Something Sublime

Spring Vines

"Twining Vines" earrings

The stunning Angela Cartwright  recently purchased a few of my "vines" pieces.  Wow...my jewelry never looked better!  Also, take a look at the post on this blog.  Thanks for the mention Cynthia!

 

"Twining Vines" nest

As you probably know, Angela is an incredibly talented photographer and artist.  She has a few more shots of these pieces and another pair of the earrings posted on her blog.  Go...see!

Oh, and I just got my new issue of Angela and Sarah's quartz "Pasticcio".  Love this publication...if you haven't seen it in person yet, you should treat yourself.  I'm tickled that they included a piece of my artwork in this issue:

"Auto Ride"

But back to spring ornaments...

"Vines and Nests"

I just finished these earrings for another order.  I made the nests a bit smaller than usual;  more appropriate for earrings.

The nests and vines translated well into earrings.  As I was working on pieces for the workshop that DJ and I will be teaching, and then began working on jewelry projects as an offshoot of that, the vines and leaves got smaller and smaller.  These are quite tiny but all the "in" birds are wearing them for Spring!

Playing Favorites

"Spirit Filled"

Have you been to Seth's blog The Altered Page?  If not, you're missing out on one of the most fascinating art blogs in cyberland.  What makes Seth's blog so interesting?  First of all, Seth is a talented artist in his own right.  But, besides Seth's art-candy, he regularly, and generously, features the artwork of all sorts of other artists.  Right now, he's posting a series called "Playing Favorites".  Seth's idea was to invite artists to submit their favorite works, done by themselves, with a short paragraph explaining their inspiration and/or why the piece is a favorite.  For me, this is the most enlightening aspect of the artwork.  I love hearing the creative thought process behind the work.

"Word Lessons"

These two pieces of mine are featured along with many other fabulous pieces of artwork in Seth's virtual museum tour...with more to come.  He's also posted the artist's links, the better for surfing! 

Cut it Out

Between making pieces of jewelry, I squeezed in a little time to carve a few stamps for Michelle Ward's latest challenge on her Green Pepper Press Street Team blog.  Her March challenge (is March really almost over?!) is hand carved stamps which is one of my favorite things to do.  Not that I get much time to do it!  I carved both of these using photocopies as my pattern.

This was the scrap paper I used to test my stamps as I carved.  I added a little extra paint to punch things up a bit.

Here, you can see the cherub stamp I carved (above) and a transfer of the photocopy I used (below).  This was a challenging stamp to carve but I think it may have been the material.  The "lips" stamp was carved on some pink carving material I had laying around and it was easier to cut.

I've got a small deco that I started a few years ago for hand carved stamp art so I took this opportunity to add a few more pages to it using my new stamps.

Here's the deco cover.  Notice the wrapped beads I used to bind the spine.  I got these about five or six years ago from a bead swap I was in.  They're made of some kind of fabric and embellished with metal leaf...gorgeous! 

I also have some beads from that swap that were made of fabric and wrapped with wire.  And look at those awesome knitted beads.  Sorry, I can't say who came up with the ideas for these beads and created them...my memory just isn't that good!  Now I'm completely off my subject.  My mind wandered to beads.  Ahem...back to stamps...

These last two are pages from the deco.  I've posted them before so you may have seen them already.  I made these pages using one of the first stamps I carved...the flaming heart.

I also used the flaming heart stamp as a pattern for the cover of this tiny journal:

 

Thanks for another fun challenge Michelle!

Mingled Elements Thank You

Sold out!!  Wow...I want to give a huge thank you to all of you who signed up for the Mingled Elements workshop that DJ and I are teaching at The Paper Studio this June.  Cindy, the owner, said we sold 16 spots on Saturday in the first ten minutes and the rest sold by the next morning!  I'm so excited about this news I'm skipping through the house, high-fiveing the mini men!  Cindy has started a waiting list so, if you didn't get into the workshop, and you want to take it, drop her an email and get on the list.  I'm looking forward to teaching!

Regret

"R-egret"

A while back, my friend DJ Pettitt sent me some prints of her artwork to play with.  All of DJ's art is inspiring and beautiful and these prints were no exception.  They were done on thick, high quality paper.  I used a few of  them whole for some of our collaborative pieces but one or two of them just begged to be cut up and used in collage.  I hope DJ wasn't too horrified that I took the scissors to her lovely prints!  For this piece I used DJ's images...one of her serene ladies and a new image she's started painting, an egret.  For the lady's hands, I used a transfer of one of my cemetery images.  The "flags" in the upper right hand corner come from the decorative inside of the envelope DJ sent the smaller prints in.  I like the play on words between the text in the piece and it's title.  I'm not sure you can see it but the text under the hands says "this world is full of guilt and wo." 

Collaborating with another artist (DJ especially) is a wonderful way to explore new avenues of creativity.  I love the support and encouragement DJ and I have given each other.  No regrets here!

Mingled Elements Registration

Guess what??   It's almost time to register! If you're a regular here at Something Sublime, you've probably noticed by now that my friend DJ Pettitt and I are involved in a collaborative teaching project.  Our workshop is called Mingled Elements and we'll be teaching this June at The Paper Studio in Tempe, Arizona.  Cindy at The Paper Studio will be taking online registrations this Saturday, March 1st after 5 p.m.  (sorry, no phone registrations).  Here's the link for registration...remember, you won't be able to register until Saturday.

There will be a trunk show Friday evening, June 20th at The Paper Studio with wine and cheese where DJ and I will be selling our artwork.  Everyone is welcome so, even if you're not taking the workshop, we'd love for you to stop by so we can meet you!

This little collaborative has been more fun and more inspiring than I thought possible.  Of course, the lovely DJ makes it so easy!  Her sweet and generous spirit is a blessing.  The projects you see here are similar to what we'll be doing in our workshop.  You can take a look at the class samples here.

   

We've had a lot of interest in this workshop and Cindy has had tons of inquiries so make sure you get registered as early as possible.  This workshop is going to be sublime...I hope you can join us!

The Passionate Blogger

"Crowned"

Melanie at Le Petit Cabinet De Curiosites has kindly tagged me to give my top tips for successful blogging.  I'm no professional blogger but, for my dozen or so readers (you know who you are!) I'll give it a shot:

1.  Love your blog.  You have to love blogging to have a successful blog!  If you'd rather clean the toilets than post, you probably don't have the blogging passion you need to keep readers coming back.  Michelle Ward

2.  Post often, post often, post often.  Readers like to come to your spot to see what's new.  The more often you post, the more frequently they'll visit.  Did I say...?  Post often!  Soul Humming

3.  Post lots of fabulous pictures and not so many words.  Visitors may find descriptions of your latest nature walk riveting but a picture's worth a thousand words!  Sandra Evertson

4.  Give your readers interesting and relevant information;  a tutorial, book review, contest, blog links, etc.  The Altered Page

5.  Make it easy and fun for your visitors with a well designed site.  Make sure your blog is easy to navigate and not too cluttered.  Tongue in Cheek

There you have it...my plan for the perfect blog.  I've tagged only five but there are tons of talented bloggers out there.  What are your best blogging tips?

Do You?

...wear your heart on your sleeve?

...show kindness?...see others as they are?...see yourself as you are?

...carry a secret inside?

...live in a cage?

Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.  Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.  Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage.  Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Forget yourself.  How many days do I forget to forget myself?  How many times a day do I forget to forget myself?!  "He cut me off in traffic!"  "She insulted me!"  "I should have been first in line!"

The other day, I infuriated a man who wanted me to yield so he could pull into traffic.  It was my right-of-way but, traffic was fairly heavy and I could have let him in...if I'd seen him.  I didn't see him until it was too late and then, what I saw was one mad fella.  Gesticulating, grimacing and mouthing something...I don't want to know what!  My immediate reaction was to be angry right back.  After all, what right does this guy have to cuss me out?  Maybe none.  But, on second thought, what harm was really done?  Does it help me, this man, society, the universe...for two to be angry now instead of one?  Hey, maybe this poor, upset man was having a hard day.  Maybe his coffee was cold.  Maybe his pick-up broke down and he had to drive that sad, little economy car instead.  Maybe his child was in trouble.  Or, maybe he got some really bad news that morning.    Who am I to put my emotions and reactions first anyway?  What??  You mean it's not all about me?  As teacher Beth Moore says "Am I speakin' to anybody out there?"

Lovely Lady of the Woods-Class Sample

Isn't she beautiful?!  I've just finished the wirework on another sample for the collaborative workshop DJ Pettitt and I will teach this June at The Paper Studio in Tempe, Arizona.

This lady happens to be wearing a very fashionable and lovely crown...

...and of course she's collected a precious bird's nest in her travels (detachable to be worn as a necklace).

There's been a lot of interest in this workshop and registration hasn't begun yet but keep watching here, on the Paper Studio site or on DJ's blog for more info.  I promise, you'll be the first to know!

I'm Teaching Again!

The Paper Studio

Tempe, Arizona

June 21-22, 2008

Collaborative workshop taught by DJ Pettitt and Deryn Mentock

Oh!  Such exciting news!  I'll be teaching a 2 day workshop this June at The Paper Studio with my friend, DJ Pettitt.  It's been several years since I last taught so I'm thrilled to be teaching again and especially with DJ!  We have the most fabulous workshop to offer.  This is just the coolest project with tons of techniques! (Can you tell, I'm excited?)

The first day of the workshop, DJ will be teaching students her step-by-step techniques for painting a one-of-a-kind, beautiful ladies and backgrounds with interest and depth.  In case you're not familiar with DJ, she is an extremely talented artist and generous teacher.  Her original painting style and fresh ideas have kept her on the cutting edge of our mixed media/art world.  In person, DJ's paintings are absolutely stunning.  The colors are gorgeous, rich and deep.

The second day of the workshop, I'll be teaching wireworking techniques that will enable students to frame their paintings in a unique and artistic way.  These ladies are going to take a walk in the woods!  The techniques I'm teaching can also be used in jewelry making, book making, and many other mediums.

   

But, this isn't just a frame...no, no!  The adorable, whimsical, wire nest charm, with it's tiny leaves and tendrils, detaches from it's hook and can be worn as a necklace.

    All of our class info isn't up at the Paper Studio site yet but I'll be posting here as soon as I know more.  Also, I've set up a link in the right sidebar of this blog for my class news and it will be listed on my Artpub blog.  I'll also have some more sample photos soon...

New Year's Self

Jen Worden is posting weekly art challenges to her blog and, it looked like so much fun, I decided to take her up on  challenge #1.  Granted...I'm late but, it's all part of my new year's "plan".  This year I will dance to my own drummer...set my own pace...do my own thing.  Well, at least for this week's challenge!  So, here is my self-portrait/year-in-review/new year's resolution post card. 

The Spirit of Inspiration

"Spirit" by Deryn Mentock

One of the projects I'm getting caught up on over the holiday break is this "spirit card" swap hosted by the lovely and talented Susan Tuttle.  We all have times when we wish we could pull inspiration out of the thin air.  Knowing that ideas don't come from thin air, Susan thought it would be fun to get a group of artists together to make small packages (atc size) filled with inspiration.

my folder

Each artist designs a folder to be embellished by all the other artists working in the project.

Ruth Rae's embellishment to my folder

my embellishment to Ruth Rae's folder

Ruth Rae's folder (more of my embellishment)

Trudy McLauchlan's folder (my embellishment)

The folders are passed through the group and each person creates an atc according to the theme of the folder.  For instance; my theme was "fruits of the Spirit" and I listed "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" as the words for each artist to incorporate into her card.

"Love" by Trudy McLauchlan

"Peace" by Ruth O'Connor

"Patience" by Marilyn Healey

"Goodness" by Liz Smith

"Faithfulness" by Susan Tuttle

"Joy" by Caren McNee

"Gentleness" by Christine Shebroe

"Self Control" by Fiona Mortimore

"Kindness" by Ruth Rae

When I need a little inspiration, all I have to do is reach for my packet of artwork!  Here are the cards I did for various folders:

"A Pure Heart"

"Be"

"Challenge"

"Flutter"

"Ruth's Virtue"

"Sacrifice"

"Prayerful"

"Vision"

"Wish"

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my folder and especially to our fearless leader, Susan!

Sublimity and the Muse

 

There's something sublime here for you to see. 

Beginning with a friendship--  My sweet girl Pilar sent me this card the other day.  She was out somewhere and spotted it...thought of me...dropped it in the mail.  No strings attached, no ulterior motive...just a kind thought of me.  It's the perfect card for someone who's blog is called "Something Sublime" and whose name is Deryn.  I didn't realized this until I had internet access:  my name, in Welsh means "bird".  One reason for my love of things to do with birds, nests, twigs, cages, etc.

Pilar, do you like these?

Now on to another sublime relationship.  My mom has always been a best friend to me.  She was a young mom...the prettiest one of all my friends moms (I thought so...still do!).  She was born in November of 1940.  In my "junque" collection, I came across the perfect treasure to build her a piece of jewelry...this Steel Workers button.  Sublime serendipity!

"A Good Year"

I started this piece in a class I had with the fabulous Jane Wynn.  I created a bezel for the button and riveted an etched piece of metal below it (special numbers there as well).  I used a shell casing to house a fiber tassel.

The cord is made from many fibers twisted together.

I think she'll love this stone heart found by her grandson.  Number Two (no, that's not the order in which I love them!) is constantly on the lookout for all kinds of debris for me to use in my artwork.  This was probably found during one of his camping expeditions.

Happy Birthday mom!

And, the most sublime of all... 

Don't you love the definition of  the word "sublime"?

1. Characterized by nobility; majestic. 2. a. Of high spiritual, moral or intellectual worth. b. Not to be excelled; supreme. 3. Inspiring awe; impressive. 4. to convert (something inferior) into something of higher worth."

When I adopted that definition to be a part of my blog, I certainly wasn't thinking of a description of myself, or even of my artwork!  Although, the last bit of it--"to convert something inferior into something of higher worth"--describes my jewelry perfectly.  What I really had in mind was a definition of someone truly excellent and supreme...influencial in my artwork and in my life...my sublime Muse.

Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings.

My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

Take a look at Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Team blog.  The art challenge for Crusade #14:  Who or what is your muse?

In A Creative Snit

My dear friend Catherine Witherell has tagged me with the dubious title of "Creative Snit".  The proper description is as follows:

noun
a state of creative chaos, creative frustration, or a state of obsessive creativity: "she was in a creative snit"

Therefore, worthy recipients of this prestigious award should demonstrate one or more of the following criteria:

1) photos of their chaotic creative studio spaces
2) reports of staying up till the wee hours of the morning while consuming large amounts of coffee and or chocolate in order to finish a swap or prepare for a show
3) documented frustration over the creative process
4) evidence of a large quantity of art created over a small period of time
5) photos of the recipient at vendor night at any art retreat ( it goes without saying that ALL attendees at such events are either in or will soon be in a creative snit)

Trust me, you are NOT interested in pics of my pathetic studio space!  I don't usually stay up much past 10:30 p.m., although, I have been known to consume large quantities of both coffee and chocolate...occasionally at the same time.  I don't typically experience frustration over the creative process and I usually don't participate in vendor day/night either as a vendor or as a buyer.  So, that leaves "evidence of a large quantity of art created over a small period of time", which I certainly have been doing lately...at the expense of my etsy store and blog posting!

Although I can't show you much of the project that's kept me pre-occupied these last two weeks.  Here are a few sneak peeks...

I'd like to see what kind of creative snit you've been in recently, Deb Trotter!

Illustration Friday

trick or treat

–noun

a children's Halloween custom, in which they call on neighbors, using this phrase, and threaten to play a trick if a treat is not given.

---

[Origin: 1940–45]

"Trick or Treat"

Return From Art & Soul

Wow!  I'm busy but am finally getting settled back in after an extended stay in Portland for A&S and to visit my family.  It's always great to be back in my hometown!

I can't even describe what a fabulous time I had at Art & Soul in Portland this year!  A huge thank you goes to Glenny who organized a multitude of terrific art classes for some 400-500 of us this year.  The weather was less than spectacular, as you can see from my pics, but everything else was wonderful, including my teachers and all the friends, old and new, I got to see.

I was lucky enough to get into all three of  Robert Dancik's classes.  His specialty is a versatile product called "faux bone".  It seemed like he tried to teach us everything he knows...and more!  He was extremely generous and free with techniques, tools, materials, sources...anything and everything we could think to ask him about.  My favorite kind of teacher!

I also had a terrific metal clay class with Sharri Haab and Wendy Manilow and a fun book class with LK Ludwig.  One of my faves was a jewelry/mixed media class with the lovely and talented Jane Wynn.  She was also very generous with her knowledge and I immediately felt connected.  I love the way her brain works! 

I got a chance to return to my first love: glass.  Lorna Lovell and Carmen Reynolds taught a class in kiln forming glass.  One of my first art interests was stained glass and I really thought it would be my career but, I was sidetracked by life.  I had so much fun, in this class, being near the glass world again.  The zip of the metal cutting wheel on the glass was like a familiar, old friend.  But, the best part was composing bits of dichroic glass, stringers, noodles and punches to form beautiful, tiny bits of melted glass art.  Lorna is the owner of Uroboros glass which I remember from my old stained glass days so I was thrilled to meet her and even more so to take a class from her and Carmen.  Besides...look what cool stuff we made!

Of course, the best thing about A&S is meeting up with people.  As you can see, I chanced upon the wonderful Judy Wise.  Aren't her earrings lovely?? 

I was overjoyed to see my old friend DJ Pettitt.  DJ is one of the kindest people I know and also, extremely talented.  Her talent and spirit flow over into her classes as you can see from the pictures she's posted to her blog of her student's work.

I lunched one day with sweet Katie Kendrick and Michael DeMeng, who is such a charismatic guy.  I can't believe we haven't run into each other before.

I had the pleasure of sitting with my friend Stephanie Rubiano in the metal clay class.  Stephanie and I have known each other a long time and we both live in Texas but it takes traveling out of state for us to see each other.  (Congrats to you Stephanie on your recent successes!)  I also sat with Catherine Witherell who, let me tell you, is super talented and full of ideas!  Catherine and I have known each other for awhile online so it was great to finally meet in person.

I fused glass with Rhonda Scott and Kathy Read, swapped charms with Michelle Geller -who is the sweetest thing.  I sat next to Diana Frey in one of my classes, got to meet  Tonia Davenport (terrific plexi jewelry) and reunited briefly with my good friend Ronnie Grundset.  And finally, finally got to meet someone I've been hearing about for well over a year and corresponding with; Mija Andrade.  What a joy it was to meet her!  You are a kind, gentle soul Mija! 

I'm sure I've left someone out here and, sadly, there were a few folks I just didn't get to see.  It was a whirlwind but a good one!  It was bittersweet leaving my home and the view of Mt. Hood and the two mountains behind it (Adams and Rainier) brought tears to my eyes...very unexpectedly!  But, my parents are here visiting now to soften the blow.  Needless to say, I'm super busy trying to get caught up and meet deadlines as well as fighting a nasty, Oregon head cold.  Off to work...

The Gorey DeTales on Exhibit

The Gorey DeTales postcard for The Paper Studio exhibit

"Naberius"

A word about Naberius:  Naberius is a smooth talking and amiable figure in demonology.  He is a Marquis of Hell and has comand over many legions of demons.  He is also known as "Cerberus".  He speaks in a hoarse voice and sometimes takes the form of a crow or three headed dog.  The imagery I used in this piece is fairly obvious...the crow and feathers in the lady's hat represent Naberius' crow form.  The lady has stars in her eyes because she's been enchanted by Naberius' friendly manner.  And, although he is magnetic and attractive in appearance, his goal is to snatch her soul!  The urn, or course, represents the death of her soul as does the graveyard.  The words "Get thee behind me" at the bottom of the piece are a reference to Jesus' words.  My piece is very un-Gorey like in that it contains a quite a bit of detailed imagery and is a little "darker" in content in some ways.  My verse:  Clever Naberius...Lies in wait for the curious...Snatches up those blind to Grace...Steals their souls and leaves no trace.

While I was in Phoenix, last month, attending Art Unraveled, I had the chance to view The Gorey DeTales exhibit at The Paper Studio in Tempe.  It was a thrill to see my piece, "Naberius", exhibited with all the other pieces.  Click here to see them all.  There are two pages on the site so make sure you see everything.

Cindy, owner of The Paper Studio

Cindy did a fantastic job hanging the exhibit and kindly showed me around and let me take photos.  She had two walls with the pieces leaning on shelves and one larger wall in the back with the pieces hung together.  It looked great!

You can see my piece on the bottom left.  I didn't arrive in Phoenix in time for the artist's reception but someone passed on a few pics of the event:

The fabulous Jane and Richard Salley.  You can see Richard's piece to his right.  He incorporated an image of Jane into his piece.

The terrific organizer of our project, Sylvia Luna and her beautiful assistant, Pilar Pollock. 

Sylvia invited 26 artists to create a piece based on Edward Gorey's book Gashleycrumb Tinies.  Each artist was assigned a letter of the alphabet and asked to create a character whose name began with that letter.  The artist's were also to invent a grisly, little rhyme to go with their character and, of course, the artwork.  Here are a few more pieces:

by Kelly Snelling

(a portion of Jane Salley's piece is to the right)

By Sylvia Luna

By Pilar Pollock

(a portion of Richard Salley's piece is to the left)

by Marie Otero

On another exciting note, Stampington has published our project in the Sept/Oct issue of Somerset Studio!  Look for it in the "Melange" section.  I was honored to be one of the artists they chose to publish.

   

Next stop for The Gorey DeTales is The Artist's Nook in Fort Collins, Colorado from Oct. 5th through Nov. 17th.  Stop in and see it if you get the chance!

The Gorey DeTales postcard for The Artist's Nook exhibit

In The Middle

"Do Tell"

I've been tagged by the talented Roben Marie Smith and, since I haven't posted a meme in ages and, since I admire, respect and like Roben Marie so much, I thought I would play along!  Here's the deal:

You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blogpost containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

My middle name is Paige, which I love.  Ok, I know it's one of those super popular "in" names now but, when I was a kid, it was a weird name.  The great thing about it was that the other kids really couldn't come up with a way to poke fun at it.  Same thing with my first name...too weird for creative embellishment!  So...here goes with the tag:

P:  I have several cd's by Point of Grace and discovered today that they have a new cd coming out.  Click here to listen to one of their fantastic new songs.  It's worth a few minutes to really listen to the words!