A Whimsical Bohemian

Lighting The House One Lamp Shade at a Time

Well I am so frustrated...........I did an entire blog post and the internet went out long enough to wipe it all out!

So I will try to begin again.............and just give the readers digest version.

I recently finished another lamp shade for a floor lamp I've had for a long time that I wanted to put by the secretary in the living room. It had a drum shade on it at one time but the plastic interior cracked in several places though the outside was fairly ok. I had put it out in the patio with the idea we'd smash it and recycle it. BUT the other day I had a thought.......maybe I could keep it and do some C P R on it. (Creative Passion Revival - I just made that up but now I'm going to keep using that phrase - haha!)

So I set about doing just that and was successful in getting it all tight as a drum again, no cracks......get it, drum? drum shade?  Anyway...........

I covered it (sorry but I am going to keep that technique to myself for now) and painted a design all over it but when it was done I wasn't happy. BohoHandyman couldn't believe I'd cover over it after all the hours I put in to it but I explained "I need to be completely happy with the end result".

So I started again.....just the design part..........

Using 2 pages from an art journal I had scanned I set about going another route.

I digitally played around with the first one and just played around with the bird in the second one. Printed it all out in multiples, got out the paint for the background upper and lower and top rim and voila.......... (I also painted the floor lamp itself which was formerly off white)

I took the above pic outside

I love working with the drum style shade and now have plans to do some in various sizes to sell in my Shoppe - that shape can work on most lamps..........I am hoping by end of summer to have a few to start with to see how they do.

The beauty of doing these is that they are one-of-a-kind.......you won't go in someone's home and ever see the exact same thing and they really do bring a POP to a room.

Art and design...............ah the bliss of it all!

I hope you are all had a most wonderful weekend!

ART ON!

 

I'll Leave the Light on For You

So I am not done with lamp shades.........I thought I was but......well.......I just can't help myself.  I keep thinking of new ways, new materials to experiment with. I don't know what it is but it's become something I spend so many hours on that my hands literally hurt. I still have things I can perfect and experiment with but I'm running out of shades.........for now. (wink wink)

I wake up and come right in here to my studio and start in........is it obsession? Is it addiction? Is it uh, strange forces at work? Is it cosmically ordained? (ok that last one is a bit dramatic)

All of those things could be true........but actually it's simply the love of creating A R T in all its forms!

So without further adieu here are 2 of my latest endeavors........

This lamp is now on the kitchen counter.......(the walls still need things hung so it looks a bit bare in that corner). Anyway the base was previously in the living room until I replaced it with the birdcage lamp AND it was shabby chic white. It needed C O L O R......... The shade was one I found on clearance at Target that looked like the ones below (only it was white with the turquoise flocked design)

I ended up covering the design with gesso then covered it with a canvas fabric and then covering that with clear gesso before starting to paint it.

For the base I just set out painting until I liked it. You can see I tend to use the same colors in most of my art - love them.

With the light on.............

 
I wasn't altogether happy with the way I redid the shade for my studio desk lamp (above), I mean it was fine but it was made all wrong and I KNEW I wanted to do something VERY different!

I stripped all the fabric off back the "skeleton" - This time I sewed all the panels together before attaching them to the shade using canvas fabric......add fabric hardener, gesso, paint, markers, colored pencils and so on and lots of hours and voila. I just sort of went along without anything specific in mind design-wise (except a face) until I felt it was done. I'm telling you........now I want to do more "art" shades and refine them. I didn't do any trim on the top or bottom, I like the rawness of the edges.

Below is with the light on:

 
This is the back side (faces the wall)

I didn't do anything to the lamp base............for now!

With each new shade I will be able to perfect them so you can be sure there will be more and maybe someday for sale.

Are you sick of lamp shades yet?

I have a new art project I will be starting as soon as the main component arrives in the mail....I hoped it would be today. It will be my spin on something inspired by another artist...I will explain more when I am done.

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Before I leave I have to say my heart goes out to all those victims and families from the horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon. No words can adequately convey the ire it creates to my very core that there are so many humans capable of this kind of act. It is unimaginable that people set out to destroy lives.

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PAYING CLOSER ATTENTION

It is when sleeping my mind tends to wander, to marinate in thought and action, to find portraits and scenarios in the corners of my dreams. To see beyond what's possible and imagine. It can be interruptive as well, it can make me readjust my sleeping position over and over. It can make me tired the next day even though I slept.   Sometimes the best ideas come from those moments of varied slumber.

I am sometimes in a calm and serene setting. Perhaps I am in a hammock beneath a tree where the breeze shuffles the leaves

...in a garden of intoxicating scents.

I sometimes imagine sitting in a comfortable lounger on the beach......there is a slight sea breeze and the sound of seagulls mix with the musical background of the waves.

In these and other scenarios (sometimes in places I long to visit) I am writing....writing and writing....pages of a story or stories. Only I can't see the words, I just know I am writing a book. Characters names float in my dreams rumination......I remember those when I awake but never the story itself for some reason. I am not using a computer, I am writing in long hand with a fountain pen. 

image from the internet

And sometimes I am drawing or painting something. Is that a circus I see? Is there a forest? Is that a young girl sitting with a sheep on her lap in the train station? Are there dancers? Is it a magic garden? The themes run rampant in my dreams like a fast moving current and so do their stories.

Are those images interwined in the stories? I know when I create a character I draw and/or paint immediately my mind goes to their backstory....it happens all the time. I've even shared them here on my blog. So the answer would be yes, it's all part and parcel.

So I need to pay more attention because I I know my dreams are trying to reinfoce what I already am aware of...and that is I LOVE to write, I've been a storyteller all my life AND I am an artist......perhaps the time has come to pay closer attention to that combination.

 

Are your dreams or your subconcsious sleep thoughts trying to tell you something about your creative life? Perhaps it's time to pay closer attention!

 

Hello all............

Thought I'd pop in to let you know what I've been up to.....which is more art. I come up for air to do chores, run the occasional errand or grab a snack......and then I am back at it. It's like some unseen force is keeping the mojo strong and I am a willing captive. A bit of music or the odd TCM old film runs in the background and before I know it HOURS have gone by.  And evidently days too as witness to the fact it's already a week in to April! Yowza! You know how it is.....when the muse calls you just have to answer it.  Right?

It's been really windy and cool but I am looking forward to sunnier, warmer days so I can do some of this outside in the sunshine under a clear, blue sky AND open all the windows and door. In the meantime I have lots of light in my studio my The Zen of Artistic Maintenance art "book" is going strong. Below are 6 pages so far.....some of the completed pages will soon be prints available in my Shoppe. Stay tuned.

 

This page took on a life of its own - more like a doodle page.

This one is my fave so far....it looks far better in person (actually they all do)

While I was painting this one suddenly this song came in to my head especially the line:

"There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin,
Dancin' in the street"

So there you have, the fruits of my labor .......whether you care to see it or not. HA!

Have a truly happy day and weekend!

Until next time....

p.s. I now ship to Canada as well as the US in my Shoppe

The Art of My Journal - part 2

I have now finished all the pages in Volume 1 and have already constructed Volume 2 and hope to begin working in it this weekend as it's dreary and rainy (perfect time to hunker down with art) I am calling them Art Journals but there really isn't a lot of actual journaling, but you get the idea.

Here are the rest of the pages.........oh and these were taken with my IPhone.....

This is the inside of the front cover

The gal on the rights face got a little washed out in the photo, I have to say I am having fun with these characters.

I am having fun with these head bent characters too

Inside the back cover. This lullaby was one my Mom used to sing when we were wee. I used to tease her about it her singing and asked how we ever got to sleep....it was a running joke between us.

I learned a lot putting this together so now Volume 2 will be a bit more sturdy, a tiny bit larger width-wise and not quite as wonky around the edges.

Thank you ever so much to those who left such lovely comments about the journal pages in the previous post. I really enjoy letting my whimsical/colorful muse loose on these pages - it's important for me as an artist to be able to flesh out characters or scenes that at some point could translate to canvas (or even a 3-dimensional character) at some point.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend - I wish for you calm and joy and blissful dreaming!

Until next time....

The Art of My Journal

I have been busy in the studio playing with an art journal I made..... using large sheets of Stradthmore 500 series hot press watercolor paper. I cut the sheets down but not in perfectly uniformed sizes...I folded them (some with flaps that fold out) and made a signature. With waxed linen thread I sewed the signature together. At first I was going to leave it at that but decided to use some heavy cardboard to make it hardcover front and back. I then used some black and white check tape and some of that silver tape from the hardware store (the back peels off to reveal the sticky side) to edge the covers. The silver tape can be embossed with a tool to make designs. From there I just started in.......it became an addiction the last couple of weeks. In the studio and sometimes while watching TV at night I've been drawing and painting constantly. Using everything from Aquamarkers, to Twinking H20s to other markers to a few liquid acrylics to stamps to papers to whatever I feel like using....... I set about creating whatever came to me. I have decided it's only Volume 1 as I plan to do more of these. It's a fantastic way to just let yourself go creatively. Free and blissfully ensconced in whatever suits your fancy. Below are 17 pages (I took the photos while the journal was on my drawing table).....I have a couple more to go before it's finally filled. oh and I may go back and add quotes or original words to some of the art only pages. (Then it's on to Volume 2)  I could have just used a purchased journal or the many moleskines I have but there was just something satisfying to making the entire "book" from scratch. I learned a few things to make the construction even better for the next one.......

click images to enlarge

The front cover - didn't show it but the right side flaps open.

don't know why I keep doing these tribal faces

the border on this page reminds me of worn fabric (used a stencil)

this shows the flap that opens

t
this is the other side of the above page with the flap open

this was a reminder for myself...something I lose track of sometimes....just be!!

When I started drawing this one a friend and I were talking about how we each had memories of riding our bikes as kids.

birds and trees always show up.....it's definitely a recurring theme

I used my cat Lucy as my model.

When I finished this I thought it would make a great design on a t-shirt

this one is a half size page (the mirror side doesn't open) oh and I used that silver tape to create the mirror.

this is the other side of the half page  

My husband said this reminded him of Dr. Suess which I wasn't even thinking of when drawing it. Just being silly.

We need a real vacation so bad!

This is the last page in the journal. I now want to do a version of this on canvas. It speaks without words. (to me anyway)

 

 I skipped around so there are a couple of pages yet to do to be completely finished. Plus a bit of writing I plan to do on the inside of the front and back covers AND one last thing on the back cover. BohoHandyman thinks they (meaning this and other volumes) would be fun to leave out as coffee table books. I LOVE the kind of support he gives me.

 

So that's what I've been up to......what about you?

 

Taking a break from all the hurry...........

 

If I pack up my wagon with some good treats would you meet me for a picnic with a view of the ocean where there is one giant oak tree and lots of wildflowers and lots of lots of grassy terrain? And can we talk about art and books and movies and life? Can we look up at the sky and point out things we see in the clouds? Would you join me for tea while we tell each other stories we make up on the spot?  Would you try doing a cartwheel? Would you join me in laughing really loud for no reason until it becomes so funny our sides hurt?   What if someone had attached a swing to the tree, would you get on it and lean back and pump your legs back and forth to go higher and higher? What if we hug the tree? What if we brought a watercolor box and paper and fountain pens and we paint something about the day and write a note on it and we bury them in an old tin box so that someday someone may discover them?  Would you tell me your hopes and dreams if I tell you mine? Could we wear long cotton summer dresses and make wildflower rings for our hair and prance around like children for a minute?  What if we start to cry not because we're sad but just from the joy of letting go? What if we shout out loud to the Universe something profound and meaningful.....on the count of 3?

Later can we pack up and make our way down to the ocean feeling the sand between our toes and then sit and listen to the waves with no worries of sand on our summer dresses? What if we end the day each holding our dresses up to form a pocket and collect shells until it's full. They are our souvenirs we will keep with the wilting wildflowers from our hair and rocks from beneath the oak tree. That will be our only photographic evidence along with the memory of it all.

Could you do it? You know you want to.

  

All you have to do is sit quietly.....turn off the TV, go away from the computer, don't think about to-do lists, errands, chores etc.,   Clear your mind.........completely!

Now imagine....Imagine it for a moment......close your eyes and feel the breeze and the sun and the ground under your feet. Imagine for a moment you haven't a care in the world and your only obligation is to give yourself over to the day.......

Can you see the big oak tree? Can you smell the wildflowers? Can you see the ocean off in the distance?  Can you taste the tea still hot from the thermos? Lean your head back, bend your elbows, pump your legs moving higher on the swing. Can you feel it?

Hum a tune.......laugh out loud......cry a tear of joy

Relax.

Go out and make it a good day.......

See you soon!

 

P.S. Still working on home projects and desperately needing a day like that.....

Looking towards the next home project.......

OOPS, forgot to start with this the first time I hit publish:

I HOPE ALL OF YOU HAD A LOVELY HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHATEVER YOU DID AND WHOEVER YOU WERE WITH!!

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Did you ever see the movie "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"?

 

  
(rendering of what they envisioned)

 A black and white film made in 1948 starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas. The film is about a couple with children who after the ad exect father(Grant) sees an ad for Connecticut living....... decides to move from the city(renting) to the country(to own). What they get is a dilapidated property, a quick tongued realtor and whole lot of headache. The prospect seems an easy one AT FIRST but then one thing after another becomes a problem. Problems with the architects plans to redo the place, costs begin to mount minute by minute. Tempers flare. Issues with the contractor.  All the while Grant is struggling to come up with an ad campaign to keep his job going and his jealousy over their close friend.

If you have ever done any remodeling or even a simple RE-DO you know how the best laid plans can go south -  unforseen costs hidden in every corner and things you were told were "easy to do" become the most difficult. Things you dreamed of doing become a nightmare and things you didn't  plan on happen to delay and frustrate. When we remodelled our kitchen 20 yrs ago (which was to include adding on a family room on the back side)...... we had to fire the first contractor and start over...it's a long story but suffice to say that due to his negligence we didn't get the family room on the other side of the kitchen with the indoor laundry. We remodelled the foot print of the original kitchen only.  I don't know how people do HUGE whole house remodels and survive!

We are going to redo the living room next....no major remodel per se...although we do plan to build a small foyer using part of the front porch so you don't walk right in to the room when you enter from outside.(that's going to be a real task to figure and master) The rest is new base boards, window treatments, changing out some furniture, hanging art etc.  Nothing too off the charts BUT the topic of what color to paint the walls is the one thing that lingers.......I forsee, as it has happened before, several paint swatches on the wall in various places throughout the room. This will be the first thing we do in there and YET will take the longest to finally firmly decide on. This brings me to my favorite scene in the movie:

 Mrs. Blandings is talking to the contractor and the painter regarding what colors need to be painted where.

 

{mrs. B} Now, first, the living room.             

I want it to be a soft green.      

 
         

- Not as blue-green as a robin's egg.

 

- No.  (answers the contractor)             

But not as yellow-green as daffodil buds.   

 
                

Now, the only sample I could get

is a little too yellow.                  

But don't let whoever does it

get it too blue.                    

- No. (answer from contractor)

- It should be a sort of grayish yellow-green.     

               

Now the dining room. I'd like yellow.                

Not just yellow. A very gay yellow.                 

Something bright and sunshiny.                    

I tell you, if you'll send one of

your workmen to the grocer...                   

...for a pound of their best butter and

match that exactly, you can't go wrong.    

 
        

This is the paper we'll use in the hall. (she shows him a piece)

It's flowered.                

But I don't want the ceiling

to match any colors of the flowers                   

There are some little dots

in the background.                     

And it's these dots I want you to match.                 

Not the little greenish dot

near the hollyhock leaf                

But the little bluish dot between

the rosebud and the delphinium blossom.         

Is that clear?   

  (he nods his head as she uses her little finger to point out the tiniest of dots)                 

Now, the kitchen's to be white.     

             
  

- Not a cold, antiseptic, hospital white.

- No.    (answer from contractor)                

A little warmer, but still, not to

suggest any other color but white.                     

Now, for the powder room in here,

I want you to match this thread.                    

And don't lose it. It's the only spool

I have and I had an awful time finding it.                   

As you can see,

it's practically an apple red.                 

Somewhere between a healthy Winesap

and an unripened Jonathan.   

 

(she hands him the thread)              

Oh, excuse me.   (she is suddenly called away a moment)                  

(the contractor says to the painter) you got that, Charlie? 

(the painter responds) - Red, green, blue, yellow, white.                     

(the conractor says) Check.

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Do you see yourself in Mrs. Blandings?

You have a vision of the perfect color but in trying to explain it to someone else you either sound out of your mind, nitpicky or all they hear is red, green, blue, yellow or white etc? Or you look through paint color fan decks and think "that's it" only to buy a quart, paint swatches and find....nope, that's not it. Oops! NEXT! I am thinking blue or blue-green or a washed out blue....but then I think maybe a more neutral background but not white or off white. It's a wonder I call myself an artist.

I am now in the beginning of my

"Mrs. Blandings picks a living room color" phase.

Don't even get me started on fabric choices......."I don't want country but I don't want too elegant either. It needs to be durable without being stiff. I'd like a cottage look but not too contrived or fully feminie and yet I like some old world looks too". I want blue, but then I like soft green but need a touch of red in there too. See what I mean? It's a process people. I wish I had more rooms so I could just do each one in my(our) various tastes.

 
 

 

 

Wish me luck...

What is your living room style/colors/furniture? I'd love to see!

Love,

Lisa

XOXO

P.S. DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY DESTASH GIVEAWAY, see post below.

Also

        DON'T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR JANUARY 30TH WHEN ONE WORLD, ONE HEART BEGINS!!

Lighting the way with LAMPS and IMAGINATION {and a brief announcement at the end}

I have a thing for lamps..........not just any lamp.....lamps with character, and with great shades.  I have some lamps I use for ambiance. They give off soft light in the evenings instead of burning candles. (I always worry the cats will knock candles over or get too curious and too close to the flame - I know, I'm a worry wart Fur Baby Mommy)  Years ago one of my older brothers and his then spouse made lamp shades....they were gorgeous and they even sold one (maybe more) to Barbra Streisand (why I felt compelled to mention that is beyond me) . BUT that was oh so many moons ago - luckily I still have 3 of the smaller ones and those are the ones I use for ambiance.

 
 
Lamp 1....the fringe is all beads that make a rose design all the way around...the fabric is antique silk with lace overlay. The lamp base is old.

 
Lamp 2...........This is a smaller one made from hand dyed cotton fringe, embroidered antique silk and lace.

 

close up of embroidered fabric, the color is a delicious wine

 
Lamp 3.....this one is another made with embroidered silk, crushed velvet and the hand dyed fringe. This one is also in that delicious wine color. It was given to us as a wedding present.  I am going to repaint this dresser that is in the living room, tone it down a bit...but for now I gathered bits and bobs to make it festive.

 
 
shade closeup

All the trims were also antique.

So you can see why they make such lovely ambiant lighting, especially on each "pony wall".

Now this last lamp was not one of theirs and is not antique so I sort of spruced it up. We've had it a while and a long time ago I painted the glass shade with cobalt glass paint and baked it so it would not come off. Recently I brought it out again and went through my stash of beaded fringe I've had for some time (I can't get enough of that stuff). I glued 3 rows of various ones around the inside of the glass shade and they just sparkle. I wish the base of this lamp was a bit more interesting so I'm working on ideas for that. In the meantime it has 2 bulbs with a separate chain for each.

 

 The shawl I  draped over this chest is one I bought at Pearl River in NYC. It is gorgeous with a giant peacock all in burntout velvet. It's the kind of thing you can wear as a shawl, or folded in half and tied around the waist so the point is to one side....... or as home decor...it's  very versatile. You can't see it but it also has long lovely fringe. I adore multi-purpose items, don't you?

I've put a few Christmas items out around the living room and kitchen....just so you know it's that season. Just enough for us. We don't have a tree because again I have cats who are way too curious and a dog that is like a bull in a china shop still. BUT we may get a wee table top one if only for the scent.

We also have a few visitors.......

 
The Beefeater guards our castle

 
Carolers sing songs about snow and silent nights.

The rosey cheeks of the snowman remind us it is winter even though we do not get snow. He never melts.

 
The Woodsy Santa gathers twigs and berries and pinecones from the forest for a natural Christmas setting. He warms up in his woodsy cabin with a cup of hot cider and spins tales for anyone who will listen. He is quite fascinating and we love him for always hand making the gifts he gives.

 
The Nutcracker seems to have lost his sword....however will he guide and defend his troups? Perhaps when he turns in to a Prince it will be waiting for him.

 
This fellow is preparing for the Panto.....he loves making Fairy Tales and stories come to life with song and dance and getting the audience to participate. Children wait for him as well as the adults for it is a raucous time of merriment and joy and silliness. This year he is doing Dick Whittington and his Cat......never mind that he has a bird on his hat. 

 
Lastly it is the wise and cheeky gnome with his faithful companion the owl that brings the world to you. He travels constantly....he has seen all the wonders and splendor this world has to offer and his tales are legendary. He has celebrated Christmas with various languages and customs and climates and traditions and music and dance. He has tasted the food on tables in places we only dream about.  In a garden, or on a shelf or inside a suitcase or under a mushroom he is happy....for he and his owl live each day to the fullest making memories along the way. Do not underestimate the gnome.

There are moments in the still of the night when listening to the clocks pendalum  ticking away that something else can be heard following its rhythm. It's the sound of giggling and light tapping upon the floor and the faint strains of music......we do not stir for it may break the magic of it all. Shhhh!

Love,

Lisa

XOXOXO

ANNOUNCEMENT:

There WILL BE another One World One Heart in 2o11 (probably the last)....the tentative dates are January 30, 2011 - February 17, 2011. Watch this blog for details coming VERY SOON!

Make sure to smile at least once today!