Parts of Art

    I wrote a few months ago about my series of mixed media collages entitled "Of the Woods".  I was originally inspired to do this series in 2015, when I began going out to the woods to paint, draw, think and pray. Of that time period, I wrote the following, which is almost prophetic as I read it now.  “I am personally drawn to the place like a hungry person is to a good meal. It feeds my soul to spend time out here. I have already formulated a plan for a body of work. Not jewelry, but mixed media woodland paintings. Being in the woods is reminiscent of childhood, where I spent hours in the woods next door and across the street. In my imagination I lived out there. That is, after all, where I would go as a child to talk to God. So once again I have come full circle to the cabin in the woods.”      By 2018 I had developed several paintings that were, by their very nature, "of the woods". The colors and textures were very muted and neutral, just like t...

     “I made this for you before we met!” It’s one of my favorite comments when I’m at an art show with my Parts of Art jewelry. It happens at least once at every show: that piece that, after I designed and built it in the studio, and afterwards thought “O my God, who would ever want this? What was I thinking? Am I out of my mind?” Then I put it out there and sooner or later she comes along, spots it, and it is clearly, unquestionably made just for her. It’s the one aspect of doing shows that I love and dearly miss.       I have recently become a vendor at the Alexandria farmers and artists market in my little rural town. It’s literally the only gig in town, and all my actual juried art shows have been cancelled. So it happened, albeit with face masks and social distancing intact. Here she came, it was made for her, and it happily went from my neck to hers. Want to see what I made just for you? Visit my shop at Sandyartparts.etsy.com

       Shenanigans  | SHəˈnanəgənz |  pl. noun  informal  secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering :  “ widespread financial shenanigans had ruined the fortunes of many .” •  silly or high-spirited behavior;  mischief . ORIGIN  mid 19th cent. : of unknown  origin .         There will come a time when said shenanigans are over and our lives  will return to some version of normal. So what, until then, do we do?           This past year and a half, as you may already know, I have been immersed in a body of work called “Of the Woods ”. It has been quite an exercise of patient endurance for me, to come up with a series of new pieces and get them completed, photographed, and professionally framed. It’s been like planting seeds in ground that would produce fruit eventually, but its artwork instead of food. And because I had made the decision to give it a year and...

     This is a re-post of an article from 2015, which I wrote during my Florida show circuit. Since then my home, my city, my color palette and the subject matter of my art has changed, but the concept remains.    What is it that makes art happen? Does it happen because the preliminary sketch has every painstaking detail? Or does it just flow out of the fingertips of the artist? Or is it somewhere in between? Serendipity: noun.  1. An aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.  2. Good fortune; luck. Plan: noun. 1. a scheme or method of acting, doing, proceeding making, etc, developed in advance: battle plans. Like I always say, there is a balance in there somewhere.         Once I was at an art show which was not very well attended and I had time on my hands. I was showing mixed media collage. It was a beautiful venue in Florida and the weather was spectacular. I don't know where the customers were, but...

      I am super excited to announce that the Broad Ripple Art Fair decided to take me off the wait list and add me to the invited list! All that work and preparation, putting my booth up outside on the coldest day of the year so we could take a photo of it- it was all worth it after all, because I got in! I’m totally doing the happy dance. I have applied to that show four times in the last six years, and up to now have not been able to get my foot in the door.        It might have to do with the fact that I am now jurying in with mixed media instead of jewelry. It’s just as competitive, but there are fewer entrants in the category of mixed media, thus increasing my chances for getting in. Not that I believe in chance, but the percentages were more in my favor. Anyway, I got in, and I am so jazzed!         This is the time of year for artists like me who participate in juried art shows to apply. Check out my show schedu...

OF THE WOODS                                                                                 Ferns Mixed Media collage 20 x 32 framed $425 Woods Edge Mixed Media Collage 20 x 32 framed $425 Winter Woods Mixed Media Collage 20 x 32 Framed  $425                                                

I am very excited to announce that I have recently become the chairman of this great local favorite art  festival  :      Monument Circle Art Fair 2020 will be the sixth art fair held on the beautiful Soldiers and Sailors Circle Monument in downtown Indianapolis.    Six years ago, an artist who worked in the downtown area of Indianapolis stopped for coffee across from the Monument Circle on her way home. She looked at the monument and began to envision an art festival around its base.  One day she decided to make her vision a reality and got to work. The Monument Circle Art Fair is the result of her vision.         This past year that woman passed the torch on to me. I have been participating in the show each year as a jewelry artist, and have a great desire to see this event continue and flourish. I want the Monument Circle Art Fair to become a momentous event for our community.    ...

     The weekend before Thanksgiving I participated in the Eau Gallie Art Fair in Melbourne, Florida. What a great experience that was! It was my last show for the season and I finished with a bang! So, it’s wrap for 2019.  Once again I had the privilege of meeting the women that I made the pieces for. Here are some of them:  She was on the hunt for something fun and festive, not too much, not too little, something that would show up against her hair and bring on the razzle dazzle.  She made an immediate connection with this piece, dubbed femme du bois- woman of the woods.  Her husband convinced her to try it on,    and as soon as she did there was this great sparkle.  This woman is clearly a lover of color and this pair of orange dangles spoke to her.  I have to admit sometimes I wonder- who would ever wear this? And then she comes along, and WOW! They were definitely made for her!  ...

       Here’s a  couple pages from my current illustrated journal, entitled Autumn to Winter 2019.        Both pages pretty much tell the story of life in the studio.          I am full tilt in production mode in the studio. I have three shows- yes, three- in November; one in Indiana and two in Florida. Here’s my schedule . I am happy to have shows on my calendar because it keeps me in production mode. I’m also thrilled to be heading to Florida because I am going to meet my first grandchild!! And visit family and friends and do two art shows.   My workday in the studio starts with a page of the journal. I add color, then (if my cat doesn’t walk through it) come back the next day and add to it. Eventually the journal gets filled and it’s time to start another one. The collection of journals is growing, and each one is full of ideas for future paintings and mixed media pieces. It wi...

I wrote this on the back of an envelope at my last show: I’m sitting in my new white tent, four hours from my peaceful country studio.  It’s raining. Again.  And this time I’m too far away from my studio to spend yet another rainy afternoon there.  Which brings me to the age old question: Why am I here?  And, more importantly, What does it take to keep getting here?  So here’s my four part answer to the question about what it takes, which I believe also answers why am I here.  Show up Maybe once or twice in my 30 plus years of doing art shows I have experienced the perfect show. Perfect weather both days. Perfect location, lots of customers who bought exactly what I made for  them without questioning whether I had it in orange  (I don’t) or if I am from here (I’m not) or if I teach classes (nope). Other than those two perfect shows (which I actually may have fabricated in my memory) all other events have been a ...