Atomic War Bride

ATCs for Artfest!

2012-02-05T14:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to join the ATC swap this year at Artfest. It gave me an excuse to try some techniques I've been meaning to try but haven't yet.

Voila! All but the last 3 of these were made with magazine pages, white glue and never dull polish. I love how they turned out.

The last three were images I pained with gesso, acrylics, paint pens and gel pens- 2 of them are on silver repair tape and one of them is on the never dull background paper.

And finally, I did these 4 on silver repair tape.

Canvases for Sale

2011-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

The following 8x10 canvases are for sale! Email if you're interested!!

The following 4x4 canvases are for sale! Email if you're interested!!

30 Day Art Challenge

2011-11-11T23:16:00.000-08:00

Oct 8-Nov 7 was the time frame of the annual 30 canvases in 30 days art challenge here in Seattle. This year my friends Mish, Julie and Kristi joined me in the venture. We all slaved away every night after work to crank out 30 canvases each! Once again, life threw in several curve balls for each of us. Zombie's health problems, my car problems, etc, all just added to the challenge.

I didn't start with a game plan this year- just decided to try a few techniques/materials I hadn't tried before and to just play around to see what happened. I decided not to focus on what might be of interest to the public, so this year's batch is not as pretty. :)

This one is called "The Eyes Have it". Yep, a whole canvas covered in googly-eyes! This looks deceptively simple but it actually took quite a while to do.

I designed this robot digitally and then used golden's digital ground to paint some foil and then printed the robot on foil. This was fun but a real challenge with my stupid printer. Alas, the scan isn't very flattering but the robot looks pretty cool in person.

Mish, Julie and I formed a band called the Dried Up Brainy Dead Chicks. Only one of us can even sing and none of us play an instrument. But why let that stop us?! Especially with the lovely Iphone App called Songify. One of the songs we've recorded so far is one I wrote based on the original Fly. It is a whopping 35 seconds long but its catchy as hell. This is the accompanying "singles" cover I created for it.

This is my favorite piece from this batch of 30 paintings. It started as a rant- with me just writing ferociously all over the canvas board- I was unloading my feelings of frustration and hurt and anger about all the crap that's happened in the last year/ year and a half. Then I covered the rant with paint using a credit card to smear black, red and white paint all over. I played around with it, still didn't like it, so I decided it was a good time to just try an ink jet transfer (of Jack Webb of course!). The transfer started to work but I think I was too impatient or the image was too old (printed awhile ago)- it started to rub off. I almost gave up at that point but ended up liking what little I could salvage of the image. I then used some old flammable tape I had and a lip print rubber stamp to add the final touches. I call this piece "Jack Webb is Flammable, baby!"

I used leather and string to create this one. This was a riff on one of my previous digital pieces:

However, the new one says "You Were Here". A reflection of the past year perhaps? :)

Using the credit card technique again, this time on black paint.

My self-portrait- me as Medusa.

I created some silly haikus, partially using a random haiku generator. I decided to meld them with a few collages using old 70s catalog photos.

This piece started as an abstract that I then covered in glass bead gel to see if it would "pop". It didn't (the original was a bit faded) so I decided to roll with it and just see what happened if I painted directly onto the glass beads. This is the result!

Just having a bit of fun with this one.

My first Ode to Joe- later I followed up w/ the better piece "Jack Webb is Flammable, baby!". But it was fun trying to paint something like this.

Another Haiku collage. Read the L first then the R. Or not. :)

Joan Crawford is my muse once again for this painting.

One of my attempts at painting with beeswax. I kept redoing it and redoing it til I ended up with this, which I liked. I call this one "Midnight in the Garden"- it looks like a tree and black wrought iron fence to me.

I started with a photo of Russell Crowe and tried to draw him with charcoal. Obviously that failed miserably! But then I added beeswax and played around with trying to "erase" things, add things, etc, until voila, I ended up with this piece.

I had the yen to make some giant eyeballs.

Jean Harlow is my other muse. I created a hand-cut stencil of her and used acrylic (instead of spray) paint to creat this piece. Like Cotton Candy.

Practicing painting men. This is "Peter Cushing Haunts me". I was happily surprised that it actually looks like him. In green.

I was really happy with this piece. I loved the haiku and then fell in love w/ the background I was creating accidentally. The rest fell into place.

Another Haiku piece.

Tried my pop girl techniques and added a little bit of a monster twist. I'm enjoying the look of these "pop" paintings. I need to do more of them- I need to practice my drawing skills.

No sparkling vampires here!

A couple of Devilish Divas!

Dabbling with my oil pastels, acrylics and paint pens again, ala some of my previous hollywood-inspired pieces. This is once again Jean Harlow of course. Joan and Jean- two of my muses. I decided to try purple despite my intuition and decided in the end that purple is not always flattering (which is the title of the piece!)

Clara- a vision in green!

One of my favorite pieces- and yes, it is Jean Harlow again! I really love how this one turned out!

This one I created just for me. Not only do I have a lifelong crush on Martin Milner (Pete Malloy in Adam 12) but my car (which I named Malloy) was in the shop at the time, so I decided to make Saint Malloy, patron saint of Orange HHRs. I plan on making a smaller version of this to put in my car!

That's it! 30 canvases in 30 days. The gallery show will take place in December. Supposedly there are over 100 artists this year so there will be thousands of paintings! I am really looking forward to it. And I'm glad that I took the time to use up some long-standing supplies and to try a few techniques/materials I had been intending to try for awhile now.

Hot One Inch Action!

2011-11-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

I was in the annual Hot One Inch Action show again this year!!

"Conceived by Jim Hoehnle and Chris Bentzen in 2004, Hot One Inch Action is the original, one-night only show of button art and social interaction from Vancouver, BC. The tiny work of fifty different artists is reproduced on one inch buttons. Buy a mixed bag of five random buttons for $5. Want a specific button? Trade with other people at the show. How bad do you want that button?! That’s when the hot action starts."

There were some great buttons there- I didn't have a chance to take pics of all of them but here are a few of my favorites:

MONSTERS GALORE!

2011-10-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

I have a dozen of my 4x4 monsters in the Halloween Show at the wonderful Lowell Art Works gallery in Everett WA! I'm so excited!

OCTOBER HORROR FEST!

2011-10-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

In keeping with tradition, Mish and I are hoping to watch one horror film a night this month. (That is if we can fit it in while working on our 30 canvases for the annual 30 canvases in 30 days art challenge!)

Tonight's film: Scream Blacula Scream with William Marshall returning as the debonair Blacula. This film features the ever-lovely Pam Grier. Despite her addition, the film is not quite as good as the original Blacula. There are some great moments, including some interesting cinematography, but it doesn't quite have the panache of the first film. The fashions are a blast, however! And I could listen to William Marshall read from a phone book. :)

(Mish and I actually started our horrorfest a bit early and watched Blacula the other night....check out this trailer too!)

Zombie!

2011-09-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

My Handsome Boy!

Woohoo! I'm in another Art Exhibit!

2011-08-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Jules is celebrating 5 years of glorious art at her Lowell studios and both Mish and I have art up as part of her V exhibit! This time I entered my Eastern State Penitentiary photos.

I was going to do this one but Jules liked the color version better. :)

Easter State was such a haunting yet mesmerizing place to shoot photos. I love looking for beauty in the discarded.

Books for Sale! Email me with an offer!

2011-07-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yearbook: BOMB OF 1950 from Iowa State College! 440 pages! In tact and in good shape. See photos! If you are interested, please email me with an offer! Shipping will be via flat rate priority- this is one heavy book!

1922 book entitled Beautiful Girlhood.

All about how to be a woman! "A desire to be beautiful is not unwomanly. A woman who is not beautiful cannot properly fill her place." and "It is possible for her to become vile in heart with a mind as foul as the lowest character.... just by unclean dreaming." Chapters include From the Child to the Woman, Character Building, Making Herself Beautiful, That Member the Tongue, Ambition, The Accomplished Girl, Waking of the Love Nature, etc. This is a true gem!!! Again, if you are interested in this book, email me with an offer.

New American Encyclopedia on Social and Commercial Information, 1908. For sale! Send me an offer!! Book is worn and yellowed but mainly in tact- there are some segments slowly coming forward from the binding, but in general its in tact and certainly very readable.

This is a gem of a book- contains lots of interesting info- how to write fiction, penmanship, operation of the French government, sculpture modeling, the mandolin self-taught, steam engines, wireless telegraphy, swimming, first aid to the injured, jiu jitsu, health hints for women, etiquette, cattle, parlor magic, etc. Tons of great info! Includes illustrations! ‎908 pages.

HOTEL LUNAR LOWELL EXHIBIT OPENS TONIGHT!

2011-06-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Lunar Lowell exhibit opens tonight (6/18/11)! My friend Julie Bohan and I have some pieces in this exhibit!

As you can imagine, as the AtomicWarBride, this theme really called to me.

I am exhibiting my sculpture Fitzwilliam, Esquire and Aquanaut:

And I am also showing some of my Atomic-Themed paintings:

Here's a description of the incredible exhibit from curator Jules Anslow:

IT'S TODAY!! Because the painting "Hotel Lunar Lowell" did not get finished, Joolz will be using it for a painting demonstration tonight during the opening! Plus a few funky installations! See you there!!

LAW's third annual salute to Sci-Fi!"Hotel Lunar Lowell"
Explorations in Atomicpunk

"It Came From The Basement" Rod Countryman

The Atomic Age! The world was innocent, full of hope, imagination, possibility. Flying cars? Will do. Automated homes? Check. Personal robots? You betcha. There was simply nothing that couldn't be accomplished with the help of our pal, the atom, and his sparkling personality. The nuclear era was born.

Well, with any luck, we celebrate now the end of the nuclear reign, but marvel as well at the optimistic flights of fancy that paved the way for some of the most amazing technology we've witnessed to date. The inventiveness that germinated from those early days continues, in not only our science fiction, but science fact, rendering those two notions inseparable.

This juried group show will feature art that celebrates science fiction, the atomic age, atomicpunk, steampunk, fantasy tech, radioactive monsters, and the optimistic aesthetic of mid-century design.

Featured artists include Rod Countryman, Jerry Whiting, Stephen Lestat, Jenny Dayton, Joolz Anzleaux, Paula Rey, Lea Barozzi, Rita Bellanca and more!
LAW stays open till 9PM, so enjoy the Everett Art Walk downtown and end up with us! Or catch the new shuttle from downtown!

Join us, won't you? (Our mind-control techniques actually leave you little choice in the matter. See you Saturday!)

Lowell Art Works, 5205 S. 2nd Ave., Everett, WA 98203 lowellartworks.com (425) 923-3635 another lowellife production

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Lowell Art Works Studios and Gallery5205 S. 2nd Ave.
Everett, WA 98203
(425) 923-3635
http://www.lowellartworks.com

RAISING FUNDS FOR JAPAN

2011-03-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to raise more funds for beautiful Japan, I am offering a COPY/PRINT of any of the photos I took in Japan (images below) to anyone who DONATES $10 or more to any of the reputable CHARITIES listed here:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1221
Please email me privately with a receipt for your donation, and your chosen photograph.

Thanks!

Amazing Art Unleashed at the Emerald City Comicon!

2011-03-06T01:51:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to discover the following absolutely incredible artists at the Comicon this weekend:

http://camilla.bigcartel.com/

http://www.yuki-7.com/

http://www.steamcrow.com/

Art Doll Round Robin!

2011-03-06T01:46:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to have been invited to participate in another Art Doll Round Robin. We are "The Wandering Dolls".

Its been years since I did one of these. I'm nervous because I'm not very skilled with fabric, but I'm also excited at the prospect of such a challenge. And besides, not every doll will be fabric... mine isn't thus far. Right now, she's a plaster-wrapped headless barbie... :)

I'll post pics when it gets nearer the mailing date.

New Art!

2011-02-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

My muse returned after a long absence! I decided to follow up on a piece I did last year, and modify the technique.

Here's the original inspiration piece that I did in 2010- naturally, the subject is Joan Crawford (one of my favorite subjects!)

Its a rough piece, unfinished. In hindsight, I wish I would not have cut the image into sections but ce la vie. Its a really large piece- poster-sized- so at the time I thought it was necessary.

After looking at this again this past weekend, I decided to try my hand at making similar smaller pieces- 8x10 in size- of other classic hollywood actresses.

I played with the backgrounds a bit more- using watered down oil pastels (portfolio), paint pens (sharpie), charcoal and pencils, stamp inks (staz on, colorbox chalk), acrylic paint (golden, folk art). I used stencils and stamps periodically.

Here are the results:

Carole Lombard

Gene Tierney

Jean Harlow

Audrey

Donna Elizabeth

OWOH Giveaway WINNER!!!!

2011-02-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you that posted comments on my blog- I am tickled pink and honored to be the recipient of such sweet words!

I was especially honored to have a bunch of fellow cemetary buffs commenting on my cemetary angel- thank you!!

OK, without further ado, I have used Random.Org to help me choose the winner and the winner of my cemetary photo is:

"MOI" Freubel from the Netherlands!!!!! http://freubel-art.blogspot.com/

CONGRATS!!!!! I will send the print out asap and will be emailing you privately to get your address.

Thank you everyone for playing and a huge thank you to Lisa for hosting this awesome event! I am so sad that this year is the last year.

-Rita

One World One Heart Blog Giveaway

2011-02-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to be participating again in the One World One Heart Event! This wonderful event gives bloggers all over the world a chance to get to know each other, to meet and greet via the web.

My name is Rita Bellanca aka the Atomic War Bride. I love to dabble in all types of art media- from jewelry to painting to digital art to sculpture to photography and anything in-between. I'm especially drawn to images/ideas from the 1940s thru the 1960s- everything from old etiquette books to fashion catalogs to educational films, but I also have a darker more gothic side- I love to wander around cemetaries with my camera.

Hence my offering for the OWOH giveaway this year is one of my favorite cemetary photos: "Decay".
I took this photo in a lovely small cemetary on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

Please leave a comment on this blog in order to be entered into the giveaway. I will need a way to contact you so please be sure to include your email address or a link that leads to your email address.

The winner will receive an 8x10 print of this photo. I will pick the winner in the evening of Feb 17th and will notify said person by the 18th if not sooner.

Thank you for looking!!
Rita

I love the Sea!

2011-02-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about mermaids today, and how when I was a kid I was convinced that one of my vaccination scars was actually a "secret mark from Atlantis". I was a Princess of Atlantis. And of course, since Atlantis had sunk beneath the waves, it followed that I was a mermaid. :)

This made me want to look back to see what sorts of sea-related tidbits I have created. Most of these are many years old, but fun to revisit nonetheless.

Here's a doodle I did of a mermaid and below that, the subsequent digital art piece I created from it!

Below are a couple of "undersea" pieces I did featuring my own poetry.

Naturally, I love Bathing Beauties too! Here are a couple of pages I did for a chunky- I made specific pages for each player.

Here are a few Pirate pieces:

The cover of a Mermaid-themed journal I created for a Round-Robin exchange:

There's a fish trapped under this net:

I made both of these pages for someone's else RR journal.

The theme for this ATC exchange was "Fish out of Water".

Just playing around:

The digital piece below is one of several of mine that made it into the ATC book put out by Stampington!

Below is an ATC I made for Bernie Berlin's card deck (ages ago):

Aquanetta the Saint

ZOMBIE!

2011-02-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite pictures of Zombie so far!!

This photo was taken by A Paw Up Shelter- the shelter that rescued Zombie (then called Sage) and his mom Willow and his gorgeous siblings.

My boy snoozing... love his whiskers

Living up to his name and chewing on a "hand"

This is one of the earliest pics I took of him... so much cuteness- fell asleep in my lap.

So Scary!

Zombie's first snow!

Look at that belly!

He LOVES to climb into boxes or laundry baskets. And he loves to put his toys in boxes. Now I just need to reinforce that so he'll pick up after himself!

Graduating from his first puppy class!

Artfest!

2011-01-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about the lineup at Artfest this year!

I am taking Melissa Manley's Freaki Tiki class

Patricia Seggebruch's Encaustic and Plaster class

and tho' I was signed up for Philip Hitchcock's Lifecasting class, alas he cancelled. So now I will be taking a class from the incredibly talented Jesse Reno (no pics on the artfest website yet).

Speaking of Reno, he has an art exhibit coming up here in Seattle in Feb! Alas, I will probably not be able to make it on opening night.

Reminiscing

2011-01-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

I was reminiscing recently on some of my favorite journal spreads that I did years ago for various Round Robin journals. Seems like very few folks nowadays want to do Round Robins- high postal costs, flaky players and books-gone-missing have scared away even the most hearty of players.

But I have so enjoyed the ones I've done that I think I might start one up again, if I can conjure up enough interest in some of the art groups I'm in. :)

STOP THE COMCAST NBC MERGER!

2011-01-12T11:40:00.001-08:00

http://www.alfranken.com/index.php/splash/netneutrality

I don't usually use my blog to soap-box, but this really burns my britches!

New Zazzle products!

2011-01-10T22:33:00.001-08:00

Check it out!

http://www.zazzle.com/discodog01

My Etsy Shop!

2011-01-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

I updated my Etsy Shop- check it out!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtomicWarBride

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge- 2010!

2010-12-27T00:45:00.000-08:00

I was tickled pink to be able to participate in this year's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I had so much fun last year I knew I had to try again this year. It was a bit challenging this year for personal and health reasons, but I pulled it off. :) And the icing on the cake was that my friend Mish also participated.

Here are my 30 pieces:

First up, some of my Spray Paint/Stencil pieces. As you can see, I'm a bit of a Science Geek.

Above is SOLD

I'm particularly in love with this one- its hard to see the depth of it in this scan, but I love it. Its faded and raw and was actually an accidental mess until I somehow managed to salvage it. It just looks like something you'd see on an old rusty barrel or something.

Naturally, I had to do a few of Joan!

Next Up: a stencil I designed from a picture of a young Pam Grier...

Believe it or not, this is a stencil of David Carradine- from the Kung Fu LP cover.

A couple more GumShoe pieces- all based on a great pic of Sterling Hayden that I made into a stencil!

My love of Devil Imagery Continues!

I am quite proud of this stencil, but I should have created it on stencil paper- it's on flimsy transparency paper and is starting to tear. Alas, I'll have to redo it at some point!

Above is SOLD

This one was another "accident"- I kept messing up the background, painting over it, and then suddenly realized that it looked a bit "galactic". Its hard to tell from this scan but it has a pretty good depth and shine to it.

Above is SOLD

The next pieces are all based on some "Blind Contour" drawings that I did. (Draw something from memory or look at a picture for inspiration but do not look at the paper you're drawing on. Don't lift your pen/pencil off the paper until you're finished.) For these pieces, I went back in later and added a couple details and color.

Devils and Zombies, Oh My!

My Odes to Meat! (Inspired by Mish). These pieces were done the same way I did my pop culture girls last year! Painting using photographic inspiration.

And my favorite pieces this year- these are based on some Atomic ATCs I created digitally a few years back. I thought they might make fun subjects to paint and sure enough, they did!

Above is SOLD

Just for fun, here are the original digital pieces I created that I used for inspiration:

The New Man in My Life

2010-10-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

His name is Zombie and I'm in love. :)

I'm in the Dead of the Day art show!!

2010-10-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

I'm in another Art Show!!! WOOHOO!! I entered one piece and the curator loved it so much he asked me to submit 5 additional pieces!! Photography this time. I'm so excited.

Here's the nitty gritty:

Lowell Art Works presents:

“Dead of the Day"

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 16th, 4-9 PM
How do you envision death? What does death look like or mean to you? What, to you, represents death—a figure, an animal, an object? Is death a new beginning or an end? Is death your friend or your enemy?

These are the questions artists will explore in LAW's October show, "Dead of the Day".

Everett Art Walk's last stop: We're open 2 hours later than downtown venues, so take the Art Walk and end up here!

Show Dates: October 16th - November 12th, 2010

For more info, contact

Brian Seldt, Event Curator

brianseldt@yahoo.com

Lowell Art Works

5205 S. 2nd Ave.

Everett, WA 98203

(425) 923-3635

http://www.lowellartworks.com/

Here's a sneak peak at two of the photos I have in the exhibit:

I'm in the Lowell Art Works Portrait Show!

2010-09-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

One of my newest spray paint portraits was accepted into the show!

Check out the AD below:

Join us at Lowell Art Works this Saturday!

“A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.”

Peruse a vista of visages in this unique show, where the art will watch you as well!

The Portrait Show

Opening Reception

Saturday, September 18th

4-9 PM

During the Everett Art Walk

Lowell Art Works

5205 South 2nd Ave

Everett WA 98203

RICK SPRINGFIELD 2010!!

2010-08-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Mish and I went to see Rick Springfield again on Saturday... he put on another great show. I cannot believe that man is 61 years old as of today!!! He looks so good. :) I suspect he may be Dorian Gray....

Here are some pics I took that night...

See my facebook page for a few more pics!

Another Artsy Flashback

2010-08-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Some of my previous Digital Art pieces....some of these were my very first attempts at creating art of ANY kind since childhood...

Cool and Funky Books for Sale

2010-08-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

I have some cool vintage/retro books for sale. Prices listed DO NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING. I will give you a shipping estimate after you tell me which books you prefer. I will combine shipping. Email me with questions or if you want to purchase a book! discodog01@hotmail.com. I will consider best offers. :)

More may be added in the next week or two so stay tuned!

BOOKS:

Meet David Cassidy paperback by James Hudson: "You've seen him, you've heard him, now meet him...right here in this book! You'll find answers to all of those questions you'd ask him yourself... and more, in this person-to-person interview with that rocketing rock star David Cassidy..." 79 pages, some b&w photos. Some writing on the title page, but otherwise in good shape. $5

The Shaun Cassidy Scrapbook (an illustrated biography) paperback by Connie Berman. This oversized (magazine-sized) paperback is chock full of red hot photos of Shaun Cassidy and is 93 pages long. If you still harbor that teenage crush on Shaun, this book is for you! $10

Manners to Grown On by Tina Lee- This is an awesome black/red/white hardback that tries to teach manners to children. Tons of great illustrations by Manning Lee! Great book! 93 pages long. $12

Bomb of 1950- a HUGE original yearbook from Iowa State College in 1950. Wow, this one is a gem! Tons of pictures and 440 pages long! $25

Power Station tour book from 1985... has a little wear and tear (wrinkles) but is in decent shape. Nice photos (the John Taylor pic is especially dreamy). 12 pages. $5

SOLD The Freemasons by Jeremy Harwood- lots and lots (over 200) of awesome Freemason illustrations! This book attempts to unlock the mysteries of The Brotherhood.... 96 pages. $8

SOLD The Nihon of Western Reserve University - a yearbook from 1927.... This is such a beautiful yearbook full of awesome photos and beautiful black and white illustrations...400 pages! As you can see from the pic below, the spine is missing, but its a gorgeous book and is in pretty amazing shape for its age! $25

Guide Book For the Young Man About Town: The Way to More Popularity and Personality for Modern Young Men by Norton Hughes Jonathan. This little gem is from 1948, and has 239 pages. There are a few black and white illustrations. Topics include: Popularity is Easy, Women, Breaking the Ice, Muscle-Bound Romance, In a Strange Bed, or How to Become a Cockroach Hunter, The Daring Young Man, Dress Parade, Streamlined Manners, etc. Here's a snipping from the Cockroach Hunter chapter:
"In spite of all the wild things printed, screened, and gossiped abou tthem, most house parties are pretty standard affairs, producing a variable quota of misunderstandings, shattered hearts, romantic alliances, and cigarette burns in the furniture..... the best, or worst, thing about house parties is that often they enable you to see what the girl of your dreams looks like at eight o'clock in the morning- scarcely a bewitching hour. The reverse is also true. Your lady fair will see what you look like when, weazy-eyed and thick-mouthed, you come stumbling down for breakfast...." $15

Art Books for Sale!!

2010-08-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

I have the following Art Books for sale! They are all in excellent shape. I will combine shipping and ship via whatever method you prefer. If you order more than one book, it might be worth shipping via flat rate priority. Or I can ship via media mail. I will give you a shipping estimate once you let me know which books you are interested in. I accept paypal or cashiers check. If you have any questions, please email me at discodog01@hotmail.com

Books: $10 each or best offer, plus shipping

Mothers and Daughters at Home by Charlotte Lyons

Photo Craft by Leslie Linsley and Jon Aron (sorry no photo)

Art Doll Chronicles by Somerset Studio

Wild with a Glue Gun by Kitty Harmon and Christine Stickler

Complete Guide to Altered Imagery by Karen Michel

Altered Art by Terry Taylor

In This House by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn

Decoupage by Juliet Bawden

French-Inspired Jewelry by Kaari Meng

Beading with Charms by Katherine D Aimone

Metal Clay in a Day by Tammy Garner

Collage for the Soul by Holly Harrison and Paula Grasdal

30 Minute Rubber Stamp Workshop by Sandra McCall

Making Gifts with Rubber Stamps by Sandra McCall

Art Doll Adventures by Lisa Li Hertzi

Altered Books, Collaborative Journals by Holly Harrison

SOLD Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith

Paperbacks from Design Originals: $5 each or best offer, plus shipping

Artistry Stamp and Paper Arts

Junque Jewelry

Eyelets for Cards and More

Layered Cards for Every Occasion

Book Basics and Beyond

Shrink Art in Style

My Current Art Exhibits!!

2010-07-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

My work is currently being exhibited at the following galleries/art shows!

My Photography:

Renton Annual Art Show (Juried Fine Art Show at the Renton Community Center)

My Paintings:

Vital Elements, a wonderful gallery/art shop in Friday Harbor, WA.

So check them out if you get a chance!!

Goodbye to my beloved Disco dog

2010-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

With a hollowed heart I have to report that I had to put my most beloved Disco dog to sleep last week. I still can't believe she is gone. She meant more to me than I can describe. I'm trying to take solace in the fact that she lived a long (over 17 years!) and very happy life. Here are some of my favorite pictures of my baby girl:

I love you little dog. More than life itself.

My Steampunk Piece

2010-07-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

I made this piece using a styrofoam head as a base. I covered it in paper mache', and added various doodads by inserting them into the mache before it dried. It's been painted with black gesso and some great Daniel Smith duochrome acrylics.

I call this piece "Fitzwilliam, Esquire and Aquanaut"!

Fatbooks for Sale

2010-07-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've decided to offer these wonderful collaborative art fatbooks for sale! Please contact me via email: discodog01@hotmail.com if you are interested in a particular book and I will send you a price quote.

1)SOLD: Fairies A to Z is ~28 pages! This 4x4 book was hosted by Kathleen Matelsky.

front page by Kathleen Matelsky

Flower Fairy by Gwynn Thoma

Undergarment Fairy by Rita Bellanca

2) Alpha-Embellishments A-Z is 26 Pages long! This is a TALL chunky book- meaning the height is roughly 8 inches and the width is 4 inches. The book was hosted by Kathleen Matelsky (cover artist). The theme of this book was unusual embellishments- the artists who played used items like insect wings, junk mail, dirt, optical shower curtains, pop tops, x-ray film, etc, to create their pages. A very cool and unusual book!

Kathleen Matelsky

Insect Wings by Rita Bellanca

Netting by Ellen Gray

3) Black Magic Woman is 25 Pages! Hosted by Donna Cartagena.

cover art by Rita Bellanca

Evaly Jerome

Jonna

4) SOLD: Paper Doll Book is 22 Pages! Hosted by Donna Cartagena, this approx. 8x4 book features TALL pages and lots of moveable / removeable paper dolls to play with!

cover by Donna Cartagena

Kim Rae Nugent

Barb Glasier

5) Fly with Me is ~48 Pages! This book features all sorts of lush and lovely embellishments. If you like winged things, you'll love this one. It was hosted by Angela Jones.

cover art by Angela Jones

Tracie Lampe

Lisa Peterson

Lisa Crawford

6) SOLD: Games People Play is 21 Pages! Hosted by Llynn Huntley.

Cover art by Llynn Huntley

Fast Eyes

Shari Day

7) My Chubby Book of Poetry is 16 Pages! This is wider book- pages appear to vary in size but most are roughly 4x7 or 5x7.

cover art (unsigned)

Debra Davis

Esther Rae Janney

8) Faces is ~19 Pages!

Cover art (unsigned)

Joan Lawrence

Cheryl Bartolone

9) SOLD: Portals is a whopping ~60 Pages! Hosted by Bernie Berlin!

Deb Lewis

Lisa Peterson

Dezra Despain

10) Wish Upon a Star is ~34 Pages!

cover art (unsigned)

Jennifer Rasmusson

11) Tarot is 36 Pages! Hosted by Tracie Lampe.

Bernie Berlin

Opie and Linda O'Brien

Evaly Jerome

12) SOLD! How To Book is ~11 Pages!

Painted Paper Bags page by Rita Bellanca

Paper Napkin Backgrounds page by Barbara "Gypsy" Thomas

13) Tree of Life is 36 Pages! Hosted by Julie O'Neill, this 4x4 book explores Life, Nature, Family.

Christy Hydeck

Judy Wise

Kelly Snelling

14) These Hands (group 1) is ~30 pages long. Hosted by Julie O'Neil.

Cover art by Julie O'Neil

Evaly Jerome

15) SOLD: These Hands (group 2) is 34 pages. Hosted by Julie O'Neil.

Chrissie Grace

Meg Fowler

Joni King

The Burrowers

2010-06-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

I was seriously blown away by this gem of a Western Horror film. I can't believe it didn't garner more attention when it was initially released. Do yourself a favor and watch it if you can!

Seattle International Film Festival

2010-06-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to attend quite a few SIFF films this year!

How Sex Sold Hollywood - a presentation by a local professor on sex and sexuality in film- I'd seen almost all of it before, being the hollywood-ophile that I am.

Ahead of Time- GREAT documentary about an incredible woman named Ruth Gruber- the youngest woman ever to receive a PhD. Highly recommended.

Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant Garde Cinema- Intriguing glimpse into the history of Avant Garde cinema. Definitely made me want to whip out a camera and play. (Also enjoyed the clip of a very young Robert Downey Jr acting in one of his father's films).

Wheedle's Groove- Nice little documentary on Seattle's 70's Funk scene. I love watching the "detective" story unfold on this one, and the music can't be beat.

RoboGeisha- Two huge thumbs up for this deliriously wonderful Japanese horror film. Once you see the trailer, you know what you're in for, and it's a joyous ride!

K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces- Not a bad little action adventure film, but I could have done without the poor little starving orphan cliches.

Rejoice and Shout- Documentary on the history of Gospel music... Excellent vintage clips- am now in love with some vintage gospel I had never heard before! Could have done w/o the 20 minutes of attempted Christian conversion at the beginning, however. Obviously I appreciate the religious origins of Gospel music and the power that faith played in its creation. However, you don't have to be a Christian to enjoy Gospel music and I think the filmmakers sold themselves short by implying that that's the only audience Gospel music could have.

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould- a Documentary on Glenn Gould that fails to illuminate its subject. Perhaps Glenn is just too much of a mystery. Or perhaps the assumption is that the audience is familiar enough with Gould's eccentricities and the zillion films made about him already, that there's no need to explain it further. Or perhaps this just isn't that great of a documentary.

Marwencol- EXCELLENT documentary about a man who was beaten so severely that he lost all his memory. He now creates incredible art using GI Joes and Barbies to help him deal with his tragic past.

Brownstones to Red Dirt- Documentary about children from the US and children from Africa touching each others' lives through a pen pal program. The kids are fascinating to listen to, but the film sells itself short by being a little too self-conscious in its attempts to garner sympathy (and likely an Oscar vote). And COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TURN THE SOUNDTRACK DOWN?! The music is so loud it is hard to hear the children speak. And they are worth listening to. It is not a perfect film, but the children left an impression.

Reykjavik-Rotterdam- A solid and engaging thriller from Iceland. This was a surprise gem for me...I really enjoyed the pacing and the tension. And a good solid group of actors! Thumbs up.

Secrets of the Tribe- A documentary that was incredibly difficult to watch. I have a degree in Anthropology, so naturally I would hope that all Cultural Anthropologists live up to the ideals of learning about but not interfering with whichever group of people they happen to be studying. It becomes clear in short order that this is not the case and perhaps can never be the case. There are no real good guys here. The direction of this film is incredibly skillful- you never anticipate what is going to happen next, and each step further into this story, is more unbelievable than the last. Sometimes truth is stranger and more horrifying than fiction.

Disco and Atomic War- A delightful documentary about how American Pop Culture managed to hasten the demise of the Soviet Union via a pirated Finnish TV signal. Again, I point out that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction!!

Garbo: The Spy- Hands down, my favorite film of the festival! This is a quirky documentary about a Spanish man who becomes a double agent for the British in a most unconventional way. I really don't want to give away any of the incredible plot twists, but this film is absolutely mind-bogglingly wonderful! I can't recommend it highly enough!

Double Take- I was disappointed in this little experimental film featuring Alfred Hitchcock and a running commentary about the Cold War. I enjoyed the actual Cold War documentary footage that was tossed in and found myself impatient to get back to that whenever the director would meander afield and focus on the fictional side story. Blah. Probably my least favorite SIFF experience this year.

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields- If you like Stephin Merritt and/or the Magnetic Fields, you'll enjoy this film. If you know nothing about Stephin Merritt or the Magnetic Fields you may come away with an appreciation of the music, but you will not have learned much about the subject(s). Alas.

Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields performs 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- I had a great time at this event- enjoyed seeing the 1916 version of this film (impressive underwater footage for the time!), and I enjoyed Merritt's delirious musical score. Unfortunately, the layout of the theatre made it difficult to hear his voice a great deal of the time.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within- An "OK" documentary about Burroughs. I didn't feel that I had learned much more than I already knew. If you like Burroughs tho', you'll probably find something to like in this film. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't brilliant.

Miss Nobody- a quirky black comedy that was fairly enjoyable. I liked the lead actress, and some of the dialogue was fresh and crisp. And who can resist Adam Goldberg as the Knight in Shining Armor?

The Wildest Dream - in IMAX- I was disappointed in the quality of this film- the picture was often grainy and blurry, and I'm not talking about the vintage footage here- I'm talking about the footage of Mt. Everest! But I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary tidbits in this film, and came away quite intrigued by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. I would have liked to have heard more about Conrad Anker's discovery of Mallory's body, however... what an unlikely feat that was!

Grease Sing-along- Mish and I had a great time at this one- the whole audience did. And Dinah Manoff was in attendance. She delighted the audience with behind-the-scenes commentary.

Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives- Mish and I were approached by protesters while waiting in line for this one. Apparently the concern is that all Transgender people will be viewed as knife-wielding maniacs. But this film was made by people in the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender community and tho' it was too brutal for my tastes, the director (who was in attendance) said he was trying to point out that violence (towards anyone) is not the answer. Again, I found this film too brutal for me, but I thought he did a pretty good job of empowering the Transgender stars in this film, not belittling them. Therefore, I am a bit puzzled by the protests.

Necklaces!

2010-04-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

I've become obsessed with making necklaces lately (thanks Julie!). Here are some of my creations:

You can buy some of these at my ETSY shop!! So check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtomicWarBride

More Stencil Art!

2010-04-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was playing around with my own stencils (and a few store-bought stencils), some spray paint, and some blank greeting cards and envelopes, and here are the results. I spent only a few minutes on each (not counting some drying time). I was trying to see how quickly I could make somthing interesting out of these blank cards/envelopes while still learning about how to achieve a layered look with stencils and spray paint. I think I can safely say this is addictive!!

Artfest 2010

2010-04-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Had a blast at Artfest again this year!! I actually drove Mish and I to and from, so that was exciting! (After getting my first driver's license on March 17th, 2010!!)

My first class was a PMC class with Catherine Witherell.... I think I'm now addicted to PMC!! Catherine taught us how to make rings and hollow beads, but the designs were completely up to our own imagination.

I was quite delighted with my hollow heart pendant! Catherine helped me bevel the back of it so I could put it back together at an angle, leaving a gap in the front. Drilling the holes was a bit tricky because it was thin in some areas, so I had to reinforce it carefully. I am quite proud of it! I still need to finalize the "wiring" on it tho'.

And this was probably my favorite piece... I made a square hollow bead that I cut in half and made into a cage/ basket.

I then textured the ring itself with a cobblestone pattern and added some patina (liver of sulphur). I really love how this turned out... reminds me of the Tower of London and photos I took of gates and cobblestone roads.

The sad part about this "cage" ring is that a coworker of mine broke it during show and tell at work! He was trying to help straighten it out and accidentally broke it! Which showed that the ring was not fired long enough (through no fault of my own). He is a jeweler so he said he'll help me try to fix it. I hope so because I love this piece!!

For the ring above, I just added some dot indentations. I made this ring thicker and wider and just left is as a band. I didn't patina this one- just put it through the tumbler.

This bead was my "mistake" bead- I just kept adding broken bits to it and accidentally smooshed it several times. In the end, I kinda liked it.

This was just a funky hollow bead that I experimented with geometric patterns on.

The other half of my square hollow bead- turned it into a basket as well and thought I'd try a gem in the middle. After firing, I didn't like the look of the gem- looks like a fake piece just glued to the bottom instead of an integral part of the piece.

My second class was a portrait drawing class with Misty Mawn.

We drew blind contour portraits:

The one below is called "Agy Fish" based on its uncanny resemblance to a coworker of mine. LOL!

We also drew portraits based on the standard oval shape w/ lines thru it to help you figure out the correct placement of facial features...

The girl above is my favorite of the ones I drew. None of these were based on any particular face- just me experimenting with facial features.

And we drew portraits on top of magazine pictures (painting over the pictures until the portrait that remains is more "you" than "magazine"):

The piece above was based on Kate Moss but ended up looking more like Mish, so I'm calling it "Mish Moss". LOL.

I enjoyed this class as well since it gave me yet more ideas on how to approach drawing. For someone who spent most of her life convinced she couldn't draw, these types of classes really help demystify the experience and make it more manageable! :)

Here's Mish and some of her awesome pieces!

My third class was from Lynne Perella. We spent most of the class doing anything and everything except working on our projects but I did manage to create something I'm proud of in 3 hours. It's not quite finished yet but I like it. It's basically a painted, layered background with collage on top.

The blue strips are pieces of movie film painted blue. I plan to add some sort of text to them- to perhaps simulate a movie poster...

Naturally I chose Joan as my muse! :) I actually had several others I was debating using, but ended up liking how I "colored" (using cheap oil pastels) Joan the best. Fate I guess!

I was soon to find out that subconsciously, I had chosen Enchy as my muse too! Here she is posing with my piece!

Time to Insert a Random Photo of Mish:

Camp Runamuckus was fun, as usual. We had some new campers this year. and we got really silly. Case in point: Mish had the first two classes with me, and then on Day 3 she had Michael DeMeng. Lucky girl received Michael's "baby" as inspiration! The rest of camp had fun w/ that!

Not to mention the fun to be had with the Stockade:

Baby Miguel

Mish

Tammy

Denise

Melissa

Pam

Michele

And to get this silly we didn't even need alcohol. :)

We also celebrated Mandy's soon-to-arrive baby:

Ah, motherhood!

And then Mish and I met up with our Badbaby sisters as well for several photo shoots!

All in all, a great time. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Spoonflower!!

2010-03-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.spoonflower.com/market_browse?hot=true&page=5

You'll have to excuse me but Oh, I'm so excited! My Lenore fabric is listed as one of the "What's Hot" fabrics on Spoonflower! Woohoo!!

AND someone bought some of my monster fabric. :) Yippee!!!

My Tribute to Joan Crawford

2010-02-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

I've posted these before as part of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, but I wanted to point the ones for which I used Joan Crawford as my muse! You may not be able to tell because I'm just learning to draw faces, but these were all inspired by photographs of Joan. The quotes, however, were not- they are retro tidbits of advice on beauty/etiquette/health!

A few years ago, I made a music box ala Joan (during an artfest class- the rest of the class created ballerinas- I was inspired by Joan instead!)

I did another piece with Joan as my muse- you can see pics of it in my previous blog:

http://atomicwarbride.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-finish-this-piece.html

Noir City Seattle

2010-02-28T17:28:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to attend several screenings of Seattle's Noir City film festival.

My husband wrote about a few of them in his review:

But here's my brief take on the lot of them:

Pitfall with Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, and Raymond Burr:
Suffice to say Burr is once again mesmerizing as a sleazy b*tard.

Larceny with Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, John Payne. Shelley Winters
absolutely steals the show as a saucy dame dating Duryea while seducing Payne.
She delivers one delicious line after another. I am paraphrasing here because I
couldn't take notes but two of my favorite lines: "If she's your little sister,
I'm a boa constrictor in heels" and "I've got 4 or 5 bullets left- I don't
remember- I'm out of practice- it's been so long since I killed my mother"
Ican't say enough about what a great ride this film was.

Cry Danger- Another Dick Powell film, this time with Rhonda Fleming, William
Conrad. Another decent noir, but I have to confess that I would have preferred
to see Burr play Conrad's role... I think he would have added that extra Zing to
the part.

The Mob with Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand, and a wee bit
of Charles Bronson. This was my absolute favorite film of the festival.
Crawford was amazing- so convincing that I forgot I was watching a film and
thought I was a fly on the wall. Loved loved loved it.

He Ran All the Way- John Garfield, Shelley Winters. Shelley has a more
thankless role in this one (vs. Larceny) but she does a great job of pulling
your heart strings. Garfield is, as usual, great at doing a slow (or maybe not
so slow in this case) burn.
Supposedly none of these films have made it to dvd. I sure wish they had! I so
need to own Larceny and The Mob!

The Paparazzi Strikes Again- More Photos of Disco Dog

2010-02-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ever the popular photography subject, Disco dog was once again captured by the paparazzi (well, OK, me...)

Here she is lying in my arms (as she is wont to do), looking as adorable as ever.

Another Awesome OWOH prize!

2010-02-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

I won another awesome OWOH prize- this time from Jenny Fowler at http://www.fatedfollies.com/ and http://www.fatedfollies.blogspot.com/ !!!! WOOHOO!! Check out the lovely little bag of goodies I received in the mail today!!

Thank you Jenny!!

OWOH GORGEOUS GIVEAWAY!!

2010-02-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to win a GORGEOUS gorgeous necklace from Jeanne Litt (http://jbvadeboncoeur.info/) for the One World One Heart Blogger's event!! WOOHOO!!!

Look at how beautiful this fiber necklace is!!

My Art as Fabric!

2010-02-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

I opened a Spoonflower shop with some of my fabric designs! Some of them are pictured below. Check it out!!!!

OWOH Giveaway Winners!!!

2010-02-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

I just used random.org to choose the winners of my two OWOH giveaway items and the winners are:

Tina from Red Opal Art who won the ISIS tile

and Heidi from My Hiding Place in Cyberspace who won the Daily Spanking collage!

Congratulations Ladies! Thank you so much for entering my giveaway.

A huge thank you to everyone who visited my blog and left comments- what a treat it was to read these every day. Thank you so much!!!!

One World One Heart Giveaway!!

2010-02-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

I am participating again this year in the lovely One World One Heart giveaway. The purpose of this event is to unite bloggers around the world- to visit new blogs and meet new people and as a bonus, to maybe win some art or other cool prizes!!

This year I am offering up one of my original hand-painted monster tiles! This tile is 4x4 in size and features a portrait of the monster ISIS. Isis is an Astronomer and is always on the look out for other forms of life. Her favorite band is Steppenwolf (Magic Carpet Ride!)

To win this tile, please just leave a comment on my blog. My comments are moderated right now, so don't panic if yours doesn't show up right away. I will get to them and will post them asap! Please include your email address so I can contact you if you win! I'll do a random drawing using random.org to pick the winner on Feb 15th, 2010. So Stay Tuned!

Thank you for looking and please don't forget to check out the original One World One Heart Blog!

Update 2/10/10: WOW! What a great response so far! Thank you! I want to thank each and every one of you for your sweet comments. It has been such a thrill reading all of them!

I've decided to add a 2nd giveaway item! This time it's an 8x10 collage on canvas board- using acrylic paint and various papers. This is part of my etiquette series of pop art paintings. This naughty one is called Daily Spanking.

So please leave a comment below and on Feb 15th, I'll announce the 2 winners!

Just opened my Etsy Shop!!

2010-02-01T19:56:00.001-08:00

Check it out!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtomicWarBride

I don't have a lot in there yet, but stay tuned for more! :)

Rings

2010-01-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

Trying my hand at making some rings, based on some of my canvases.

Based on these:

Stencil Art

2010-01-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun experimenting (for the first time) with making my own stencils using acetate and an exacto knife (for lack of better supplies). Tho' not perfect, they are a lot of fun. And seriously, can you ever have enough spray paint? :)

First up: A Portrait of Pam Grier...

Next, David Carradine:

Joan Crawford! I need to fix her eyebrow. I accidentally cut out her R eye but it looks purposeful because of the shadow effect. :)

Trying out some doilies and other stencils:

Playing with Devil Imagery:

More of Joan!

Sterling Hayden (tho' this really just looks like any old Gumshoe):

Some Hard-Boiled Pride and Prejudice

2010-01-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Bob sent me the Boing Boing link to one of their latest lit contests.

Inspired, I just did my own 5 minute attempt at a literary mashup, focusing on the first page or two of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

******************************

Some Hard-Boiled Pride and Prejudice:

Truth is, dames assume that any guy with a little bit of dough on his hands wants to be shackled.

"Mr B" mewed Mrs. B "d'ya hear that the Netherfield dump was rented?"

Mr B hadn't heard.

"It is" Mrs. B droned on. "Mrs. L told me."

Mr. B didn't bother replying.

"Don't ya want to know who's rentin' it?" cried Mrs. B

"So tell me already"

"Well, Mrs. L says that a lug dressed in glad rags is rentin' it. He must have some sawbucks cos he rode up with a slew of bangtails, just a righteous as you please. She says he's even got a bunch of hatchetmen with him to take care of the place."

"What's this mug's moniker?"

"Bingley, if you can believe it"

"Ring through his nose?"

"Nope- Mrs. L said he's free as a bird, no dishes in sight. Imagine that! A man with at least 4 or 5 grand and no ties!" Mrs. B giggled "What luck for our girls!"

"What's this have to do with our girls?"

"Why Mr. B- it's obvious- he's gonna get hitched to one of 'em!"

"Is that his plan then?"

"Oh Mr. B! He's gotta get dizzy over one of our girls, he's just gotta! You just go on over and check him out first, get to know him."

"I ain't gonna go over there. You and the girls go on over and flirt all you like. Maybe he'll take one of you off my hands... maybe even you! You'e still a hot little number- maybe he'll like you best."

"Mr B! You are a naughty boy" sighed Mrs. B happily. "I know I still got it. But this is about the girls! I don't want some lovesick puppy for myself- I can barely handle you , you brute!" She batted at him playfully.

"Now please go see this Bingley fellow, would ya?"

*****************************************************************

LOL! This one would be fun to spend more time on one of these days...

Mini Monsters

2010-01-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of 4x4 monsters finished! You can see from the first photo that all the canvases have different designs on the sides to add a little flair. :)

Here are a few close-ups:

There are a few repeats of some of my more popular monsters.

All of them have names and little bios associated with them. LOL.

Hey, I'm featured on a couple of other blogs!

2009-12-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.squidoo.com/the_best_of_zazzle_week_51_2009

http://www.antiqueimages.ch/2009/11/bjornmonster/

Both of these lovely women surprised me by posting links to some of my zazzle stuff on their blogs! What a great surprise! They discovered me thru the Zazzle "Today's Best" pics. What fun!!

WOOHOO! Today's Best Awards on Zazzle.com

2009-12-16T22:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm on a roll! Twice in the last few days I've been picked as one of "Today's Best" designs on Zazzle.com and ended up on their home page both times. This actually generated a lot of nice comments and new fan club members so it definitely brought others to my zazzle page! I don't know how they pick "Today's Best" and they don't really announce it to you in person, you just end up there! I found out only because I noticed all these "congrats" messages on my store page! LOL! Anyway, what a fun surprise!!!
Here are my winning entries:

Xavier

Bjorn

Update 12/15/09- Woohoo! Another Today's Best! This time for Mathilda! Someone on Zazzle sure likes my monsters!!

The Art Exhibit was so much fun!

2009-12-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

I actually ended up selling several paintings, which is a huge thrill since this is my first time ever doing something like this!
Some of the ones that sold were, of course, my favorites:

What a great experience! I'm still giddy. :)

My Husband's Photography

2009-12-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

The Sunbreak features a little blurb about my husband Tony Kay's photography and speaking of blurbs, his Blurb book. Check it out!

Bizarro Movie Night!!

2009-12-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

Tony is hosting a "Bizarro Movie Night" at a local cafe. It promises to be tons of fun!!

Your Life Will Never Be the Same After You See this Film!!!

2009-11-30T21:13:00.000-08:00

Tony and I saw HAUSU (House) this weekend and I swear, my life will never be the same... everything from now on will be noted as "BEFORE HOUSE" and "AFTER HOUSE" in my existence. LOL!!!

I can't adequately describe this gem other than to say it is a delirious mishmash of horror and fantasy with incredible musical numbers tossed in for added spice. You should just check out the trailer here.

If you are in Seattle, you can still see this gem for the next couple of nights at the endearing Central Cinema....

Otherwise, check the Janus website for showings near you!

New "Lessons in Womanhood" 2010 Calendar!

2009-11-29T22:49:00.000-08:00

Check out my Calendar on Zazzle!

Details on the Art Show I'm In!!

2009-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Details on the Art Show I'm In!!!

Forgotten Works Studio 30 Artists 30 Days 30 Paintings Event:

Big opening show = Thursday December 3rd 5pm to 9pm

Open Sale day = Saturday December 5th noon to 5pm
Forgotten Works Studio is located at:

the Tashiro Kaplan Building

115 Prefontaine place Seattle WA.

Woohoo!