thoughts on why and where and how and who and what

today...

2011-06-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

my old work reminding me of why i am where i am today. feeling entirely capable.

Art Show

2011-02-26T18:11:00.000-05:00

I've got some work hung in the faculty show at River Tree Arts...it's going to be an amazing and quite diverse show considering the diversity in our faculty!!! so pop on in during the month of march to check it out! you won't be sorry! i've got some block prints there that will probably be the last of their kind! so get them while you can!!!

Iconic Stones

2011-01-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

halos of hand hammered brass bring to light the magnificence of green turquoise nuggets and deep, rich labradorite.

the key to winter's mellow

2011-01-17T17:37:00.000-05:00

bits of warming turquoise, sunny lemon quartz and fiery brass beads...

nuts for clusters...

2011-01-16T09:49:00.000-05:00

clusters of beads dangle in a bunch from brass...in red jade or peridot.

peridot & prehnite

2011-01-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

peridot and prehnite dangle from smashed slabs of sterling silver, with african metal accents.

serpentine, baby

2010-12-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

i fell madly in love with these stones the moment i laid eyes on them. gorgeous grapey green globes with a subtle matte glow...there really is nothing else like them. they were brought to my favorite supplier by a traveling bead man, straight from the mountains of afghanistan. they were pricey...very. but i had to have them and create something with them.

i brought them home...and i wore them as a plan strand for ages before i could bring myself to cut them apart and work with them. they had such a lovely weight about them, and picked up my bodies heat...i kept thinking "dionysius"...such a gorgeous, sensual stone.

in researching them online i found out some lore that made them my favorite stones ever...serpentine is believed to protect the wearer from poison and to reduce stress...they are so powerful indeed as to even allow tense women to relax enough to have orgasms. go figure. who'd have ever thunk it? but i tell you...they are so beautiful and mysterious, i do not doubt it at all.

in my researching, too...i must say that i hve not found any specimens online that are as gorgeous as these stones. this piece, made with 14k gf wire, hand forged brass and a beautiful shell pendant that emphasizes the green is one of a kind, a piece to treasure and pass down.

taking a tiny piece of maine with you...

2010-12-10T08:47:00.000-05:00

my first attempt at creating a chain of wee beach pebbles...and it came out so lovely...this one is sold already!

how to lay your eyes on my work!

2010-12-10T08:42:00.001-05:00

i am becoming a squatter of sorts! at least for the time being!

i will be setting my jewelry up at the P DeSantis Studio & Gallery in Kennebunkport at 77 North St. They are open from 10-5. a great chance to see what i've been making for the body and home lately in person! the gallery is primarily my father's work, he is amazingly talented, so you'll also have the wonderful experience of being surrounded by his work as well...gorgeous stuff.

i am doing one more craft show for the season, too...and it's a good one, sponsored by the oak and the ax. really creative folks involved. it is on december 18th from 10-5 at 129 main st in biddeford, the old reny's building. should be amazing. i hope to see you there!
The Oak & the Ax Holiday Fair

custom

2010-11-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

jewelry built with love.

Bandaloop's Christmas Prelude Interlude!

2010-11-07T20:55:00.002-05:00

See the Facebook Invite

aries moon necklace

2010-10-28T07:28:00.001-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/60011672/aries-moon-necklace

a pearl necklace

2010-10-28T07:23:00.001-05:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/60000581/how-i-do-pearls

tie. clip.

2010-10-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

hand me my leather...

2010-09-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

i love labradorite. and i love leather. i can't really explain why i feel so powerful with either of these pieces on my wrist, but i do. i think i can rule my little world in leather and labradorite.

looking inward for inspiration

2010-09-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

and turns out there is quite a bit to be inspired from...even if it is just what i am striving toward as a person. enjoy the new creations...

my first little advertisement

2010-09-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

for a playbill...

the spirit of autumn...

2010-09-11T08:06:00.000-05:00

autumnal hues captured in honey jade & smoky quartz. in silver or 14k gold filled & brass.

the connection to the playhouse gallery!

2010-09-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

check it out!
http://oldportplayhouse.com

exhibition...

2010-09-09T08:42:00.001-05:00

my work as displayed on the walls of the gallery at the the old port playhouse . the pictures are a little imperfect...i was rushing to get to my parking meter. :)

my very own website...

2010-09-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

i am thrilled with it! let me know what you think!!!
www.pameladesantistachibana.com

autumn sneak preview

2010-08-20T15:45:00.001-05:00

in honor of Maine's awe-inspiring foliage that brings out the peeper in us all:

summer's end(less) collection

2010-08-19T23:55:00.001-05:00

some of the designs from my new brass stone and shell collection. most are available for purchase at www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com

matte picasso jasper

2010-07-10T21:31:00.003-05:00

the down by the river necklace.

simply the smoothest stone that will ever lay across your collarbone...the dark honey hued veins are so incredibly sexy that i can hardly stand it...

summer 2010 collection...chrysophase beauties...

2010-07-10T21:28:00.001-05:00

this chrysophase was impossible not to bring home to my little workbench. it is mesmerizing. such a turmoiled sea green mixed with the color of wave foam...it looks amazing on sunsoaked skin and makes my green eyes pop...it's going to be hard for me to let go of these pieces...each one is one of a kind.

summer 2010 trunk show!!!

2010-07-10T21:23:00.001-05:00

this isn't the official poster...but it matches some of the work i am about to post...so i am using it. :)

i'm thinking...

2010-07-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

...upcycled furniture for kids. painted and turned into masterpieces for little humans, making their worlds magical.

i'm thinking.

and in the meantime, i'm coming up with my next character design. every morning i wake up to three owls whoohooowhoooing to each other...so i am thinking they are my current muses!

i love the tiger and birdy though. i know they'll be happy in their new home! xoxoxo

"must have" list

2010-06-28T00:10:00.000-05:00

1. a space for working (almost ready to check this off the list. i stole a piece of my children's music room as my own.)...

2. a challenge (and there is always one looming around the corner.)...

3. time where my primary focus is artwork (as opposed to the care of my sweet, adorable children, which is what my time is normally devoted to...happily, but unevenly so)

4. a really nice camera to photograph the new, one of a kind work i've been producing. it kind of hurts to think of letting it go forever. a new sensation for me. i need to truly capture it and the digital camera i have is just not up to snuff...

5. a market for my artwork...or perhaps a direction. i would love to make money creating. enough to make life a little easier...not enough to quit my night job though...because i love it.

6. a website to get the word about my work out effectively!!! i have a wonderful, small, local company helping me with that...design elements. i can hardly wait.

bandaloop!!!

2010-06-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

so the amazing local eatery, Bandaloop on ocean ave in kennebunkport, ME has put up a slew of my work in their newly expanded space. i'm honored. it's a great place to eat. in fact...they just began serving lunch!!! if you get a chance to check it out, please let me know what you think.

peace...

the birdies...

2010-04-15T19:27:00.005-05:00

some pre-finished images of the birdy carvings for the nursery mirror i am working on...a tiger is next! coming this weekend...i can hardly wait!!!

in honor of the eldest matriarch...

2010-03-25T20:05:00.004-05:00

come the anemones...

work...

2010-03-13T20:34:00.004-05:00

it is such a blessing to have work...work in which i am required to use my creativity even! i love it.

i am full throttle into the design work for Kate Chappell's cookbook and i am so excited about it. the theme is all worked out in my head and now i am just waiting on more artwork and recipes and stories to piece together for this amazing work of art. what a gift to pass down to her children. stories, artwork, recipes and the history of their family from the kitchen's perspective. i LOVE it. it is inspiring me to want to do the same some day.

i also am doing a sculptural commissioned piece...a mirror with kind of primitive relief work in wood pieced on and painted. i am on the hunt for the last piece of wood i need. it's odd that it is so hard to find...a 1/2" x 8" x24' piece of basswood. but again, i'm so thrilled to be doing the work.

some advertisement work is also on my plate...a new local doll furniture company has hired me to do some advertising design work...business cards, promo flyers, a craft show poster and a stamp design. it's been whimsical and fun.

also i have several prints that i am mounting for customers...and i just ordered a shipment of new jewelry making supplies and i have a head full of designs that i cannot wait to birth.

work. it is good. bring it on.

and a close-up...

2010-02-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

raise the red lantern

2010-02-28T17:56:00.004-05:00

free artwork...

2010-02-22T15:14:00.003-05:00

i'm having a little give away on my facebook art page... come and become a fan, enter the drawing and perhaps win a 5x7 digitally toned blind contour drawing "pods"...

From the Spray...Art Auction

2010-02-08T17:14:00.003-05:00

Having another weekly art auction on my Facebook Art page...Click Here to View it!!!!

the latest art auction...

2010-02-01T16:12:00.004-05:00

is underway on my facebook art page!
click here to check it out...
it is for a 12x12 Rusty Om print on wooden block. see images below for details...and feel free to comment with any questions.

weekly art auction...

2010-01-25T10:32:00.003-05:00

so...my husband and i did a real budget last night. it's a task i have belabored over for months...and it is finally done now...

in creating this budget and looking at numbers, outgoing $$ vrs incoming $$ i have realized that i am a bit of an idealist on the art front. i have invested a lot of money in equipment and supplies and have a surplus of work to boot. i did so many solo shows the year i was pregnant with baby D...that, well, i have work accumulated. and i don't have a studio to house it in any longer...i have decided it must find good homes.

thus...i am hosting a weekly auction from my facebook page. it will begin every monday and end on wednesday...until i have cleared some space. also it will be a great excuse to use some of the materials i haven't touched yet. i am sure folks will get great deals on my work...so stay tuned. i will post the listing link here every week as well as on my facebook art page.

please fan my facebook page here to stay updated!

aquisition

2009-10-07T16:55:00.003-05:00

i have myself a beautiful, blank canvas...

and i am enamored by golden yellow leaves dancing on a swirling wind against the backdrop of a deep dark ashen grey sky. it was an arresting site today.

can't wait to see what comes out of me.

but first i must attend to the mundane tasks of love i do...like cooking supper, cleaning the kitchen and caring for my family...then i shall wreck havoc on that too white space.

xo

Loam.

2009-09-28T17:10:00.003-05:00

Loam...the name of the new store in washington connecticut that will be selling my jewelry...

the owner, Beth Fowler, describes the venue as "...a fertile marketplace for local/emerging artists, recycling(vintage furniture and art) and fair trade textiles from primarily (woman- based micro-loan businesses) foreign cultures to create commerce for them."

i am so excited to be a part of it. i can hardly wait for it to officially open on October 1st!

more info on Loam as it emerges...rumor has it there will be an online branch...stay tuned!

blocks.

2009-09-21T08:15:00.004-05:00

it's my new favorite form for my 2-d work to take. blocks. they can be stacked or hung on the wall...and well...no words are really necessary. check out the set of nocturnal nasturtium...they can be done in any size up to 24x24 with gold leaf edges...the whole idea is one which thrills me.

you can check this set out on my standingflower etsy page...and convo me if you're interested in it...say you saw it on my blog and you'll save 10%! even on custom ordered sizes!

Picnic in the Rain

2009-09-13T09:14:00.003-05:00

the Picnic Music and Arts Festival came and went. and it was soo much fun, albeit really wet.

the first few hours looked like it would be a dry, mildly cloudy day. i had many sales, a lot of positive activity and met bunches of people that were interested in my work. it felt great. so much good energy. the whole fair was brimming with creative people. i was so happy to be a part of it.

and then a few hours in, the rain hit...and my tent was just not big enough for what i was storing underneath. we kept pushing things in towards the center of the tent to no avail...

the available dry sales space had shrunk to the point of our space being inhospitable. the faces of people began to look a little downtrodden and the energy kind of changed...and then things got wet, prints, despite our moving them...

so my 9 year old son who was helping me and i packed up and left a couple hours early.

but it was great...and if things had kept up the way they had started it would have been a perfect day. at least packing up early gave us the chance to look around. great wrk happening in southern maine, folks. i'm so proud to live around here and be a part of it.

there will be another fair on december 13th...so stay tuned!!!

xo

sea foam...or jade.

2009-09-01T22:25:00.003-05:00

i love the foam the waves leaves behind after they bravely crash onto the beach and wash back to the safe mass of the ocean.

ahhhh....sea foam.

beautiful pale jade nuggets and golden glass beads create a subtly hued halo around the wrist with the perfect swish and wash of color of seafoam...hung on antiqued brass chain with a secure brass latch closure and a weighted handmade brass finding to boot.

find it at my etsy shop.

delivered

2009-09-01T22:18:00.004-05:00

the creation of this necklace felt like an epiphany of sorts. the design came to me in a dream and continued manifesting as i created it. there is something sacred about the frankincense beads i am working with. they are just so worthy of adoration. they remind me of raw diamonds and i have been treating them as such...and the bone bead is so pure, but carries with it an assymetric weight of observation...

in this piece the birdie messanger flies through the free-moving loop of hand hammered brass to deliver nuggets of frankincense resin, witnessed by a pearly bead of bone...hung on a long delicate antiqued brass chain 24 inches in length. closes with a brass lobster clasp.

<3 find it here on etsy.

Barnacles are the Mushrooms of the Sea

2009-09-01T22:10:00.003-05:00

or at least they resemble cute chubby fungus when i attempt to create them. my barnacles...they seem to have had a life previous to the one i am giving them in my design. and what with their material composition, perhaps they have.

dug out bone nestles nuggets of frankincense resin...strung on brass that only gets more and more lovely with age. these designs are timeless, but the aesthetic in me needs to add that they look absolutely amazing on sunsoaked skin. perfect to take you from the end of summer into autumn.

find them on etsy.

my new fancy

2009-08-31T21:47:00.001-05:00

frankincense.

little resin drops that i spear and string on wire and use for beads. they resemble honey hued raw diamonds.

paired with brass and ivory bone.

i just love them.

Gearing Up for PICNIC

2009-08-25T10:13:00.005-05:00

i've decided that to make the whole PICNIC experience easier for me, more cost effective for buyers and to make the toting of purchases easier, i am going to bring my large prints in sleeves, unframed and unmatted.

framing can be so expensive, so time consuming for me and i actually consider it quite personal. i love framing the art i purchase and create for myself and do it according to my world and the feeling of my space. i am hoping my customers will feel the same way and have forethought and vision when viewing my naked work!

it just makes so much more sense to do it this way...i can bring way more prints to the festival, thus offer a wider selection and the work will be easy to carry for those shoppers on foot, too.

decision final. i am framing some little pieces...and a few medium sized ones...and sleeving all the rest.

water lily

2009-08-25T07:43:00.005-05:00

this victorian brass waterlily hugs your wrist just right...and is secured by a chain made of hand wrought brass tubes. the kind of bracelet you can wear everyday and never ever tire of (i would know...i loved the first one so much i haven't been able to part with it...thus i made another for you. :))
come support the arts at www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com or visit my work and I in person at PICNIC.

Black Sea

2009-08-25T07:34:00.003-05:00

beautiful, deep black vintage glass beads from one of my grandmother's necklaces...upcycled into the Black Sea Necklace. separated by undulated hand made brass findings on an antiqued black chain, closing with a brass lobster clasp. Earrings to match, the black beads are suspeneded by the antiqued brass chain and measure a striking 2 3/4 inches long.

come see them at www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com or in person at Picnic music & arts festival in Portland Maine on the 12th of September.

the oceanic series and the krakin...

2009-08-24T14:57:00.006-05:00

i just love living near the ocean...the rocky coast against that expanse of undulating color...it inspires me. coming soon to www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com and PICNIC music & arts festival on September 12th in Portland, ME right next to Angela Adams' tent!!!!

PICNIC music & arts festival

2009-08-16T14:18:00.006-05:00

so it is official...i will be participating in PICNIC music & arts festival. we went last year and it was just sooooo good. great music all day and a lot of talent and great crafts to buy. i am so happy to be a vender this year. it is inspiring. i am designing new stuff just for the occasion... think art inspired adornment and portable functional art.

the fair takes place on september 12th from 11-6 in lincoln park in portland, maine.

it's be great to see you there! come support the arts.

for abby...

2009-07-25T09:16:00.002-05:00

brassy pod slices...

2009-07-24T10:57:00.004-05:00

new jewels of organic slices of horsechestnut. i've been wearing mine constantly...

www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com

For Abby...

2009-07-24T10:42:00.004-05:00

She Up and Bolted

2009-07-15T15:42:00.002-05:00

she up and bolted...went to seed. it was inevitable. and some stopped looking at her for lack of soft lush petals. and they missed her finest hour...

jonquille

2009-06-07T20:46:00.002-05:00

some guests from my daffodil plot.

le fleur...

2009-06-07T20:44:00.002-05:00

please meet Iris.

bartlett

2009-04-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

waltzing satsuma...

2009-04-07T13:08:00.002-05:00

slightly puckered seckle pear

2009-03-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

on the day you were born

2009-03-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

invoking the spirits of my ancestors

2009-03-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

"pods"

2009-02-22T09:15:00.002-05:00

New blog Art Auction for "Pods"! a piece i adore which is part of the permanent collection of the University of Southern Maine. don't miss your chance to bid! check it out at www.myspace.com/tangyom or let me know if you'd like me to place a bid for you and i will...email me for details if you are interested.

xo

kent harris' take on Pat D.

2009-02-17T07:58:00.001-05:00

Kent this is brilliant!

Pat in motion...

my dad...

2009-02-16T17:22:00.004-05:00

I can still remember sitting on the floor of my second grade classroom 27 years ago watching him. My Dad. The most amazing artist in all the world. He stood in front of my little 7 year old peers as a guest speaker whipping out in a few marker strokes whatever the kids called out. Clowns, horses, hot air balloons…whatever their imaginations could think of he would conjure on the big blank pad of paper. I remember my heart swelling with pride as I looked around at the amazement on the other kids faces. I was so lucky…my dad was a sort of magician. And I wanted to be just like him.

Back then Dad ran the art department of an aerospace company in Connecticut. He worked in an office, commuted back and forth on an overcrowded interstate highway every morning and every evening for what probably felt like a thousand years. He supported us, his family with this work. And I was so proud of being able to go to any encyclopedia and open it to find my dad’s art…the Space Shuttles and Space Telescopes in there are all his work. To me he was famous…one of the greats.

Growing up my world was full of stories of all the other artists in our family, many of whom had died before I ever got to know them or perhaps stayed in the “old country” in Italy. Painters, master carpenters, fashion designers, poets, musicians…this was our bloodline. We came from creative stock. But he was certain to tell me of the trials and tribulations these folks all faced as artists. It’s a hard path to follow…hard to make a living at it and even harder to support a family doing it.

He had bookshelves crammed with big fat art books to pour through and lose myself in on rainy days. I was surrounded by the works of amazing artists, from the Wyeths to Diego Rivera to Pablo Picasso to Jackson Pollack to Michelangelo to Monet, to name a few.

Lucky I had so much art around me to emulate because throughout my life I have been the lucky recipient of all of my Dad’s hand-me-down top-of-the line art supplies. Fancy guaches, watercolors, a huge set of markers with every color under the sun in it…colored pencils, tracing paper…you name it. I would use the stuff in my own way trying to mimic him and all of those other great artists I read about.

As the last of his three children prepared to go to college, something amazing happened to my Dad. He decided to dip his toe into a different pond in the art world. He bought himself a canvas and with great care after work in the evenings, he did something he hadn’t done in years and years and years…he made a painting. A painting that did not have to do with spaceships or aerospace technology.

It was a polar bear…an amazing, lifelike polar bear meandering through the terrain of a washy background that felt cold like a blizzard. I remember seeing it evolve and watching drop jawed as he magically made this great beast appear on the once white canvas. The big bear emanated strength and assuredness and the ability to survive the harsh elements…in retrospect, it kind of was like my Dad’s spirit painting of his inner-artist-animal, though I don’t think he’d ever describe it that way. To my poetic self, it signifies his readiness to leave the security of the paycheck a corporate job offers and brave the often times harsh world with his creativity and his pure talent as his guide.

He (lovingly) coerced my mom to pack up and hightail it to Maine, the place we as a family had enjoyed on many a summer vacation. He wanted to paint. He wanted to live more simply. He went from dipping his toe into those waters to diving head first in with no looking back. And thankfully, I think he would say with no regrets, either.

Today, my Dad, Pat DeSantis, is a successful artist. He works in a studio and has his own gallery in the gorgeous carriage house attached to the home he and my Mom, Margaret, share. The P. DeSantis Studio and Gallery is located at 77 North Street in Kennebunkport…across from Patten’s Berry Farm. The chair at his big desk where he paints looks out over a beautiful yard into the Maine woods, a lot different than that office chair he used to sit in at work. His first of many paintings, that magical, mystical Polar Bear, is hung with a certain sublime pride over the mantel above the fireplace in my Dad’s gallery today. I think that bear feels more at home surrounded by the woods and the elements…and so does my father.

Today he makes his own art for a living and not surprising to anyone hearing our story, so do I. It strikes me as poignant, when I think back to my days in college, when after making an attempt to be a writer I switched my degree to art and my Dad responded with sunken shoulders and a big frown. He tried to convince me that having a trade, a more marketable skill would be much more sensible. He tried to dissuade me with talks of the reality of the starving artist. And I sat and I politely listened, but then turned around and did what he had been inspiring me to do my whole entire life…I flexed my creativity, just like he had and I became an artist. And art permeates everything I do.

And so I would like to say, to my Dad, “Thanks.” Thanks for believing in the importance of art. Thanks for being so brave and making the jump into your real self…the painter, and continuing to let that painter evolve showing me that there is no need for stagnancy in life. Thanks for realizing that I am as bullheaded as you and that you couldn’t stop me, and thus encouraging me and cheering me through my personal trials as an artist. And thank you, Dad, for inspiring me.

valentine monsters...

2009-02-14T16:39:00.001-05:00

my sons and i made monsters instead of heart-laden trinkets today...

another blog ART AUCTION!

2009-02-02T18:57:00.003-05:00

since the last one was so much fun...i'm having another.

www.myspace.com/tangyom

rusty cage...up for auction! come and join the fun!

My First Online Blog Art Auction!

2009-01-16T19:30:00.005-05:00

i am attempting an online art auction on my myspace blog! it has proven to be pretty fun...a bit exciting even. don't know how profitable it will actually turn out to be, but it certainly is something to keep these winter days exciting!

if you are interested in the auction, you can find it on my myspace blog
http://www.myspace.com/pjtach
friend request me with a message about the auction if we aren't already myspace friends so you can see it...the print i am auctioning off is "persimmon" seen below. i'll write about how it turns out

digital imaging...

2009-01-09T21:21:00.004-05:00

winter '08...but better

2008-12-15T20:21:00.003-05:00

winter '08

2008-12-15T19:59:00.004-05:00

OM...

2008-12-15T13:17:00.003-05:00

inner peace with a bit o' rust.

getting my hands dirty...

2008-12-15T09:09:00.002-05:00

i had the opportunity to get my hands nice and inked this past weekend. it had been so long. my studio has been torn down and i have no place to work until the new one is built, which could be a long long time given the current economic state. it is as though jay and i are stuck in limbo...our old little barn gone, but not ready to begin building the new glorious one until we know the economy is stable.
but i have to say, i am bustling with creative energy, and really would love a space and some time to create. it is long overdue.

p

RJM for danielle

2008-12-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

that ink layer...

2008-12-14T19:47:00.002-05:00

before

2008-12-13T15:17:00.000-05:00

for tammy...

2008-11-30T14:18:00.003-05:00

Oh!

2008-10-24T08:03:00.004-05:00

and so you all can plan for it and make sure to be there...the fair i am in is sunday december 7th at consolidated school on school st in kennebunkport...it runs from 9-2.

it is a great consumerist weekend up here in kennebunkport, christmas prelude is. lots of seriously gorgeous, locally made stuff in our quaint little village, with Whoville like caroling and all kinds of cheer. great places to eat and stay, too...could be a little much needed vacation and it's much less expensive than fkying to the north pole with gas prices the way they are!!!!!

hope to see your face there!

xo

a strategy...

2008-10-24T07:55:00.003-05:00

a strategy. yup a strategy. that's what a need. a theme. a sales pitch and color coordination.

i just signed myself up for a craft fair on christmas prelude weekend. it was an inexpensive craft fair venture...only 25 bucks. i figure i can't go wrong. but i want to make the most out of it...for reducing inventory's sake as well as making some much needed money for christmas! four kids' stockings to fill this year! eeee! too much fun!

christmas prelude is this festival held in the kennebunks. it basically turns our rocky-beached world into Whoville at the beginning of december and capitalizes on the consumerism of the holidays. it is one of the biggest tourist weekends of the year in a tourist dependent town.

i am hoping this fair gets a lot of traffic. or at least some traffic. and i am on a mission to make my little booth attractive enough to sell some of my accumulated work. i have had work in four galleries over the past couple of months...big shows. and unfortunately the art world is really slow right now. in this economy, art is way down the list of necessities. thus, i have a lot of work that has returned home from shows, or is still hanging without many people seeing it because no one is out browsing in galleries.

so, i am taking some of that work down to bring to the fair and using what i've got here...and i am going to price it ridiculously on the low side. i don't have any storage here because my new studio is in a long process of being built...it won't be ready until the late spring...so getting the work into good loving homes is a goal of mine.

i am trying to design a tidy and gorgeous little booth...i am envisioning it being natural, but dark like my work. black velvet and some other black material i have yet to find, with wood tones on all of the baskets, chairs and racks...some gold, antiquey gold thrown amuck here and there. here's what i'm thinking...

i will have some larger framed works on the walls, i may build black covered "walls" to go behind the table, or i may just lean the work against a black drapeon the wall...maybe ten or twelve pieces...depending on how i arrange them. i don't have too much $$$ or time to sonk into this so if it proves too difficult to build something, i may just lean the babies. all of that large framed work, which usually costs between 150 and 250 will be on sale for 90 to 190 ish. i will also have the framed prints available unframed in dark wood toned baskets to look through...sizes ranging from 5x7 to 8x10 on the table, costs ranging from 20-35...and 12 x12 to 11x14 in a basket on the floor, costs ranging from 40-60...

i will have a myriad of my smaller framed prints available...a whole slew to choose from hanging from ribbons from the gorgeous hardwood A-frame display rack jay made me for the fair i did with brooke a couple summers back. these are as low as i can go on them already price wise...pricing ranging from 25-30 bucks. cute little wee framed prints that hang from ribbons...maybe i'll do a buy two get one 1/2 off or something...

i will also have a long table with a black table cloth on it...on the table will be random little one of a kind framed pieces i have made, ranging in price from 30-60, a black velvet covered board displaying a dozen or so pieces of my print inspired pieces of jewelry with a back-up of each ranging in price from 25-45 bucks (i tend to sell a lot of these) and boxes of cards...i have yet to make cards, but i think they are a good idea for around holiday time...a box of ten cards for 19 bucks or something like that...or four cards for 10...

i feel like i need to have enough relatively inexpensive items for people to browse through and look at. i know it is a tight ecomony, so i want people to be able to afford my work...and have it displayed gorgeously enough so that it looks much more expensive than i have it priced at! i think i will bring gnarled twigs and stuff to decorate for the holidays in a very earthy way...a little gold sprinkled around never hurts either...

let me know your ideas, oh brilliant and creative friends. i need to fine tune this strategy and i love you all and your minds!

xo
p

ps...baby django is doing soooooo well. he is an angel. simply perfect. i haven't wanted to rip my face off of his to write...so i'm sorry about not keeping my blogs up to date...i'll take some new pics of his chubby loveliness later today and perhaps post them!

muah!

on the current political crisis...

2008-09-14T07:26:00.000-05:00

Subject: Gloria Steinem responds to Sarah Palin
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.

Summary - Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
-Steinem
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008

Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president.
We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote.

We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the 'white-male-only' sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.

But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about
baking a new pie.

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home,
divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does.

To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'

This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.

Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, 'I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?' When asked about Iraq, she said, 'I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq.'

She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax.

Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on 'God, guns and
gays' ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.

So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.

McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.

Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. Shebelieves that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves 'abstinence-only' programs, which increase unwanted
births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.

I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.

So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, 'women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership,' so he may be voting for Palin's husband.

Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.

Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was
the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.

And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.

This could be huge.

friday august 1st...first friday art walk.

2008-07-31T06:34:00.003-05:00

the bird study

2008-07-25T08:34:00.001-05:00

summer 2008

2008-07-08T08:57:00.005-05:00

i told myself i would take the summer off from art to act pregnant. ha! i have been offered a spot in several amazing shows that i simply could not turn down.

first of all, this friday July 11th "super Nova" opens at the Kymara Gallery in the north dam mill in Biddeford, Maine...it is a show featuring some super amazing artists of andy warhol notoriety, ultra violet, billy name and bibbe hansen and even some performance art...i am lucky to be one of the two local artists featured in that show! the gallery is supposedly covered in tinfoil! it should be a blast this friday...come check it out. it is going to be over the top!

in august i am lucky to be half of a two person show at the amazing Sanctuary Gallery in Portland, Maine. a lot of my photo-lithographic work will be featured in that show...stuff i don't normally show! i am so excited for it. the show opens on the First Friday Artwalk...the 1st of August. would love to see you there.

and last but not least, a couple weeks before the new baby is born in the biddeford mills again, the etsy maineteam is having a giant craft fair. i am hoping to make it to this, but with my track record of cookin' my buns rather quickly, i may have a newborn by then! i will be there as a consumer at least if not as a vendor! it is going to be a fair not to be missed. etsy is just the best...and i love supporting local artisans...

hope everyone is having a great summer and that you and everyone you know come to say hi at one of my shows!!!!!

julie and keira's invitation...

2008-05-07T09:05:00.002-05:00

lovely heidileigh

2008-04-13T19:15:00.003-05:00

some portrait work i've done recently...

show!

2008-02-19T18:02:00.003-05:00

the opening for the latest show that i have work in is this coming friday...the 22nd from 5-7 pm. love to see your face there...

fruit

2007-12-08T20:53:00.001-05:00

please join me...

2007-12-04T11:18:00.001-05:00

for lisa coley...

2007-12-04T10:15:00.001-05:00

the lost button

2007-11-27T21:01:00.001-05:00

the first print to be pulled off of my new wee baby press.

for the love of pods i ii & iii

2007-11-27T20:57:00.001-05:00

funny...

2007-10-23T09:37:00.001-05:00

i always assume no one reads this blog...i put my work up here so that i have my images hosted. it is a place i come to view my work as an outsider...and then all of a sudden i'll speak to someone, or get a comment from someone who has read or viewed my blog...funny. i appreciate anyone taking the time to read my garble or look at my work.

thanks.

i have another show booked for 2008. a month long solo exhibition at the white heart...a very cool lounge/bar in portland. it is the reason i have begun to pump out work. well, that and the inspiration of my subject matter. i am loving it. but i feel like i have prematurely stopped working on some of the images i have recently posted simply for some girth in the size of my body of work. i feel the pieces are kind of incomplete and plan on going back to work on them before the show. but really, there isn't much time left before january...and i want all new work up.

so...i would appreciate comments. even if it feels like a negative one, or critical. i want to hear it. i have more work to do on this stuff. i know that. why don't you let me know what you think would make it all come together batter. and in the meantime i am going to keep posting myunfinished work.

ciao, bellos.

driver 8...oh how i love you.

2007-10-22T19:02:00.001-05:00

two new pieces in the works...

2007-10-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

to be printed on recycled brown paper with a coat of golden ink aid to make them glow!!!!! once i get my rinter working i'll scan the output...but for now the images in the works...

scissoring

2007-10-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

still more to come...

me...

2007-10-11T19:02:00.001-05:00

her instrument of choice

2007-10-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

the beginning...the very beginning...of some new work. come on now and be critical, but remember that it is the group of things that go together that make the statement.

creation

2007-08-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

i have a big show in april 2008. not for a while, but for me, huge. the wheels have begun to spin about new work. new work. such a novel idea.

i cannot waste time creating anything that doesn't speak. the venue i have set up is very conservative...the library in kennebunk. the space my work will be in is shared by cildren, thus i have to curb my usual vulgarity. but by how much? i want to make a statement politically, but without insinuating violnce, nudity or any obscenity, how i am to do that?

my draw, or interests lie in print-ized portraits. i have established this. this is the genre for me right now. i want to focus on the working class and somehow establish in my work an elitism about having humility...i have a particular interest in this because recently i began a green (non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaning business to support my family. there is much to be learned about life before one cleans other peoples' grime for a living. let me tell you.) i struggle finding ways of justifying being a cleaner even though i have a degree and can do many many things...fact is...i think that cleaning a person's home in a safe noon-toxic way is a sort of holitstic health practice. preventative meds in a very basic way. organization, cleanliness...there is something very noble about what i am doing and what others like me do...

i think my style of portraiture can capture an arrogance in the sweat-collar class well. it is, i believe, what i shall attempt to do...that or some paper plate lithos of utensils with illustrious names...hmmmm.

my itsy bitsy etsy

2007-08-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

my greatest teacher is my life...from someone's daily om.

2006-11-26T10:06:00.000-05:00

Life

Your Perfect Teacher

Many of us long to find a spiritual teacher or guru. We may feel unsure of how to practice our spirituality without one, or we may long for someone who has attained a higher level of insight to lead the way for us. Some of us have been looking for years to no avail and feel frustrated and even lost. The good news is that the greatest teacher you could ever want is always with you-that is your life.

The people and situations we encounter every day have much to teach us when we are open to receiving their wisdom. Often we don't recognize our teachers because they may not look or act like our idea of a guru, yet they may embody great wisdom. In addition, some people teach us by showing us what we don't want to do. All the situations in our lives, from the insignificant to the major, conspire to teach us exactly what we need to be learning at any given time. Patience, compassion, perseverance, honesty, letting go-all these are covered in the classroom of the teacher that is your life.

We can help ourselves to remember this perfect teacher each day with a few simple words. Each morning we might find a moment to say, "I acknowledge and honor the teacher that is my life. May I be wise enough to recognize the teachers and lessons that I encounter today, and may I be open to receiving their wisdom." We might also take some time each day to consider what our lives are trying to teach us at this time. A difficult phase in your relationship with your child may be teaching you to let go. The homeless person you see every day may be showing you the boundaries of your compassion and generosity. A spate of lost items may be asking you to be more present to physical reality. Trust your intuition on the nature of the lesson at hand, work at your own pace, and ask as many questions as you want. Your life has all the answers.