Cay Denise

These are the latest Sharpie on cardstock pieces I've done since about October.  Yes, it's good to get back to them BUT I've also re-experienced how unpleasant the small of the markers are when using them and the nasal and throat irritation it causes.   Basically, the alcohol in alcohol markers is ethanol.  As the markers are used, the ethanol evaporates and becomes a volatile organic compound (VOC).  It is the vapor from the markers that is problematic.  So personal protective equipment (PPE) is needed unless you can work outdoors or in a very well-ventilated indoor space. That PPE involves having a respirator (with appropriate filter) and gloves. So doing more of this kind of work is on hold -- until I'm able to work outfitted with the PPE I ordered today.

Are you like me, having used alcohol markers not knowing their toxicity potential-- and later developing sneezing and/or irritation in your nose/throat?  There is a connection.   This DIY Craft Club article provides information on how to prevent continued exposure to the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) generated as the alcohol in alcohol markers begin to evaporate and make VOCs.  That's why using these kinds of markers should be done in well-ventilated areas.  Otherwise, wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) comprised of a respirator and gloves is very important.  This is especially true if you use alcohol markers over the long-term as well as for other types of art/craft work, cleaning, and even industrial purposes.  To read more, here is the article link:  Alcohol Ink Use - with your Safety in Mind  

This Nice News article is about street intersections and approaches to them that are being painted in lovely  and intriguing designs.  In addition, they're actually reducing crashes that has been and continues to be verified by the data.  So, this is working to improve intersection safety while improving the look of the communities where these art projects are installed.  Here is the article link: Street Painting and Crash Reduction Data   The only issue with them is ensuring maintenance funding to keep the paintings at the intensity of the original painting.  Otherwise, over time, it will suffer a build-up of soot, oil, and dirt from traffic and pedestrian use; sun-fade; and other normal wear-and-tear from use (e.g. street fairs, etc.).  We have one of these painted intersections locally that has suffered from a lack of upkeep...beautiful though it was when first painted in.  I love the idea and am impressed with the data of its positive impacts ...

As Pixeladies Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki prepare to retire at the end of 2023, they're teaching their last Photoshop Elements instructional series.  Level 1 is just concluding.  Level 2 starts in February followed by Level 3 in March. I've had Adobe's Photoshop CS (a cloud application) for some time and recently became aware that Adobe's Photoshop Elements was available for download at a one-time cost.  (It's not actively marketed on the Adobe site. You have to search for it.)  So, I jumped at the opportunity to buy Elements and cancel the cloud app.  Note:  The cloud app is not intuitive to learn or use, and for me -- the monthly fee was too high for the value/use I got from it. In order to make sure I'm learning how to use the creative capabilities of Elements, I thought it would be great to learn from The Pixeladies who have a great reputation in the quilt world for their work with printing on fabrics and making quilts.  That means they know the im...

I recently connected with Annette Laing who has a Non-Boring History distribution.  In her latest email, there was a link to one of her podcasts.  The two-part podcast is about why silkworms were so important to Early Spanish America and why we should care.   Along with the podcast information, she sent this video link.  It's about how silk is cultivated from silkworms...a process called sericulture.  It is a fascinating process, but it also means that each silkworm (that produces a single cocoon) dies in the process.  That single cocoon is harvested and joins thousands of others  in order to produce silk threads that can then be woven into silk fabric.  I found the story impressive and sad at the same time.   

PYHAS is a full year course with a weekly lesson that I've signed up for.  Week 1 just wrapped up with guest instructor, Russell Miyaki. I enjoyed the lesson that spotlighted Basquiat's work as inspiration and encouraged the use of cereal boxes as substrate (a nice way of recycling them).   For my piece, I used the fully-opened cardboard shipping wrap that one of my newly-printed Blurb books had been packed in. For imagery, I recalled that Basquiat did a painting with a Dizzy Gillespie (trumpeter) figure. Since I also played that instrument, my project has a female horn player in it plus lots of decoration. The tools used included acrylic paints, Posca Pens, glistter glue, scrapbook paper, gold and silver Sakura Pen-Touch markers, and velcro. As I was working, there were moments when I didn't know what to do next. In the face of that unknowing, I just kept pushing on and doing something--because it could be painted over if I didn't like it. This piece is a type of blend...

After Louise Fletcher's courses (Find Your Joy and Find Your Voice), I found myself not doing art work.  I was still doing creative things...just not in the same ways, with the same regularity, or at the same volume I had been doing.  The creative things I did do included designing some books for printing, decorating our kitchen with alternating painted square canvasses as a backsplash, made some zines, and did some writing.  That change led me to thoughts about wintering...and if I was in a period of creative wintering. What better way to explore a question than through making a zine!  This time it would be an exploration of how a plant prepares for and endures winter.  I came up with the name before doing the research.  So, seeds is really a misnomer.  But I like the philosophical bent of using that word in the title.  Seeds, as used in the title, mean kernels of possibility to me.   To start the zine itself, I did the cover and designs on ...

2022 marks the seventh year that I've designed and had books printed through Blurb.com that are a record of my Facebook posts.  They serve as a journal of sorts for the things that have peaked my interest and/or were informational, inspirational, educational, fun,  etc. for each year.  (The social books offered through ads on Facebook typically only include those that have the most likes, and I've found many more I'd like included than what that measure would allow for.) That said, I just finished designing a fourth Blurb book since December 4th and it is now off to print!  It contains my posts during 2022 to various art groups (on Facebook) that I want to remember.  Below is a screenshot of its cover. The other three books recently completed include:       1) My 'Pastels and Poems' (work made between 2003 and 2004);      2) 2022 My Book of Days in Facebook Posts-Vol. 1; and,           3) 2022 My B...

This book wasn't on my reading list, but came as a recommendation from a recent article I read and my interest in them.   The first half of the book has some great information.  Unfortunately, the second half seemed squeezed in to a certain number of pages because of the extraordinarily small fonts used that resulted in difficulty reading (e.g. instructions for silkscreen printing).  There was also a very light blue grey color used with some fonts that resulted in them being too light for easy reading.  Considering the book was put together by 'zinesters', it is disappointing that they didn't figure this out and correct it before the book was published.   Much of the book includes articles written by zine makers from around 2006.  The technology discussed in it is now quite old (Xerox machines, duplication machines) so not exactly how someone would produced them (on mass) in the 2020s.  In addition, some of the websites referenced are no longer active....

Volume 1 of 'My Book of Days' in 2022 is now in the printing process!  As a year-in-review effort through Facebook posts, it includes an integration of blog posts.  The reason is that the blog posts displaying photos of my completed art were linked to Facebook posts.  Unfortunately, because I didn't directly upload photos to the Facebook posts, the post doesn't include the complete images of the art from the blog post.  In addition, all the narrative about the art is in the blog post (e.g. inspiration image with artist and date created, substrate and materials used, what I liked about the piece, etc.).     The maximum size of www.blurb.com magazines is 240 pages with a page size of 8.5"x11".  This is the format the magazine will be printed in.  Volume 1 maxes out the 240-page cap, and now I'm on to producing a second volume -- to complete the year's look-back in this way.