Busy Bee

With summertime my creativity has taken on new directions. It all started with finding a really cool piece of driftwood while walking on a nearby beach. That one piece led me to a whole bunch of new ideas! I'm enjoying creating art from my growing collection of driftwood and including mixed media such as beads, wire, and glass pebbles. I'm finding that recycling driftwood is a very versatile medium! Since there's a lot of wood chips and dust from carving and sanding, I'm working outside in the screen house. Picnic table covered in art supplies; paints, wood carving tools, beads, wire... me covered in wood dust and sweat, and my days off go too too fast!


I've always been interested in learning how to wood carve, so last week I tried my hand at it with a piece of driftwood. I carved the body, did a little pyrography for details, and added wire and glass bead for wings. He turned out quite cute if I must say so myself. Since then I've also done a butterfly, and a more involved carving of a hummingbird.

 

Cobalt Blue Dragonfly-Driftwood

 

Carved Driftwood Hummingbird

I've checked out other sellers on Etsy who use the driftwood tag, and found some beautiful work, but it seems no one coats their pieces with a finish... ? I started out using Polyurethane THEN realized it doesn't protect for outdoor display. I've since switched to Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane which is specifically for exterior wood, and this stuff ain't cheep! Driftwood that isn't hard all the way through soaks it up like a sponge, therefore some pieces need several coats. On those works my prices reflect the added protection. I try to construct each piece so that it will last and provide my customers with many years of enjoyment.

As my ideas and creations evolve I hope to be found by customers who appreciate true one of a kind art that's nature based, often whimsical and always unique. :0)

Thus far I've had 9 sales in my Etsy shop! WHOOO HOOOO! To celebrate my 10th sale, that customer will receive 10% off their purchase (not including shipping).

Friskies Photo Booth

My sister Karen and I at the RePURRposed Gallery event in SoHo New York on April 14th. SOOOO much fun!

------>More updates on all the fun at the gallery coming soon!

my art in a New York exhibit! for Earth Day

Last year I was laid off from my job, to save money I got online to find coupons on things I purchase. One of the sites I went to was Friskies.com, and signed up to get coupons for cat food for my 2 kitties.  Like most sites you register on, they send out the occasional newsletter, which I hardly ever read, but one particular one I did, and SO glad I did!

Friskies wrote a blog post  asking for entries in an art project (Together We Can) to promote recycling. The objective was to create cat inspired art out of (empty, clean, Friskies of course) cat food cans. I applied, was accepted and started cooking my idea. By the time I read the guidelines I had my idea all worked out and knew just what I wanted to do, although the guidelines didn't fit with my idea. So I had to rethink the whole thing, which I wasn't too happy about and almost backed out of it. One of the guidelines was that you had to use 10 cat food cans. My idea only consisted of 3 cans, and it took me about a week to figure out how the heck I was going to incorporate 7 more without changing my whole design.

We were allowed to use Fancy Feast cans too, so I took 7 cans and just started playing with them, like children's building blocks. I arranged them and rearranged them some more, until I finally saw it! A sand castle!

The idea was purrrrfect! and fit right in with my beach theme.

I worked on this project for a few weeks and had some heart pangs when I had to give them up and ship them off to New York.

I'll see them again in the RePURRposed gallery event on Earth Day - April 14 in New York! I'm SOOO excited!

You can see more photos of my cats here: my flickr pics

And I'll be sure to update here after the show!