February Happened!

This little month has flown by!  Between working on new clocks, creating work with new materials and techniques, fighting through the winter doldrums, and taking a few days out to work my old post at a flower shop over Valentine's week, well, it's almost March already.  So I'm just going to do a  little updating and dump February right in your lap.

My main focus  has been playing with texture, color, and graphics.  I'd like to get more involved designs going, but...baby steps.

5 x 8 fabric paper on matboard

6 x 12 fabric paper on painted MDF with vinyl

6 x 12 fabric paper on painted MDF with vinyl

Four 3.5 x 5 fabric paper and vinyl on painted wood

3.5 x 5 fabric paper and vinyl on painted wood

2.5 x 12 fabric paper, found letter, and vinyl on MDF

12 x 15 fabric paper and vinyl on painted MDF

10 x 10 fabric paper and vinyl on MDF

4 x 10 found and fabric paper with vinyl on MDF

3.5 x 5 fabric paper and vinyl on painted wood

4 x 5 fabric paper and vinyl on matboard

 And now the clocks!  There are more, which you can see on my Etsy site, but here's a peek:

5 x 5 vinyl orzo burst on sanded aluminum

5 x 5 black and white vinyl on aluminum

5 x 5 black chains on blue

5 x 5 yellow and brown Dachshund clock

5 x 5 black and grey orzos on reflective silver vinyl background

5 x 5 Earth tone elephant clock

5 x 5 muted burst clock on aluminum

8 x 8 yellow and white orzo pattern clock on aluminum

I've had a few orders during the cold months online, even one from Australia (which is super hot right now, but I'll take it)!  I'm working on scheduling shows and building inventory.  I'm excited about the new work I'm tinkering with and haven't even scratched the surface of possibilities!  Not enough hours in the day!

In the Middle of the Night III

Sometimes my occasional insomnia-riddled nights can be productive.  Last night was one such occasion.

I have lots of found fabric scanned, and love the old-timey patterns and color combos.  Since I can't sew, and really don't have time to learn, I decided to keep digital images to be used later and put the fabric up for sale so it can fulfill its destiny of usefulness (as seen in my posts on frameables and fabric).  This has worked pretty well, with many pieces of my kins' scraps scattered throughout the country, and even across the pond!  I have kept a few pieces that are just too beautiful to let go, and perhaps someday will be able to use them in their actual capacity.  But until then, it's digital and handmade collages for these guys!

I just came across a new box of scraps, and there are signs that these were saved to become a crazy quilt.  It was like Christmas when I opened it up!

Smells just like I knew it would.  Old and musty!

Retro kitchen goodness!

The blue gingham background and yellow with white flower hair fabrics
have been sold off to Portland and Kalamazoo, respectively.

 I already had the black images saved and have used them in vinyl form, but, as I mentioned before, I'd like to do some prints/reproductions of some work this year, and this is a step in that process.  I've also been using A LOT of scraps and fabric-papers (I don't know what to call it...reproductions of fabric on paper, anyway), so I had some leftovers to play around with making collages the old fashioned way.

Papers from the early 1900s to the 1970s and fabric papers from this year.

I just have to keep telling myself that there are no rules and it's a process.  Being a little out of it in the middle of the night doesn't hurt to loosen up a person, that's for sure.

I'm really excited about this new stuff and lament that there just aren't enough hours in the day to make art and live a life that includes running errands and not being a hermit constantly.  It's a good problem to have, and I feel very lucky.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Found It: BOOKS!

I found many books, primarily from the 1940s, last summer out in the sheds.  They were mostly my grandmother's romance novels (she married "late," especially for the '40s/'50s Midwest).  I originally put them in my antique mall shop, but with the fragile state of their beautiful dust jackets, I felt they were being mishandled a little too much.  I sold a few, but I thought maybe it would be better to throw them up on Etsy so the whole wide world could easily search for their titles.

So, in honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, here are a few...

Can't you just hear the sweeping score playing as they (finally, I'm sure) embrace?
"It is a story of passion, dread, struggles and strength."
That clears it right up.

Double novel!
Party Line:  A telephone worker knows everything about her small town's goings on.
Out on a Limb: Baker's autobiography about losing a leg (a limb!) at a young age.

Forbidden romance!
A titan of industry!
World War One looms...

Love in a church...

This book spawned four movies about Tammy, a girl who grew up on a boat.

Look at that guy in beige!  Nerd!
A young gal takes in an orphan and fends off suitors. 

Some of the online reviews are pretty funny, and don't seem anything like what the covers and end papers depict, but that seems to be the way it goes.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, if you are a person who likes to send flowers to your favorite people, please make the order NOW and DO NOT use an online/telephone conglomerate (you'll be wasting your money).  Call your local florist.  Be a pal.

P.S. I will be working at a flower shop Valentine's week, and have for the last five years, so I kind of know what I'm talking about here.

January is for Experimenting

Although I don't feel like I have enough time to really really experiment as much as I want with new materials and mixes of media, January gives me a few weeks of relative quiet, so I try to put some time in at the "lab."  This year I'd like to add reproductions to my repertoire. (Commonly called "prints" by the layperson--and myself until a few months ago.  There's a difference between printmaking and reproducing work that is not made by printmaking.  Okay!) My aversion of technology and spending money intersect in this endeavor, and that is why I've put it off so long.  But I'm researching local companies and will not settle for something less than perfect.  I don't want it to look like I just printed it off at home on lightweight paper.  My peeps deserve quality!

Here's a little behind the scenes...

Found lumber and a stain made of acrylic paint.

I just started painting whatever I could find so I didn't waste any stain.

I flipped over the green one since I'm just experimenting...

  And here's a little of what happened after a few hours with my scrap paper, scissors, and adhesive...

This is why I keep everything!  So I can use it.

Pulled out the old paper punches...

What's this going to be?! Not sure yet, but I'm excited to find out.

Add a little Zevon to anything and it makes me happy.

The flip side of a small block of unfinished wood.

Tiny 3 x 2" scrap of MDF left over from the table top clocks.

So...more playing around and maybe some fun stuff to come.

Meanwhile, I'm working on applying to shows and padding my inventory for the year. 

Just Listed: Lots of Mother Goose Stuff!

I have, for some reason, many Mother Goose books.  I love the imagery but do not have an appropriate spot to use all the pages I've found, so I thought I'd share.  There are currently thirty color book plates from Mother Goose rhymes alone in The Retro Ranch's Etsy store...and more to come, I'm sure!  I'm also putting some in my antique mall booth, so we'll see who wins: the internet or KC browsers.

Also, check out one of the illustrators, Lois Lemski!  Her work is great and she was quite prolific.

 Right now my booth space doesn't look as sharp as I'd like, especially since I visited Austin and saw some incredible displays in their many funky thrift and antique shops.  I'll be working on it in the next few weeks.

Hopefully there's an after to this before shot:

Let's get spiffed up, shall we?

I think I want to add some light blue to the display, but the frigid weather has made it kind of impossible to paint outside and painting inside will kill our birds and not do much for the other creatures inhabiting the house, either.  We'll see!