Topanga Artist Studio Tour

I went to a fabulous annual event in my neighborhood last weekend - the Topanga Artists Studio tour. For a small donation, you actually get a map of several dozen local artists who open their own homes and personal studios to the public to view and sell their art. It's run through The Topanga Art Gallery.

Don't I look like I'm having fun? I wish this was my balcony - but it belongs to one very lucky artist.

We were actually getting swarmed by hummingbirds, of all things. They were as crazy for the view as we were. I was admiring them.

I really didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of artwork during my visits. I don't know why. At the end of the afternoon, we joined all the artists for wine and small bites at the gallery. If you are visiting the lovely, hippy dippy town of Topanga, please go visit the gallery!

Asilomar

After a very long car ride, my friend Audra and I finally made it to Asilomar! The beach beconed us - here I am all bundled up! So happy to be in the moment of just being alive.

I had two wonderful days with Misty Mawn in her "31 Flavors" Art Journaling class. I learned her easy and almost full-proof way to make a face. It was the main reason I took the class. I was so intimated by face drawing, and now, I think I can comfortably say, I can draw something that looks like a face! Not that I need to draw something realistic - no, not at all. I just needed the basic place to start, and Misty delivered. It was hard and scary - but the second half of the class was all journaling and collage - hear big sigh of "comfort zone"!

I didn't get a pic of us together, but here's a little of what I made in those two days!

My very first face:

My first painted face:
fun backgrounds:a collage with a face drawn by Misty that we were to cut up any way we wanted and collage with it:

My second painted face. Getting closer to something I like. Why is she blue? Must be the Star Trek influence.

How about a simple collage with my photograph of a dandylion in the middle. Sure, why not? Make a wish! That would make a great card, wouldn't it?

The two images below are side by side in my journal and are my favorite collage I made - of course it was the last one of the second day. Someone asked me if the lady in the picture was me. Um, why...yes...yes, she is...(in my dreams!)

How could I resist having my cards at the vendor night? Here I am in all my turquoise splendor!

Here's my close friend, Peggy Gatto - I love this lady! I knew she'd be at Art & Soul - and I was sort of worried about making sure we'd meet up. Lo and behold, the stars were aligned for us, and we were neighbors!

The third day of classes I spent with the talented Michael DeMeng. Do you really need a link for him? I did manage to remember to get a picture of us together.

I'm holding my "I am Infinity" piece that I made in his class. Can you see my heart pinned to my sleeve? So much rattling on in my head those four days.

The thought behind this piece: I am not this body. I am not this breath. I am Infinity.

So, there you go. Lots of eye candy to make up for weeks and weeks of no posts.

Apparently, A&S will not be hosting at Asilomar next year, but in Las Vegas. I can't believe it. I just LOVE Asilomar. It was definetely one of the big reasons I chose that venue. We'll have to see what's gonna happen for 2010.

Don't Touch Eyeballs

Yes, I had a conversation with my two-year-old today, while giving her a bath, how it's not a good idea to touch eyeballs. It's ouchy.

So there.

But, on to more interesting things - like - THE MONTH OF MAY!! Here I am walking in to the first day of the National Stationary Show in New York!!

Here's my lovely booth!

I know, the booth is simple, but I need to fit this all in ONE suitcase, my friends. That is a feat of physics all in itself.

And wouldn't you guess who was nominated for best new product of 2009 in the social stationary category? Hmm.....could it be PAPIER STUDIO? Stardom obviously awaits...

I'm ready for my close-up...

It's a good start, but I didn't win. I think you need to sponsor something to win, and there was no way I was gonna spend the money to do that. Oh well... This display was one of the first things you saw when you walked into the Javitts Center, so that made me happy, and I had lots of interesting folks visit my booth. Nothing to report yet, but this summer I'll be working very hard.

The kids won't be touching any eyeballs at home - they'll be at summer camp every day. Can you hear the "halleluyah" from your chair?

I promise next post will have pics and info about Asilomar. Yes, it was fabulous. Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, I made cool sh*t and met some cool fellow artists. I wish you had been there with me.

The World Moves on a Woman's Hips

This is my page for the upcoming chunky book swap that I'm participating in at the Art & Soul retreat in Asilomar next month. The theme for the book is Dancing Through the Decades. I love the music from the 1980's - probably because those were my serious formative years (read teenager). This piece is inspired from The Talking Heads' song "The Great Curve", where the chorus goes:
The world moves on a woman's hips
The world moves and it swivels and bops
The world moves on a woman's hips
The world moved and it bounces and hops
A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up
A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up

Here's the back of my page:

I think the words say a lot, both literally and figuratively. As a woman, I can feel the world moving on my hips, emerging, turning, bouncing, and hopping. There's a lot of energy there, and as a woman, it's our job to know how to open everyone else's eyes up.

Catch Me

Catch Me
by Tally Oliveau

You might catch me
pricking the musical notes
that glimmer before me
in the air.
With my knowing hands,
plucking
the gossamer strands
of stories never to unfold
but in the far reaches
of my smile.

And you might catch me
running free through the fields
gathering raindrops in a
storm.
All the while listening
to their
quiet melody
twinkling and shining
in the sunlight.

Yes, you might catch me
composing
and dreaming
of the music that lies before
me,
floating
and waiting
to be sung.
Just waiting for my hands
to kiss
their gossamer strands
so that their life
may fill my soul
with love.

The Ties That Bind Us

On this first night of Passover (yes, tonight!), it's a good time to think about the ties that bind us.

If you didn't already know, Passover celebrates the story of the Jews' exodus from Egypt and leaving their lives as slaves behind them. While life as a slave was probably horrific, I can only imagine how dificult it must have been to leave behind the only life they had known, to follow Moses into the desert looking for a homeland that they didn't know how to find.

Despite their fears, the Jews did it. They escaped the ties that bound them. They escaped slavery.

But what still enslaves us today? I don't just mean the Jews, I mean any one of us. Some of us are enslaved by our jobs, some of us are enslaved by society's expectations, some of us are enslaved by our obsessions and addictions, and some of us are even enslaved by fashion.

What are the steps we can each take in our own lives to escape the ties that bind us? Can we blow those heavy burdens from our hands, allowing them to fly away - giving us freedom?

Give It To Me!

Here's one of the many reasons I love Madonna. Below are the lyrics to "Give It To Me" a song on her new album "Hard Candy", which I have been working out to lately. It is these kinds of attitudes that bring us to the top of our game. Yes, truly.

You can see the video here. I'm not sure about the value of the video itself, but at least you can hear the song. _Edit: Oh - wait - I want those boots!

Give it To Me
By: Madonna, P. Williams

What are you waiting for?
Nobody’s gonna show you how.
Why work for someone else
to do what you can do right now?
Got no boundries and no limits.
If there’s excitement,
put me in it.
If it’s against the law,
arrest me.
If you can handle it,
undress me.

Don’t stop me now
Don’t need to catch my breath,
I can go on and on and on.
When the lights go down
And there’s no one left
I can go on and on and on.

Give it to me!
Yah!
No one’s gonna show me how.
Give it to me!
Yah!
No one’s gonna stop me now.

They say that a good thing never lasts
and that it has to fall.
Those are the people that did not
amount to much at all.
Give me the base line,
I’ll shake it.
Give me a record
and I’ll break it.
There’s no beginning
and no ending.
Give me a chance to go
And I’ll take it.

Don’t stop me now
Don’t need to catch my breath,
I can go on and on and on.
When the lights go down
And there’s no one left
I can go on and on and on.

Give it to me!
Yah!
No one’s gonna show me how.
Give it to me!
Yah!
No one’s gonna stop me now.

Repeat Chorus

You’re only here to win
Get what they say
You’re only here to win
Get what they do
They’d do it too,
if they were you.
You’ve done it all before.
This ain’t nothin’ new.

Repeat Chorus