Johnson & Wales Family Weekend

Family picture at Gian's favorite sports establishment.

Monsters everywhere!

Artful Fashion

OUTSTANDING graphic artwork

These lovely ladies asked me to join them for cake.

The grand dame on the left heard it was my birthday and offered me her hat.

Although the events planned at Johnson & Wales were rained out, Gian managed to show us some of his favorite spots in Providence.
Gian is doing well, his grades are promising and he even said he was glad to see us!

It is such a joy watching my children grow up.

Alex, My Student, Becomes the Teacher

Graffiti apparel

Last week I mentioned to my new students how much I like graffiti. Immediately all eyes were on me and a lively conversation began.
Where was the best graffiti in the city I asked? Everyone started to tell me their favorite spots. Alex shuck his head, "no man its on Clinton Ave." "Miss can I show you pictures on my cell phone?" My mouth dropped to the floor when I saw his pictures. "Alex you have to take me there."

Yesterday Alex and I drove to Clinton Ave in Rochester, NY.

This was Alex's neighborhood, these were his home boys. He told me stories about growing up on Clinton Ave, and with much pride pointed out what made certain pieces better than others. He mentioned one group of street artists know as FUA Krew quite often. They were the best.

As I was preparing to write this post I looked up FUA Krew. They happen to be upstate New York's oldest and most well-know street artist group.

They have a web site http://fua-krew.org/ and are featured in Beyond Gotham a new documentary about hip hop culture in Upstate NY.

What an amazing adventure! Alex your the best! Thank you for sharing a part of your life with me. I'm truly honored.

The Long, Tall & Skinny Journal

My book measures 11 3/8 x 4 3/4"

forty six pages of collage

Page one, notice the type in the top left corner.
(I like old things)



I'm being very brave and sharing my second attempt at bookmaking with you.
If you look closely you will notice that my pages stuck together. :(
I spent all Saturday making my collages . Forty six pages of delight...
Yesterday they were crunchy but seemed dried so I bound them together with mat medium and clamped everything together.
This morning I ran down to my studio to check out the book. I almost started to cry... all the pages had stuck together. I gently tired to pull them apart, but as you can see there are torn pieces.
Just when the tears were about to flow, I noticed the copy on the first page. "I like old things." Do you think this was a sign from the universe? The pages do look old.
If your wondering what I used to glue my collage with, it was polymer medium. I think it was the polymer that caused the sticking and I forgot to put wax paper between the pages. You can be sure that will never happen again.

Book 1 : Plus Cuff

Week 1, Book 1, plus the extra bonus of a Cuff.

Last week was crazy! It was back to school meetings, and getting ready for students this week. My on-line bookmaking class began, and our son, Gian started his college journal out of state. (13 hour road trip).

Oh and our youngest son, Luciano celebrated a birthday.

I spent yesterday and today creating my first book. With everything going on the only thing I had time to purchase was the linen thread. Thank goodness I had all my recycle creations to use

for inspiration. I loved my book design so much I just had to create a cuff just like it.

Creative Journaling 101

How can anyone not love learning?

I've been having so much fun drawing in my recycled journal and just loving the look of the line drawings but felt the work was missing something.

Needing a little inspiration...
I decided to check out the latest periodicals at Barnes & Nobles. The answer to my question was right in front of me. The latest issue of Journaling by Somerset Studio. To make things even better I noticed an article written by Karen Cole, of Artsortments, yeah Karen!

Needless to say I purchased the magazine, read every article and decided it was time to take an on-line course on both Book Making and Creative Journaling.

I just can't help myself. I love to learn.

Favorite Pictures 1000 Island Trip

We discovered the most delightful vacation spot on our recent trip to the Thousand Islands.

It is called, Thousand Island Park and is located on Wellesley Island. It was settled in 1875 and still retains the charm of the Victorian era. I just loved it, everyone was very friendly and either walks or rides their bikes to get around. There was such a wonderful feeling of community that I didn't want to leave...

Needless to say the first thing I did when we got home was to check out rentals for a cottage next summer.

Hope you enjoy...

Recycle Crazy

I've gone Recycle Crazy!

This past week all I could think about was painting newspaper,and fusing together plastic bags.

I put together a couple of journals to try out on my next adventure.

Today my husband is leaving on a photo assignment to the Thousand Islands. He has invited my son, Luc and I along for some fun. He guarantees lots of water, boats and a helicopter.

I've packed both the camera and my new journals for recording the events.

See you soon....