bromeliads & other

 a client shared a photo of her outdoor rock garden with her new flowers

new one, as of yet untitled.  found this wooden dowel on the highway awhile back.  the center has a faded pink plastic thing for the 'stigma'.  its another subtle one...earthy i like to think.  

White Khaki Bromeliad

some new flowers as of late.  my bromeliads have sold save for the white khaki which is fairly new and has been recently added to my industrial bloom shop. i'm liking the faucet ones (bromeliads).  i don't normally buy my materials but this week i broke down and did some ebay sniping and got a stock of faucet knobs.  its shocking how expensive they can be... i was pleased to have gotten what i consider to be quite a good deal on 77 of them.  i have work to do!  hopefully my rebar stash will see me through a few batches of flowers. i hesitate to store much more of anything under our little rickety loft steps.

its been quite in my world.  seasonal crap i'm sure and just a little worn down by my own thoughts. my tendency is to slide out of the present and worry about the future.  or wonder.  or knock repeatedly on a door that isn't seeming to open and rather than walk away and find another one i just stand there waiting.  i am so grateful that i've been selling just enough flowers/vases/other art that somehow i make it each month.  there is still the nagging thought of now what.  what is next.  what am i supposed to be doing.  where am i headed.  its a lot of mental nonsense probably.  i know i'm very content when i sit down and just work on a flower.  i sometimes have to push out thoughts that try to tell me i am not doing anything purposeful or productive.  when i question what i am doing i always feel nuts.  when i do what i want/do what i love to do  (making a flower or whatever piece of art i'm working on at the moment) i am fine.

some of you may i have noticed i'm not on facebook much right now.  the only thing i seem to keep up with is etsy.  it's my livelihood.  right now i am trying to keep my little head quiet.  it helps to be online a little less, even if it worries me i might 'disappear' from the online world.  it's only hard to follow my instinct when i think.  thinking isn't a good thing.  not for me.

the power of the flower

Pistona Cylindubious, 2011
Approx. 27" tall
Flower: approx 4" wide

i finally have 3 or 4 of these piston cylinder thingies. this is the first flower i've made with one and i've noticed all of the pistons are different...what exactly they went to?  lawnmowers...chainsaws.  who knows.  i love them and want more but i am thinking they will be hard to come by.   the challenge remains to find objects that i can make a bouquet with of the same 'body'.  the road reflectors to date are the only thing in abundance.

Smashed Bauxite Un-Ore-Dinary , 2011
Approx. 17" tall
Flower: approx 3" wide

quite fond of this one too.  i find so many smashed cans and containers on the roadside, of course i had to make a flower from one.  the backside is comprised of a found black 'cup' thing and a black rubber part that i pick up at the tire shops.  to me it is pure magic how these parts somehow all fit together and make what is to me, a perfect flower.

Transitional Outage, 2011
Approx. 19 1/2" tall
Flower: approx 4.5" long
2" wide

the electrical boxes are fun challenges...they have several punch out holes which in this case were filled with found auto plastic/rubber.  who knows what all is in the center of this flower, layers of objects that magically fit together.  i like thinking these are powerful flowers.  they carried things, held things.  relayed and powered machines and fluids.  they can rest now and take life easy.

more!

 i have some new flowers that i need to edit the photos and put up on my etsy flower shop, but for now, below are some individual photos of other new flowers that i sold this week in huntsville.  (the silver 'box' one is the only one still available and will get that on etsy too) i have yet to name them...one of my favorites things is coming up with a name and description.  i listed a flower yesterday in my shop, the Bulbous Electro-tus.  it isn't new new, its just i hadn't wanted to list all my flowers at once, you gotta dole it out you see.

 

yellow sold

sold

sold

i love how things just work out...that above 'blue wheel' i got awhile back at the scrap yard.  just last week i was out walking and saw this teeny tiny 'ceramic like conductor' thing and thought nah...and then i thought oh just grab it and when i got home i realized it was a perfect fit for the center of the blue flower.  it matches that white/rust perfectly!   nellie had sent me a little box of scrap goodies and you can see above, the back of the blue wheel flower a weird 'cup' like thing that works perfectly to bulk up an otherwise 'flat' flower.  thank you nellie!

the reflector flowers (i will post a new white/black one on etsy later today i hope) are really cool for exhibiting outside. if light catches them they do have a bit of a glow about them. i will admit they are fairly simple, for now i appreciate the wabi sabi of them and find the backsides just as brilliant as the front.  there is still cement and rocks encrusted on some of them and i try to find nice nuts/bolts or whatever to attach to the rebar and flower.  so far the fronts don't seem to need anything else as the reflectors have plenty of personality.

 i've started painting the stems with the rust converter to help protect it against the elements.  from what i hear you would probably want to reapply that every few years if you don't want rust to start coming back (and you live in a wet area).  rebar is everywhere out there, look for it next time you are walking around any construction area or even in gutters along the road.  rebar is thick and doesn't rust to dust...but it will rust again over time and whether you like that look is up to you.  i've warmed up to the darker look of the rust converter...i still like how the unpainted rebar has this cool white, silver, brown look so i'm keeping that look for indoor flowers.   the challenge for me is finding more colorful baubles and working when its cold and rainy outside.  hope to have more flowers soon, god knows i have plenty of vases :)

first newsletter sent!

I have sent my first newsletter,  if you have signed up and not received it, please check your spam folder.  I have sent it via blind carbon copy, your emails are safe and sound will never ever get used/abused.  It's not too late to sign up and get your copy now.  I am on the fence about posting the newsletter online, perhaps i will lag them a month.  next month when i send one i might post the previous one on a static blog page but i'm not sure i wanna do that.  the whole point in my sending out newsletters is to give you a more intimate look about what is going on and allowing you access to something all in one place rather than tracking me down online. time will tell.
thank you to my first 25 subscribers! 

newsletter: take II

did i make that newsletter sound fun!!!!????
no.
hours later i'm getting my trickle of subscribers and thinking it is SO typical of me to do something and as i fear it or am unsure of it, i dont give it the excitement and oomph it deserves.
so here, i'm giving myself another chance:

I am creating a newsletter!  I have taken it for granted that people can find out what is going on with me on facebook.  I have many artist friends on facebook as well as my fan page.  I'm in touch with a lot of people on etsy as well and never gave much thought to sending a newsletter out so you can find out more about my world, my art without having to track me down online.  It is obvious there are plenty of people who still haven't embraced facebook.  Many don't use etsy convo's.  The list goes on.  Heck I can't even keep track of all these sites sometimes.

Having said that, I'm going to give a monthly newsletter a shot.  I plan on sharing things there that aren't already here.  You can get glimpses of my world, I will try to include photos of what I am working on, perhaps new work that you might not have seen with links as well.  Hopefully it will be a more intimate and interesting take of what it is I do nearly day in and day out.  I will try to write one every month. Sometimes I will also highlight other artists as well, I really believe in the power of artists sharing their love of what other artist's do.  It is how we get inspired is it not?

So, I invite you to join my newsletter. You can sign up by entering your email address in the box just under my profile info on the sidebar.  I look forward to writing my first one soon as I get at least 10 subscribers ...hahaha i have such low expectations dont i?

newsletter

If you look over there to the right, you will see that I have added a newsletter subscription widget.  I have never had the courage to have a newsletter.  I say courage because I find it challenging to think about sending out a newsletter.  I personally do not care to receive them.  Why?  Well, I like to get my info about the people I like via facebook/blogs and friendly emails.  I get enough emails as it is and newsletters never feel personal.  I need personal.  The one person who sends out a newsletter that I find entertaining is Kelly Moore, he is an outsider artist who keeps it interesting, you never know what you will see/read in his newsletters and even then I usually just click to his website and see whats going on rather than read the newsletter.  I realize I am probably not the norm though.  

I think a few years ago I tried to do the newsletter thing and just bailed.  I never believed that anyone was interested in reading my blather.  Truth be told I did blather.  Now that I am making my living primarily online via etsy instead of galleries, I'd like to think I have more online friends and followers who just might be interested.  I know I have slowed my blogging WAY down and while I use my facebook fan page alot, there isn't really much 'news' there.  So I'm gonna give it another try.  Most probably it will start off one way and morph into another way.  My plan is to send out a newsletter once a month but with no set date.  My goal at the moment is to include links/pictures of works I have available and any interesting news/tidbits about my art world happenings.  I will try to keep it interesting and wont be offended if you unsubscribe.  I am using a free sign up widget and should you desire to unsubscribe at any point I suggest replying to my newsletter with 'unsubscribe' in the subject.  I would much rather you do that than keep subscribing if you feel you don't want updates anymore.  believe me, i get it!