Mark Jenkins Embedded #4

Check out more at his site:
http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html

I really hate to move on to a new post..looking at Gaiman/Ross going at it just cracks me up every time I see it (sorry Neil!! I think Neil turned about fifty shades of red)

Heads up, this Saturday, Violet's Rubber Stamp Inn in Ventura is having their last class before Violet closes the doors this month.

FYI, classes this weekend: Agoura, Ventura and Los Angeles.

Text as Art (for the last time locally in 2007) at Paper Post in Agoura this Friday
(818) 865 0702:




On Saturday, August 4th, I will be at Violet's Rubber Stamp Inn in Ventura (805) 648 7610 debuting a brand new class, A Few of My Favorite Things Book (not only are we making a book but also learning new mixed media paint and collage techniques on the pages) while we say "THANKS" to Violet for the past several wonderful years of classes, fun goodies in the shop and just all out and out for a wonderful time!





Then on Sunday, before I pack my bags and head to Art Unraveled in Phoenix, I'll be teaching my Layered & Textured Journal class at Stampin' From the Heart in L.A. (310) 391 0466. Not only are we making a book in this class but we're going to be exploring various Acrylic Gels and mediums:

These are my last local Southern California classes before I hit the road for August. I have several mixed media, acrylic paint, collage, composition and design, bookbinding, and art journaling classes lined up for the month of August. Catch me at:

Art Unraveled in Phoenix

The Stamp Act in Marshfield, MA

Rubber Chicken Stamp Art Store in Gaithersburg, MD

Please note, I bring all supplies needed to complete the project unless noted in the supply list (please check the supply lists!!!). I do not travel lightly and I bring a ton of STUFF for classes including Professional Grade Acrylics (NO cheapie stuff with me!!) and Mediums. TSA loves me!! LOL

Even More Comic Con pictures-

Photo of Jonathan Ross snogging Neil Gaiman:

Neil Gaiman at Stardust panel:

James Jean signing my book:

Tristan and I in Hell Hall trying not to freeze. He's sound asleep and I'm trying to hold his head up:
Jill Thompson!!
****

And file under WTF, from today's Democracy Now:

NYC Proposes Strict Rules on Taking Photos or Video in Public
In New York, the city is proposing new rules to require many photographers and camera operators to obtain permits before taking photos or shooting video in the city. Under the proposal, any group of two or more people using a handheld camera in one location for more than thirty minutes would be required to have a permit and $1 million in insurance. In addition small groups using a single tripod for more than ten minutes would be forced to obtain a permit and insurance. On Friday over 400 people rallied in Union Square to protest the proposed rules.

• Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel: "We are a city and a country that values free expression and to say to people who have cameras that they have to get permits if they are there for a certain period of time or if they have a tripod seems to me to be trampling on people's first amendment rights and we in NY need to speak up and speak up now cut otherwise we will wake up and our rights will have eroded."

Over 6,000 people, including Michael Stipe and Patti Smith have signed a petition in recent days opposing the city's proposal.

And Ray Bradbury had the gall to say we are not under surveillance and that the current administration is doing the right thing...ARGH!!!!!!!!

More Comic Con Stuff-

The amazing Barron Storey...

James Jean!!
My Stash! Books from Murphy Design: Oil, Brandon Boyd's first book, Cathie Bleck's book; CJ & Miss Mindy aka Artists Sisters Book; a Tara McPherson figure; Vertigo's Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Illlustration Book Pro 1; Dave McKean's Postcard from Vienna and Postcard from Barcelona

Finally got my hands on Eddie Campbell's Black Diamond Detective Agency...unfortunately, the husband squirreled that and From Hell away and wrapped them in plastic.
More Highlights of Comic Con:

From Thursday-
Time in Hell Hall, I mean Hall H where the line snaked out the door, around the side of the building, back into the building for what seemed like miles...
At the Paramount Pictures screening where we were treated to not only freebies (new t-shirts for David-YES!) but also sneak peeks at: Iron Man, Star Trek, STARDUST (!!), Beowulf, Spiderwick Chronicles, Indiana Jones and...and a look at Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd poster featuring Mr Depp looking quite like Mr Burton LOL. I can't wait for that one!

Seeing Mr. Ray Harryhausen not once but in two different panels.

The Spotlight on George Romero with the funny as hell Max Brooks (I've seen the Zombie Survival Guide but now I have to go check out his other book World War Z).

UPA: Mavericks, Magic & Magoo-cartoons, cartoons and more cartoons...

Friday-

Grim Adventures/Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends "Talk"-Yes folks, this was Tristan's "must see" event. Now, I do like Foster's and from Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, I'm a huge Fred Fred Burger fan but that's about it. I think I slept through the panel once I found out that the Fred Fred Burger voice actor, C.H. Greenblatt was NOT on the panel.

Meeting James Jean at the adhouse books booth. There were some very nice people in line in that booth!

Attending the 300 and Blade Runner panel. That was great! I haven't seen 300 yet and am not sure I'm going to but we did get a video greeting from Gerard Butler. Frank Miller, Zach Snyder and company were there. Even better was the Blade Runner panel. Now, I have to confess, I have not seen Blade Runner *yet*. Many an opportunity has been presented to watch it on TV or DVD but the husband insists that it must be seen in the theatre on the big screen. Ripley Scott and several members of the cast were there. James Hong had me rolling.

Seeing Ray Wise walking down the hall.

The Treasures from the ASIFA Vault screening-MORE cartoons!

The Eisners-Oh My God was that fun. We sat in the front (as close as we could). Bill Morrison hosted as Jane Wiedlin assisted in presenting the awards, directing the winners off the stage and giving out hugs and smooches. Morrison was dead on-great great host. It was over 3 hours long, modeled after the Oscars, but it was well worth it. I loved seeing Jill Thompson, Neil Gaiman, James Jean, Jonathan Ross, and more. Watching Jonathan Ross snog Neil Gaiman was frickin' funny as hell (read Gaiman's account here.) It was a ton of fun even though at times I wanted to hog tie my child and put him in the corner. Poor boy. He was tired as the whole trip we got up ridiculously early and went to bed ridiculously late. Next year we are going to see how feasible it is to stay in the Gaslamp area.

Saturday-

HUGE HUGE highlight of the day-THEY OPENED THE EXHIBIT HALL EARLY. That was EFFING AMAZING. I LOVED being let in a full 30 minutes early. Thank you thank you thank you CCI Staff.

The Simpsons Panel in Hell Hall. Now that was funny. The only bad thing is, not being able to get Spider Pig out of my head...

I don't think that I told you that I was practically hanging out at the Allen Spiegel booth Wednesday through Saturday waiting for Barron Storey to show up. Saturday afternoon, I had been by the booth at least 4 times that day to see and we were about to leave as I was getting more tired and cranky by the minute. I didn't see Barron and we started to walk by the booth when who do I see sitting there-OMG! FINALLY! I waited my turn (as he was talking to someone) and went up to him with my copies of Marat/Sade Journals and Life After Black. Now, I'm used to artists saying hi, asking your name and making small talk but was shocked as hell that he actually started talking to me. He was genuinely interested in what I thought of his work, how I found out about his artwork, etc... I was pretty beat and wiped out by Saturday afternoon and was lucky enough to remember even my name so I probably sounded like an idiot (David said "You just sounded like a fan." *sigh* Great...) As I babbled on about loving his work he mentioned that he had some art at the Bert Green Fine Art Gallery in L.A. (FYI, Clive Barker has a show there this Fall.)

We traipsed back to Hell Hall for a few minutes to catch the Disney/Pixar screening for Prince Caspian...didn't stay long though as David and I both wanted to catch Scott Shaw's Oddball Comics Panel. I haven't laughed that hard since I spent some time with Alix and Kathy. THAT was a great panel and I can't wait for that one again next year. Where can I buy a DVD?

The Ray Harryhausen/Ray Bradbury Panel-Now, I have been a huge huge fan of both Rays since I was a teen. Seeing them together was a treat. Now, the huge disappointment of the day was finding out that Ray Bradbury has done a total 180 and is not the same man he used to be.
I won't rant but I'm very sad about this. All I'll say is that I won't ever buy another Bradbury book and if I do want to read his older books (if I don't have them) I will check them out of the library. After his little "rant" at the end of the panel, we all left (as did most in the room) and we were walking to another panel when we heard "Mr. Bradbury is leaving. Make room." Now, Bradbury is in a wheelchair. The next thing I see is a mere foot from me is Bradbury FLYING in his frickin wheelchair TOWARDS TRISTAN. Tristan had slept through the whole thing and was still trying to wake up. I moved Tristan out of the way as Bradbury brushed me with his goddamn wheelchair. David says it's quite ironic that bit and he wished he had it on tape.

Spotlight on Roy Thomas Panel-Now, I have to admit I'm still learning about comics history and I was a wee bit lost on most of what Roy Thomas and Mark Evanier were talking about but it was interesting! We attended a killer panel with Evanier last year talking to Jerry Robinson. I would definitely say for 2008, go out of your way to see an Evanier panel. This man knows his stuff.

This is the first time that we were able to attend Comic Con for more than a day and a half and we loved every minute of it (even when I was a bitch and bitching about how tired I was). People bitch about the crowds...come on, folks it is once a year. People bitch about the movie stuff. People bitch about how some parts of Con are one big advertisement for the movie industry. Yet, where the hell else would you get to walk down the aisles and see other artists and writers in the Comic Book World that you admire? (I saw Jill Thompson at the Greg Spalenka booth buying jewelry!! THAT was a thrill). Where the hell else would you get to see and listen to people like Ray Harryhausen or Jerry Robinson or Neil Gaiman talk? Where the hell else would you get to see vendors with Silver Age and Golden Age Comics treating the books with respect and the actual art that they are. We're already counting the days down til July 2008 for the next Comic Con...now we just have to find a frigging hotel room.

Home From Comic Con-quickie post

Photos from Wednesday night:

Waiting for the doors to open


Wed night after 9 pm, exhibit hall closed, the sea of people pour out looking for food, drinks and good company

I'm back! I'm tired. I could sleep for a week. My feet are throbbing. My shoulder is killing me (whoever the hell suggested a "man purse" vs. a back pack I might throttle). I'm sick of eating out (whoever thought that could happen). I'm tired of walking. I hate crowds..
BUT I LOVED Comic Con 2007. Damn. It was that good.
Here's my quickie post about highlights from Wednesday night:
Arrived Wednesday later then planned. Parking under the convention center was full (shit!) thankfully the Petco center lot wasn't (yay!). Got through the line in unbelievable lightning speed with badges in hand. Damn, they are getting better and better at that every year (Thanks guys!)
Did not do a damn thing with that little journal and pens that I lugged around all weekend. Spent most of my time talking to David, Tristan or people around me and listening to people around me.
Wednesday night, the doors opened to the exhibit halls and we all poured in. No panels Wednesday night so we shopped 'til we dropped.

Highlights:

Andy Runton remembered Tristan's name. That was sweet.

Eddie Campbell -snagging a copy of Black Diamond Detective Agency and not only did he sign BDDA but I also had our copy of From Hell which he drew in-cool beans. Thanks Eddie. I can't wait to sit down with BDDA.

Seeing CJ Metzger & Miss Mindy (aka the Artists Sisters) and Miss Mindy remembering me! I bought a copy of their book and wish I had more $ to buy all of the art in their booth.

No Dave McKean DVD at Comic Con but I did get some of his books at the Allen Spiegel booth...I think they wanted to kill me 'cause I kept walking by looking for Barren Storey.

Bad things about Con on Wednesday night:
The damn hotel I picked. Blah. I'd never stay here again not for $130 a night. Best Western at Posada in San Diego sucks donkey balls for $130 a night. It was clean but the light was missing the lampshade. The fridge didn't work. One light didn't work. The shower was a trickle-seriously. It wasn't bad, but for that much $ I wanted something a little nicer...oh, and Cartoon Network coming in on a regular basis on the TV for the boy would've been better. The grand thing that set me off was that I had called the hotel a week before asking them if they had a computer. I was told YES. I asked them if they had internet access for their guests to use on the computer-ditto, YES. I asked them something else about computer use but it all boiled down to YES we have a computer in the lobby for you to use. SO we went out and bought a USB drive and put our info on it. We get to the hotel that night-no computer. They have wireless in the lobby but that was it. The guy (who was sick and kept sniffling so much that when I got out to the car I ran alcohol baby wipes not only over my hands but also my credit card, drivers license and Best Western card) looked at me like I was insane (grrr).

I'll post more on the rest of the week and what goodies I found later...right now I need a nap.

Some more pages (done last night while watching PBS) from that book I've been working in:

not anywheres near done but here's some more doodling. The damn duck just cracks me up.
Oh yeah, doodles done with Sharpie Poster Paint (waterbased pens), some weird white chalk marker I had (I can't remember the name brand it was thick-it made the tree and took forever to dry), Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze & Souffle pens.

see what happens when you let a 10 year old loose with a camera? i love these pictures...



Just in case I can't update the blog from Comic Con...here are some things to keep you busy from my bookmarks:

Illustration Friday even is talking about Comic Con!

David Choong Lee-Oh frigging A! Lee is going to be at Comic Con. For those of you who don't know his work, RUN RUN RUN. Do NOT walk. Get thee to an online site and scope out his work. I've seen copies of some of the books he is in at Soap Plant/Wacko in L.A. if that helps. I LOVE his work.


Egg Basket Full of Hollyhock Dolls


swallowfield


Jesse Reno


Oh Joy!


Illustration :: IllustrationMundo.com


freedomwigMartha Rich


Daily Dolan Geiman


Treats & Treasures


On My Desk: Creative folk share the stuff on their desks


Penelope Illustration


Penelope's links will keep you busy forever


Mosaic Maker: Create a photo mosaic from your digital photographs


Funny Cartoon Of The Week: Kyle Baker


Flickr: Photos from Christina Romeo


Etsy :: Heather91Etsy ::



Textile Art, Paintings, & Illustrations........



Type is Art : An Interactive Exploration of the Typographic Form



Frédéric Back, caring together


Mike Perry



Midwestisbest


bookandpaper.org - information on bookandpaper.org


Smitten Kitchen


Mary Heebner • artist books, paintings, mixed media works on paper


christina mazzalupo


XT DECOR MAG


Eloole ›› Welcome to My Website


Fwis • Readymech Series 002


Katherine Dunn


Dancing Elephant Studio


Gina & Matt


Gianpaolo Pagni


Pasqualina Azzarello-Little Red Studio


More Pasqualina Azzarello


Draw anyway


Stone Balancer


Niki Kelce


Julien Pacaud

Has anyone else been watching PBS' broadcast of Simon Schama's Power of Art the last few weeks?





I've been watching the series religiously. Next week's show is on Rothko and is the last of the series. Um, who do we need to persuade to get Mr. Schama to do MORE shows. This is one of the best damn things I've ever watched.

Last night's episode was on J. M. W. Turner. *gasp*! "Painter of light" indeed. Did you know that he kept one fingernail long so that he could scratch and scrape into the paintings? The texture, the depth, the light, THE COLORS...

" ... my job is to draw what I see, not what I know." Turner

One of the great stories they told was of a potential student who was seeking Turner out. It wasn't uncommon for Turner to have layers of paint under his nails and on his fingers. Turner took the student's lily white hands in his own and said "You're no artist..." LOL.

You can watch video clips of the show here. There is a companion book as well. My only fault with the series is that there are only 8 shows.

NO Harry Potter Spoilers in this post at all!!








I finished the book. Damn. 10 years it's been since the first book came out. My boy is 10!! My Dad was right when he said to me when Tristan was born how fast time goes by...
Any ways, I LOVED the book. I do hope that she does continue writing (not necessarily HP related books, I mean just writing-I Love her writing). I might go back and re read all of the books. Let's just say yesterday was spent devouring the book and I loved every minute of it!! And Jill, yes, my favorite swear word at the moment is now going to be BITCH! Leave it to a redhead, huh? Love the Weasleys...

The above pictures are of a funky version of my "Graffito" book class-it's the book that I've been working in the last few days. I made the "book" part of it (with the painted pages) a few weeks ago. I decided that I wanted something that I could bring with me to Comic Con with a few pens to "play and doodle in". So, that's my game plan for now...The pages are far from finished but it is fun working in it as much as I can...

I went to bed with it (up til 2 a.m. last night with it):

I didn't wake up with it (the rental car needed to be returned and errands needed to be done first), though it was at arm's reach.
I spent 3 hours this afternoon with it. I am half way through with it.
Yet, the family doesn't understand why I don't want to be interrupted. The phone keeps ringing. I did make time to cut Tristan's hair before he complains about it being too long again for the gazillionth time. I guess I will make dinner...but off to spend more time with Harry first.
No art today, I am thinking at the moment. I'm too engrossed with Harry, Ron & Hermione!

OH! I am going to try to post from Comic Con! I don't know if I will be able to as it solely depends on computer access at the hotel...but I'm going to try!

What I was going to do...






What I *was* going to to with this post-

I was going to post about the amazingly fun day I had teaching at Violets Rubber Stamp Inn in Ventura (folks, she's closing in a few weeks so check her out NOW. The LAST class is my class, Saturday, August 4th.)

I was going to post about snagging a copy of the Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows at the bookstore at 9 a.m. and walking out with a grin. I was going to post about how I just couldn't wait and I read the chapter by chapter "blurbs" on wikipedia yesterday afternoon. Mum is the word, of course, unless you ask me what happens...and no one else is around, I'll tell you.

I was going to post about my friend Lorraine giving me an amazing necklace that I just am treasuring...and the beads she gave me for Bead For Life.

I was going to post about how I came home and found not one but TWO boxes waiting for me...and how generous Gwen in AZ is with the goodies she sent me in exchange for books I sent her...OR how frickin' amazingly cool the wallpaper is that I ordered from Mary Ann. I am still shaking my head at how FAST the package arrived (Thanks M.A.!!!) and that it is DECORATED in true Dispatch style!!

I was going to post at how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jesse Reno's book and that I think it is one of the BEST books that I have EVER bought and how much I just want to wrap myself in the pages...and that there is a lot of PINK in it...and Jesse is a MAN and I love artists who embrace pink.

I was going to do all of that...but I'm tired.

Some people have asked me over the years what I like to listen to while I "make stuff"...here's an extremely short, but sweet list of some of my favorite things to listen to:

The Amazing Jean Shepherd (the above is the cover of a book by Eugene B. Bergmann on Shep-I'm reading the book now and loving it!) You will often hear Shep being played in this house-two or three shows a day is not uncommon...

Talking Heads...can't get any better then this...

Old Time Radio reigns in this home. The Phil Harris/Alice Faye is one of many shows that we love to listen to (Jack Benny, X Minus One, Inner Sanctum, etc... also top the list).

Another top fave, Oingo Boingo another band that I never tire of listening to...Danny Elfman's movie scores are brilliant...

Lennon. I don't need to say anything else. I was listening to Lennon & The Beatles while the other kids were listening to Duran Duran and other 80's music...Yup. Wish both him and Harrison were still around *sigh*

The Pogues...and it ain't just 'cause they're Irish

Dino...proof that I possibly was born in the wrong era...LOL I LOVE Dean Martin, Sinatra, Crosby, and music of that time...

Tori Tori Tori...her latest album is bloody brilliant, as usual...

Got turned onto this one while walking around the bookstore one day...I couldn't leave without the CD and have been playing it non stop since...

One of my favorite rock bands...I saw them on tour many a times and damn, they were good...yup, I like the hard rock stuff ;)

I could play "The Road I Must Travel" from this CD and not get sick of it...

Other things heard in the Kilmer household:

Democracy Now!-one of our news sources

KPFK Pacifica radio-another news source, great music (you won't hear elsewhere) and they play old time radio the first Monday night of every month

This American Life-we get the podcasts and listen every so often

Harry Shearer's Le Show-another one we listen to every so often

Oh yes, and Friday wouldn't be Friday without Madly Cocktail and the Great Kahuna on KSCN.

Um, I bought a book: I'm blaming Teesha ;) she mentioned it in the latest Art & Life and since I haven't been on our "regular book store rounds" in a longggggg time, I've missed this one. You can order it directly from the publisher here. They have COOL stuff and more in the works. Jesse Reno's website will keep you busy for a long time in-deedy! Because my sister loves to read my blog and rag on how I write, I'll end with this. I am extremely giddy with anticipation to get this book in my hands!

I know, second post of the day but I thought I'd let you know that I'll be teaching a variety of workshops across the U.S. this summer.






I hope that everyone is having a great summer!

I will be teaching a variety of mixed media workshops on bookbinding, art journaling, mixed media techniques, collage, acrylic painting, composition, design, and more over the next few months:

• 8/5-12 AZ Workshops Art Unraveled http://www.artunraveled.com/
• 8/17-19 MA Workshops http://www.thestampactstore.com/
• 8/24-26 MD Workshopshttp://www.rubberchickenstampart.com/
  
• 9/15-16th No CA Workshopshttp://art-play.blogspot.com/
  
• 9/29-30th No CA Workshops http://www.sanctuarystudio.com/workshops.html
  

There is something for everyone in the classes:
Collage, Bookbinding, Mixed Media Techniques Galore
-all new techniques, tips and tricks! Techniques that can be applied to art journaling, collage, canvas, cigar boxes, ATCs, altered books, and much, much more! I gear my classes for beginners TO advanced and I have a lot of repeat students eager for more. I have over 300 classes and I try to make each of my classes different and unique.

Samples are in the stores and/or online.

If you have questions, please drop me a note. To sign up, please contact the appropriate venue.

Thanks!
Kelly

Countdown to Comic Con-One week from today!!
Here is the short, but sweet list of what I am looking for at Comic Con and the various artists/vendors that I am looking to visit. If you see a frenzied redhead, say hi!

Eddie Campbell (Who will be at the Topshelf Booth, Booth 1721). Y'all know how much we love Campbell's work in this house:


C.J. Metzger and her equally talented and amazing sister, Miss Mindy-Booth 4717:if you heard me screaming and drooling last year it was over their work. I LOVE their work. OMG, if I could've afforded to have packed up their whole booth and schlepped it home with me, I would've:



James Jean, you've heard me rave enough 'bout his art and you know this is big time on my list for Wed night. Adhouse Books is selling it, booth 2104:So last night, I went through the list at the Comic Con site (not that I won't have enough time to look through the BOOK with all of the time I'm sure we will be spending in line). Here are short list of some of my "must see" booths:

FSC (Foo Swee Chin) will be there but I am not sure where yet! Last year she kept trying to feed me milano cookies. Oh! I found it: Vuduberi booth 119, Nekopress booth 1622

Murphy Design booth 4933-I think I own every book he's every published.

Scott Morse 4800-I love his colors and concepts...

The Boy wants to go to Lego first thing for his beloved Bionicle toys...

Kinokuniya 5452-yes, the Japanese bookstore has a booth at Con! How cool is that?

Giant Robot 1729

Greg Spalenka 4704-a few years back I went ga ga at his booth when after being at Con all day and finding nothing, I was ecstatic to find his artwork and him in person!

Buenaventura 1630-Home to Souther Salazar and much more...a fave publisher

IDW 2229 -I can't remember why I want to go here..LOL that's pretty bad, huh?

Gama Go 4838 -Love their shirts!

Stuart NG 5113-dangerous dangerous place for the husband to go to...

Tara McPherson 5022 -oh I love her work!!!

Allen Spiegel 4701-is where I think Barron Storey will be...but don't quote me...I went nuts looking for it on the web as someone said he would be at Con but damfino if I can find it!

Mile High 5423 -ditto on dangerous places for the husband

Vanguard Productions 1607-publisher of Barron Storey and much much more...I have lots of their books. The Edge is a fave publication of mine...

Baby Tattoo 601

Last Gasp!

Artists Alley-
Bill Sienkiewicz CC 16 'nuff said

Peter Kuper DD04-new book!

Also looking forward to seeing Ray Bradbury & Ray Harryhausen.

To name a few...

I wish Bill Koeb was going to be there...

If you see someone with scraps of paper, a glue stick, some pens and her journal, it's me. Say hi.

I was recently interviewed on a blog called Salary Stories that profiles different careers and information regarding those careers. You can read my interview here. Thank you Michael for the opportunity!! I appreciate it immensely.

Just a heads up, I'm 32. There was an error in my "years of experience". It should read 10 but it reads 21. ;)

Also, the blurb on the "average salary" is TOTALLY off for how much I make. I'm not whining or complaining, I am simply stating a fact. *I* make (after my expenses) minimum wage averaging a take home salary of about $20,000 a year. I absolutely love what I do and I really hope that I can continue to do this in the coming years. I wouldn't change anything for the world...

After being good for a few weeks, I kinda broke down yesterday:




We had the rental car until two yesterday afternoon and I ran around and did some errands. On the way to the grocery store, I decided to go a little further then the grocery store and head to PULP on La Brea, one of my favorite paper stores. I passed on the Bush Biscuits (even though I was tempted to get one for my sister's dog), but at $2 they're half the price of a piece of paper!
Five sheets of paper, two rolls, two postcards, a Catalina Estrada greeting card and a pad of paper and I was outta there. The man at the register was a sweetheart-cracked me up. He asked us not to leave and "leave him alone". I love the people that work at this store they are usually very pleasant and helpful. I always leave with a smile (though my wallet is aching).

*****

I love this site.

*****

Today's Democracy Now is a must listen to here, here and here.

Daily life in Iraq.

Just a quickie reminder, I'm ordering the Caran d'ache Neo Art Watersoluble Wax Pastels THIS week. If you are interested, give me a holler, but make it soon please ;)

These are not the skinny minnies. These are the big, fat, chunky watersoluble wax pastels. These are the Grand Daddy of all mixed media supplies. These are my FAVORITE art supply! They last for years (I still have my original set from 8 years ago-it's the one that my students use in my classes now!!). They "blend" with anything "wet" or you can use a rag (or paper towel) like I do to blend them into the page. I have mine thrown in a bag and I take 'em everywhere.

I've compiled a list of my favorite colors that I'm going to be ordering in a "Special Kelly Set".

These are the colors:

GOLDEN YELLOW
ICE BLUE
GOLD
SILVER
COBALT VIOLET
WHITE
BLACK
PURPLISH RED
LEMON YELLOW
SPRING GREEN
AZURITE BLUE
BURNT SIENNA
moss green
Saffron
Carmine
Night blue
Malachite green
Permanent blue
Russet
Ochre

The crayons retail now at about $4.50 per crayon BUT I am selling them for $3 per crayon. So for the special Kelly set of all 20 crayons (from the list above) it would be $60 plus $6 insured priority mail shipping ($66 total). Paypal, check or money order are fine :)

I can also get "sets" though keep in mind that the full box set is now being sold in the wooden box only (for which they charge an additional $100 for :P). In the future, if I can get enough people interested, I can order the whole set of 60 "open stock". These are the colors that I use most of all though, FYI!!!

These are hard to find and hard to find at this price, so heads up. Drop me an email with your email if you are interested. Thanks!

Previous Post here.

Cool zine I found at Zineland yesterday (Thanks Ruth for the heads up!!) David & I trekked over to Westwood last night to go to Zineland. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's my ear that is bothering me. Maybe it's just me. Zineland was wicked small and kinda disappointing. Now, don't get me wrong. They did have neat stuff but not what I was really looking for. The COOLEST thing I found was by an artist named Kevin Hooyman. YUM!!! Chock full of ultra cool line drawings. Of course, I could have just walked on over to Family on Fairfax and bought it there.

Any ways, the best thing about Zineland was meeting up with my friend Ruth and getting a chance to talk a wee bit and point things out "ooh look at that!" "Oooh WOW look at those colors" LOL I couldn't stay long 'cause Tristan was at a pool party and I had no idea what time the kiddo would need to be picked up...Imagine that-a night where David and I hit Zineland, Alias Books (in West L.A.), a newsstand and Borders and we only spent $14 between the 2 of us. Saving and scrimping for Comic Con and I can't wait for THIS:

Am feeling rather pissy today. Overly Hot and tired. Tristan kept me up til 2 a.m. last night. For some reason he was scared, overtired and just totally spaced out about sleeping in his bed. He fell asleep with the light and the fan on and I stayed up reading then tip toed in. *sigh* I took him with me to teach last night at Stampin On Cloud 9 in Monrovia, my last class there :( The class was awesome (huge thanks to Judy, Cheryl, Diane, Lorraine & Roseann). HE was awesome. He just played his PSP and worked in his journal. I couldn't believe how good he was (and what a help he was setting up and carrying stuff!!). Thanks My Little Man!!

Here are some cool blogs that I've found:

Treats and Treasures-LOVE her collages in various small moleskines

On My Desk-OMG I LOVE seeing what is in other people's "studios" and art rooms...if they'd focus on art bookshelves, I'd be in Heaven...

Penelope Illustration-her art just knocks my socks off!

Have a jolly day! I'm off to Zineland at the Hammer Museum. I promise I won't be pissy tomorrow.

This is a teeny tiny, itty bitty "mini zine" that I did a couple of years ago as a "teaser" of some of my ideas on Art Journaling, Collage, Mixed Media Art, Bookbinding, and more:

Where the Hell is Matt?

I know I've posted this before but I Love this video!!

Mail Art + Books in the mail=Happy Day!



Look what my friend, Jolene sent me? Is this not the coolest? I squealed when I saw it!!! Not only did she gift me with a Sandra Cisneros book but check out the cool John Lennon Mail Art. Thanks Jolene. You made my day!!!!

*****

FYI, those of you looking to make your own books, check out Shereen LaPlantz's Cover to Cover. I've long called it the Bible of Bookbinding. Stay tuned for a book arts tutorial on this site soon!

OH! I will be ordering the Caran d'ache crayons that I mentioned below next week so if you are interested, drop me a note!!

I'm going to be ordering Caran d'ache Watersoluble Wax Pastel Crayons:

These are not the skinny minnies. These are the big, fat, chunky watersoluble wax pastels. These are the Grand Daddy of all mixed media supplies. These are my FAVORITE art supply! They last for years (I still have my original set from 8 years ago-it's the one that my students use in my classes now!!). They "blend" with anything "wet" or you can use a rag (or paper towel) like I do to blend them into the page. I have mine thrown in a bag and I take 'em everywhere.

I've compiled a list of my favorite colors that I'm going to be ordering in a "Special Kelly Set".

These are the colors:

GOLDEN YELLOW
ICE BLUE
GOLD
SILVER
COBALT VIOLET
WHITE
BLACK
PURPLISH RED
LEMON YELLOW
SPRING GREEN
AZURITE BLUE
BURNT SIENNA
moss green
Saffron
Carmine
Night blue
Malachite green
Permanent blue
Russet
Ochre

The crayons retail now at about $4.50 per crayon BUT I am selling them for $3 per crayon. So for the special Kelly set of all 20 crayons (from the list above) it would be $60 plus $6 insured priority mail shipping. Paypal, check or money order are fine :)

I can also get "sets" though keep in mind that the full box set is now being sold in the wooden box only (for which they charge an additional $100 for :P). In the future, if I can get enough people interested, I can order the whole set of 60 "open stock". These are the colors that I use most of all though, FYI!!!

These are hard to find and hard to find at this price, so heads up. Drop me an email with your email if you are interested. Thanks!

Two mixed media postcards I made while teaching at Sanctuary Studio in San Anselmo:


(I couldn't get the best photos of them...sorry! They all had a glare.)

*****

Last night, David, Tristan and I took the bus up to The Hollywood and Highland Mall for a special Woody Woodpecker screening and discussion. We debated beforehand if we were actually going to go (I hate crowds and was worried it would be insane with all of the stuff going on up there that night) but I am happy to say that we did trek up there in the end!

The bus was jam packed with people. We caught the "Express" with a really, overly friendly driver too. Wow, did he go out of his way to help us (not). They closed off Hollywood so he had to go down Sunset, up Highland and then stopped at Hollywood & Highland. Crazy L.A. They often close down that little strip and it makes life crazy insane.

I can't tell you how many people asked if we were in line for "Harry Potter" (no. Then they'd look at us like we had twelve heads when we said Woody Woodpecker. HUH? I wanted to tell them we were in line for free drugs but kept my mouth shut.)

The show started late. David always likes to sit down front while I prefer to sit in the back. However, with the "discussion", I opted for sitting three rows from the front, right in the middle. Of course, then I wished I had duct tape the whole time with the blonde sitting to my right who had ants in her pants and couldn't sit still. The boy and his Mom in front of her who kept LEAVING. And of course, the people behind us who wouldn't shut up-EVER. Of course 2 people from each of those groups were the ones who won the Woody Woodpecker DVD at the end of the night. LOL, of course! Why give it to someone who actually WANTS it? (Have I ever mentioned that my family is a little batty over animation?)

We were treated to a fabulous "discussion" and talk with Phil Roman (he worked on The Simpsons, and the original How The Grinch Stole Christmas, to name a few things...), Maurice LaMarche ("The Brain" from Pinky & The Brain and LOTS of other films), Billy West (Futurama, Ren & Stimpy and TONS more), Leonard Maltin (the Film Critic and Animation Historian), and lastly, the Queen of Cartoons, June Foray (Rocky! From Rocky & Bullwinkle, Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch, and much much MUCH more). It was a total thrill to see all of them. June, Billy & Maurice all did voices of several of their famous characters (Maurice does a dead on Orson Welles. Billy had me rolling! June is -wow- it was really really cool seeing June Foray in person). They all had lots of behind the scenes stories that made the whole event worth attending.

The discussion lasted about 90 minutes. Tristan found out that Maurice & Billy had done several of his favorite cartoon character voices and wanted autographs. Since he wouldn't go alone, I obliged and was the "good Mom" and went up with him to ask for autographs (I hate asking for autographs but what can you do when he's 10?! LOL). Both men were extremely sweet and shook Tristan's hands.

We stayed for all of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons-a little disappointed that they were video and that they had several problems with the sound (more than once). Also they said that they'd play a Chilly Willy cartoon and a couple of others (they didn't). Several of the people around us left including those who had won the DVDs (grrr). They had really really cool Woody Woodpecker figures that they said they were going to give away (they didn't).

All in all, the night was good. It was a treat seeing cartoons that I grew up with on the big screen. The only ones I don't remember seeing were Oswald and the musical numbers that they played.

Afterwards, we all had rumbling bellies and trekked over to Mel's Diner on Highland. It was 11:15 and the place was hopping. This is the second time I've been to Mel's in about a month and both times it's been extremely disappointing (food wise and service wise). We'll see if we go back any time soon...

I gotta tell you, walking home through the streets of Hollywood at midnight is quite an adventure. It usually takes us at least an hour. We made it home in 30 minutes. LOL Yeah, we were walking a little fast...

A small teaser of what I've been working on for the last month:



*Evil, maniacal laugh* mwa haa haaaaaaaaaa (actually not evil, but maniacal, maybe... ;) )

I am hoping to be able to release more info on this special project by the end of the summer.

All I'll say is for now:

Goal: 80 pages

Pages done so far: 10 (I can churn 'em out though once I start)

Size: TBA

Format: Mwahhaaa TBA!!!

Those of you that have been asking me about "this" will be VERY happy-I hope. I am so far!!!

1. keeping faith, 2. Hmmmm, 3. no life lost, 4. Expressive eyes, 5. Look into my eyes..., 6. Keiki Hula Dancer, 7. Koh-i-Noor, 8. broken down, 9. saving to get home, 10. gabriel's return, 11. Sioukin, 12. Faces | Eyes.., 13. Grief, 14. Peer, 15. indelible, 16. when summer is gone, we are left out in the cold, 17. Grayscale Freckles, 18. [firsts] thirty-something, 19. In the dark, 20. Look at me !, 21. Pug Chan, 22. Funny, 23. Half a million views today..., 24. ?

Happy Birthday David!!


I know I'm cheating by posting last year's birthday cake (see the chocolate inside-the cake was supposed to be all vanilla. The husband is not a chocolate fan at all so needless to say the wife was a little pissed...) BUT the husband has not seen his birthday cake yet and it's a surprise...

Happy Birthday, honey!!

OK, I want to make sure y'all know the proper way to affix U.S. Priority Mail Postage Stamps.

Info I wrote up awhile back on Acrylics, Acrylic Mediums and the like:

I hope this helps clear up the confusion on acrylics, gel mediums, etc...I wrote this several years ago on various acrylics and acrylic mediums. If you have more questions, drop me a note.

Gel Medium-you can use this as a "glue" or as a sealer. I prefer the Soft Gel Gloss or Regular Gel Gloss. The "Matte" has a substance in it (to dull the gloss) so if it is built up it can look cloudy. You can also use it as a texture gel. The best way to apply it is THIN and to the back of your image. I place the image then on the surface I am gluing onto & rub w/ a paper towel or rag. If working in a book, i do not place glue over the top of the image. This will help to prevent pages from sticking. Also, you only need ONE kind of gel medium. To thicken it up, scoop some out and put it on your palette. Let it sit for 30 to 60 minutes-voila heavier gel medium! To thin it down if it is too thick, put some gloss medium (fluid) into it.

The companies I buy from are Nova Color (www.novacolorpaints.com/) in L.A., Golden Paints, Lascaux and Winsor Newton. Invest in a few tubes (5 or 6 colors at most) of acrylics. You do NOT need every color. I teach a class called the Wonderful World of Color Theory where we make every color of the rainbow using about 6 colors: Quin Magenta, Phthalo Blue, Azo Yellow Medium, Titanium White, Burnt Sienna and Black. My personal palette adds Paynes Grey & Titan Buff to those colors...

The best way to apply acrylics is thin and in layers. If you want it thick, make sure you can leave your book open and let it dry properly. Acrylics dry fast if applied thinly. Remember: waxed paper between the pages. The way I paint is to apply the paint in layers and wipe each layer w/ rags or paper towels. I actually scrub and swipe the page!!! Then place waxed paper between each page.

The only difference in the paints-tube vs. jar is the consistency. If the tube paints or jar paints are too thick, put some gloss medium into them. Gloss medium will also "extend" the amount of paint you have (DO NOT buy extender though that will extend the drying time). 50/50 with the acrylics is a good ratio. You won't lose pigment if you buy a good quality acrylic.

Terms:

Fluid Medium-available in matte (matte has a substance in it to dull the gloss. If you apply it in layers it has the tendency to look 'cloudy'), gloss (if you get a high quality product like Golden or Nova Color, you have to add several layers for it to look high intense gloss), polymer medium, fluid matte medium, fluid medium-you can use these for collage but I have found them to be too 'wet' of a glue. What I like to do is to add any of these (my fave is either gloss medium or polymer medium) to my acrylics to 'extend the amount of paint' that I have (but do not buy what they label as extender as that extends the drying time-eek!).

Glazing liquid-available in satin, matte or gloss. I have a hard time telling the difference between all 3. Use these with any kind of acrylic to create transparent, colored glazes.

Acrylic Gesso: An acrylic ground that is flexible and is used for prepping or priming surfaces. Available in several colors including white, black, beige, brown, etc...

Acrylic Gel medium: Used to thicken or thin paints. Also used as a collage adhesive. Available in a variety of 'thicknesses' most students seem to prefer soft gel gloss or regular. Remember you can buy just one kind and if you want to thicken it, leave it on your palette for an hour or so. If you want to thin it, add polymer/gloss or matte medium to it.

Acrylic varnish: available in 3 finishes: gloss, matte and satin. Seals the surface to protect it. I use gloss medium (several coats) as a final varnish instead.

Remember the drive-in?

Well, last night for the "third time as a family" we trekked on out to the drive in theatre (thanks to the rental car. OUR car doesn't have a radio, not that it's driveable at the moment anyways...). City of Industry has the Vineland drive in. A mere half hour trek from our home, we made it there well before dusk to secure a spot that wouldn't be obscured by a humongous SUV parked backwards with the damn top up (those were all around us, but luckily I snagged a spot where the cars in front of me were normal size). The name of this post was going to be "A certain family member has no taste in movies" but I decided to forgo that post in case my sister and my brother in law read this. *ahem*

We *thought* (before I found the socaldims.com/ website printed on our receipt) that the double bill would be Ratatouille and Transformers. Nope. It was Transformers and Oceans 13. Tristan really wanted to see Transformers and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, that was his dream double bill. Needless to say, we saw Transformers. I can't remember the last time I sat through (AND PAID FOR) a movie that was THAT bad. Oh God. The people next to us rolled up their windows 'cause I think they were tired of hearing MY opinion of the piece of crap. Even my husband who never talks during films kept commenting too. They should rename the film "Ultra ridiculously expensive US Military ad with lots of really bad looking robots but cool looking cars" Whoever wrote this needs to go back to film school. Michael Bay should retire. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. It was like John Hughes meets James Cameron and total utter crap. Oh yeah, and we left right after Transformers 'cause I commented to the husband that I did not want to sit through TWO bad movies in a row.

LOL Can you tell none of us liked the film? (Even Tristan kept turning around and watching the films around us instead.)

Yet I do love the drive in experience (minus the big SUVs) and I'm looking forward to seeing a GOOD movie at the next one we go to. Damn, we should've seen Ratatouille and Pirates...

At your local newsstand:




Theme magazine in the Culture section (Borders had it with the Asian Culture magazines.)
Well worth $6. I would've paid $6 alone for the article on James Jean.

*****

Oh, and just 'cause I needed to add this. Y'all can guess how I feel about it. Wondering if Mr. Depp or Mr. Crumb have room in their French abode for a family of 3.

I will be teaching 3 fun filled classes at a very special event September 14-16th hosted by Shoshanah Jennings and Heather Simpson-Bluhm in No CA this September. Details are here and here!! I am looking forward to it!!

Day 4...aka the end of Kelly's Most Excellent Adventure

All good things must come to an end and a great way to end a 4 day Adventure is with Alix and Kathy! I met the Dynamic Duo at Bette's Diner on 4th street. They graciously forgave me for being a little late 'cause at Bette's they won't seat you unless your whole party is there-ack! I lay my entire blame of being late to the young idiot who as I turned the corner of the front desk with nine million bags in tow (yes, I do look like a bag lady and am proud of it), she cut in front of me. I calmed myself down by picturing myself plummeting her with my nine million bags, ahhh...Oh, and she was barefoot. How cute (grumble). Oh, and they didn't have the room under her first name or her S.O.'s first name...it was under her middle name. Yup, that was fun waiting to find her name. *sigh*. OK back to the good stuff...

I managed to find 4th street with no problemo! Yay! Alix and Kathy were out front. I snagged a parking spot on 4th street (Score!) We checked inside and I was treated to a typical Alix/Kathy conversation on what to order. I love these two and have never ever eaten with anyone (other then the amazingly talented Juliana Coles) who treats food with such high regard. I Loved it!! (Usually a night out for my family is pizza...*sigh*...it's nice eating like a grown up from time to time!) When I wasn't snarfing down my buttermilk pancakes, we were laughing and telling stories. After breakfast, we decided to feed our meters and then head on over to Castle in the Air. This store is a treat to the eyes. I managed to keep myself under control 100% and didn't spend more than $40 but I did walk out with some papers, an ephemera box, some stickers, etc... It was more fun shopping with Alix & Kathy and pointing things out-more laughs and giggles there. We then headed to Paper Source. Paper Source is like frickin' crack to me. I restrained myself but did manage to find some papers that *gasp* I did not have! Woo hoo!!
Lots of conversations that included Scary Rabbits-and what does Paper Source have-a Big Ass Scary, Hairy Rabbit! Ahhhhhhhh...Run!

I forgot one little thing that happened before Paper Source. Well, before we hit Castle in the Air, I put more money in my meter and scurried on over to the shop. On our way to Paper Source, I went to go into my car. Huh? I don't have a white jacket. The stupid key alarm thingee wouldn't work either. Um, you dummy! You fed someone else's meter. I look wildly around for MY rental car and find it. 17 minutes left and I'm outta quarters. *sigh* I'm not dumb..just tired lately (lots of driving and very little sleep...)

After P.S. and getting my dose of enough paper for a lifetime (ok, enough paper til I hit Paper Studio in Tempe in August). We moved our cars and went over to Cody's-mini paper score, so I didn't have enough paper. LOL Alix, Kathy and I decided to trek on over to One of the World's Most Dangerous Stamp Stores a.k.a. Stampers Warehouse. Alix was at the wheel of their car and I followed behind in the rental. Alix pointed out that I have following someone in a car down to an artform. Yay! My Dad taught me well ;)

We arrived at Stampers Warehouse and we were greeted by a smiling Terrece. Ahh I love this store!!! Did I tell y'all that she got Pirates AWE stickers in? Yes, Johnny Depp stickers. The world doesn't get much better then that, eh? Terrece, Alix and Kathy made plans to go see Pirates 3 again..I won't tell you how many times Alix has seen it but I want to hide in the corner because I haven't seen any of them yet (I blame my sister who told me the 2nd one was a cliffhanger so I wanted to see the whole "Trilogy"...). It was sad saying bye to everyone but I am already counting the days til my next trip up North!!! Yay!!!

The trek home lasted about 5 1/2 hours. I stopped before I left Danville/San Ramon at my favorite bagel shop and at Borders (no Somerset! drat! -I'd find it the next day in West Hollywood) for a quickie magazine run and an obligatory iced tea run. I got home around 8, dropped off my stuff. David, Tristan and I trekked out (while we still had the rental car) to Joe Peeps' Pizza in No Hollywood (David LOVES this place. I always feel like I've gained a million pounds after one bite) and Iliad bookstore (we all LOVE this place. I love the One Eyed Pirate Kitty Arrrr! Oh, and they were playing Jean Shepherd when we walked in as it was Monday night! Cool beans!) A quick trip to Ralphs on Sunset for groceries and we were home by 11 p.m. No more paper or book dreams that night-I just slept like a log.

Oh, so Alix & Kathy pointed this little tab out that was in the rental car's trunk. I guess if you are trapped in the back (like if a villian from a Film Noir Crime throws you in the trunk, you can pull it to release the trunk to let you escape). I like how it has the little guy with the arrows as if the arrows are telling you the direction to RUN AWAY in...

Paper Whore Adventures with Alix and Kathy-Paper From Paper Source, Castle in the Air, Stampers Warehouse and Cody's Bookstore (cool gift wrap). Note the Pirates stickers. Arrrrrrrrr, indeed.


These are my book finds from Kinokuniya books. Talk about Paumes books galore. *sigh*
The books I bought from left to right, top to bottom are:
Appartements d'amoureux a Paris
Les sacs des parisiennes
Robert le Heros et Paris
Pooka Style by Gakken
More books that I found Monday night at Iliad Bookstore in North Hollywood (LOVE this used bookstore!!):
Excelsior, You Fathead! The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd
The Ferrari in the Bedroom by Jean Shepherd
Patterns of the Earth (This one I Found at Moe's)

And so ends Kelly's Most Excellent Adventure up North (No CA) and Out East (CO). I will be back to regularly scheduled blog posts and my every day life starting tomorrow. 'Til then, stay tuned. Excelsior!

Day 3 Trekkin' up North

These are photos AFTER I took the paints off of the table to give everyone more room...

and photos BEFORE the pizza arrived. ;)

Day 3...All good things must come to an end. I sadly checked out of my hotel (y'all know how much I loved that room!!), packed up the car and headed on over to Sanctuary Studio for my last day of teaching there (until September!!) I stopped off again for my obligatory bagel, root beer and iced teas (hey, I get two teas and they last me all day long and I only do this when I'm teaching...so there!)
I taught two of my favorite classes today, Taped Journal and Reach for the Scissors. We merrily made journals, collages, painted pages, and messes (I LOVE seeing the table like this). Everyone was eager to dive right in on making the journal and learning various collage techniques. Alas, Kelly did not think of pulling her camera out until near the end of the Reach for the Scissors: Collage class on Sunday. I get too caught up with teaching and seeing what everyone is doing, checking to make sure people are ok and not struggling, giving suggestions, etc... One of my most favorite things of teaching has always been to give everyone the same idea and let everyone loose to process it and translate it their own way.
It was hard saying goodbye Sunday night but I am already planning my classes for September. If you have suggestions or ideas on classes you want, drop me a note. I'm wide open for ideas!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart not only to my amazingly talented students for a fabulous weekend but also to Sonora Beam who opened up her studio and home to us this weekend. Sonora is an extremely talented artist with a big, big heart. She also is an instructor and will be teaching at Carol Parks' studio in North Hollywood this September! I am hoping to be able to take her class, The Artist's Business Journal: A Guidebook for Manifesting Creative Work.

I left San Anselmo and trekked on over to Berkeley. It was still light out and I was all excited to not have to cross the bridge in the dark. I decided to check into the hotel later (and I was glad I did that later on!) and venture on over to Moe's, one of my most favorite bookstores. Parking was relatively easy to find (yay). As I was walking by the now defunct Cody's (oh why oh why did they have to close the Telegraph location?), I noticed a little bakery right next to Moe's. The smell of chocolate chip cookies tempted me and I popped inside. I ordered a (BIG) chocolate chip cookie (for later) and a fruit punch. (Yes, they were most delish!!) Moe's never overwhelms me unless it is at closing time and then I am frantic. Luckily, it was only a wee bit after 8. I browsed and perused to my heart's delight. I did find three books: A Taschen book called India Bazaar, The Most Dangerous Book for Boys (For Tristan) and Patterns of the Earth by Bernhard Edmaier (I love this one as it is various patterns, shapes and designs of the Earth. It is perfect to translate into my artwork-collage, painting and drawing). I held off on buying anything else but did make many a mental note to myself ;)

While driving down Shattuck, I discovered that Pegasus books was still open for another 15 minutes. Ack! Maybe they would have the two Jean Shepherd books I was looking for. After driving around for what seemed a small eternity, I did obtain a parking space. I RAN over to the store quickly checking out the zines, comics, magazines, art section and fiction section (Drat! No Jean Shepherd...and the very pretty boy at the register did not know who he was. The guy at Moe's was shocked that I was asking for his books...). I guess it's a good thing that they didn't have anything!! My wallet was happy. I was sad that I didn't make Comic Relief but decided I would see them at Comic Con.

I checked in at Best Western on University in Berkeley. Um, I don't remember it being like this last time I was there...maybe it was just the room I was in. The A/C didn't work all that well. The woman (at night) at the front desk wasn't very friendly (though the woman in the day was). The damn toilet didn't work right...need I go on? I guess they are converting it to a La Quinta, but my last experience at a La Quinta wasn't the best one. I don't mind inexpensive hotels (hell, I love 'em) but I would love a better and more secure lock on the door. *shudder*

Day 4 tomorrow...Kelly's Most Excellent Adventure Comes to an End

How can one not love a place that has balls of light suspended and illuminated from the ceiling?

Day Two of My Most Excellent Adventure a.k.a. The Trip up North to Sanctuary Studio

I got up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head...(Oh wait, wrong song). I woke up nice and early to allow myself plenty of time to get to Sonora's place to teach aka Sanctuary Studio in San Anselmo. It was hard leaving my nice comfy bed (did I tell y'all that I LOVED this hotel?) but I did it-I was a woman with a mission! I trekked off in search of gas and bagels (what a combo). Gas was fairly cheap around the corner from the hotel...well, fairly cheap meaning it was cheaper at THAT location then it is at the location around the corner from my home.
I found a scrumptious bagel shop off of the 101 and 4th street in San Rafael. Magic word being YUM. I Love Mom & Pop restaurants and this one was ideal. I also managed to find my Tazo Black Iced Tea that y'all know I can't live without (unsweetened). So I loaded up with my two iced teas, a root beer and a bagel for the day ;) Lots of caffeine and a bit o' sugar. I headed towards San Anselmo following the Mapquest directions (stupid silly me did NOT read Sonora's directions-BAD Kelly!! Sorry Sonora!!). Luckily instead of running into the packs of bicyclists, I ran into two of my students heading to the workshop instead. (They flagged me down LOL!!) We followed Sonora's directions via cell phone and were right on the money! Yay! I unloaded and set up shop quickly taking over Sonora's couch as space for collage ephemera. LOL, Thanks Sonora.
The workshop space was comfortable, quiet (except when we were talking and laughing), inspiring and just all around extremely welcoming. The shots I took here are actually from Sunday's PM class but I thought it would give you an idea as to how things were. I LOVED teaching here. I taught two classes Saturday: Whispers: Mail Art and Composition/Design 101: Collage. The students were extremely talented artists in their own right.
Between classes Paule and Sonora trekked on out for some home made ice cream and were kind enough to bring me back some. I had to refrain from licking the bowl-it was that good. I wish I had made time to go to all of the shops that they were raving about but I will do so next time (I'll be back in September-the last weekend-and I"m already looking forward to it).
After class on Saturday, I trekked across the bridge to Berkeley to meet my friends Alix and Kathy. When we weren't laughing and Alix wasn't making notes, we were chowing down on some delicious dishes at Skates by the Bay in Berkeley. Oh damn, was that restaurant good. The company and the view of the ocean was just frickin' amazing. I always know that when I get together with Alix and Kathy that some good times will be had. Both are talented artists in their own right and Alix wields some bad ass power tools and lives to tell the tale (I yield an x-acto knife and people go running). It's amazing how three hours can fly by with these two! We parted ways at 11 pm with a "see ya Monday in Berkeley for some serious shopping!" My sides hurt from laughing but it was worth it. I drove back across the Bridge to San Rafael (the night time scenario of Kelly driving across a bridge is to look straight ahead and just blast her Brian May CD and pretend she is not driving in the dark over dark water-one of my 3 fears).

Day 3 tomorrow...

I'm back...Guess where I went?






I've decided that I'm going to blog day by day of my experiences in No CA and spread the posts over the next few days. It was an AWESOME experience and I highly recommend workshops at Sanctuary Studio. Traci Bunkers will be there this month and you should JUMP on the chance!!

OK, let me back up a bit. Friday morning, David, Tristan and I trekked up to Hollywood Blvd and picked up my rental car for the weekend. I ended up leaving later then I wanted to (10:30 when I wanted to leave by 8 ish) so I was a bit frustrated and anxious. It's hard though when you've got to walk now everywhere and ya don't have a car at the moment (not whining just stating the obvious). SO I picked up our obligatory breakfast (bagels at the Bagel Broker on Beverly Blvd and Fairfax) and had to stop for my Tazo black (unsweetened) iced tea. The whole trek wasn't that bad. It took me about 5 hours to arrive in San Francisco. Traffic wasn't bad at all going up.

I arrived in the city and managed to get lost on the way to Flax. Luckily, I did realize that I was lost and with the help of the husband and mapquest, I managed to get the car pointed in the right direction and land in the parking lot of Flax. My friend, Muki, met me in the paper department where we instantly began our paper whore adventures. The two of us walked up and down the aisles together at first pointing out papers to each other but then our primal paper whore instincts took over when we realized it WAS 5 p.m and that Flax closed at 6-eeps! So, we went our separate ways and created our separate piles of paper. LOL It was a blast talking and comparing notes as we grabbed, pulled and pointed out paper that we, um, "needed". I won't tell you how much I spent BUT BUT BUT it was a LOT better then the first time I went there. I ONLY had time for the paper section so that was somewhat disappointing BUT BUT BUT it was enough for one adventure.

Next stop, Kinokuniya bookstore courtesy of Muki. I followed closely behind her in my car. She helped me to navigate the BOAT of a car that I was driving (remember, I am used to a 2 door Toyota Tercel everything else is huge) in the parking lot of Kinokuniya. Our first stop was the stationery store where I held back and only bought one piece of paper and four pens. Muki made me buy the pens (hee hee). They are cool glitter pens.

We trekked on over to the bookstore and my mouth dropped. They have a whole section of the paumes books that I have yet to see at the L.A. Kinokuniya. I dropped everything and sat on the floor for a bit going through each of the books (I will post photos separately of the books I bought in a post coming soon...). Muki pointed out various must have tomes and I flipped through each as fast as I could. I walked out with 4 books and a grin.

Muki & I ended our adventures a couple of doors down talking and munching on some amazing mac & cheese at a local restaurant. It was a ton of fun and Muki is sweet with a big heart!! Oh, not to mention talented. She showed me the mini moleskin she has been keeping and my jaw dropped. She said that it was inspired by me well she inspired me to go out and buy one Sunday night at Moe's to start my own mini moleskin...photos to come...

I drove to San Anselmo crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm not a big bridge fan myself but it was downright creepy crossing that puppy at 11 pm in the dark and fog...I focused straight ahead and kept the foot on the gas pedal. I stayed at the Four Points Sheraton in San Rafael. WOW. I Loved this hotel-nice, clean and ultra comfy. I am looking forward to my next stay there (oh it was cheap compared to some of the other places I had found though it was 20 minutes from Sanctuary Studio).

I checked into the hotel and promptly began folding and cutting my papers down. I called David and told him I felt like acting like Demi Moore and rolling around in the papers. He laughed and called me weird. I thought it was funny. The papers looked a lot cooler in person spread out over the bed.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow....