The Creative Musings of JBaskArts

From my house to yours...

Merry Christmas to all, and may 2010 be filled with health, prosperity, love and loads of creativity!

Copper Cut Out Found Object Earrings

Happy Sunday!  Here are a few new earrings I just added to my etsy shop.

 

 

 

xo

Off The Map

Saturday I had two wisdom teeth pulled.  I went into the procedure thinking - I gave birth to twins, how bad could this be.  It really wasn't that bad...until the anesthetic wore off!!  Sunday all I wanted to do was sleep but decided to watch a movie in bed with an ice pack on my face.  The point of all this is to tell you about a wonderful movie - Off The Map -

I won't give the story away, but I will say that  the expansive vista's, art and the story, really captivated me.  I highly recommend this one!

xo

For Sue...

I just finished working on this commissioned necklace for Sue M.  I met Sue at Art-Is, two years ago. We were in several classes together, including the recent Keith LoBue classes.  Sue is a funny and sweet lady who admired my work.  She was so excited when I told her I would make something special, just for her.  So here it is...

 

I can't wait to send it to her - big toothy smile! 

xo

The other side of the story...

Here is the other side of the story...  You see yesterday Billie aka Bff told the story over at her blog, about our Rhinebeck Flea Market adventure this past September.  So here is the part where you get to meet Doris.  Doris is my beautiful vintage dress form that I scored that day.

We drove to Hyde Park to the antique dealers shop (which was huge) and the sales person took us to our dealers area.  I couldn't look, so I had Billie take the first look.  When she gasped, I was sure that I would be disappointed again!  Much to my surprise, when all the stuff that was piled on top of her was removed, she was just what I was looking for, in all her vintage glory!!!  I couldn't breathe for a second...  I wasn't as lucky as Billie as far as the price, but I didn't let that deter me.  She was $100 and well worth it!  Did I mentioned that Bille only paid $10 for hers?  Our husbands think we are nuts, but who cares!!  hehe

So here is were the story gets a bit dicey... In the car Billie came up with the bright idea to name both the dress forms - hence the names Doris and Mona. But of course I had to take it a step further and give mine a last name.  While driving home, we passed through this little town called Wiccapee  (sp?) and I took a liking to it and it became Doris's last name.  Now if that wasn't enough, Doris and Mona were positioned in the van in such a way that they were touching and making all kinds of noise, banging against each other.  Low and behold they were having a "bitch fight" in the back seat!!!  You see Mona is from the "other side of the tracks" and Doris is a bit uppity!  Needless to say, we had so much fun on the way home, making up stories about our new/old dress forms and laughing about the silliest things.  Does the phrase - "gird your loins" mean anything to anyone out there?  All I will say is that driving under power lines will never be the same!  Nuf said...

Here is Doris in all her uppity vintage glory.

Be sure to read the first part of the story

over at Billie's blog.

xo

Outside the box

This encaustic collage is the first in a new series.  The series will be called "outside the box - encaustic collage"  I have this thing for boxes of all sizes and I just so happen to have quite the collection of cigar boxes.  Using some of the distressing techniques I learned in Keith's class, I beat up the  cigar box, took off the lid  and decided that I wanted to work on the outside instead of the inside.  I guess it could be called an "altered"  encaustic cigar box collage, but I didn't want the focus on the box  and besides, do we need another thing that's altered?  So a new series is born.  This piece is titled - Three.  It would be great if you would leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  xo

The mood of the day...

It is Tuesday, Election day and my girl's are home!  Need I say more?!?  I don't remember having so many days off when I was a wee one! - I digress...  I thought it appropriate to post a picture of a piece I recently finished, which is also apropos...

 

 

That's it, that's all!!  How's that for being a smart butt  :)

xo

 

Stormville Flea Market

Oh the fun we had!!!  Yesterday Billie, Ann and I went to the Stormville Flea Market.  It was the last one for the year, so naturally we had to go - no matter what!  The weather started out promising, but towards the middle of the day the wind picked up and it was cold.  I was visibly shivering!!  Ugh!  Our partner in crime (Pam) couldn't be with us, so our other friend Ann stepped in to fill the void :)  We missed you Pam.

So here are some of my goodies, (must leave some things a surprise)... I know, I'm a stinka!

xo

Open Heart

It is wet and gloomy here in the Hudson Valley, much to my dismay, and I have been "under the weather" in one form or another for the past few weeks.  With that said, I have managed to make time at my work bench, playing with some of the new technique's I learned in Keith LoBue's class.  So here is my show and tell -  "Open Heart" - Assemblage Neck piece.  This piece was a challenge in the most positive way and I really like the way it came out.

Ps. Meet Doris my new dress form - she is so perfect in her stained glory!  I will share the story behind this wonderful find another time :)

xo

Down the rabbit hole

 

I am back from a wonderful artist retreat, Art-Is-You.  This years theme was Alice in Wonderland, which is apropos for how I am feeling since returning home.  The weekend was a dizzying amount of creativity, fun and connecting with old and new friends.  I didn't manage to take any pictures, but there are a boat load of them floating around facebook and blogland.
Speaking of blogland, you must pop over to bff's blog and read about our interesting dinner out and hilarious pictures.  Why is it that the things I hate the most (like people singing to me in restaurants) seem to always happen to me?  Did I mention that I really hate for people to sing Happy Birthday to me in restaurant's?  Joan, I owe you one. Lol

The highlight and dream for me was taking classes with Keith LoBue.  Keith is the most warm, engaging, funny (the list goes on) teacher I have ever had!  We learned so much, things that will really make my world of creating go to a different level!  I can't wait to get to work...

Keith will be teaching again next year at Art-Is.  If you haven't taken a class with him, you should make it your business to do so.  I will be there with bells on!  Rumor has it that Michael DeMeng will also be teaching next year.  FINALLY!  The east coast gets to share in some of the art wealth!

I'll be back to show you what I've been working on this past month.

xo