and much more. although his work isn't as inspiring to me, I've found much of what he writes to be extremely insightful, informative and useful, especially for an emerging artist like myself.

Iris Eichenberg

I'm usually not inspired so much by jewelery, but I just read an excellent article on Iris Eichenberg in Metalsmith magazine and was so inspired by the complex simplicity of her sculptural pieces as well as her unique use of materials.

Iris Eichenberg
Chatelaine Series
Copper, bakelite, wool

Iris Eichenberg
Chatelaine Series
Silver, plastic, bone


Iris Eichenberg
Bombay Rubber-Delhi Thoughts Series
rubber, silk, silver, glass


Iris Eichenberg
Girlfriends from the Wolle series
wool, human hair, dental material, branches, objects

abington art center opening

what better way to begin a blog than with images of an opening. this weekend i attended the opening of the annual juried show at abington art center, which was juried by virgil marti this year. it's a great show with lots of great work and lots of awards, one of which was given to my friend Tom Vance (sorry no pic of the work.) the show runs until january 24.

my piece 'how much time do we have?' looked great over the mantle


my friend kelliane mccarthy's painting


me trying on this cool mask piece by my friend shelby donnelly