30x30 - Year 2

After a 7 year hiatus from oil paints I rediscovered my love for the medium in examining a narrow field of everyday objects with focus, depth and sincerity. These are my two favorites from the thirty 10" x 8" pieces I created.

Below is a shot of the show all set up at the Ann Arbor Art Center. (For those of you who aren't familiar with this fundraiser, 30 artists create 30 pieces of art in just over a month. All pieces are sold in a two day span at the set price of $40. Money raised goes to fund scholarships for children to attend art courses that they may not have been able to participate in otherwise.)

Here are the pieces I have left, email me if you have any interest in purchasing:

Answering a Call to Travel - Saigon

We couldn't say "no" when one of our best friends invited us to attend his wedding in Vietnam. We took just a few days off work and classes last week to spend nearly 60 hours traveling there and back for 5 nights in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but I assure you, it was worth every crappy meat-filled airplane meal and sore neck from attempting to sleep sitting up. What an immensely kind country where the colors of scooter helmets and fruit seemed to glow in the 95 degree heat and the dollar stretches for days. If you ever get the chance to go, do.

Insta-Life / January & February 2013

We moved on December 31. Yes, again. We are still in Detroit, just a much better situation.

Here is the breakdown of life since then. I've had the Eagles song, "Life's Been Good," stuck in my head for weeks. I swear our leaky, kitchen faucet was dripping to the tune of the intro. I must say, that is a pretty accurate theme song to the last couple of months though!

Winter, hockey, Kentucky, Grand Rapids, symphony, avocados and all in all, some GREAT friends! 

Check out Detroit Pleasure Society.

the U.P.

fish fresh

Easy Holiday DIY – Cork Star Ornaments

For this year's holiday ornament swap I wanted to simplify a bit from the past years. I combined two elements I love in almost every instance to come up a modern, rustic star ornament design; metallics paired with natural elements like wood, cork, jute and stone.

Pinspiration for this project:

Oh Laszlo! / Anthropologie / INKKIT / WhimseyBox / West Elm  

Supplies – Sheets of cork from JoAnns, Liquid Leaf in Classic Gold, something to use as a shape template (I had some wood craft stars from another project), a white charcoal pencil, painters tape, scissors, string and a paint brush.

Completed cork and gold star ornaments:

Hello December

November

We're reenergized after an hour on Belle Isle yesterday with a little sunshine, the black dog and skateboarding. Fall is stretching out and sticking around longer and there isn't any complaining here.