Birthdays, Boys and Broken Sculpts

Hi All! Sorry for my lack o' posts. Life always gets in the way so I have decided that instead of only waiting for some inspirational art, I would show you a glimpse into the life that is mine. So what has happened since I last posted you ask? OK you didn't but if you are still reading, this is what's up.

My baby turned 3! Happy Birthday my darling boy!! It was a celebration that consisted of Thomas the Train -- Thomas the Train bicycle, Thomas the Train cake and more Thomas!

Here's the cake...

Surprise...my first bicycle! No more trike for me! We spent an hour building this the night before and then my husband 'hid' it in the basement. Not anticipating that Ben would actually go down into the basement (why not he goes everywhere else?) I heard, "YAY MY BICYCLE!!!" from the basement at 9 am....surprise!! Oh well, at least he loved it! This was his acting surprised face when we brought it upstairs. :o)

It's good to be the king...kiss my ring.

Heavy sigh...here it comes. Then came, dare I say, my 40th birthday! I mean my 11th annual 29th!! HA! We had the best day. We went out for lunch and then off to the Andy Warhol Museum for some Silver Clouds:

That is such a dreamy room. They ran around like crazy boys but then we all laid on the floor and watched them float by. Simple concept, very brilliant. Thanks Mr. Warhol.

This is Remy holding onto a cloud.

Then we went off to see the Darth Vader painted mask exhibit a couple of floors below. Very cool. Loads of Darth Vader Masks that artists painted and changed to create their own version of the dark lord.

Image: Joe Ledbetter, Untitled, 2007, © 2009 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM.
All rights reserved. (credit where credit is due!)

The kids dug it but it is so hard to explain to a now 3 yr old, 4 1/2, and almost 7 yr old not to cross the black line and don't touch anything. You really wanted to. They did good though. Good boys! No photos were allowed to be taken. :o(

On the way home we saw this on the corner:

A cool transformer-like sculpture that is made of the bridges of Pittsburgh. Too cool. I have to look into who made this.

Anyhoo, the birthday celebration continued with dinner out and cake. My boys picked out my birthday cake. Now every woman deserves a light up princess birthday cake don'tcha think?

Here was mine:

Now I think that they should start making queen cakes!

Max wrote a book for me:

In between birthdays, my son Max accidentally knocked my nameless guy off the table and broke his neck after my son Ben decided to paint him black! Remember this guy?

Well, he currently has a broken neck, flat cheek and black chest. No worries though, I can rebuild him, I have the technology. (Sheesh that is showing my age!) I will mend his neck, repaint him and add a cheek implant. Max felt horrible but it was truly an accident, I actually saw it happen and how can I not be mad at Ben for painting him black? I can't, he was trying to be creative, takes after his mom!

And lastly, my oldest turned 7!! Heavy sigh...where does the time go?!?! Now how about this for a cake?!?

So cool that I have to give you the action shot:

And of course Max's first reaction when he saw it:

There you have it. The life that is mine. Hope you weren't too bored. Believe me I could go on with the home improvement projects we have going on but I won't! lol

New WIP

Here are some new heads that I am working on. A little different from my norm and at the moment I have no idea what they will end up being but that can be exciting...and nerve wracking depending on my mood. ;o) I've been playing with different styles of ears...some have proper ears, some pointy and some like my illustrations.

Sorry for the bad photos, my camera stinks...time to start saving for a new one!

Art Collectors and Treasury

I would like to introduce you to two beautiful girls who have excellent taste in art! Alison and Madeline are not only artists themselves but they have become collectors. I am proud to say that they are the daughters of my dear friend Christy who I am back in contact with after 20 years! Yay! They also know how to frame things well too. Couldn't have picked out more perfect frames myself girls...thanks for digging my art. I look forward to see your creations in the future. :o)


I am also pleased that I was chosen for an Etsy treasury by TheWorldIsMyStudio.etsy.com. Thank you so much and that is a perfect treasury - all things Paris, my favorite!!


Lastly, I am working on a few new sculpts and will be posting them in progress soon. My youngest decided recently to get into my black paint and paint some of my sculpts that were in progress. I have to rework them to be able to cover the black...heavy sigh...they are only young once and I guess he was showing me his creative side. LOL But seriously...did he HAVE to use black?!!?

OH one more thing!!...My blog was a year old January 16th and I completely missed it! Time is flying by! Happy Birthday blog o'mine and thank you all for taking the time to read it! :o)

Wow...has time flown by!

It has been waaaay too long since I last posted and for that I apologize. I haven't been as productive as I would like due to lots of visitors (YAY) and children's illnesses (BOO) but we are back to "normal" now.

Happy New Year! I have not made ANY resolutions this year because I think that sets me up for failure so forget it!

I have reclaimed my work space that was taken over by lego for a while. A Christmas thing! Here is photo from our Christmas... Yes we did the matching pajamas thing. I think that it is so cute while they are little. Also a photo with the Christmas crackers and dinner. Fun and yummy food. The kids had a great Christmas which always makes me happy. My husband and I had a great Christmas because his younger brother Aaron decided to surprise us with a visit. You may not think this is a big deal but boy I do since he came from London! Good times.

Over the holiday I lost my voice for about 5 days it would come and go. I never had that that long before. Funny story, since you know I often include little conversations in my blog, though usually with my kids. This conversation took place with a local checkout girl at the supermarket. It went something like this:

Girl: Do you have your shopper's card?
Me: Yes (broken and half whisper)
Girl: What?
Me: Sorry I have laryngitis. (cracked and whispered)
Girl: Oh that's ok...I'll talk louder!
Me: I haven't lost my hearing, I've lost my voice!

Ahhhh, our school system makes me proud! LOL

One more thing, Aaron took me to an open mic night in Pittsburgh and even though I felt kinda yuck and couldn't talk I had soooo much fun. I videoed him with his little new camera and you can watch it here. Yes I am biased but he is so freakin' talented so check him out.

OH and even one MORE thing...I want to thank two fabulous artists who blessed me with two more blog awards. One is the lovely Colleen from Loopy Boopy. It means a lot to me that you dig my art. I feel the same way! And the equally as lovely Sonia from The Dark Raven's Nest. Thank you soooo much, it really does mean a lot to me. :o)

More soon.

Banner Day in Blogland!

What an awesome day. I got two awards today and I feel totally honored.

First, Ghostly Diva Gail Lackey whom I admire like crazy, gave me a bop from her cohort Mrs. Pennythistle. Gail makes the most amazing dolls so be sure to check her out! As for Miss Pennythistle...be careful she's crafty and not in the Martha Stewart kind of way....just a warning. ;o)

And now I just got a very cool Marie Antoinette - A Real Person, A Real Award from Tashai at her blog named Ultraviolet Wind. Her work is freakin' amazing and I adore it and her and her blog! Check her out and thank you so much Tashai!

You both have made my day!

Now for the rules of the Marie Antoinette award

Here are the Rules for the Award:
1. Please put the logo on your blog
2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them


So here are my nominations for the Marie Antoinette award:
1. Chasing the Pesticide Truck (I freaking love that title, cracks me up every time and her work does too, skill and fun - love it!)
2. Bonehead Studios (Flora is an amazing sculptor!)
3. Fractured Fairytales (Rosanna makes fabulous dolls with amazing skill)
4. La La La Illustrations (Leanne, you are one of my favorite people with AMAZING skill)
5. Raising Creative Kids (Jen, keep up the great work because little artists become big ones one day!)
6. My Sweet Imaginations (anyone who creates work this sweet deserves an award!)
7. Gail Lackey - (Ghosties, Fairies and Magical Things) I had to give you an award back because not only are you so much fun but your skill is phenomenal. ;o)

Thank you all for your inspiration! :o)

Finally Jane

Ok, ok , you all can stop giving me a hard time now...Jane is finished. ;o) I broke down and bought a new tool and worked her over a lot. For me, painting is the hardest part and I still don't have it down to where I want it yet. Also, next to painting, sculptures are so hard to photograph as they look soooooo much better in person! That is what I love about sculpture, it demands to be viewed in person, that it really should be viewed in the round. I'll do a video again soon but not today. I would say that the ones of her on the bookcase are the closest to what her true color is.

So also, how funny is the photo of her backside. I didn't realize that Earl Grey was staring at her bum! he he I really like her on the bookcase but it is just so hard to convey how dark she actually is. Probably time for a new camera.

Here is my next painting project. Haven't figured out what to name him yet. That is unusual for me because normally the names come to me fast. Maybe I will name him when he is done or get all of your opinions. They look soooooo different once they are painted. Could be an Edward. What do you think?



One more thing...thank you thank you thank you for ALL of your fabulous comments. You are the best!

The evolution of Jane

So my sculpt has changed yet again. Of course she needs major refinement but I'm always into seeing other artists works in progress so here is mine.

My frustration is that I can't for the life of me find my favorite sculpting tool!!!! Where it walked off to I don't know...could be my children, or the goblins (oh wait...those are the same! LOL) I would go out to buy a new one right now but my car is in the shop! Oh well, c'est la vie. I can't go any further without my tool. :o(

Happy Anniversary Dan!

Hi Baby...I know you secretly check out my blog so I thought that I would say Happy Anniversary!

Nine years ago today I vowed to love, honor and cherish you. Nine years later, three fantastic kids and no money to show for it ;o)...I still love you more than I could ever put into words.

I love you!
xoxo
Amy