End Saturn Scorpio 2014

all the arts is gone

all the photos is gone

all the houses is gone

buh bye arts

buh bye photos

buh bye houses

Sunday Sketches - Barn

Hi everyone at Sunday Sketches! 

Hope everyone is great! More of the same for me:

1) our NWU political current events radio show continues at 11pm EST tonight, in case any of you have trouble sleeping and nothing else interesting to do -http://www.blogtalkradio.com/solidarityforevernwuat-large/2014/10/13/howdy-howdy-lets-get-rowdy-solidarity-forever-this-week
2) helping my mother blog - to post, get more followers, etc http://artsnquilts.blogspot.com/ - does anyone know of a fun blog hop like Sunday Sketches, but for quilters? Would love to find a way to get her more traffic
3) helping raise funds for my brother's adoption fees is still going on https://www.etsy.com/shop/aliciaraya?ref=hdr_shop_menu (25% of etsy earnings go towards helping my brother & his family adopt Shiloh, an orphan from Eastern Europe. More on this adoption & his successful adoption last year of a girl can be seen here: http://www.fromhouse2home.us/) I know selling art amongst artists is like selling coal in Newcastle, but it can't hurt to put it out there - you never know when a person needs a special custom drawing, like the one above!
4) Changed blog template. Am a little sorry about this - I actually enjoyed the other colour scheme for years, but it was hard to read. I am somewhat unhappy with the current scheme, but I don't have better ideas right now & it does the job. If anyone had groovy ideas re a blogger template/colour scheme, would love to hear it! Also added Etsy widget, which seems to show the current drawing I have above 


This sketch was a commission from the custom charcoal gig - the buyer wanted a 15 x 19 charcoal drawing of her grandmother's barn. Since i live in the rural South, I completely understand the draw of rural barn landscapes. I made the drawing on Rives BFK printing paper. The best part is that 25% goes to the adoption :D

I sell other random stuff in my shop - like tarot readings, custom oil paintings, some jewelry, photography, and the wood pieces I've been making with Jim these past 3 years. So please have a look, especially as the Christmas season approaches!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday

Sunday Sketches - Sadness

Hi everyone at Sunday Sketches! Long time no see! I have been busy with lots of insane stuff such as

1) radio show, political - music & technical assistance http://www.blogtalkradio.com/solidarityforevernwuat-large tune in tonight! 11PM EST
2) writing and assisting in the writing of essays regarding world politics https://www.contributoria.com/issue/2014-10/53f80cc14250074f61000281/production
3) helping my mother blog - to post, get more followers, etc http://artsnquilts.blogspot.com/
4) helping raise funds for my brother's adoption fees https://www.etsy.com/shop/aliciaraya?ref=hdr_shop_menu (25% of etsy earnings go towards helping my brother & his family adopt Shiloh, an orphan from Eastern Europe. More on this adoption & his successful adoption last year of a girl can be seen here: http://www.fromhouse2home.us/)

But through it all, I still would like to make time to visit the different peoples online I have shared art with over the years

This sketch was a commission from the custom charcoal gig - the story was to create a drawing that portrays an elderly person afraid to leave their house. I know it's probably not the most uplifting message/artwork, but i found it one of the more interesting commmissions I've received. The best part is that $9 goes to the adoption :D

Hope y'all have a swell day!

PPF - finished quilt & giveaway

Hi sweet people of the arts

I am sharing the quilt I finished last week or so. Two views - one taken from the shade, and another from the sun

They are different bc the brighter one was photoed in the daytime

One thing I didn't have a chance to explain last time I posted - the quilt on wood thing is a pretty popular thing in Western North Carolina, and I assume elsewhere in Appalachia/the South. Possibly elsewhere, though I didn't really start seeing these till we moved out here

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/what-are-barn-quilts/

sample from craftsy.com of what one looks like

As far as giveaway -- I've had this calligraphy set for literally 20 years - my mum went to Hong Kong & got it for me, since I was studying Japanese at the time. It measures about 8 x 10 inches

It was always too pretty to use!

As can be seen, it is intact and very marvelous-looking. It looks like it's made out of silk. Have never as much as used the ink block or the brushes.

I am sorry to part with it but I would like it to go to someone who really wants it/can use it, etc. My main thing is looks like we'll be having to move again and I am getting pretty serious about eliminating everything save the essential. It actually is not easy and possibly even a bit painful but, time for a 'big girl pill' ! I've enjoyed looking at it all this time.

I'd thought of selling it on ebay but that just gets so tiresome - besides, it was a gift to me so giving it away seems more appropriate

All I want is someone in comments to say I WANT IT - if only one of you does, I'll send it. If more than one, I will do some random generator thing.

have a good one! Remember, say I WANT IT if you do, just like that, all in caps, to avoid ambiguity.


UPDATE: I've decided that the set will go to Nicole, since she is the only one, out of 27 people who visited this blog,  who expressed interest in getting it, as of 1am Saturday morning. 

Creative Tuesdays - Pig(gies)

Thanks to Michael M for hosting! Always happy to participate in Creative Tuesdays when I can

Of course, of course, I had to, when i saw the theme, bring in the Beatles'/Harrison song "Piggies", a brilliant social satire if ever the Beatles came up with

3 guesses which my favourite line in the song is?

sort of a perfect theme as I've been listening to a lot of White Album lately, though the song I've liked a lot for some reason has been Rocky Raccoon.

"Piggies" is great though - here, to refresh everyone's memory:

ss waterfall

Hi to all at sunday sketches

Thanks to Alexandra for hosting


Today i am sharing an actual sketch I did at a waterfall the other day

It is place near where I live

Have a great day

pff - a quilt

Thanks to kristen and eva  for hosting

I thought today I'd share something different I'm doing - a quilt on wood.

Have a great day day! 

Sundays sketches- wood art and civil war reenactment

Hi all at Sunday sketches!

First i want to share a piece we recently finished, made out of wood.

The message says "outside the homo sapiens ambit, predators strike almost exclusively to feed or to mate, or to assert related, limited, well defined dominion,: only humans eviscerate for vengeance,  ego, or sport , from an unquenchable thirst to acquire everything - especially now,  we must ponder how to view,  and act toward, such uselessly,  even harmfully excessive acquisitive behavior. "

Speaking of violent, acquisitive behavior, in the town we sell art in,they have a civil war reenactment twice a year. I wonder if any of you ever see stuff like that where you live?

Here are some fun pics

Have a great Sunday!

PFF & SS - Stool, more art, & ebook launch

Hello to all my friends at Paint Party Friday and Sunday Sketches!

I wanted to share some art and the inauguration or the ebook store we launched.

Jim's birthday is May 24th and all he really wanted was for the ebook/kindle store to be launched - which is what I have done, with 13 titles and more coming.

In order to launch it I have been writing people and letting them know these ebooks are available, either for folks to read or to buy for other people as gifts. Some as cheap as $1 and short as a few pages - others way longer.

So far all the writing is his, and I assist in graphic layout, and cover design. I have some book ideas of my own, but for now it is his writings I am sharing about.

Things he writes are anything from short fiction to exploratory biographical essays about folks involved in the renewable energy field. They range from $1 to $6. Many more are coming. 

The book I'm particularly excited about is the one shown on the cover here, Homily Sticks... etc - this book contains all the poems/verses we have put into wood art - and contains a fine collection of all the wood art - some examples of which I have posted here over the past few weeks/months.

It has been in any event a great winter project, that hopefully will continue. I especially enjoyed putting the Homily Sticks book together, which required a great deal of Photoshopping! It gave me a good excuse to document the pieces we have made. I not only have been able to edit the pieces to account for a bad camera, but I've been able to put a groovy background on the pieces, and show all sides of the things. That's what happens when you have 3D work - all sides are important

So there you go! Please feel free to share the link to our Amazon store with anyone who might be interested. "feel free to purchase one if you fancy one" goes without saying :D

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=James%20L%20Hickey&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

Also am sharing pics of a stool we have been working on. This is the first time we take on a big furniture piece, and it has been rewarding. Our good friend John Behr out of Tennessee built it, and we have been decorating it. This is only 1/2 finished, as can be seen.

thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome weekend!

creative tuesdays, oak tree

Hi all at creative tuesdays! http://www.dottyhill.com/blog/ If I don't get to everyone today, I apologize.

 I spent some lovely time last week at a lovely place in east Tennessee, the Highlander Center. A very special place in the history and development of various social justice movements, progress, etc.

 In fact I was sitting right in front of an oak tree in front of the library when I checked on the ct blog and saw what the theme was! So I drew it right there and then. Some pics from there follow. Hope everyone is doing well!

paint party friday - cleaning triumph & more wood art

Hi everyone at Paint Party Friday! Coming pretty late to the party, but wanted to share a few things regardless.

Here is my greatest artistic triumph of the week - possibly of the year - yes, it is a shower stall! The thing is, the horrid thing had not been sparkling pretty much ever. Sure, I cleaned, but I had never gotten it to be pure white for some reason. Then I learned of a new technique to get things going, and there it is - white.

I ended up at one point watching a cool British show called How Clean is Your House where they recommended you soak rags or paper towels in bleach solution, and essentially wallpaper the shower stall. Then, to leave it there for some time, and scrub it all off. Now.... I have as stated tried & tried to scrub it off in the past, to no avail - so I was excited to find out this worked.

But since this is not a blog about cleaning, and it is a blog about art, I am sharing one of the newest pieces we have finished. Here are both sides of the piece. As can be seen, on one side is a mask, and on another people who are fighting, plus symbols.
Hoping everyone has a great weekend!

Creative Tuesdays - Birthdays

The theme at Creative Tuesday is Birthdays, in honour of a particular birthday member of the group - the lovely Wanda.

This is my fun-filled rendition of a birthday card. If there's one thing I know about Wanda, is she'd be very fun, especially in a party. Probably not exactly in the way I portrayed, but fun and up for a good, cordial, friendly time nonetheless. I think it is a great accomplishment to acquire so much time, experience, and living, always maintaining good cheer, good looks, health, and a fun, lively spirit - as our Wanda does. So saying, I am more than proud to participate in the birthday wishing round robin.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Just learned that Alexandra had a bad car wreck - I am very deeply sorry about her difficulty and hope she recovers quickly.

Anyway - might as well get on with this even though the news put a damper on things....

When thinking of fun birthdays befitting someone fun, I recall those epic birthdays we all used to have as kids - who remembers that? Music, and clowns, and pinning tails on donkeys, hide and seek, and musical chairs. And, of course, epic quantities of cake, sugar, ice cream, etc etc etc.... in my case, we'd also always take home 'surprises' - parcels with yet even more candy, after the event.

We also had Piñatas, which were very popular with all the other kiddies ... not so much with me. I could never see the point of going all feral, attacking a poor papier mache animal and getting all stepped on - just for the sake of more candy, of which there was plenty enough in the bowls anyway... like, who needs that?

But I had fun imagining a 73rd year celebration as epic as those we had in childhood, complete with Piñata and all. I think I am promising to myself today that, if I do have a 73rd birthday party, I will have one - and go give it a good whack to make up for lost time.

Happy birthday Wanda! May you have fun whacking Piñatas.