Girlz Art Day and Wayz to Communicate

Utterly and completely fascinated these days with all modes of communication -- from works of art right down to tweets.  Inviting you to take a little blog stroll with me through yesterday's Girlz Art Day to explore these themes . . . .

This is what fabulous daughter Meryl began painting -- going to be a set of four of them, in the patterns on some her wonderful hand-painted converse, to hang in her home office.

Lesson #1:  we love to communicate through art.  What do you think she's saying with all of those happy circles?  

But before we girlz got down to communicating through art, Meryl and fabulous soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Christine did a bit of consulting about bridesmaid dresses for the upcoming wedding.  (That's right.  I'm going to be a mother-in-law.)

To those of us Of A Certain Age:  what is amazing about this?  Right.  This is not shopping together at the Bridesmaids-R-Us store.  Nope.  This is two busy young women looking at a laptop screen together where they pull up photos stored in the "bridesmaid dresses" file.  

Lesson #2:  you can communicate by looking together at the same screen.

And this is no-nonsense-and-yet-still-fabulous son Adam, who rode along for Girlz Art Day and brought his tax work to do upstairs while we played downstairs.

Lesson #3:  best way to communicate with 28-year-old son (and soon to be husband of Christine) is via text messaging.

Downstairs in the art room, we girlz worked on our projects while listening to excellent jams provided by Meryl, and in alternating bursts of talk and then sweet, concentrated silence.

And, after hours of this . . . I had to kick the girlz out so I could move on to other, cranky-making tasks which I needed to thrash out in solitude.   And I felt terrible about being such a timing-meanie.  

Lesson #4:  while it is super quick and easy and efficient -- and even silly and fun -- to communicate in our various on-line lanes, there just is no real substitute for being together.  For hanging out and eating chocolate and Brie, and drinking great coffee, and for working on art projects in the same space.  For going upstairs to say hi to the boy/man working on his taxes, who sneaks crackers to the dog who looks adoringly at him - the only other being on the planet who understands her love of food that completely.  

Lesson #5:  that said, my knee-jerk reluctance to engage in burgeoning forms of communication as they erupted was ill-founded.  What is wrong with finding the forms of communication that different people feel most comfortable with?  A text is what Adam likes.  An e-mail works great with my husband during work days.  New friends on Twitter use those 140-character spaces to come up with lots of humor and support.  And I never knew how much I would love to blog, until I tried it.  

Lesson #6:  More art.  More communication.  More ways of doing so.  The world needs you to put yourself out there, for all of us to hear and see.  Don't be afraid.  It rocks.

Fulfillment, Time, and 1979 Saturday

"Fulfillment."  Which used to only mean to me, "feeling satisfied and happy."  And now that I am in the business of selling my things, I know that it also means, "getting orders out to your customers."  (Which also makes me feel satisfied and happy.)  

But boy, it takes time.

Lots and lots of time.

In fact, one needs to import help . . . here, a husband.

And an ever-vigilant dog.

It is a wonderful "problem" to have.  Indeed, it is not a problem at all . . . but a fabulous new responsibility in time.

And time is quite the topic these days.

Holy cow.

What is going on?!?!?!

I'm getting the bends from the juxtaposition of my sticking the tiniest, baby-est of toes into the Twitter world for the first time, and sticking to my "1979 Saturday" guns of not using my cell phone or my computer all day and night on Saturday.  You go from one world -- where people are like day traders in information and communication, where if you log off between breakfast and coffee break, you have missed a continent-worth of  emphatically-written, 140-character bites -- to another world where, if you need to get directions, you roll down your car window and ask that nice-looking person walking his dog.  

Which is better?

I don't know.

But here is what I did in Saturday traffic last night, while driving from Beans' deliveries in San Francisco over to the East Bay to see friends . . . instead of getting on my cell phone to say, "There is traffic," or instead of texting or tweeting-while-driving (WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO!)  "I'm stuck in traffic," I grabbed my camera and photographed what was around me,   

And it was a beautiful thing.

I got to my destination in the East Bay 10 minutes late.  Without calling anyone to say I was running late, and when I'd likely arrive, and where were they, and when would they be there? The friend I was meeting for dinner was a little late, herself.  AND IT WAS FINE!!!  No one died.  Nothing bad happened.  Amazingly, we managed JUST LIKE WE DID IN THE OLD DAYS . . . of, say, 1979.  

Which is exactly when we graduated from high school, and that was exactly what we were there to celebrate all together, in a bar in Benicia.  

What an amazing night.  To see folks you had crushes on, or hated, or worked together with for long hours on the drama productions or newspapers or on sports teams with -- 32 years after you all graduated.  To see everyone pull out their smart phones to show pictures of their "kids," most of whom are all older now than we were when we knew each other best.  To hear everyone say they are on Facebook.  To see all the grey hair, the wrinkles, and more:  that we have officially become our parents -- those folks we railed against when we were all young and much more elastic-skinned than we are now.

But I would not trade one second of any of it.  I love that I know what "the old days" were like, walking home from school with my best friend Diana . . . 

. . . and that today we both have jobs that have taught us to tweet.  Which we do need our glasses to read.  But hey, they look good.

Guerilla Birdhouse Art in Woodacre

Please, oh please, someone tell us who is the guerilla artist behind these treats, and HOW CAN WE JOIN YOUR TRIBE!?!?!?

Seriously.  Look at this stuff.  It is AWESOME.  

A quick lesson for those new to the term "guerilla art."  It's where an artist leaves anonymous works of art in public places.  (For a wonderful, getting-to-be-classic book on how to spark this genius in your own life, check out Keri Smith's, The Guerilla Art Kit.)

That's what we've got going on here in Woodacre . . . on San Geronimo Valley Road.  Some wonderful person (or persons) has been placing a treasury of birdhouses on trees and telephone poles down a stretch of country road.  

Here's the first treat you'll see heading into town.

Yes!!!  Love the collection, the colors, the off-skew placement of them all together.

Keep driving down the road, and you'll see about 20 more of them, placed individually.  

From the traditional models.

On through more eclectic versions.

Loving the bright yellow.

This is just like Lincoln Logs! 

A multi-family dwelling.

And even an Airstream Trailer version for our bird friends.

Whoever you are who's doing this, please know how much you brighten my spirits every single time I drive home.  It has been a joy seeing each of the new installations.  Thanks for your whimsy, your work, your inspiration, and your example.  YOU ROCK!!!!  (And did you stick a bean up your nose when you were little, too?)

Brick & Mortar Friends: Papier

Welcome, welcome to Papier, at 834 Grant St. in Novato, California!

This is your quintessential fancy, wonderful card and stationery store.  Owner Jan has been in business for 10 years in this town, and loves and knows her clientele and what they are looking for.

Lovely design aesthetics, too . . . for example, these cute, cute products displayed on shelves built onto this sweet old door.  
Right down to ribbons for all of your wrapping needs.  Valentine's Day coming up!!!

And, of course, we cannot resist the displays of luxe paper, which make us want to run right out of the store and glue them onto new card prototypes . . . .

Thanks so much, Papier, for carrying Bean Up The Nose Art's cards!  We love your terrific style, your eclectic card selection, your lovely blend of gifts and stationery.  YOU ROCK!!!

Brick & Mortar Friends: Toby's Feed Barn

What a treat it is to say, "HOWDY!!!" to one of Bean Up The Nose Art's newest brick and mortar friends: Toby's Feed Barn, in Pt. Reyes Station, CA.

Toby's has been a personal favorite destination for decades. It is like the City Hall of tiny, funky, wonderful Pt. Reyes Station.

Take this virtual tour around its terrific environs, and you'll see why.

First . . . what artist would not want their paper arts on THIS FABULOUS BARN WALL!?!?

And don't you want to rock in front of a woodstove while you listen to cool music, peruse beautiful objects, and talk with your friends?

And buy gourmet munchies and local comestibles on which to snack? And take home with you for later?
But wait! There's more! Mosey on down to the back of the store, and you are treated to a full-on art gallery.

You have until January 30 to scope out Evvy Eisen's fabulous black & white documentary portrait photography exhibition about the Oyster Farm Project. Go for it!


And when you're done, wander on outside where you'll find animal feed, chicks in season, farm ware, and can sit in the sweet, thin California winter sun

and sip a latte from Toby's Coffee Bar that is definitely pretty as a picture.

Thanks to you, Toby's, for rocking on all of these years . . . for championing local artists and farmers . . . and for adding Bean Up The Nose Art's greeting cards to your wonderful collection of cool stuff.  YOU ROCK!!!

Come play! Luggage Tag class . . . .

on Saturday, February 26, at Cherish, a terrific paper arts store at 115 Clement Street in San Francisco.

We call this the "Never Fail, You Can't Mess Up," class . . . where you collage images and words in forms that end up extremely pleasing, in an extremely easy manner.  Here's a sample.  But yours will end up different, depending on the backgrounds, stamps, images, words (you get the picture) that you use that day.

Class runs from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.  Cost is $20 per person for all materials and fun.  Post info@shopcherish.com, or call them at (415) 379-7300 to register.  YAY!!!!

How-To: "Resist" Technique

I'm sure you appreciate the irony of teaching a "resist" technique by making a Valentine's Day card.  Now, let's get to it!  

By "resist," I'm talking about covering up a portion of your surface so that what you do over the top of it is "resisted" -- in other words, will be left blank.  Here, the white heart.

I'm starting with 140 lb. weight watercolor paper postcards.  (You can start with anything you like using.  Cardboard.  Newspaper.  Cardstock.  Anything you like using that you know will hold the the paint/ink that you'll be using on top.)  

For the resist material, we're using good old painters tape.  The kind of masking tape that covers, but that pulls up easily and without ripping what's below.

Rip yourself off a strip.

 Then begin covering the paper with it, in the shape that you want to remain clear of the paint/ink we'll be using on top.  Here, I'm building a heart.  (For Valentine's Day.  Get it?)  

And because I'm anti-perfection, I do not care that all my edges are rough.  Because the fun of art to me is seeing how things turn out, instead of trying to wrestle things into submission.  (Which I do enough of in my daily life.  Just ask my husband.)

Next, dip a brush into water and coat the watercolor paper.  (Because I like the runny, fluid way that the watercolor paint will work in this method.  But you could also use acrylic paints.  Or use the watercolor more drily, without getting the paper wet first.  Or, forego paints altogether and use rubber stamps and inks to stamp all over the card.  You get the picture:  there are many, many possibilities.)  

Next, I'm taking a brushful of crimson red.

And I paint it all across the card, over the resist tape.

 I decide to add some purple swirls to the mix.

And then, let it dry all the way.  Which doesn't take that long, really.

And THEN . . . the big reveal!  Pull off the painter's tape and see what it looks like beneath.

I love the way the paint has run into and underneath the seams where the pieces of tape overlapped.  And some folks would be very pleased to leave the project as is, here.

But I'm a dodader-upper.  I like to add more layers and images.  So I get out some stamps and inks.

And go to town.  Until this is my rosy, swirly piece.

And then, because I like words and pictures together (just like in this blog!), I use a waterproof pen to add words and more swirls of dots.  

Of course, there are many, many, many ways we could collage this into even more intricacy.  Nothing has even been glued to this piece yet!  (That is a first for me.) However, because this is a lesson about resistance . . . we will end here.  THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH US!!!

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POST US A COMMENT BY JANUARY 25!!!!  Folks responding to this blog post below, on Facebook or on Twitter by January 25 are entered to win this Valentine's postcard, plus one of all five new Bean Up The Nose Art Valentine's Day greeting cards.  Go for it!