Insitu Decorative Arts

summer fishing: adventureland day camp brochure

2010-01-14T01:13:00.001-08:00

summer fishing 2009, originally uploaded by adventurelanddaycamp.

earlier when i mentioned a high learning curve i was specifically talking about my efforts to learn to use the adobe creative suite, specifically indesign.
i am beginning a class next week at the local community college to study indesign's labyrinth of capabilities. in the meantime, since i've been devoting my time to unlocking the potential of our family business through marketing and branding efforts, i've pushed forward with some projects on my own. this photograph was taken this past summer and i decided to use it for a tri-fold brochure design that would be placed at the bucks county visitors center.
i remember this day for the beautiful blue sky and the calm reflective quality of redbridge lake's surface. and the greenery is amazing.

sleeping piglet

2010-01-13T21:38:00.001-08:00

sleeping piglet, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

rose tableau

2010-01-13T21:37:00.001-08:00

rose tableau, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

lavender rose still life

2010-01-13T21:35:00.001-08:00

lavender rose still life, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

our new years party host is a garden and floral designer and his beautiful roses set the stage for an enchanted new years party.

brass mustangs

2010-01-13T21:33:00.001-08:00

brass mustangs, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

another party still life.

still lives with my samsung memoir

2010-01-13T21:05:00.001-08:00

two blues with roses, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

at the beginning of last summer (2009) i traded up my crappy nokia phone for a samsung memoir. i'm not much of a gadget person but when my friend ben told me about it i thought it was really something i could make good use of. and it hasn't disappointed. by having a smart phone with an 8 gig camera i know i will always have a camera with me and the photos it takes are beautiful and atmospheric, especially indoors under lowlight with its indoor/party setting.

the sleeping piglet revisited

2010-01-13T21:04:00.001-08:00

the sleeping piglet revisited, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

i love this slightly blurry samsung memoir photo of this adorable painted porcelain piggy.

new desk tableau

2010-01-13T20:32:00.001-08:00

new desk tableau, originally uploaded by insitudecorativearts.

as always, i love to be surrounded by images. and my new samsung memoir has been a real godsend when it comes to capturing the visual moment both inside and outside.

new desk, new mood, new life

2010-01-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

its been a while, my move definitely left me disoriented. but i think when you are due to make major changes you can no longer operate in the old way. that said, i have spent the last 6 months pursuing a high learning curve and am now catching up with myself. hence these new blog posts.

The agony and ecstasy of moving

2009-03-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

I have been busy getting ready for my big moving day in a little over a week. Everything has been on hold until I'm settled but i am excited since I will be able to have multiple work areas, including outdoor space, to resume my creative work in my new home. In the meantime I am dealing with my pack rat tendencies and packing has really been a chore. Hence my absence from my recently resurrected blog. I will miss my city apartment but am hopeful for a more productive future. And I have been documenting my mood board walls and other vignettes that I will miss.

Handmade gratitude

2009-03-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

My first posts here were about my struggles and triumphs working on my first aceo collection. These cards became highly layered and i had some creative fears as to covering up areas, feeling too attached and becoming over-precious about outcomes. Which is of course an attitude that kills art production. So i pushed forward, photographing stages so i could still "have" the various layers before i painted or covered up details that weren't working with the whole.
Anyway, after all that work, i was heartened when many of these little cards sold. I always wondered how artist cards are/would be displayed. I had heard people keep them in sleeves like baseball cards. So i was intrigued when Amy from Bumblebelly Designs bought two cards and then convo-ed that she was using my cards to create an "Etsy inspiration board". I wondered what her project would look like.
This week i received another Etsy e-mail inviting me to view said inpiration board on her wonderful blog. It is so sensitively put together. The juxtaposition of the different subtly-colored cards makes each little card more beautiful. The whole is greater than the parts.

A tray flown to london

2009-03-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

My first experience with personal feedback via Etsy occurred when I sold a large rectangular glass tray to a buyer in London,England. She sent me a convo saying my work was beautiful but my photos were bad. And this was true. I was using our business digital camera and was not familiar with settings etc so my pictures were too yellow and dark. In the meantime, after she received her tray, she sent me beautiful photographs of it residing on her coffee table. I found out later that she was a famous Romanian documentary filmmaker. I was inspired to work on improving my photos. And I cherish the images she sent me.

Etsy's personal touch

2009-03-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

One of things i love about selling on Etsy is that my customers have an identity and transactions feel more personal. Buyers are more than credit card numbers and addresses. In recognition of this i try to wrap purchases in a unique way with added handmade gift tags, etc. One of the surprising benefits of the internal e-mail that Etsy provides (called convos) has been customers that are kind enough to follow through and not only give feedback. They have shared with me how they are enjoying my crafts in their homes via photographs. Since i am the kind of maker that, in the past, has had irrational issues of separation anxiety concerning my work these gestures are more than welcome. Instead of anxiety i feel pride!

Decoupage pears

2009-03-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

After creating a secure base of crumpled newspaper I covered the forms with newspaper strips saturated in a methyl cellulose wallpaper paste. After the surface dried I drilled screws into the tops and coated them with a plaster mixture to smooth out the pear shape, sanding the surface when dry. Atop the plaster skin I then applied cut-out patterns from magazines saturated in wallpaper paste and white glue. When dry I sprayed them with acrylic gloss varnish.

Experiments in papier mache

2009-03-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been attempting to diversify my creative endeavors and investigate some new techniques. Although I love creating glass plates with decoupaged images I was starting to feel that my product didn't seem "handmade" and decided to create other kinds of bases for images and patterns. Thus began my latest experiments with papier mache. I started by making some basic pear shapes.

More Colourlovers

2009-02-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more of my newest color palettes paired with inspiration source images.

Colourlovers

2009-02-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

Before I continue with my discussion of decoupage and papercrafts in general, i would like to talk about the amazing, inspiring fun that is colourlovers.com. This color community is a live index of color combinations created by members (almost 800,000 and counting). It is free to join and I would encourage any design enthusiast to do so. Not only are members challenged to come up with a dizzying array of palettes and patterns, we are also required to name all combos as well as any new colors created. The titles people come up with run from seriously descriptive to completely random. 5-color palettes can be created by simply using the color tool provided until you come up with a combination that suits your mood. Or lately I have been using images from my vast digital collections as inspiration: you can pixilate the image and pick out 5 tones for your palette. For instance, my "finlandic borealis" color combo came from a source photo in my extensive "atmospheric optics" folder (both pictured above)

My Romance with Decoupage

2009-02-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

When I began this blog I somehow never got around to discussing my love of all things decoupage. It seems silly in hindsight since my etsy shop and most of my crafting is devoted to it. And by decoupage I mean cutting and pasting and lacquering images. In the sixties my mother created neat trompe l'oeil wooden panels where she decoupaged cut-out objects from magazines so I was acquainted with the process. Then I was lucky enough to read a book "The New Decoupage" by decoupage guru Durwin Rice. His website is a treasure trove of tutorials, including videos, and supplies for the descerning crafter.
His book is packed with great ideas, in his inimitable style, and his writing style is casual and encouraging.

Back from a long hiatus

2009-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I last posted. I had an intense 2008 which featured being laid-off and acquiring a severe double-fracture and dislocation of my left elbow.
Add to that political anxiety and you'll see a good recipe for writer's block.
So, now that the dust has settled I'm feeling pretty energized and am re-embarking via this blog. Throughout the year I kept up with my handmade work as best I could and am now back on track and will be sharing this with you readers.
It's nice to be back!

Happy Holiday Parties

2007-12-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

Our holiday party was a huge success. My sister and I acted as caterers, cooking and serving delicious curry-laced food. Here is a picture of the winning menu card!

The Setting for Holiday Magic

2007-12-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a view of my mother's holiday table where her buffet will be served. Try to guess which menu design she chose. The menu is 8 x 10 and will be propped up with a decorative easel.

More moods

2007-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

My other two compositions are presented here:

mood board menu card

2007-12-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a commission for my mother's elegant buffet this weekend. I am creating 4 mood boards, she can choose which she likes best, and will print the menu on vellum to place in the center of the piece she chooses. Her table is predominantly blue and white with red accents, with delft pottery and tulips. i chose to do two with a blue and white color scheme, and created the other two using darker tones inspired by dutch still lifes. Here are examples of each...

Completed Cards

2007-12-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my finished artist cards that are now for sale in my etsy store:
http://insitudecorativearts.etsy.com
Concerning their completion, the most difficult part was deciding about adding text, and I'm pleased with the results but also wanting very much to improve in this area. Maybe I'm just taking this all too seriously: let's face it, it is hard to justify working and re-working a tiny card that will be selling for a mere five dollars with free shipping. Yet I suppose making art is all about having fun and learning for yourself. It is about developing an original style of working and then running with it. So profiting isn't only about cash money. But art should also be shared, at least that is what i have been thinking lately. I'm the kind of artist that is many times driven by either curiosity about process or mere coveting of objects that I can't afford. For instance, my drive to make decoupage plates arose because:
A. I wanted to learn how decoupaging images under glass was done and
B. I couldn't afford to buy a glass dragonfly tray made by John Derian
So I mainly create for myself and myself alone, or occasionally friends and family.
It is only in the last five years that this has become completely untenable. This is a big whopper of a topic which i will return to in my next post.

More Tarot

2007-12-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some other cards from the oldest existing Tarot decks (Visconti-Sforza) dating back to around 1450. I love these cards with their embossed gold backgrounds, like russian icons which i adore as well.

Working Schemes

2007-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't been writing lately, haven't visited these pages for what seems like a while. Where have I been? Well, for one thing, I've been busy finishing up my art cards. And while completing those, my head is already spinning forward with new possibilities and ideas. I've been reading about Pamela Colman Smith, the artist who designed the Rider-Waite Tarot card deck, the most popular version. Rider was merely the publisher of the cards, so now informed people prefer to call the cards Smith-Waite in honor of the artist who created the 80 card set. While reading about this, and creating ACEOs, I thought it might be interesting to let the Tarot inspire me in future card endeavors.
Not to make a formal set of Tarot cards necessarily, but to investigate some of the ideas and imagery. For instance, one of the suits in Tarot is that of pentacles or COINS. Well, as you can see from my larger collages posted earlier, I am already employing coins in my work. In fact I have been collecting images of world coinage for some time. And I've been obsessed with royal figures like Louis xiv and Napoleon as emperor. So it seems like the Tarot might provide a neat framework for some new cards.
Pictured is one of my favorite Smith-Waite cards, the Queen of Cups, completely dense with visual symbols.

next stage ACEOs

2007-11-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

Please dear internet gods, let these smaller files upload easily and look pretty!
Anyway, now that I'm looking more carefully at my sets of cards it seems I am working better in the landscape versus the portrait format. In other words, I am favoring the horizontal. Also please note the hesitancy with which i am approaching incorporating text.

stage two ACEOs

2007-11-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have been working on my little paintings pretty steadily, one by one. Some are coming together more easily than others, but i am determined to see them all to a dignified finish. I've been trying to upload new images of my progress, but it has been a slow and frustrating process.

stage one ACEOs

2007-11-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a first look at my first try in this tiny format (2.5 x 3.5). I'm trying to work on many at once so as to not be too precious about them. This is only the first stage, and I will be adding and fine-tuning each one. It is surprising how much I'm getting back into painting again. Of course my bachelor's degree is in drawing/painting, yet I'd gotten away from the sheer fun that comes with smearing and layering paint.

antoinette flowering verso

2007-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

This simple combination is one of my favorites. It combines two of my latest obsessions: Marie Antoinette and N.A.S.A.

multimedia reverse

2007-11-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

Here are the other versos for my small scale canvases. for my forgotten russian I used a reproduction of an original engraving of a village in siberia. For fleur/papillon I chose a beautiful mushroom botanical.

ahh, post-holiday energy redirection

2007-11-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

Family holidays are fascinating. each year's celebrations are unique yet oddly the same. our events are always boisterous, whether there are 10 guests or 50. And i am blessed with a family that feels comfortable letting it all hang out, which is a comfort.

As far as my crafting goes, i received some much needed feedback from my mother and aunt. I also obtained some collage commissions from both of these wonderful mentors for holiday gifts, which is so exciting. It will be a challenge to come up with mixed media pieces that reflect the recipient's taste without being too literal and void of mystery.

After returning home from our family feast i had time to decoupage images on the back of my tiny 5x7's. here is the back of my slavic queen.

slavic queen

2007-11-21T22:05:00.001-08:00

This piece went through a lot of changes, as you can see here. I had to cover the Faberge egg in the right corner, which was sad, but necessary.

forgotten russian royal

2007-11-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

I love the use of both Russian and Asian imagery in this piece.

fleur /papillon

2007-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

The larger image is of the completed collage, while the small one is the beginning stages. it is interesting to see the choices that were made from start to finish.

antoinette flowering

2007-11-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

here are some images of four small collages i have been working on for the past two weeks. never satisfied with leaving well enough alone, these paired pictures in the next 4 posts will document the process of embellishing through covering up. the first pair is inspired by a famous painting of marie antoinette:

Insitu starts a blog....

2007-11-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

Today I began this blog out of a kind of frustration at not selling anything in my Etsy shop. Being new to the internet game, I feel I must be missing something important, presumably some feedback and contacts. Also, I feel misunderstood, so what better way to rectify the situation than to blog my head off, and blog some more.