How Time Does Fly!

Hey Arties!

It has been an absolutely crazy and busy year for me, with a lot of things taking me away from my artful path. I am hoping I can get back into the swing of things now that I have actually started my business here in Annapolis, MD.

The quick update/highlights:

I taught my first after school program and had 12 students sign up in less than 24 hours.

I took on a few private students for a 4 week class.

I worked with a local school by assisting them with an anti-bullying program and implemented a "Peace fence" as a school wide art installation. The pickets are based on the 5 Human Values of Peace, Love, Truth, Non Violence and Right Actions. The youngest child was 18 months old and the oldest was 12 years old.

I worked with the school on their bi-annual auction. I designed and implemented 4 of the 7 projects from start to finish.

This project is a picnic table that converts to a bench. The children painted both sides of it, with the bench side having tulips, ladybugs and turtles and the picnic side have a similar theme with the addition of a checkers board and a tic-tac-toe board. They also painted garden rocks for the game pieces as turtles and ladybugs, with a crown on the opposite side for when they are "kinged."

It sold for $1675

Up next is the Slippery Fish table. It has part of the lyrics to a song the children sing. Each child painted a fish to represent the fish in the song. 

It sold for $750

The upper elementary students spent some time at the botanical gardens studying leaf patterns. They took those patterns and burnished them into copper and silver metal which was then attached to rounds cut from the plywood before being reinserted. The final result looks like hammered metal.

It sold for $750

Finally there is the Illuminated Letters from another elementary class. Each child used the first letter of their name and an animal starting with that letter to decorate their individual canvas pieces. The complete set of letters was then attached to a larger canvas and paper vines were added between the letters to continue the pattern from the custom from made from a chair rail. 

It sold for $2300

I was very pleased that in total these art projects raised $5,475 for the school. The community honored me by allowing me to work with their children and seemed very pleased with the quality of the pieces.

The school honored me with a sweet bracelet that states one of my favorite sayings.... "Not my circus. Not my monkeys."

Like I said, I have been busy and have even gotten in a few cigar boxes and altered books. But my best piece was "21 Cents that Chain Us" which was submitted to Smack Mellon as an artist response to the events in Ferguson. 

I think things have calmed down a bit and I am committed to limiting my time spent on other things and focusing on my art the rest of the year. I will try my best to have at least one post a week for the rest of the year. 

Until next time, keep creating!

CJ

Update for April

Hey Arties!

I just wanted to provide a quick life update for you, since I have not posted much the past few months. I have been really busy with several projects in the works for various schools all across the country and have had no time to really sit and write or post. I am hoping the new iPhone app will help me with this problem, as I can now post photos from the app and post a blog from time to time as well.

In other news, I am in the process of selling my house, which has taken away my art studio for the time being. I had the entire second floor dedicated to making art, but needed to put everything in storage for awhile, until I am settled in a new location. This means I am working out in my garage, or in the kitchen, neither being ideal for working in long stretches.

At the moment my walls are bare of any art, and the walls have been painted white, which is not my favorite thing. It makes me itch to paint something right on the wall, but think that would be frowned upon....

I have contracted with a local school to help them with their first art gala and auction. It is on a very limited budget and I will most likely sponsor the art supplies we used to create the projects, but it is all worth it. I love working with the kids and watching them light up, when they contribute to a class project or a school wide canvas. The pictures from the last post are the items they created for the auction and I am hoping they do well. 

So, stay tuned and thank you for stopping by and sticking around or subscribing. It means a lot, when you give me your feedback. I will try to do a better job of trying to update this site, even if it is a non art related topic.

Until next time, here is some personal art I am working on. This one seems to change colors, depending on the way the light hits it. I am not quite finished with it, and have not decided what the next piece of it will entail, but I don't want to lose the affect.

These next two, were custom pieces created for a couple of schools to use in their upcoming auctions. I used Citra Solv altered National Geographic magazines for the first one. The second one is my attempt at a sketch.
 

I started playing around with some sketching options with my Silhouette machine and loved this old barn. I may sketch it out on white paper and then use water colors to color it in for a finished look.

So Arties... that is all for now. I hope I have given you a good reason to check back soon. Peace and Love!!

"The Struggle"

I just finished a piece for JDRF for the Hope Ball. It is a great organization, with a mission that couldn't be better.

"JDRF is the leading global organization focused on T1D research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF is to improve the lives of every person affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing the disease. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal."

Go check out the links and think about attending this more than worthy event. If you can't attend the Hope Ball, think about clicking and giving here. You will be helping someone else, which will make you feel good!

Friendly House LA

Hello Again!

I wanted to take a minute and share a video with you! This is where the "Sober" piece is going... to Friendly House LA, and I could not be happier that some small thing I have made might raise a buck or two for them.

Russell Brand was on the new Rosie show on OWN and much to my surprise he visited the house. I was really glad to see him do so, because this non-profit is one worth the publicity.

For me personally, the nice thing about seeing this segment was I saw someone I know. She looks fabulous and healthier than I have ever seen her and for that I am forever grateful to Peggy and the wonderful people who helped her.

It is one thing to hear about a great program, hear from someone who has gone through the program, but something better to actually see the results in someone's eyes when they are in a program that works. Having known one of the people in the segment for a long time and seeing her struggle with addiction, it was amazing to see the difference in her eyes this time.



If you can, take a minute to go check out Friendly House LA and read for yourself the wonderful work they do and ways you can help! If you suffer from addiction, please go here and read about getting help, it is so worth living your life to the fullest!

I am hoping the art sells well and I can find out how much the fundraiser was able to bring in for this amazing place of hope! I will of course keep you posted with an update if and when I find out!

Please go click the links and check them out more fully! Remember, I am like Santa with my Stat Counter and know where you have been and where you go from my site... so don't disappoint me!!

Sober...

 

Hey there!

I know it has been awhile, but I have been in my studio creating, so there is a good excuse. But, my exciting news is that I have a piece of art going out to CA for auction. It is going out there without me, but you can't win them all!

The organization is Friendly House LA and I can't think of a better place for this piece to do some good. They have their annual awards luncheon, where Russell Brand will be honored with "Man of the Year!"

"Founded in 1951, Friendly House LA is the oldest women’s recovery living home in the US, providing a safe harbor for women suffering from the destruction of alcoholism and drug abuse, and has earned a world renowned reputation as the model for sober living."

This cause is one dear to my heart, because I have had several good friends and family members fight with addiction. Some of them won the battle and have been living in sobriety for years, while others fight daily to maintain their sobriety.

I love that this organization offers women a safe harbor, and I know it works. I am honored to donate the art, in the hopes it will be auctioned off and raise money for their continued good work. I am also pretty thrilled something I created will be in the same room as Russell Brand...

Anyway, that is the update, and now it is back to work for me.

New Things to Look At

I know it seems like it has been forever since I posted any new work, so without further delay....

 

The table was a Goodwill purchase as was the rack underneath. I converted a $10 purchase into a portable wine table. What do you think?

I am donating this item to a local organization for their annual auction.

The following table is an experiment, which will end up as my personal coffee table. I am using a roadside freebie, masks, spray paint, Citra Solv treated paper for the butterflies and once it is all put together, I will pour the whole thing in epoxy to smooth out the top, so the surface is level.

I also finished up another experiment tonight with glass blocks. I will post pictures of those in their own post.

Hope you can see I have been busy and not ignoring you.

Peace!

Previous Auction Creations

I thought I would share some of the items I designed for a school to use as part of their art auction. I hope you enjoy them.

This painting was created using two 15"x30" canvasses. I painted them blue and used a modeling paste to create the 3D clouds. I used 1/16th diameter wooden dowels painted copper to create the wires.

The children painted a wooden cutout of birds using acrylic paint. The birds were attached to the canvas with adhesive gel.

The total cost of this piece was $36.

It sold for $800 at a live auction.

This table and matching stool was created by a group of 3-6 year olds.

The table and stool were purchased at Goodwill for a total of $9. I sanded down and painted it white in order to showcase the colorful hand prints.

Each child painted a set of hand prints with acrylic paint, in any fashion they wished. The hands were placed and adhered to the table. Smaller hand prints made of paper were added to fill in the spaces.

The lyrics to the song by Ben Harper, "With my own two hands" were printed out on transparent paper and added randomly to the table. The table and stool were then sealed with a counter top based epoxy to make it smooth as a writing surface.

The total cost of the set was $48.

It sold at live auction for $800.

This quilt was made by 6-9 year old children. They were asked to create a quilt square depicting anything they desired. A volunteer finished the quilt.

The material cost $120.

The quilt was auctioned for $1,950.

This bookcase was made and donated by a volunteer and painted white. The children, aged 3-6 painted small wooden cutouts of various animals, which were then attached to the bookcase with strong adhesive.

The cost to create this was $11.

This was auctioned for $350.

This table was a solid oak, 40 inch coffee table, which was purchased used for $10. The table was sanded and painted black.

The children decorated paper dolls, which were adhered to the table on the outside. The center is a photo of the earth cut from a NASA poster. A quote was added.

The total cost of the table was $54

The table sold for $550 at auction.

This is a "Class Basket" assembled using a white toy chest purchased at a local retail store. Families added their favorite games and a few game related items.

The value of the basket was around $350 and I believe it sold for $400.

This glass bock was created using a hollow block from a craft store. Blank velum paper was used through an ink jet printer to create the image, which was then attached to the inside of the block on both sides. Battery operated lights were then added inside to light the block up.

These were used as centerpieces for sponsored tables. The sponsors were then allowed to take the blocks home as a token.

The cost of each block was $17 for the block, paper, ink and lights.

These were created by the children using a $2.99 frame from IKEA. We had volunteer photographers come in and take photos of the children working. Each class had a different theme for their projects. This class had the hand print table and stool, so we continued with it.

We used punched out hand prints, which the children glued to the frame, and punched out leaves for the tree branches. The photographer took pictures of the children working and that work was then added to the frame, so the parents could see the work in action.


The framed photos were then sold to the family for $35. Every frame was purchased for a total of roughly $4,725.

There were other projects created for which I do not have photographs. I wish I did, as the children did an outstanding job.

The filing cabinet pictured here was also a class project. The filing cabinet was free. The children painted it by using a grid system. Every child participated.

The cabinet sold for $200.

More items displayed at auction.

This was a personal piece donated by me. Each leaf on the tree was hand punched and attached to the canvas. There are roughly 10,000 leaves. The tree trunk was painted using a modeling paste and has the feel and texture of bark.

It is hanging in a classroom at the school.

The entire cost for all 10 class projects, 15 centerpieces and 135 individual frames was $1,672. The items sold for over $12,000.

The profit was $10,328