Forgive me, Dear Friends!

If you click on the Facebook widget, you'll see why I haven't been around. Since August we have been doing the work to get the shop put together, opened and doing business. What an undertaking!

Our artist blog is at http://www.fairwindstudio.wordpress.com

Customer website is at http://www.fairwindstudio.yolasite.com

I'm just getting ready to update both of them!

Our soft opening was October 15, with the publicized Grand Opening two weeks later. Now we are building our clientele and doing loads of advertising of the new mall in which we are located.

Artists: email me to talk about consigning and consider the information given on the artist blog.

Ohioans: if you make it to Columbus on any weekend, stop in and see me.

I'll be back to producing art of my own before long, but this has been an all-consuming project.

Thank you for visiting and checking on me from time to time. I appreciate you so much.

Nancy

It's July already!

The Independence Day celebrations are over and here we are in mid-July! I don't know where the time went. Tomatoes are doing well and the flowers are gorgeous, so I'm going to have more time for other pursuits.
I have done a few things I'll share here, and if you want more,

there's always my Flickr Photostream.

This is "Hubert and Maude"

an atc

''His Master's Voice"

a steampunky digital postcard

Here is a sneak peek at a project I am doing with my very best friend, to celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

A combination of both Anne's and my painting, with digital work.

Thanks for coming by. Best wishes to all my cyber friends. (You know who you are)

Nancy

Latest Collages

The challenge at Artful Ideas ATC group was to create a particular type of collage by cutting things up and putting them back together. Do stop by and see what everyone has done. Artful Ideas is open to new members. Just click on the "join" link to participate in the fun.

ATC challenges are what I cut my "mixed-media-teeth" on. (I know that was very poor sentence structure, but oh well...) It's a great way to learn and try out new techniques and media and we share our trials and errors, learning something every time!

Here is what I did. I really got into these and made a 'few' .

Paschkis Scrambled

Love Life

over Stated

Yes, I have been doing a lot of creative work, but it's been more directed toward real life and not what I'd share on line. However, still participating in a few swap challenges, so you can visit my Flickr spot if you like.

I appreciate your stopping by my bloggy place. Thanks for looking.
Nancy

Zetti Collage sheet swap.

No, I'm not doing much artwork or writing, been outside doing the Spring yardwork, moving furniture, Spring cleaning, etc. But here is something I completed recently for a fun Flickr group.

Perhaps you will find a use for some of the images?

See MORE ZETTI FUN at Zettiology.

Nancy

Collage play - Digital

"When Music Was Swing"

I did something different with Collage Play with Crowabout, this week. While I usually try to use as many of the images as I can, I used only the minimum (3) this week, added a couple of my own and put it all on a background from my friend, John.

It's All Digital. I loved the image of the woman and the building -- and the era they represented. Found the record labels and included the flowers
just to be legal for the prize drawing.

Thanks for coming 'round to look at my stuff!
Nancy

A Very Joyous Easter to All.

I am trying ... to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing

that people often say about Him:

"I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God."
That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said

would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg --

or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut Him up for a fool,

you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon;

or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.

---C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

"Sorry..."

I have entered another project for Arthouse Co-op.
The subject of this one is "Sorry", in which each artist produces a flock of (no larger than) 3 x 3" works that depict things we are sorry about. A cleansing process, we hope.



See more about the project HERE.
Each entrant may produce as many as 15 pieces. (Don't know if I'm THAT sorry). And each is promised at least one piece in the book that will be published.
Entrance fee is only $5.00 for this one. Here's an opportunity you might not want to miss!

I have two "possible entries" done, as of today.

Each is 3"x3".

It's a good opportunity for me to practice with watercolor. I REALLY need it!

This is about wasted years of partially-formed dreams.

This is about anger.

Thanks for coming by to see what I'm up to. Hope to visit you soon.

Nancy

The ART HOUSE Co-op is a wonderful venture. Steve and Shane are amazing - just the two of them running this whole shebang. There are projects all the time which are the subject of books, exhibits and library items. You must go there and look around, fellow artists. It is so much fun.

The piece I've currently entered is the "Mail Me Something" Project. Artwork is presented as a postcard (one of my favorites) and simply stamped and mailed to the Art House. All entries will be on display in the gallery.

See my postcard entry above, done with acrylic paint, Prismacolor pencils and pen and ink.

Nancy

Chagall-ish

Over at Artful Ideas we are having a challenge swap called "Artistic Style". AI is a Flickr group administered by myself and my dear bowling_belle. We have a lot of fun with a bi-weekly (or 'fortnightly' as the belle might say) challenge theme, ending in a random swap, strictly for ATC's.

Our members are all across the globe and we do have a great time.

For this one, we are choosing an artist or artistic style and using it to influence our submission for this time around. I chose Marc Chagall and my entry appears above.

We are a second generation group which spun off from the Mamma Swap when it had to be closed. You might just want to pop over to the AI pool to see some of the fantastic atc's being created by our members.

No IF's AND's or...................................................Elephant Butts?

Don't mind me. I fall in love with the strangest images sometimes. Our challenge on the Art 'n' Soul Flickr Group is to alter a jigsaw puzzle piece. Lots of people use the large, children's floor puzzle pieces, but I didn't have any so I made my own according to the template provided. It is roughly 3 1/2 inches square.

The alteration requirement was only that it be monochromatic. So I chose a dark, black-green color and used it in various densities and shades and a black silk cord for a hanger.

Having fallen in love with these elephants, I found a way to color and use them, along with some ornamental grass and a sprig of Eucalyptus, also colored to match.

To me, the mamma and baby elephant going off to see their world is a lovely metaphor for mammas and babies everywhere. And I love the shapes they make as they trudge off into the unknown in search of their destiny.

"Behold I and the children that the Lord hath given me, we are for signs and wonders."

Isaiah 8:18

Here is the back side, which shows

a fragment of the dense jungle ahead.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'll be over to see you, too!

Nancy

Old Friends - Young Faces

I have recently reconnected with a girlhood friend who has always been precious to me. We were so close, as girls, that the time and distance never seem to matter at all 0 even when we lose touch for a long while. When she sent me the photo of herself as a child (left) I just had to combine it with the one of myself of the same vintage. So I did this little digital collage as a postcard and sent it to her. I guess it made her howl!

Looking forward to her visit next week where I'll take some photos to compare. These you may or may not see, depending on just how bad we look! Lots of water has gone under the bridge since we were so young and intent on "Going Places".

Back to Blogging...Again

I used to be such a faithful (read 'constant') blogger until my life took a new shape and I became very busy. I miss it. I miss hearing from my friends and sharing my thoughts and my projects. So here are a few things I've been doing since I was last here.

First -- I got a part time job and really threw myself into it. Thought it would be the dream job of all time for someone like me, a bibliophile. A book store job, no less. I joined with a crew to bring the store into existence, working my you-know-what off and doing things I didn't even know I could do. We put together the entire store - 6000 sq. ft. of shelves filled with books and opened in early December. I was ecstatic.

Imagine my disappointment when, working in close quarters with her, I found out that the manager was an awful bully who took personal delight in invalidating those around her. She took a particular dislike to 'moi', going quite out of her way to pick apart every thing I did.

I bit my tongue and hoped for the best for a very long 2 months until I finally had the bad manners to respond to one of her humiliating tirades with a very tiny one of my own. She fired me. And I am still really mad about it!

But I'm relieved that I don't have to come home each day upset and bummed out. What appeared to be my dream job was a nightmare in disguise. I really learned a lot about retail and book selling in particular, though, and made two very good friends who worked with me.

I guess it's a colorful addition to my CV. I was never fired before! Hey, people, it's never to late to experience something new!

So the Captain and I got busy right away on a cottage industry project. We are making these.

Disciple's Cross

We order our supplies from the company who holds the patent and make them according to their strict standards. They buy them from us, but we are free to find other markets and sell them ourselves. I have one local store carrying them and have a lot more inquiries to make. And we are definitely having fun. There's a little link at the top of this page where you can find out more about these.

Thanks for visiting me today.

Nancy

I have been on Flickr too much...

Most of my artwork is associated with some kind of Flickr group, lately, so I haven't been posting much of it here. Naughty me.

.....And I've become an admin on one of the groups, Artful Ideas, along with my friend, bowlingbelle, so I have to pay attention to that one and help take care of things.

.....And I have a new part-time job which will claim about 20 hours per week.

But here are a couple of pieces (postcards, both) that I've done for the Collage Play with Crowabout group recently. They are so much fun because we have to use the images we are given. Just copy and print them from the group site. As you can see, sometimes they turn out pretty crazy - but are a great, weekly challenge.

(Not A Mountain: Did you get that? Just scissors and glue, Baybay!)

Thanks for stopping in.
Nancy

Fowl Play

That's the theme at The Three Muses. Aren't they funny?

Here is my postcard.

'Zeigfeld Fowlies'

(tee hee hee)

"Long Ago and Far Away"

That's the theme at the 3 muses this week.

Here is my postcard.

Bill Shakespeare

Here's another challenge...

From Three Muses.

This one is digital. The theme is "hair".

'The Haircut'

I wore my hair very long for most of my life. It was kind of a trademark of mine.

I remember how scary it was the first time I had it cut very short. I went straight from the lengthy tresses - to a "pixie-do". The scissors seemed HUGE. I can even recall the sound!

Needless to say, I survived, and am letting my long hair grow back. It feels more like me.

The beautiful image of the lady is from a painting by E. Delacroix circa 1825.

Found Something "Interesting"

I've been working behind the scenes to improve my digital art skills. and have found something that really gives me a workout.

Make It Interesting is a Flickr pool.

Members post photos and the challenge is for others

to digitally "mess with it"

and make it more interesting.

What a great exercise in trying out techniques and styles.

My postcard entitled:

Angel on the Stair

The original.


My postcard entitled:
Home Invasion

The original.


Now, if that's not fun, I don't know what is.

What IS Zetti?

I get asked this a lot, as do others who attempt to "do" Zetti.
And I say 'attempt' because so many of us struggle to "get it".
But...
No one seems to be able to put it into words, exactly, myself included.
It seems to be a state of mind. Sometimes I can get there and sometimes I can't.

What I do know (I think):

• There are often pointy hats, stripey legs and strange faces with mismatched eys.
• There are lots of black and white stripes in borders and other places.
• Backgrounds are usually painted and textured.
• It IS collage work, usually, along with hand drawn and stamped images and backgrounds ... sometimes.
• Clown noses appear pretty frequently and bodies and heads are usually very mismatched.
• Magazine cut outs are commonly used along with other kinds of materials.
  
  So..... Does that help? No. I thought not.
  
  Teesha Moore is the person who "invented" as an art form/style, and you can see some of her work Here. She's the queen.
  There is a Flickr Group called Zettiology, and I've installed our hot-button in the sidebar to your right. It looks like this.

It was created by the group admin, Jade Adams, a true Zetti guru.

You can go there and see what others of us are doing with varying degrees of success.

Oh, and thanks for asking.

Zlightly Zetti

That is the theme for the Three Muses challenge this week. Here is my entry.

"Honest!" ~ A Postcard

One more song for You

As long as there is time

And one breath left in me

There will always be

One more song for You.



lyrics by Michael and Stormie Omartian