4x4 Zetti Fat Book Page...

This is a 4x4 Fat Book page that I created for a Zetti Fat Book Swap that I am participating in with 12 other artists from the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thealteredartplace/. These are a talented group of artists and I am anxious to see the completed project. Thanks to Julie Harrington for hosting this swap and for taking on the job of putting these books together,

A picture of me....

This blog thing is so much fun!!

I am so excited about and enjoying working on this blog. It is so much fun to share some of my thoughts and some of my art with others. Here are two journal pages that I recently finsihed and posted. It is part of an international collaborative journal project that I am currently participating in with several other women. The theme of the project is "My Favorite Things". I was re-introduced to the art of Frida Kahlo (and she immediately became one of my new favorite things) recently by a wonderful artist and teacher named Randi Fueuerhelm-Watts http://www.randifeuerhelm.com/ in Phoenix, AZ (at Art Unreavelled 2005). Both women---Randi as a teacher and friend and Frida as an artist have inspired me to create and helped me through a creative block. I took two classes with Randi and just fell in love with her as a person, her art and her journaling processes. I have been researching Frida Kahlo since coming home from Phoenix. I have also fallen in love with her. The story of her life and and her unbelievable art have impacted me as an artist and as a person. Thanks Randi for opening my eyes to Frida Kahlo and to your world of journaling.

Adding some more of my art

Here is something else that I recently made. It is a small journal I made using glue/fused paper that I created. I bound it with a simple chain stitch and added some beads including two fabric beads that I made. I love making fabric beads---it is kind of a mindless kind of project. When I don't feel like doing anything else, I can sit down and make beads. The original idea for the beads came from Belle Armoir magazine. The article was called something like, "Make 100 Beads in a Weekend". I've made way more than 100 beads---but not in just a weekend!!

Something new I found....

I found this website earlier today while I was poking around the internet. It is a challenge to artists to create 10,000 (yes---10,000!!) square inches of art in a month. Of course, I had to sign right up!!! The website explains (I am directly quoting), "that the goal is not to create 10,000 square inches of frame-worthy art, but to jump in and break a block or push yourself creatively"---"Again, the focus is JUST TO CREATE, don't think about quality"---"Any art is good art". I thought that this sounded like the perfect project for me! I will keep my blog updated with all the inches (hmmm, all 10,000, you think???).

I'm back---and a sample of my Zetti style Art....

This is a spread that I created for a Zetti Altered Book Round Robin in which I am currently involved. My family doesn't get it---I told my husband that it was kind of black humor. He still didn't get it. He calls my art "those silly little books" you work on. It's OK---he is really supportive of my creativity even if he doesn't understand. He always encourages me to go to art outings and only sometimes complains about the money I spend on art supplies and how messy the house is all the time. I guess he knows how happy creating art makes me! I will be adding a few more things later that I have been working on. Bye for now!

Finally a beginning

Hi---my name is Shari and I am a mixed media artist. I created this blog a long time ago, but for some reason I have not been able to get started---that is, until today! I have been in a creative funk for a while and I am glad to say that it is finally over. Something new that I have been working on is fabric art. I was exposed to fabric art for the first time while at Art Unraveled in Phoenix, AZ this August. I decided that it was something I wanted to do. The problem was (or I thought it was a problem), I have never done (or wanted to do) machine sewing and I do not own (or want to own) a sewing machine. Upon my return from Phoenix, I started to research fabric art online and found out about "quilties" on one of my online Yahoo groups "Artistazine". To my surprise I found out that you can create these mini masterpieces by hand!! Here is a pix of my very first quiltie...