My First Craft Show!

I had a blast selling my cards and card at my first craft show!  It was held at the April Sound Country Club by the ASLadiesAssociation.  My DIL, April Vaughn, helped me and we had so much fun meeting the other vendors and seeing all the items for sale.  I plan on showing again this October 2019.  Continuing in the footsteps of my cousins Janie Howard Self and Karen Howard Seliquini in Oklahoma.

Love My Gelli Plates!

Gelli Plates are now a very useful tool in my studio for my mixed media art.  You can see them here plus there are videos that show you the different ways to use them -

Gelli Plates Website 

I'm even using them in my mixed media paintings and will share when completed.

I transfer the leftover paint on my roller to envelopes instead of a journal or plain paper.  This way I have gorgeous envelopes to use to pay bills!  Somehow, that seems to make writing checks a little less painful and a LOT more fun!  I use a longer strip of paper with ripped edges to mask the area for the address portion of the envelope.  Sometimes I'll use a stencil with the leftover paint on the roller like the cityscape example shown.

Try it out and make bill-paying more fun!

Chicken Coop Signage

I finished the chicken coop sign and my son-in-law Brandon installed it for me.  Now my brain is already thinking about new art for the coop... it's so addicting.  I had painted the coop to match the house but now I'm thinking it would be fun to do something different so we'll see!

Philippians Angel Commission Stage 2

I now have reached Stage 2 - the face is nearly complete and the wings and background are ready for bible verses and mixed media application.  Let the fun begin!

New Studio Is Organized Chaos!

It's true that most artists live in clutter up to their eyeballs because of all the supplies needed to quench their thirst for expression, but it's usually "organized chaos".  Since moving into my new place, most of my time has been spent working on the outside of the property, leaving the inside until it's too cold to work outside.  Well.... winter is here so I've been working on making my studio a place I desire to work in.  The mess was driving me nuts but I have good reasons!

I'm in the middle of sorting all the family pictures to my siblings after both my parents died and that takes up a huge chunk of studio space.  The northern light is so bright that I've had to move my work table off to the side instead of the windows with "the view".  But that's okay, my studio is finally workable.  Since the weather is freezing most days now, I've been able to spend a lot more time in here slapping paint around.  I'm still working on two paintings, started a child's chair project for my youngest granddaughter, and my grandson and I started painting a step stool for the kitchen.

The white cabinets were a great buy from my favorite store, Lowes - bathroom cabinets topped with a folding work table.  This room is smaller (and so is the closet) than the one I had at my old house, so I gave my jewelry-making roll around cart filled with all my supplies to my granddaughter since she expressed an interest in making jewelry.  That helped make space in my new studio.  It never seems to be big enough, even after paring down on my supply shopping which all artists seem to be addicted to!

It feels so good to be slapping paint around again!  Woot!  Woot!

3 Years Later...

August is here already which is shocking to me. I feel like it is still June somehow. When August rolls around my heart sinks because the 5th is AC's death anniversary and this month it will be 3 years. I can feel myself getting down and sad, but that's okay. I still think it is better to let it take over knowing that life will interrupt my sadness and this week will pass. I miss him so much and wish I could have had him longer than our 16 years together. I think I will call his son David and reminisce over the funny times we shared when he was growing up. He is now godfather to my daughter Shannon's son Wyatt. People tell me that they can see AC in him and certain expressions sound like him, too. That's cool to me. (Below: David, Shannon, Brandon)




My granddaughter Sam is still in the process of moving out into her own apartment which will leave me alone for the first time... ever? Hm... I have never had a place of my own, geez louise. Really? Never lived alone? I guess this year will be the year of firsts: bought a car by myself, started a new job, and will officially be living alone. Wow. That sounds really weird to me.


I was just informed yesterday that I sold my painting entitled "Peace I Leave With You" (the gold angel below), so that is music to my ears! Woot!


I am having a blast being "MiMi" to Wyatt and Maegan, my grandchildren. Spoiling toddlers rocks! There is nothing better than hearing "where's MiMi?" or an excited "MiMi!" when they see me. Ah... babies. I love them.


Maybe this three year anniversary will be okay.

Art Show - 30 June 2011 at Gallery House, Alexandria, Louisiana

Glenda from the gallery just called:  I'm in a show she's having THIS Thursday night so I have what, 5 days?  I haven't touched a brush since I started working 6 weeks ago... sigh.  She also told me that Frances is doing 5 television commercials and to keep a lookout because I will be one of the featured artists.  I don't even remember which local cable station she works on but I can look it up easily enough.  All that keeps running through my head is panic-I-can-do-this-panic-don't-sweat-the-small-stuff-panic-panic-this-might-end-up-being-okay-yeah-right-panic-panic...   

I think I will quit biting my nails worrying about it... and just do it!  Smaller pieces should be okay.  I can't wait to see what the other artists will be producing.  Hot diggity dog, another show!

Altered Cribs for the Grandchildren

This is a port-a-crib I painted for my own home so the kids could sleep over.  It is an assortment of pastel colors done in a wavy pattern that is very bright and cheerful.  What fun!

Wyatt's crib - I painted stars on one end and moons on the other end.  It is totally different than anything I have seen before but it turned out beautifully!  I am really pleased.

Painting - Eleanor of Aquitaine

I decided to start a series of paintings on women with different styles than I am used to.  This is "Eleanor of Aquitaine" done in mixed media - acrylics, assorted papers, Prismacolor pencils, pens, inks, on 16x20in canvas.

Ah... Back In The Studio At Last...

I am back in the studio painting and it feels like old home week. I am working on stuff without a real purpose but it feels good to get back into splashing paint around again.

There are a couple of folks that have helped me get my but-tocks back to painting:

My daughter, Shannon, has been part of my inspiration.

Her blog: http://foodbankbarbie.blogspot.com/ is about her working at a food bank in Georgia and how good it feels to serve/help people every day that really need the help. How does that inspire one in their art? She has been through an awful lot in her thirty-something years, much more than I could ever imagine in my own life. I talk to her nearly every day and each conversation has joking and laughing about her day or mine. Her sense of humor is a treasure and her attitude is inspiring. She is good at helping me see that I can get through the day if I maintain a sense of humor.

My son, Nick, has been helpful, resourceful, and also helps me laugh at the silly or aggravating things that happen in our daily lives.

When I bitched and moaned about how hard it is to cook

The Doc says...

We just got through seeing AC's doctor.
We were told:
- the leukemia cells may have mutated, causing the super drug to be ineffective, but they aren't sure.
- we are now waiting on extensive lab results to show whether he has lymphoid or myloid leukemia - this is important to know so they can decide which new chemo to start this Thursday, which will have to be done In-patient. He still has CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia) but appears to be moving to Advanced.
- until Thursday, they gave him a chemo that is more generic, so that the spleen will start to shrink and the Blast production will start to be controlled, which in turn will stop the stomach area swelling which led to a lot of pain and he hasn't eaten for a couple of days and feels crummy.
- we will have to stay in Houston for the next 4 weeks on an out-patient basis (we hope) so they can treat specific problems that will arise with platelet, hematocrit and hemoglobin problems that they are expecting (like sudden drops in levels). We asked if all this could be done at home and they said no, the treatments will be done on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, probably, so we have to stay here.
Um... Nick - I know you just got rid of one set of parents, but... can we move in? I'm kidding, but not really. $100 a day for a hotel is a little steep for 30 days... I can cook now, so what do you say? *insert grin here*
The good news? They felt that starting the generic chemo for the next 6 days and staying at the hotel that he would not have to go in-patient until Thursday when they start the more dedicated chemo. He just started his first dose now and is sleeping.
Whew. Hurrying up and waiting are not my strong suits, but by the time this is all over, it will be so worth it.

My Crows Art Opportunity...

I have an opportunity that doesn't come along every day...

I got a call from the gallery owner that has my work here in my city (Glenda at Gallery House) and she said an agent/rep walked in, walked straight to my 'crow series' paintings and told her to call me. He wants me to submit larger pieces, at least 24x30 or 30x40 inch (since mine were smaller), and he would take them in to review and see if the company would represent me. They sell giclee's on canvas of the artists' works that average $800-2,300 a piece. I recognized a couple of the names of some of the artists because we were all members of CAG (Contemporary Artist's Guild) at the same time.

                      

I went back to the gallery the next day to talk with Glenda personally and get more info on this agent. (You can never have too many details, right?) It turns out he stopped in front of my wall, said "hmmm" a lot, then when she asked what he thought, he said "I like the painted pieces a lot, but I don't like the other "stuff" on them (my altered pieces glued to the canvas). She told him I was playing around with altered art and he replied "well, I like this style (the crows) and her illustrative style (my pen & ink & watercolors) and I can sell her work like these (the crows) if she would just stick to it". Um............... I don't have to be told twice! lol 

I guess this means I have finally found my niche. The crow series were some of the quickest pieces I have ever done ('God' took 7 months) and I was in such a state of frantic bliss when painting them, if you know what I mean? Is this my big break?
 
 I have started working on the paintings already and am really enjoying myself. I love slapping paint on the canvases and just letting my muse take over. Edit to Add: I just found out from the gallery owner that my "3 Crows" just sold! Woot!!!!

Life Has Been Busy With A Diagnosis of Leukemia

Life has been busy!
My husband was diagnosed with (CML) Leukemia in April '08 and to say it has been life altering would be an understatement. For 3 solid months I was never in my studio, just taking care of him as best I could, living at MD Anderson and traveling back and forth. My forum friends were a real comfort to me during this really hard time, sending RAK's, phoning me to find out how we were doing, and generally keeping in touch. It made a world of difference in my world. Because I was never online, I had no idea what was going on, so they were my link to the outside world. Inky, PurpleRealm, Jean, Seraphic, ArteDar and Adriayna kept me updated or just called to give a hug over the phone, and that was a good thing. My close friends at home have been great, too, calling or emailing to see if we need anything, not wanting to be in the way or interrupt us. I need that hand reaching out to remind me not to hibernate so long in my studio. I get on the computer or start a painting and hours go by and I need to start thinking about making dinner. I am as shocked as anyone that knows me, I am cooking? I know, right? Of course I fry too much, but that is what I am better at... He is on what I call Super Drug #2 which is more specific to his type of leukemia and seems to be working on a chromosome level. We still travel to MD Anderson on a regular basis but he has started going back to work for meetings a couple of days a week when his stamina enables him to go. Life is nearly back to normal. Well, more like life is calm.

I had been consumed with helping set up and manage/moderate my new site that I am a co-owner of. The old ATC trading site that I was a moderator on was closed very suddenly by the owner, so a few of us scrambled to get another one set up. It took hard work, little sleep, countless hours and devotion of the old mods (and some new ones) to get the new place up and running. We managed to keep folks in communication in a Flickr group while we were setting it up, and now we have over 1,000 members! The name = ATCsForALL.com. We trade ATC's, altered art, Inchies, Chunky Book pages, postcards, recipe cards, rolodex cards, journal and altered books, you name it, we trade and swap it! I trade art at another juried ATC site that is mainly hand-drawn-painted called IllustratedATCs. The artists there are spectacular, and many of the artists on my list of fav's are there. Check it out!

The Start of Our Life-Changing Journey

21 April 2008, a day I will never forget.

My husband A. C. was diagnosed with CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia) on Monday, 21 April 2008 by our dear friend, Trevor From, M.D.  A. C. hadn't felt well for several weeks thinking it must be a bad case of the flu.   After traveling to Houston for Mimi and Scott's new baby's baptism and his only getting worse by the minute, I insisted he see our friend and A. C. called the office and was seen very quickly.

Trevor saw him, drew blood, then shortly diagnosed him. What a shock! We sat there in disbelief.  He said that was all he could tell us, it was not his specialty, and asked A. C. which oncologist he wanted to take care of him.   I think that is when it hit me over the head, hard. Oncologist?  What? A cancer doctor?   Are you kidding me?  This isn't happening... just kept running through my head.

Trevor immediately admitted him to A. C.'s own hospital, Rapides Regional Medical Center, where he underwent tests for several days.  A. C. started swelling up, his legs, his stomach, his arms, everything just got huge.  They said his spleen was 3 times its normal size, his blood pressure was getting higher and he would not eat much of anything.  It turns out, he doesn't remember much of anything, either.  He acted coherant, but 10 minutes later he wouldn't remember a conversation he had just had.

It was only when on about the 3rd day (I don't remember details like dates very well during this time) my rector, Fr. Fred insisted I talk with the oncologist about moving him to MD Anderson in Houston.  I assumed docs would do the next step on their own without prompting.  I talked to A. C.'s COO Cheryl Wilson and an RN that I adore, Beverly Lowentritt, who counseled me and said they would set up a conversation for me with the oncologist. Apparently they talked to him at length, he walked in and said "I think we need to transfer him to MD Anderson".

That next Friday they transported A. C. by ambulance, he was too sick and swollen with edema to fly on his back in a fixed-wing aircraft (plane or helicopter) so a dear friend, Bulldog (John) went with him because I had to stay and wait for my daughter Shannon and my sister Carolyn to arrive at the airport that afternoon and evening.

Here is what I have been doing lately (this is the original post, I have added the details of A.C.'s illness at a later date):

I started my own Etsy shop where I make and sell Acrylic Stamps - it is a blast! I either use my own drawings or vintage photographs from my hubby's side of the family - there are a ton of them. I have made several sales. Check it out - www.LisaBuchanan.Etsy.com



The little girl is my grandmother, circa 1893 when she was 3 years.

I also sell note cards of my work and just started selling Art Pins that I make. I joined an Art Pin swap and fell in love - I could not stop making them, I was hooked!

Journal - Fabric Honey's - Fabric Journal Cover

"FABRIC HONEYS"
Fabric Journal Cover
I joined a new Round Robin for Fabric Journals. Our name for our specific group is "Fabric Honeys". We limited our sizes to 8x8 inches and have folks from as far away as England and Australia. My cover consists of fabric that is sewn in a picture and has felt interiors with buttonholes to attach each separate page's fabric ties. This is all so new to me! I haven't sewn in years, but I am loving (nearly) every minute!



"Sign In Page"
Fabric Journal
This is the page where all the different Artist's sign their name, much like a Table Of Contents. I used Fabric Paper and printed this out on my computer. I love this stuff! It is so cool - I plan on printing out tons of images on it.






"Title Page"
Fabric Journal
I used the Fabric Paper again to print out the clip art I found of an old treadle sewing machine. It is perfect for this page. I used ribbon to cover all my sewing machine mistakes, such as uneven bobbin tension, etc. I admit, it's been a while since I have sewn and it shows!









"Kitty"
Fabric Journal
Collection of vwozniak at ATCards.com
My first official page for this group. I had a blast making this. It presented a lot of challenges, like working with pom-pom ribbon! It was very time consuming, but that was only because I didn't know what the heck I was doing! The girls in the group have been so helpful, answering all my questions and even gave me directions on how to use the glued-paper-backing stuff so you are literally glueing the pieces using an iron before you start all the sewing. Who knew? I didn't!!




"Stop and Smell The Roses"
Fabric Journal
Collection of Adriayna at ATCards.com
Adriayna's journal was round, which was a real challenge. She had included some vintage buttons to add to our pages for her journal. I loved sewing this page. I printed the winged cuties on fabric paper, cut them out, then adhered them with iron-on fusible backing, then attached all the other elements. Isn't it cute?




"Flower Babies"
Fabric Journal
Collection of Pippin at ATCards.com
I used the same technique with this page for Pippin. Printed out the images on fabric paper, fused them, then added stitching to all the elements to make sure they stayed attached.






"Cutie"
Fabric Journal
Collection of Barefootchef at ATCards.com
I had some lace that once adorned my daughter's nightgown when she was little, so I decided to use it to trim up this adorable face.









"Artfest Slumber Party January 2007"
Fabric Journal
Collection of Seraphic at ATCards.com
I had a slumber party dedicated to art and a couple of my online friends came and stayed a long weekend at my house - Seraphic, ArteDar, and Sopranospirit. For 4 days all we did was paint, play, eat, got a little sleep, altered items, painted some more, spilled micro-beads, went shopping at Hobby Lobby, ate crawfish, pizza, slept a little more, ate bienets (sp?), and created until it was time for them to catch their planes. We talked by video chat with PurpleRealm, who lives in Perth, Australia every night so she could feel like she was participating. It was a hoot!

Altered Tin - Mardi Gras Altered Tin

Altered Tin:

"Mardi Gras"
Altered Tin
I joined a swap at ATCards.com for Altered Tins. I had so much fun! Darlene Mariano was my inspiration. She taught me how to rust them and said that I should just envision what I would like to be surprised with finding inside. Living in the Mardi Gras state makes that easy!

Altered Tin - Lady In Red Altered Tin

Altered Tins:

"Lady In Red"
Altered Tin
My favorite color is red, so I knew I had to do a tin in the vintage style. I rusted the tin first, then added all the different elements.

Altered Tins

Altered Tins:

"By The Sea"
Altered Tin
Top and Inside View
I love taking a plain tin, rust and paint it, then turn it into something else. This one called out to me to be vintage with goodies inside that might have been found at the beach.

Journal Spreads - My Angel, Tuscany Landscape and Woodland Fair Journal Spreads

Journal Spreads

"My Angel" Circle Journal Page
I loved painting this for Magpie. It is done in acrylics and was a true joy. I based this off an image in my head of what my personal guardian angel might look like. It went so quickly, I was almost sorry it was over.


"Tuscany Landscape" Circle Journal Page
This 8x8 inch piece was done in acrylics for Seraphic at ATCards.com. I had several pictures from my trip to Italy with friends a couple of years ago. It was hard to pick which image to paint. Their scenery is so incredible!


"Woodland Fairy"
The theme of the journal was "Fantasy". It is 8x8 inches, done in acrylics after a children's book illustration for Amerasu at ATCards.com.


"Woodland Fairy" Circle Journal Spread
This is the descriptive part of the spread on the left side.

Altered Book - Geisha, Secret Door, Celtic Birds, Cockatoos and Castle Journal Spreads

"Geisha" Altered Book Spread
Mixed Media
This was a fun spread to work on using PearlEx powders, clip art and to try my hand at folding without smooshing it too badly! Done for Carol Schmidt at ATCards.com.


"Secret Door To Where?" Altered Book Spread
Painted in acrylics and Prismacolor Markers.
This was done for Adriayna's Theme "Doorways and Passages" at ATCards.com.
Naturally one doorway led to another...

"Secret Door To Where? - 2nd Spread" Altered Book Spread
Painted in acrylics and Prismacolor Markers.
This was the 2nd spread for Adriayna's Theme "Doorways and Passages" at ATCards.com


"Celtic Birds" Journal Page
Painted in acrylics, taken after a stained glass window, 8x8 inches, for Flashviv at ATCards.com


"Cockatoos" Journal Page
Painted in acrylics, taken after a stained glass window, 8x8 inches, for Flashviv at ATCards.com


"Castle" Journal Page
Painted in acrylics, 8x8 inches, for Frobel at ATCards.com