Jack of all trades, master of none.

I've always sort of considered myself a jack of all trades...I may not have tried everything yet but I've got my hands in as many things as I possibly can at any given moment.
I started off crafting: some clothes pin angels, moved on to dream catchers, from there painting on slate because I didn't have canvas.
I positively loved those little kits you could get at the store with everything you needed inside.
Even now I don't like coming across a project I just have to try but don't have the materials for.

I moved on to college and a supplementary sculpture class taught me about working with clays and chicken wire (which really hurts when the teacher doesn't tell you to get wire tools ahead of time). I loved working with clay, though when the class ended I had over half a bag of red clay I never got around to using during class, and could no longer use without my suddenly revoked kiln access. Not that I didn't make a few extra pieces that were never fired, and would have probably broken by now if not sealed in thick acrylic paint.

Eventually an introduction to the internet showed me things I'd never even dreamt of, showed me tools and materials I'd never seen before. I was introduced to the art of leather mask making (that one is still on my someday when I get the materials list), shown stained glass effects without cutting up glass, leaned how to make unique jewelry without having to search forever for what I wanted in a store. And the photography! I'd always been a bit of a shutterbug but was frustrated to no end with cheap disposable cameras and a film point and shoot that could not focus. I've only had what I consider a good camera (still a point and shoot but digital with focus and zoom; a definite step up) for the past 6 or 7 years.

I've recently gotten into the papercraft side of things, quilling, making stickers and embellishments, scrapbooking. I've also gone back to painting, but this time adding more texture, using materials I didn't have available to me before and more notably, painting on actual canvas. I really love the dollarstore for coming to town with their affordable materials. I've also gathered the materials to start trying felting, I'm always on the hunt for more things to try.

Maybe, someday I'll even post a bit of my writing here, though I'm more critical and nervous about that than most of the things I create. But if there's one thing you can expect from this blog, is that no two days are ever the same, and neither are the posts.

Patches says hello by the way. ;)

Miss fix it won't save Humpty Dumpty.

Trying not to fall asleep sitting up. You'd think it impossible, until you get just tired enough to suddenly wake up sitting up. ;)
Patches on the other hand has no issue sleeping on one of my hands while I try to type this.

Had a bit of a late night early morning late morning?
What do you call it when you normally stay up till  7:00 AM (nighttime is the right time to create for me), feed the cats and go to bed, then suddenly find yourself needing to stay up till 1:00PM?

Anyway, I ditched the big clean up today to fix something I found yesterday while going through those unpacked boxes. It had chinese writing on the tiny display box, and inside were two tiny gold colored turtles. Obviously something heavy had been sitting on the box they were kept in. They're not meant to leave the tiny display case I found them in, but the glass fell out, both were unstuck from their spots and one of them had gotten decapitated, the tiny wires holding his bobbing limbs broken.

The display box itself is dented in, torn in places and that pesky glass is too loose to keep in right now.

What can I say? I love fixing things, restoring things to their former glory. So today I painstakingly put in new tiny wires to reconnect the turtle's head. Also re-glued the other turtle back to his original spot.

Tomorrow, if my previous handiwork holds, I'll reglue down the previously decapitated turtle, put back the glass and fix the tears in the box making the glass loose.

I also spent time boiling some of the 4 dozen eggs we have at the moment, taking off the hardened broken shells and cleaning them up (the shells lol the eggs were eaten), drying them out and putting them in storage containers for an eggshell textured painting I've been wanting to do this summer.

Wondering what that's all about?
Well, it wasn't my idea. Just another experiment, but this time inspired by the work of a favorite artist Cr3ativity who I met on a social art site and who has many colorful eggshell textured paintings I loved immediately. He even helped those of us who wanted to try the technique.

Here's my first attempt/experiment at putting eggshells to canvas. I'm not sure yet if it is truly finished.


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I may end up taking a course in the fall that has to do with recycling found objects and junk into artwork. I wonder, if I take the course, what they'll have to say about this? :)

First Day, First entry

First day on the new blog.
Patches could care less.

In the middle of a massive spring cleaning that was brought on by not having any more room for my art supplies. I have a crafting desk several layers deep with finished pieces, in progress pieces, newly bought materials, and probably a few lost tools. I even have the stuff I bought to organize the mess under it all. Lot of good it's doing. ;)
I decided to clean out the computer/crafting room closet that was packed to the ceiling with unpacked boxes  (from a move 8 years ago lol) & other assorted things.  Trying to attempt some kind of organization in there for supplies, and my larger canvases and frames. So far it's going pretty good, even if I've overrun my original set timeline by a week now without having actually touched the crafting desk.

What can I say? Not only am I an amateur artist, I'm a total packrat.
It may look a little crazy to see rolls of wrapping paper, tissue paper and bubble wrap stuffed behind my door but they already have projects in mind for them (mostly texture) and anything I find that I don't remember what it was bought for is going in a massive garage sale in three weeks (thus why the timeline and why overshooting right now is not a good thing) so that someone else can find a use for it.

At the moment Patches is gathering inspiration for our next project by watching nearby birds bounce around in front of the window.

Patches doesn't do a lot of the artwork mind you, she's basically a muse in fur who occasionally likes to accidentally knock over a canister or brushes or step in paint and track it across the floor (or a canvas if i get lucky one of these days).

I think I'll leave this first entry with an image of an already completed project, just so you have something to look forward to next time.


This is a portrait I did a couple years back of Patches and her three brothers, Ducky, Bambi and Teddy Bear in acrylic on canvas.