Digging Deep

Time for a treasure hunt! This post is my own contribution to the 7th annual Buried Treasure project. You can find the links to each and every participating artist in the previous post on my blog.

Buried Treasure is an opportunity to reflect. In looking back through the 1400+ posts on my blog, I am reminded of so many creative experiences that have truly filled my soul. At the same time, I am able to see the changes over time in both my artwork and my life as an artist. This review also has me looking forward, contemplating how things will change in the coming years.

These feelings led me to dig up my post from December 31, 2014 (slightly edited) - a meditation on and reflection of the many experiences of life.

As the Sun Sets....

and I look back on my recent experiences...

I think about all the new discoveries I have made...

I think about the hills I have climbed that were well worth the effort...

I think about the the fact that I am one year older...

I think about the flashes of synchronicity that seem to seek me out...

I think about the losses that still hurt...

I think about the decisions I made even when things were not clear...

I think about the strength we all have despite the the way of the world these days...

I think about the joy that this community never fails to bring me...

And I think of what the future may hold and about the possibilities that have yet to unfold...

Thank you all for continuing to be such a big part of my journey. I look forward to all the future adventures we will have together.

Buried Treasure 2015

Welcome to Buried Treasure: an online, collaborative project that invites art bloggers to go into the depths of their blogs and dig for buried treasure. Each participant was asked to repost one (or more) or their favorite posts from their own blog. There are so many brilliant artists out there but so little time to explore all their work fully. This gives us all an opportunity to see highlights from posts we may have missed from so many of our favorite bloggers!

Click on the links below to go to the blog posts of the participants. Please check back here often as I will be updating this list continuously as more people post. The links are numbered so you can keep track of what you have seen. Believe you me, this will take you more than one sitting. Please note that I will soon add a link to this post from my sidebar so that these links will always be easily accessible!

If you are a blogger on a treasure hunt and you do not find your name on the list, please email me and I will add your link. And it is not too late to join in. I will be adding links until Sunday, July 26th. So if you are interested in digging for treasure on your own blog, click here for the details.

1.   The Altered Page
2.   Bolton House
3.   MK Designs
4.   Jo Murray- Art
5.   Creativity Continium
6.   life as a five ring circus
7.   Studio Ramblings
8.   des couleurs, du piment et quatre bras
9.   ess-arr
10. CERULEAN
11. Altered Book Lover
12. Approachable Art
13. credmayne
14. Creatingwithoutcrayons
15. a colorful journey
16. Halle's Hobbies
17. artjuvenation
18. Back on the Floor Again
19. Pages in Time
20. Stitchworks
21. Stampendous
22. Blue Twig Studio
23. Chittle Chattle
24. jacki long
25. Joi@RR
26. johanna - mixed media fun
27. Sisterhood of the Muse

Treasure Hunt

7th annual Buried Treasure
Still time to join the collaboration coming this Thursday 7/23 

So many blogs...so little time. With so many wonderful art blogs to follow, it is difficult to always find the time to keep up with every new post -- let alone have the time to visit the posts that were put up before you discovered each blog.

So...six years ago I started an annual treasure hunt. Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple. This Thursday, July 23rd all participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts that ever appeared on their blog. As you might already know, I don't like too many rules when it comes to art. So anything goes.

Please leave a comment on this post if you would like to participate. On the 23rd, when the project goes live, I will post a list of all participating artists on my blog so that you can be sure to find all the Buried Treasure. Feel free to let your own readers know about this project by spotlighting it in a post prior to or on reveal day.

Please cut and paste your original post into a new post. Let your readers know that it is a part of the Buried Treasure collaboration and include a link to my blog. That way, everybody can find the links to everybody else. Please (and this is important) email me your link when your post goes up. It will be the only way I will know to add you to the posted list on my blog.

And if you cannot wait until reveal day, you can click here and here to be taken to the links from 2009, here for the posts from 2010, here for the links to the posts from 2011, here for those from 2012, here for the links from 2013, and here for 2014. These are also always available on my sidebar.

Happy hunting!

Treasure Time

7th annual Buried Treasure - A Call for Collaborative Participants!

So many blogs...so little time. With so many wonderful art blogs to follow, it is difficult to always find the time to keep up with every new post -- let alone have the time to visit the posts that were put up before you discovered each blog.

So...six years ago I started an annual treasure hunt. Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple. On Thursday, July 23rd all participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts that ever appeared on their blog. As you might already know, I don't like too many rules when it comes to art. So anything goes.

Please leave a comment on this post if you would like to participate. On the 23rd, when the project goes live, I will post a list of all participating artists on my blog so that you can be sure to find all the Buried Treasure. Feel free to let your own readers know about this project by spotlighting it in a post prior to or on reveal day. Please (and this is important) email me your link when your post goes up. It will be the only way I will know to add you to the posted list on my blog.

And if you cannot wait until reveal day, you can click here and here to be taken to the links from 2009, here for the posts from 2010, here for the links to the posts from 2011, here for those from 2012, here for the links from 2013, and here for 2014. These are also always available on my sidebar.

Happy hunting!

Gold Digger

Time for a treasure hunt! This post is my own contribution to the annual, online Buried Treasure project. You can find the links to each and every participating artist in the previous post on my blog.

This is the 6th annual version of Buried Treasure and this collaboration has been held on my blog since 2009. You can click on the following links to see what I have "dug up" in prior years:

2009

Revolution

2010

Handbook

2011

As Night Falls

2012

Billboard

2013

Contexture

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2014

For this year's post, I have wanderlust on my mind. I have been traveling all over the United States teaching workshops for several years. I was fortunate to also teach in Mexico just a few months ago. And in August, one of my dreams will come true when I teach in Australia as part of the first ever Art Is You Australia Mixed Media Road Show retreat. I have already begun to think about the travel journal I will make to fill with memories.

With that in mind, I bring you a re-post (edited) from 2011

Whenever I travel, I like to create a visual journal that acts as a repository for all my memories;  a book that I can flip through at any time and be brought right back into the thick of the adventure. I try to journal at some point on each day of all my trips, while the experience is fresh in my mind.

A few of my travel journals, filled with memories...

Greece (click to see the inside pages)

Italy  (click to see the inside pages)

New Mexico  (click to see the inside pages)

And my newest journal, which itself went on a journey from here...

to here...

London and Prague

A glimpse of what is inside...

You can read more about my journal-making process on Bridgette Guerzon Mills' wonderful site amanobooks in this interview from 2009.

Buried Treasure 2014

Welcome to Buried Treasure: an online, collaborative project that invites art bloggers to go into the depths of their blogs and dig for buried treasure. Each participant was asked to repost one (or more) or their favorite posts from their own blog. There are so many brilliant artists out there but so little time to explore all their work fully. This gives us all an opportunity to see highlights from posts we may have missed from so many of our favorite bloggers!

Click on the links below to go to the blog posts of the participants. Please check back here often as I will be updating this list continuously as more people post. The links are numbered so you can keep track of what you have seen. Believe you me, this will take you more than one sitting. Please note that I will soon add a link to this post from my sidebar so that these links will always be easily accessible!

If you are a blogger on a treasure hunt and you do not find your name on the list, please email me and I will add your link. And it is not too late to join in. I will be adding links until Sunday, June 15th. So if you are interested in digging for treasure on your own blog, click here for the details.

1.   The Altered Page
2.   A Paper Bear
3.   Patti Sokol
4.   It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see
5.   Bolton House
6.   Cerulean
7.   Figure Art
8.   MK Designs
9.   Rosemoo's Blog
10. Mixed-Media Map Art
11. Obtainium Art
12. Altered Book Lover
13. life as a five ring circus
14. ess-arr
15. Stempelkrempel
16. Billie's Craft Room
17. Jennifer Coyne Qudeen
18. Magpie's Nest
19. Craftymoose Crafts
20. Stirring Up Ghosts
21. Gallo Organico
22. Altered by the Sea
23. ma vie trouvee
24. Tattered Edge
25. art in real life
26. pentimento
27. Back Home Art
28. Creating Without Crayons
29. ArtSnark's Artifacts
30. Uneek Art
31. Serendipity Studio
32. Altered Attic
33. Hastypearl
34. Jo Murray - Art
35. Zom Osborne
36. Darlene K. Campbell
37. Jacki Long
38. Mixed Media Fun
39. Dharma Karma Arts Blog
40. Fully Flummoxed
41. Art and Sole
42. Art Matters

More Thoughts on Blogging...

In March 2013 I wrote a post called Thoughts on Blogging..., musing about the impact of "newer" social media platforms on the experience of blogging. It generated 42 thoughtful and opinionated comments and a very interesting conversation.

Now, just over one year later, I thought it was time to revisit this topic. I have had my blog for nearly 7 years and have put up over 1,200 posts. It has always felt to me that my blog was my true online home but lately I have been putting equal energy into my other online sites: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In doing so I have noticed that while there is some overlap, I seem to connect with a different group of people on each site.

I admit that there are times when the quickness of these other platforms is quite inviting - both as places to post and places to visit. I know that I have not been able to visit blogs nearly as often as I would like to and had been able to in the past. Part of this is due to my limited schedule, part due to the fact that there are more blogs than ever, and part due to the lure of the other social media sites.

It seems that I am not alone. When recently visiting a slew of blogs on my list, I found that many of the bloggers that began around the time I did no longer seem to be active. Some had shut down their blogs, often saying in their final post that they were at a point where they wanted to make art rather than talk about art. Many others hadn't posted in more than a year. And I came across several posts that spoke of declining readership and fewer - if any - comments.

However, life is often like a pendulum, swinging back and forth. I have to say that I also noticed what I hope will become a trend...a return to blogging. I visited many bloggers who haven't posted in many months or years only to find that within the last few months they have begun again. Perhaps after a period of time focused on some of the quick and easy platforms, people are just beginning to come back to the depth and breadth that is the core of blogging.

If you are a devoted blogger/blog reader or want to get back to blogging basics, think about joining me in one or more of the following:

This past Sunday I began a new blog project to be posted every Sunday called The Week Links, where I share a series of links to blog posts that have caught my eye.

Get lost in my Art Blog Directory, with links to 569 creative blogs. And email me if you would like to add yours to the list.

Join in on the 6th annual Buried Treasure online collaboration on June 12th where participating bloggers re-post one or more of their favorite posts that they ever put on their blogs.

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Curious as to what you all are thinking. Are blogs on the decline? Do you have a favorite platform to use and/or visit? Do you use the different sites for different reasons? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Treasure Time

6th annual Buried Treasure - A Call for Collaborative Participants!

So many blogs...so little time. With so many wonderful art blogs to follow, it is difficult to always find the time to keep up with every new post -- let alone have the time to visit the posts that were put up before you discovered each blog.

So...five years ago I started an annual treasure hunt. Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple. On Thursday, June 12th all participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts that ever appeared on their blog. As you might already know, I don't like too many rules when it comes to art. So anything goes.

Please leave a comment on this post if you would like to participate. On the 12th, when the project goes live, I will post a list of all participating artists on my blog so that you can be sure to find all the Buried Treasure. Feel free to let your own readers know about this project by spotlighting it in a post on or prior to reveal day. Please (and this is important) email me your link when your post goes up. It will be the only way I will know to add you to the posted list on my blog.

And if you cannot wait until next week, you can click here and here to be taken to the links from 2009, here for the posts from 2010, here for the links to the posts from 2011, here for those from 2012 and here for the links from 2013. These are also always available on my sidebar.

Happy hunting!

Nuts and Bolts

This says it all...

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Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for a set of my new stencils just released by StencilGirl Products. Head to this post for details. If you are having a stencil emergency and need to buy them immediately, you can get them from StencilGirl or directly from my website shop.

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In honor of Earth Day, my artwork Whispers was featured along with pieces from Deborah Pierro, Mary Katherine Hopkins,  and Art Gal in this post on the Cloth Paper Scissors blog.

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I am collaborating with the crew at daneldon.org on an online project called The Journey is the Inspiration. We are asking people to share, in words and/or images, the impact that the life of Dan Eldon and his visual journals has had. Beginning May 15 and continuing every Thursday thereafter, your stories will be shared on the blog at daneldon.org. Contributions are now being accepted at any time and all details can be found here.

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Jodi Ohl, Gina Lee Kim, and I share our thoughts about the tools we use for mark making in this post on the Cloth Paper Scissors blog. Grab your markers and check it out!

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The 6th Annual Buried Treasure Collaboration is coming soon. Stay tuned...

Digging for Gold

Digging for gold! This post is my own contribution to the Buried Treasure collaboration. Links to each and every participating artist can be found in the previous post on my blog.

This online collaborative process has been held on my blog since 2009. If you want to see what I "dug up" in prior years, you can follow these links:

2009

Revolution

2010

Handbook

2011

As Night Falls

2012

Billboard

---------------------------

My choice of post for 2013 was not easy. And in the end, breaking my own rules, I have chosen to link to one post and to re-post a second. Artist prerogative! The thread that links these two posts is community...

First, a link back to a post that first went live on in March 2009. I asked the question that I think is always on the minds of bloggers: just who is it that visits our blogs? The post itself was very brief. The beauty is in the response: 75+ comments answering the question. Well worth a read or a re-read. Wonder if these comments would still hold true today?

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My re-post focuses on collaboration, something near and dear to my heart. I chose one of my many collaborative art projects that I completed in 2011 with Bridgette Guerzon Mills and Jen Worden.  Called Contexture, it stills reflects my art aesthetic. And I love the fact that I used these pages to experiment and have noticed that several different "techniques" have found their way into artwork that I have completed since.

Front Cover

Back Cover

Sign in page

Bridgette

Jen

Seth

Bridgette

Jen

Seth

Bridgette

Seth

Seth

Seth

Seth

Seth