art and oddities of tangerined

peek sneak!

2009-02-03T23:28:00.002-05:00

Here's the first batch after they cooled...

More to come! It's so cold in the basement that it took almost an hour for my toaster oven to get to temp (ack!). This is why I much prefer sculpeying in the warmer months...

I have something in the works...

2009-02-02T23:03:00.002-05:00

Something neewwww! Almost almost, well, not quite, but I spent the entirety of sunday smooshing sculpey into a palette of very autumn-y colors (reds and browns and yellow ochres and such) and trying to create a mass of beads for future projects. Last week we hit up the recycling center (which has apparently gotten extremely popular in the past few years) for unique bits (spools, thread and leather scraps).

It was actually over 40 degrees today. Happy Imbolic. :) I wore a floofy new black light wrap frock-type thing with thigh-high off-white and brown striped socks. Hurray spring! (almost spring) Time to break out the lighter clothes! Er, after the cold-snap this coming week.

Things are on hold until my cheap-o laptop arrives in the mail.

blood or beets?

2009-01-28T13:48:00.002-05:00

I was trying to cook a fantabulous dinner last night, using up as many leftovers as possible (although I still missed some mashed carrots!). The theme was beets. Beet casserole (which came out looking very bloody, a casserole in a pool of blood!), beet salad and beet/spaghetti/veggie stir fry (and mashed sweet potatoes, the whole thing was very colorful). While grating beets I accidentally nicked my thumb, and spent a little while trying to decipher blood from beets. (I didn't let any get in the food!)

For a vegetarian, having a faux-bloody meal was pretty exciting.

Home today due to snow (snoooow!). Registering domains, working on website, ordering a reeeally cheap laptop off of woot.com! It's nothing special, but it's affordable and light years beyond this computer from 2001, which runs at the sight of flash.

Oh and art. Always with the art.

Reasons to go to the mall..

2009-01-25T21:23:00.002-05:00

Most of us, at least in the US, have a mall somewhere relatively nearby. Today, my friends and I decided to go out to the Natick Mall (scratch that, Natick Collections, ooo) which is the most utterly riduculous, useless mall of overpriced designer crap in the area. (they even have condos in the complex, for those folks with too much money who enjoy the mall's comforts a bit too much to ever really leave)

Then again, they do have a lego store.

So we piled into my recently repaired volvo 240 (which, as I realized, is mentioned in "the jeep song", as it's a light blue volvo wagon. Hurray!) and went off.

On the way, we stopped at Toys R Us, (to look at their lego selection). I kinda started yelling a bit when one of the first things we saw was the endcap for "girls night in". PINK board games just for girls! What? Since when did Scrabble or Monopoly need to be FRICKING PINK? The folks coming up with these *brilliant* ideas must be seriously messed in the head. Almost as good as Careers; FOR GIRLS!

Aside from the non-gendered classic toys section (with some sweet blocks, remade vintage toys, a JACK IN THE BOX and those great detailed medieval toys), Toys R Us is a vast, gendered wasteland. Even the legos seem primarily gendered... and lack the awesomeness I remember them having. The girls section is PINK PINK AND MORE PINK. How have we not improved since I was a kid? How are we only slightly beyond this?

The mall was crazy and bland at the same time (go mall!). Although I admit, I'll go back when the American Girl store is up and running just for fun. We got some tea samples at teavana (yum!) and I apologized to the poor guy stocking cups for all of us being jerks. Mostly we just walked around and tried to understand what was going on... Pretty much all of my clothes are from thrift stores. It's a little more time-consuming, and you never know what you're going to find, but I honestly do pretty well. Why would people need all those hideously overpriced bolts of fabric? Why in the world would you shop in a nearly pitch-black environment? I admit that I'm an anti-consumerist who likes things, (art supplies, books, vintage clothes) but I don't understand the need for such a vast wasteland of (overpriced) useless crap. I probably never will. I'd much rather support indie artists and makers any day.

So, I'm still searching for actual reasons to go to a mall... because I always leave in a fit, disappointed with humanity. (Which actually, might be the best reason after all, because I leave with inspiration to improve and change)

In better, less ranty news; I'm starting Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain again. My drawing skills have really gone downhill in the past few years (and I've never been a great fan of proportion) so I'm starting again and will post the results here. Unless they really, horribly suck. Everyone *and* my mom has suggested this book, so I figure it's worth a shot! I'm going to try and draw every single day for the next few weeks, and see what happens.

Yesterday I found a wonderful beret, complete with POM POM and a gigantic spoon. Pictures to follow shortly!

Where I am...

2009-01-07T16:20:00.002-05:00

So, I suppose I'm officially on an etsy break. My shop is still there, but I'm not working towards adding any new items at the moment.

It's more than that actually. I'm on a mental etsy break. I realized after years of struggling to make enough money to eat (I'm ok now, thank you full time job) and fully diving into etsy, that I lost the very reasons I created in the first place. It's one thing to make something fun, something you know others may enjoy and create with that in mind. That's great if you're trying to run a business. Unfortunately, trying to run a business, however small AND sustain yourself from the perspective of an artist are two very difficult things when intertwined.

I love etsy, I love it, the people who run it, the community and the creativity so deeply. It's a wonderful thing. Unfortunately it's just so easy to lose the art aspect. I'm no longer creating from a central idea, or maturing as an artist. I need to concentrate on that fully and whole-heartedly, without even considering if someone will purchase my piece nor any aspect of selling it... at least, for now.

I have ideas, but they're scattered, so difficult to hold onto long enough to form, mold and comprehend. At the very least, I started painting again a few days ago... nothing special, but I painted for myself. I'm working on an art penpal letter to send to one of my favorite humans (and most amazing artist I know) and making myself sit and draw.

I want to be an artist first, and an etsyian second.

That said... here's what I've been up to...

I started a found fabric cuff the other day, needed to learn how to use my roommate's sewing machine (easy!).

I'm learning tatting. So far I can make a little chain of rings attached to each other via picots, but I haven't found a suitable beginner's pattern yet. I actually really love it, it's so similar to macreme in the patterns and hand motions. I'm hoping to incorporate the tatting into some pieces soon.

I really love feathers.

Drew two bees in two days. I'm still terrified of bees, but I respect them pretty hard too.

When I've figured this out, my etsy shop (maybe as tangerined, maybe not...) will be back up with new pieces.

For now, I'll try to keep updating this blog and posting pictures.

Thank you for reading. <3

Online/reallife

2008-12-13T22:18:00.004-05:00

[When Vonnegut tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope] Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, is we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.

I love this quote. I should really find some Vonnegurt books to read. It's kinda the same reason why I ENJOY doing even those most menial tasks sometimes. Grocery shopping at traderjoes is still fun. I don't care if I've been there 300+ times, you get to meet interesting people and maybe strike up a conversation or two. I even met the lovliest mom and daughter whilst thrifting about a month ago. (I always meet the most interesting people thrifting) Today there was a 3-4 year old boy who was running around with a horsie (ya know, the kind that's just the head on the stick?) and chasing his older brother. He exclaimed "dammit!" when he fell and frequently mumbled about how he'd never find his brother to me while walking past... Then there were the hoardes of thrifting newcomers, college students, the kind who prefer malls, looking for "ugly" clothes for their ugly sweater parties. They were at every single thrift store today, talking loudly about how horrible all the clothes were.

Malls were never this interesting and I have to agree, online shopping surely isn't. Let's all play around a little more and interact with the random people we meet.

It's amazing how similar laughing and crying can sound sometimes. Try to put yourself in a situation where you can easily hear both. I wish I could take a little of the laughter to ease the crying, but life isn't that simple.

Hiding and Secrets...

2008-11-18T22:07:00.003-05:00

Things are definitely changing around this time. I've been sad about not having the time to work on my etsy shop between organizing my room and working full time.

So, the obvious choice to to start a second etsy shop? right?

Well, maybe not, but that's what I'm doing. Tangerined will still exist, and become a home for the brighter, wonkier things I create (uteri + boob earrings will stay with tangerined). The new shop is poppetry. Don't even look for it yet, because it isn't up. It's contents will be a surprise, although I might drop a few hints along the way.

The new job is great. It could only be better if I could manage to work 32 hours a week instead of 40 (which, in actuality is 42.5). Continuing with the theme of information and media-related jobs, I'm now a digitizer for very, very old content. Essentially, I turn pages. ;) It's an amazing job, although a bit tedious at times. I'm allowed to work with and touch precious and priceless materials, printed between 1777 and 1877 (generally). Most are the only known copy. The only down side is not having the time to read the material. The knowledge that I'm working to preserve this information, previously unavailable to the general public, for generations to come really makes it all worth while. (having a steady paycheck in this tumultuous economy doesn't hurt either)

Long time, no post...

2008-09-21T02:40:00.002-05:00

Hmm... life, moving, losing a job, looking for a job and everything in between got in the way of updating this blog. I should work on that. Hopefully soon I'll actually have an integrated website, which will help many things.

StART on the Street is tomorrow! Or today, as it's almost 4am. Yup, I have a show, getting up in 3 hours and I'm not in bed yet... awesome. ;) I've been working hard all week preparing and will have quite a few new pieces, as well as the usual fare of horns, hemp and a handfull of hoops. This might be my last stART festival with horns though, I'd really like to move out of this niche and more toward conceptual/visual art again... but who knows. I love hanging out with kids all day at stART, and would miss their presence dearly if I didn't have such a kid-friendly table. Anyway, we'll see.

So, if you weren't already aware... Drop by stART today, 11am-5pm Worcester, MA on Park Ave. http://startonthestreet.org

Mention this post and I'll give you a little discount too. ;) Bring me food/coffee for eternally grateful love!

Wee little burnt dudes...

2008-06-15T09:59:00.001-05:00

hello., originally uploaded by tangerined.

So I had the grand plan of finishing these little guys up for stART and eventually moving them to their own shop (maybe maybe!).

Yet, I made the mistake of failing to shelter them in the oven with tinfoil (as they're pretty large, for my toaster oven at least).

So they burnt, quite epically.

Oops.

stART in the PARK June 1, 2008

2008-06-14T13:01:00.001-05:00

stART in the PARK June 1, 2008, originally uploaded by ctomt.

Art in the Park was a good time. I've developed a new kind of sunburn---FISHNETS! The waffle/baked ham effect on my arms is pretty cool. (yes, I used sunscreen.. just not quite enough) Folks really enjoyed the hoops too.

I managed to score a LOVELY blue volvo 240 wagon this week too, so moving has commenced. Or, er, is commencing today. In truth, I really suck as packing. It's a disaster. I've only moved 8+ times in the past few years...

I might have a little moving sale in the etsy shop, just to make my load a tiny bit lighter. The less to move, the better, especially as I'm a horrible pack rat.

Vertical Stepthroughs! (aka, coolest hula hoop trick)

2008-05-28T20:15:00.001-05:00

Learned a new trick! Works a lot better once you watch the video and realize...

-cheat your hips and body TOWARDS the hoop

-hoop on your hand, not on your arm!

-that whole leg/hand motion thing...

The continuous stepthroughs are doing me in, partially because I'm using new hoops that I just made an hour ago and haven't taped yet... so there's not much to actually hold on to. It's pretty intense on my knee, as I'm not used to lifting, bending and balancing like that. I think it's perfectly manageable though, just need a little practice. :)

Wanna learn?

Up and coming...

2008-05-27T22:00:00.002-05:00

This coming Sunday is Worcester's StART in the Park. (PaRk not PAHK) Not to be confused with StART on the Street, our annual shut down, art up festival. This time it's in the park, not on the street... see? Huge difference!

Anyways, I have a table/booth, whathaveyou. I plan to bring hula hoops, some horns, ART and a smattering of not quite so blatant jewelry. Most of the oddments on etsy will be along for the day as well. Maybe even some surprises? ;)

I will be instituting a not so fun policy though. My hula hoops are handmade, I bring them to festivals for folks to have fun and enjoy. These are usually my personal hoops (that I use for practice, fun and performance). Most kids and adults have a lot of fun, but occasionally things get a little crazy. Playing tug of war with, yanking on, and otherwise doing things that obviously bends and kinks the hoops isn't cool, it's akin to messing with/breaking someone's art. It does actually warp and kink them, at which point they're rather useless for me or anyone else to use. This year if I happen to see anyone who seems old enough to understand a nice warning going about and actually breaking the hoops, I will be asking them to leave and for their parents to recoup my supply costs. I think kids are awesome and I WANT to provide a fun and interesting table... but I'm not a babysitter, or at least not when I'm at a show. I've paid for my space just like everyone else.

As assumed...

2008-04-27T19:19:00.002-05:00

So, of course... my shop updates have been rather infrequent. It'll be much easier in a few weeks after I move (and no longer get home and go to sleep an hour later). I spent most of the past three days asleep trying to attune to this new, early schedule.

Before I move though, I need to find a car! A nice, wonderful eco-friendly (hopefully) vehicle to get me from place to place. Right now I'm considering purchasing a diesel to convert into a grease car, much more cost effective and somewhat better for the environment at least! I'll keep this blog updated in regards to what happens...

I just learned that my favorite craft store down the road is closing. All my life I've been blessed to live a short car-ride away from Wright's factory outlet. Seriously BEST DISCOUNT CRAFT STORE EVER. I've found ribbon as cheap at 10 cents a yard, knitting needles and crochet hooks for 33 cents... It's always limited to what's on hand, but still, awesome. I'm seriously going to miss this place. Apparently even though the store is doing well, the company is uprooting them and moving it to TN. You lucky folks, hope you enjoy it!

New Job, or why my etsy shop hasn't been updated all week...

2008-04-16T20:24:00.003-05:00

So, after over a month of looking I found a job.

Somehow I managed to find something that actually utilizes my experience (bookselling) with my skills (internets!). I'm working for an online book distributor. The main job is entering the books into the system (at a rapid pace!), but my specialty is the wild-goose chases for the mysterious books and creating listings for books that don't exist in the system (gee.. kinda like what I do with my etsy shop!).

It's a little dangerous for me, because I can purchase the books we're listing directly from my employer. OMG BOOKS. I've seen so many that I want already, but I can't buy them all.

I'm hoping that my etsy shop doesn't suffer too much with this new schedule. Right now I'm just trying to adjust to waking up at 5:30 every morning to drive 45 minutes. Soon I'll be moving to an art-friendly location with a much shorter commute. Things will adjust soon. In the meantime, my etsy shop is business as usual, just with fewer listings.

Once in a while I make something without a uterus...

2008-03-26T22:42:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to make something like this for a looong time, but never could figure out *how*.

Until yesterday.

You like?

New Painting!

2008-03-25T17:23:00.001-05:00

Well, it's very much like some older paintings, but only inspired by the same idea. :)

8 by 10, acrylic on board.

Man, I miss painting! I'm hoping to get back into it soon.

<3
tangerined

Sales or "temporary price adjustments"

2008-03-22T17:01:00.003-05:00

So every once in a while something expires on etsy. It happens, listings are only up there for 4 months (renewing aside).

I just noticed that a handful of really cool things expired. So they're back, but cheaper!

It seemed like a good idea or something.

I feel like overstock.com, but with hemp necklaces. I love making them and buy the best quality hemp around in bulk. Every once in a while I sell them wholesale to the Hemporium in Keene, NH, but usually they just hang around until craft fair season.

Therefore, this one is now cheep. For you, little chickadees.

My cat and I just spent some time in the bitter outdoors. She sniffed things and meowed at me. I practiced ultra-cold hula hooping with a sweater.

A sleepy day for all...

2008-03-22T00:30:00.002-05:00

Today was just one of those days I guess. Sure, some wonderful, weight-lifting things happened, but the majority of the day was so tiring. It seemed like very few people were having a *good* day.

Perhaps that's what happens when spring gets off to such a miserable, cold start? The wind has been destroying everything in it's path and most of us are hiding indoors from the bitter cold.

Still, there are great things to look forward to! My life should change dramatically within the next few weeks/month. (don't even start thinking that I'm pregnant or something, nothing like that)

I'm holding a tiny promotion in my etsy shop at the moment... well the next 5 moments or sales to be precise. I visited hbml last week and purchased a small handful of really awesome handmade 1 inch pins. I'm not going to tell you what's on them, as that's part of the surprise! I kept one for myself though, it's pea-green and says "candy inspector". (I love it because I hate most candy... just give me dark chocolate or espresso beans wrapped in dark chocolate and I'm happy. Or pure maple sugar candy... Plus the pin is an amazing color)

So the deal is, free special, secret pin with the next 5 outgoing orders from my shop! The reason? I like supporting hbml! You should come to worcester and check them out!

Also, a artist-friend of mine might be stealing some shipping envelopes to decorate. I already decorate every single package that goes out, but these would be extra-special one of a kind original pieces. I'll be sure to update when I have more information regarding when this might happen!

Happy bitterly-cold spring time everyone.

<3

Sharkweek/Wet feet

2008-03-18T00:44:00.004-05:00

V-day was fun, thanks to everyone who came out! Too bad it was pouring in providence, RI that day. I'd never really been to providence and was so excited to walk around, check out the local shops and eat some delicious sandwiches. (I love delicious sandwiches)

Unfortunately providence seems to lack storm drains, and one thing I absolutely HATE is cold, wet, sneakered feet. The roads were flooded up to 6 inches deep in parts, specifically the parts between me and the car. :( It was a sad, wet-footed day.

I'm hoping to return to providence soon on a dry day, because I got the impression it was an interesting place.

Since then I've been adding new things to etsy, crazy amounts of new things. Something like 20 new items? I'm not even finished yet.

My favorites are the new red uterus earrings and pendant.

I'm calling them "Sharkweek Red".

Yeah, definitely have to make more of these.

An Event! How Exciting!

2008-03-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

Just a heads up, I'll be sporting my wares at the vagina monologues in providence (RI) tomorrow. Scroll down for more info...

Don't worry if you can't make it. I'll have plenty of CRAZY-NEW (the best kind of new) creations for my etsy shop early next week! Folks attending the Vagina Monologues get first dibs, but there's still a few etsy-exclusives. ;)

Show Info:

The Vagina Monologues
march 8 saturday Time: 1:00 pm

Join 15 Rhode Island women as they raise their voices and the roof at the Biltmore, in Eve Ensler’s ground breaking play about everything female. Gather the girlfriends for an afternoon out – and the guy friends too! Includes a yummy dessert buffet and cash bar, with lots of “vagina friendly” vendors and information tables.
Location

The Biltmore Hotel
Details

Fundraiser for RI Crisis Assistance Center
Ticket Info

$35.00 general admission ticket includes open seating beginning at 12:15PM and dessert buffet and cash bar.

$100.00 VIP ticket includes reserved seating in front of venue beginning at 11:30AM, dessert buffet and cash bar, plus a special gift

http://www.peaceprovidence.com/events2.html#march8

<3

(tired, gonna eat now)

I have too many blogs!

2008-02-13T14:14:00.002-05:00

So I'm at work right now and loving it... which probably means I shouldn't be sitting here, relaxing, drinking coffee. (I work at a coffee shop, through next week at least) I'll continue sweeping the floor in a few minutes.

I've realized that i have too many blogs for any one person. I consider this my *professional* art one. Then there's livejournal, most of which is private/friends only. I also tend to update BOTH of the myspace blogs (personal + tangerined...). So I'm thinking.. why not just bring some of that over here? Some consolidation couldn't hurt!

The reason I'm sitting instead of busily tending to customers is due to this awful weather in worcester today. No one should be out in this. It's a decent snow overnight that changed to ice and now rain, causing a huge icy mess and mjor flooding. In 3 hours I've had two customers and the local dairy milk delivery. (It doesn't help that I rely on tips for income!) I was also 10 minutes late because there were lakes to ford on the way! The water had to be 6+ inches deep, if not 8... I didn't realise how deep it actually was until I was mid-way through this whole block's length of length. My only option was to speed up (less damage to the car hopefull) and cross my fingers.

Last night I was stranded due to the initial snow. Fortunately, "stranded" really means "awesome fun time in the snow!". We snow-skated and tramped through inches of powdery fluff until some ass came by and actually plowed. Seriously, the nerve of some people.

I am the greatest of mythical beasts!

2008-02-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

Or, at least the weirdest...

My new carrot unicorn horn, first in the line of soon-to-come ultimate ridiculousness for my etsy shop.

Why do I only update when sick?

2008-02-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

See... I'm really not sick that often. I just tend to forget to update things when I'm not sick. That whole period between november 21st and the early part of last week? Not sick. Since then? OMG teh flu!

The flu is an awful, horrible thing and should die a miserable death.

Ok, maybe it's partially my fault. I *did* just start a new job where I ended up working 11 hours one day, 9 the next with very little food and sleep. Ooops.

Why am I writing this? Oh yes. I wanted to let it be known that I'm sick and currently working a job away from my delicious little computer and studio. My new listings may be sparse for a small amount of time, my responses might take a little longer than normal. My apologies.

<3

Oh! That explains it...

2007-11-21T01:26:00.000-05:00

For the past two weeks I've been scurrying around trying to get more uteri earrings and boob magnets finished (along with many other creations!). Unfortunately I haven't been feeling too well. Not *sick* persay, but definitely not well. Well, today it was too much and I went to the doctor. I'm going to file this under GOOD IDEAS because it turns out that I have strep! I've had it for weeks, without a fever. No dying Jim Henson style for me! (I always think of him when I hear of strep...)

So, I hope that explains why my shop is a little less peppy that you'd normally expect to find it. The good news is I have many, many uteri and itty bitty titty magnets ready for the (clay only) oven! Tomorrow they get the heat, and soon after the shop gets new shiny things!

I've also decided to start accepting some custom orders again. Time is limited to get them in if you desire anything for the holiday-time. I'm currently thinking December 5th, but the date isn't set in stone. Probably December 17th deadline for all purchases desiring guaranteed arrival by the 25th of December too.

Sorry, no pictures today!

<3

Yar!

2007-11-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

Things are going well... Last week my doctor approved dropping down to only one crutch and the physical therapist said I could walk without it in my house! Whee! It's already so much easier to get around, to cook food... to do everything. Still not allowed to run or jump or really do anything much, but it's definite progress!

So now that I'm feeling better, I'm trying to conquer this world of making things again. I don't have a setup yet for my polymerclay oven, so I'm not sure how or where I can cure things. Hmm... I'll figure it out soon enough. Currently in the process of trying to clean this tiny room I'm living in, with drawers full of craft supplies everywhere and a broken floor lamp that won't stay together. :( the top broke off the lamp, so it just falls over. I've fixed it with duct tape and chopsticks quite a few times already.

Here's some of my pretties that joined etsy this week:

<3

The kinds of things that can keep a girl from her blog...

2007-10-23T19:12:00.000-05:00

So that tumor I mentioned a few months ago? I finally had it removed late september, on talk like a pirate day in fact! To prepare for the surgery and significant downtime following for recovery I've done quite a few things... Quit my job, moved temporarily, and given away my precious volvo, because you can't drive a manual with a busted leg.

So I'm 1 month into recovery now, and it's going OK. They removed all the hardware from my leg (it was full of plates and screws!) so maybe I'll be able to bend it like a normal human again, woo! I spend my days doing physical therapy, occasionally visiting friends and crafting when I have the chance! It's difficult to get new work listed promptly when you have to hop around on crutches... Also, most custom orders are on hiatus for the moment for the same reason. Another few weeks and hopefully the getting around will become easier. :)

Here's the sweet new shrooms that I made before the surgery:

More soon, I promise. :)

So I told you I was making things....

2007-08-18T23:11:00.001-05:00

So I'm trying to keep the creative juices flowing (eww...) by creating something every day. I haven't figured out yet if creating a listing on etsy for something made the previous day counts as a something or not yet... but leaning towards not.

Here's a handful of my recent creations...

I taught myself how to make peyote stitch beads last night... man those first few rows are complicated. So much fun once you get going though. This one's in "classic" tangerined citrus colors.

I need more non-boob earrings in my shop. ;) These are based on a design I created years ago, and unfortunately have only one of the old earrings left. At least now I can create more...

These weren't actually made yesterday, but still very recently. I was so sad when they came out of the oven in less-than-perfect condition... (but what can you do?) They're still awesome and make beautiful horns though.

Don't tempt the art yo! Don't do it!!! I'll make MORE!

I just finished another wicked-sweet peyote stitch dread bead... this one's much longer and incorporates my two favorite non-orange colors, chartreusey green and brown. Pictures soon, I should have it up on etsy in a few days at the most.

Hopefully soon I'll stop making jewelry long enough to get in a painting or two??? ;)

<3

So busy making things...

2007-08-17T15:24:00.000-05:00

too busy to update my blog. Oops.

I found out a few months ago that the evil tumor in my femur has returned, so I've been trying to utilize my mobility to work and have fun in my free time. (FYI: It isn't cancerous, but a bone tumor known as giant cell. I already have a beautiful 9 inch scar and a leg full of metal plates and screws from my first bought with it two years ago) I've been waiting to hear from my doctor for weeks to determine the date of surgery.

So, as you can imagine... that kind of stuff keeps me very busy. Lately the pain has been getting worse though so I've been spending more time inside making things. I'm trying to make something, ANYTHING every day.

Here's some of the new pretties, a few new takes on my old favorites.

More to come soon!

Oh, before I forget. I plan to try and keep the shop open even while I'm in the hospital. Some good people may be acting as caretakers for a week or two.

<3 <3 <3

My day off...

2007-05-23T17:07:00.001-05:00

I'm not exactly great at maximizing my days off. Actually, I'm horrible at it. I'm hoping that actually having a job outside of creating things will inspire better time-management somewhere in my brain, a necessary skill of being your own boss.

This morning I finished up a cute carrot necklace and managed to catch enough sunlight to photograph and list it on etsy.

It's inspired by an old friend, who I ran into at a folk festival a few years ago. (yeah, dirty hippies!) I never expected to see another of my old friends with dreads. ;) She's an amazing artist too and recently opened an etsy shop for her beaded jewelry and art.
Her shop is bsidefruits.etsy.com

She makes the cutest peyote stitch carrot bracelets around!

Hmm, I think it's time to organize my beads or something. ;)

<3

The love of a Squid and his hoop...

2007-05-22T21:28:00.001-05:00

Cute, isn't he? I'm so glad this piece is done, photographed, scanned and up on etsy! It's painted on one of the bookcovers I picked up from the recycling center. I love the texture and elements it adds to the painting.

In other news, the sun has finally returned and it's given me the chance to take my hoops outside again! My apologies to everyone who catches a glimpse of my practice sessions, totally dorking out with mutli-colored hula hoops spread-out all over the ground. I'm working on mastering two hoops at once and being able to control them separately (yeah, it isn't easy).

Oh yes, and for all those hooper-wannabes...

GO MAKE YOURSELF A HOOP!
http://www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html

or i suppose you could buy one from a reputable DIY hoop-dealer
http://www.superhooper.org/supergrip.html
http://www.hulahoopla.org/
http://www.hoopgirl.com/
http://www.hooprevolution.com/shop_hoop.html

(or, if you happen to live in central MA, you can order a custom hoop from me!)

<3 and hoops

Work in Progress

2007-05-20T15:18:00.000-05:00

I've been working on this painting for a long time. Not consecutively, but it's something that I started over a year ago and never quite felt that it was finished.

This is what it looked like a few weeks ago:
Here's a photo from today:
I don't think it's quite done yet, but I like where it's going.

Makin' the cute

2007-05-16T22:08:00.000-05:00

There's something horribly satisfying about making cute things. I can't explain it, there just *is*. Some nights I dream about adorable fruitsy-kids running around as beautiful chaotic self-made works of art. They wear these in my dream.

Man, I need to make some more of these!

Erm so...

2007-05-11T00:21:00.000-05:00

Driving a manual car is actually much harder than I thought it was going to be. Sure, I can start the car and get into second without stalling, that's not the hard part! The impossible part is knowing when to downshift, clutch, break, etc. Hills and pedestrians are my enemy.

I've been spending my time as of late making things and looking for a job... which hopefully means I'll be able to provide even better goodies and promote my etsy shop more! Hurray! I find out about said job tomorrow.

I'm probably too discombobulated with the heat and the night-time to write any more, so here's one of my recent paintings and I'm off to bed!

Some days I'm a million different places at once...

2007-03-13T12:29:00.000-05:00

Or at least my brain is. This is definitely one of those days.

There are probably 20 different ideas for paintings/drawings/creations that I want to somehow find the way to create all at once, or prior to 6:30 tonight. I have to find a way to concentrate on one idea at a time and get something done.

I haven't updated this blog (I hate that word, it sounds like *slog*) in quite a while, but that'll be changing soon. I've been keeping busy with custom orders, creating bazillions of tiny boobs and painting and selling via etsy. Just last weekend I even got a new (17 year old) car, so I'll be able to attend lots of upcoming craft and art fairs *beyond* walking distance this year! Of course, I have to learn to *drive* a manual first, but I'll figure it out.

#1

2006-11-02T15:43:00.000-05:00

Yo.

My name is Ashleigh and I'm a be-dreaded creature of approximately 24 years. I make things. I paint. I (hula) hoop.

I like to tear things down and build them up again. These "things" consist of my environment, my personality, my beliefs, my body, my interests... and lately, my art.

I think that's a good explanation for what I've been doing. I'm learning the basics of creating art again, ditching all that held me back since childhood. It's hard to out grow the fear of a certain style or daring attempt to attack an idea too big for the brush...

the basics:

color
form
composition/juxtaposition
intent
the journey
fun - enjoyment

I'm currently trying to survive off the sale of these works over at http://tangerined.etsy.com

You can see more of my work at http://ashling.deviantart.com

or here http://www.myspace.com/tangerined