An Object Found

I am happy to announce that my handmade artist book, An Object Found, will be featured as part of the 36th Annual Printmaking Center of NJ Member Exhibition. The exhibition runs from June 11 to August 20. This book will also be exhibited at the New Jersey City University Gallery from September 15 to October 26. 

An Object Found was created for and featured in Pam Carriker's book Art at the Speed of Life. An image of the cover was included in her book but the inside pages are being shown for the first time.

a sudden shower

raining down

a surge of power

an object found

 painter's palette

splattered stains

filled with rhythm

endless chains

An Object Found is also being featured on Top Artists' Directory, where I am Artist of the Week as of June 6th. Thanks Kim!

Available for purchase. Please send email to shap97@gmail.com for additional information.

All Aboard: Book Tour

Interweave Press has set up a Blog Tour to kick off the official release of Pam Carriker's new book Art at the Speed of Life. My blog is one of the first stops on the tour. I have already written up several posts highlighting my own artwork in this wonderful book and artist resource (see here, here, and  here). So I thought for this post, some words from the author herself were in order. Thanks Pam for sharing the following thoughts:

Living Art at the Speed of Life

As the date approaches for my, ahem, 30, cough, year high school reunion, I’m reminded of the last reunion I attended; that ‘never really should happen’ 5 year one. Five years is just enough time to get started on your path in life, but not really enough time to have anything to show for it. The funny thing is, ‘showing’ is what everyone seems bent on doing and the class of 1982 was no different. We were asked to fill out a questionnaire on what we were doing and what our goals were. Even back then I was heavily involved in creating, Tole Painting was my vehicle at that moment, and I bought instructional books by the dozen. As I churned out painted things to sell, using patterns and instructions produced by other artists, a little voice inside of me kept whispering, ‘You should make up your own designs-you could write your own book’. It was a faint whisper that I quickly shushed because who was I to think I could write a book? But it was the only thing that I could think of to put down for my goal/dream on the questionnaire, so I did.

It took many years working my way through everything from Tole Painting, rubber stamping, scrapbooking, and back to painting again before I found my way to the world of mixed media art. I knew the minute I first looked at Somerset Studios and Cloth Paper Scissors that this was where I was meant to be. How amazing that art could be created using techniques and skills learned from all of my previous artistic pursuits! As I continued to find my niche and participate on some design teams I found the courage to submit some work for publication. It wasn’t until the third try that it was accepted and shortly after I was asked to write articles for both of these wonderful publications. Thus ‘Art at the Speed of Life’ was born in my very first article. I wrote from the heart about the way I strive to live my life and the importance of living your creativity daily. This is still what I try to share from my heart. I feel it’s the most important tool to have at your disposal. Learning every ‘new’ technique and buying every supply available won’t lead you to living a creative life. There’s only one thing that will-action! You have to ‘do’ something, not just wish you had the time to do something. This is where many get discouraged and fall short of their goals.

Living Art at the Speed of Life is about more than just learning techniques, it’s about giving yourself permission to create and making it happen! You can be creative every day. I know because I’m a busy mom of 3 boys and I’ve been creating my whole life. I did it when the boys were small, when I was working full time, when I went through painful experiences, and when times were good. It is doable if you set your priorities to include creativity and give yourself credit for being creative even if the only creative thing you did that day was a napkin doodle while you were talking on the phone. It all counts and when you start seeing your creative life through clear eyes, acknowledging each accomplishment, big or small, it propels you forward and you start gathering speed! Write your goals down and check them off when you achieve them, it may take time-it took me almost 30 years, but it won’t ever happen if you don’t let it. It’s very satisfying to finally be able to check that long ago goal off my list-now on to the next!

You can visit Pam at her website Living Art at the Speed of Life
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You can make all the stops on the tour from now until March 15th at these blogs:

3/4 Suzan Buckner

3/5 Sue Pelletier Laugh*Paint

3/6 All Norah's Art

3/7 Faerie Enchantment

3/8 My Collage Art

3/9 Always Chrysti

3/10 Lisa Bebi's Art Blog

3/11 Sweet Repeats

3/12 Living Out Loud

3/13 The Feathered Nest

3/14 Paulette Insall
3/15 The Art of Julie Bergmann

Emma

Still working on using the many step-out pieces from Gaze, my spotlight project in Pam Carriker's book Art at the Speed of Life.

I have already posted Passages, the first artwork I made using these pieces. And now there is Emma. Apparently I decided to channel my softer side with this piece - LOL!

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Reasons

Continuing with the theme of integrating photography into art and art into photography, Reasons is another artwork of mine included in Pam Carriker's new book, Art at the Speed of Life. This mixed-media piece includes an original photograph printed out as a transparency.

Reasons

Reasons is one in a series of three related pieces, all using photographic transparencies. The other two pieces might be familiar to you from previous blog posts from last year.

Be

Sold. Thank you!

Moments

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Step by Step

In her book Art at the Speed of Life, Pam Carriker includes informational essays that cover a wide range of current topics, all of which are informational and inspirational.

My contribution is an essay entitled 'Picture This: Adding Photographic Elements'. It explores integrating photography into art and art into photography.

One of the pieces of artwork I made to accompany the article was 'Steps', a mixed-media piece that includes an original photograph that I took in Mexico and which has been hand-altered. It is 'framed' with book board that I painted to resemble distressed wood.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Gaze

Pam Carriker has included seven Artist Spotlight Projects in her new book, Art at the Speed of Life. For each of these projects, one artist created an artwork and presents step-by-step, written and pictorial instructions so that the reader can learn the specific techniques of each artist. Pam takes this one step further and includes for each of these projects a companion project that will allow the reader to use the same techniques but in less time.

My contribution to the Spotlight Projects, which you can recreate in your own style and voice using the instructions in the book, was a textural assemblage called Gaze...

Gaze was a step-out project, where I had to provide step-by-step visuals to the publisher to photograph. This means that each piece of the assemblage had to be remade up to seven times so they could photograph the steps in order. When my artwork was returned, I also received all the step-out pieces that went into making Gaze.

I have decided to use these pieces to make additional artworks which, because they used all the same materials, will become members of Gaze's family. They are currently all in progress but will be posted soon.

Speed Indeed

Art at the Speed of Life, Pam Carriker's new book, is now available. This book is filled with high quality art, tons of step-by-step projects, essays that cover the most current topics, and suggestions that will help you to better integrate art into your busy life! I am blown away by the quality of this publication. This book is a reference that you will return to over and over.

I want to thank Pam for inviting me to be a part of this book. I am honored to have four pieces of art and an essay included in its pages. I will be sharing my work from the book in upcoming posts.

Speed Indeed

Pam Carriker's book Art at the Speed of Life is available for pre-order now. You can read more about the book on Pam's website or at Interweave Press.

See a sneak peek below and be sure to click on "fullscreen" to see the details. If you scroll down to pages 6 and 7, you will see part of a step-by-step for one of my pieces in the book.

The Need for Speed

Way back in November 2009, I posted the news that Pam Carriker's proposal for her first book was accepted by Interweave Press. Entitled "Art at the Speed of Life: Motivation and Inspiration for Making Mixed-Media Art Every Day", the book focuses on providing practical guidance, motivation, and inspiration from a variety of mixed-media artists for finding the time to intregrate art into our busy lives. I am thrilled that Pam invited me to be a featured artist in the book.

The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon. This will be a must-have addition to the library of every artist out there.

Thanks Pam for all your hard work on what is sure to be a gem of a book!

Art at the Speed of Life

The talented, inspiring, and oh-so-nice Pam Carriker has gotten the go ahead for her first book. Entitled "Art at the Speed of Life", it will be available in the Fall of 2010. And from what I know about this book, I can already tell you that it will be a must have addition to your collection. I am happy to say that Pam has invited me to be a contributing artist. I am looking forward to being a part of the process with Pam and with each and every talented contributor that is involved.

So why am I blogging about it a year before it is being published you might ask? Well I wanted to let you know that Pam has created a new blog, not surprisingly called Art at the Speed of Life. In it, she will document her journey from start to finish. So if you want to get an insider's glimpse into all the steps that go into creating a book from conception to reality, click on over, become a follower, and enjoy the adventure. I think it will be a thrilling ride!