42 DAYS

Where have I been, what am I doing and what will be next?

It's difficult to believe that it has been so long since I have posted. I have been here. 24/7. We have a retail business. A great one. One that some people call a "mom and pop" operation. The kind that is a pleasure to shop. Sales staff that have been with us a long time. That care. That know everything about the product. NOT a "big box" store, where you are just a number. The economy has brought me back to work. Those big box stores are trying to crush us, but they won't succeed. Now it's all about the discount. Does anyone care about quality and service anymore? We do.

Did you know that in the 50's , 60's and 70's, only about 5% of items were ever discounted. People cared about the quality of an item. If it would last and could they count on a merchant to stand behind what they sold. In the 80's and 90's it became all about how fast can you get rid of something......just discount it and throw it away.

I could go on, but I know one looses their audience quickly here. My point is that I have too busy working to post, let alone visit anyone. It's been making me crazy.

Below are some photos of where I have been spending my time. Visit our website www.wwstereo.com, you'll see what we do.




I have been getting into my studio at night. Between 10 and midnight I created some gifts for my family. Below is a tribute to my mother in law for my husband. She is a dear soul who was a miracle worker in the kitchen, especially when it came to holiday ravioli.

Painted and photoshopped portrait with copper, fabric, stitching, found objects, acrylic medium, antique brass ravioli cutters found in Italy, acrylic paint.






I am thrilled to say that I will soon be appearing in L K Ludwigs new book "Creative Wildfire". I feel honored to be a part of such a talented group of artists. You can pre-order at Amazon.com.


I am currently appearing in Artful Journaling by Stampington. the article is about travel journaling. I also have work in the holiday issue of Somerset Studio.



I am also thrilled that my work has been juried into the show "Contemporary Voices" which will be opening at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia in January.

May all of you experience a healthy, joyful, creative and peaceful New Year.

With love,
Karen

IMPRESSIONS OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

A new piece I did a few weeks ago. Copper embossing, drawing, acrylic paint, acrylic medium, vintage found objects, stitching, vintage history journal page, watercolor paper. Title - "Impressions of the American Public". Size - 18"x 24"

Last week, on the way to New York for the day, I ran into Kecia ( Lemoncholys Flight of Fancy....great jewelry) at the Secaucus train station. Small world. I had only met her once before. She was on the way to the city with her sister and niece. I just happened to be in Secaucus for business.


While in New York I saw an amazing show at the MAD........Museum of Art and Design, called "Slash-paper under the knife". A very exciting show of art crafted from cut paper. No photos were allowed. Check out the website.

I also must admit I am an ABC Carpet and Home store junky. Shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone.





Checked out the beach in Long Branch New Jersey on the way home during a huge nor'easter. The sand was blown all over the roads and sidewalk like drifting snow. The ocean was wild.

Have a calm and creative week.

BIRTHDAYS, QUEENS AND DOGS

Been away at a conference this week and have been behind in blogging.........like FOREVER.
While I wait for this mornings meeting, I miraculously have a few moments and would like to first honor my dear friend Susanna. Who has been spreading her warmth and good cheer around the world with her winged messengers. Above is the one I carried with me to Venice.



This is a photo from Susannas birthday, which brings me to my next and most important part of this post, my beloved husbands birthday......TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB!!!!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM YOUR THREE BITCHES. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!


.....AND, last but not least, for my wonky friend Bonnie, HERE"S HARLEY......she sends you many licks and swishes.

DIA DE BLOGLANDIA -> REMEMBRANCE

Remembering my mother. Helen Dorner Shechtman 1914-2009, with love and appreciation for who she was and who she became.

She would have never understood the traditional skeleton representation of Dia De Los Muertos therefore, I chose to use one of her favorite photos. I made a breastplate/neck piece that uses some of her old jewelry parts and a piece of her crochet trim. She loved "bling". The bigger the better.

The staff at Elm Terrace Gardens, where she lived, had this to say when she died. Something I treasure.

"Karen, your mother shared a world of warmth and love while living out each day........

.....She had her share of tougher times, yet never lost her way....


....she showed the world what a great person she was in everything she did......


....and for the joy she brought to all, today we honor our dear Helen."


A special thank you to Susanna and Stephanie for organizing this and putting it all together.

With love,
Karen

MANDALAS MATERIALIZE IN MANHATTAN

I am inspired by design that radiates from a central point and was thrilled to discover that the Rubin Museum in New York was having two special exhibits that I thought would be the perfect venue to maximize my inspiration, Mandalas and Carl Jungs' , the Red Book. It was a great starting point to do a workshop with friends and work on copper technique with found objects. I highly recommend this museum. it is one of those "little gems".


After spending the day at the museum and seeing the beautiful intricate patterns and vibrant reds, blues and greens of these amazing works of art, we went to work on our own variation on a theme.










My finished piece.


Joy Snyder

Jerri Weitz

Kathryn Gilbert




Happy Halloween wishes to everyone!!! A Halloween Mandala, of sorts.

ART STEW

"Society is like stew, if you don't stir it up every once in a while , a layer of scum floats to the top". -Edward Abbey

I have already mentioned that when I attended Squam Art Workshop, I met many wonderful people and had an inspiring time. I did manage to make a few things in the workshops I attended, as well.

Above is from Elizabeth Bunsens' "Positives and Negatives" class (journaling with photographs). In this piece we tore up a photo, passed pieces of our photos around and then put everything together in the way we thought best. I ended up making another layer on mine with a transparency I brought, of a black and white drawing I had done.


Took a great class with another wonderful woman and teacher Judy Wise, called "Waxy Layers" (collage, painting and encaustic). I love using photos of my own work to make new work. I did that with each piece I created.....hence the title of this post," art stew". If things sit around my studio for too long, I need to "stir it up" a bit. How about you?


More from EBs' class. She gave us many creative prompts to get us started on each page.


More encaustic.




This last page is from Judys' "Playbook" class. We simply played in our sketchbooks using many ideas for loosening up......funny how you forget how to do that.

Don't forget to stir things up a bit!!!