Normally the Lawrence Arts Center, where I teach art workshops, has a benefit auction that happens mid-April. But like just about everything else, it had to be postponed until sometime later when it would be safe for everyone to gather. I’m really happy with how the piece I made for the auction turned out.

Here the piece is in progress. First I collaged and painted a 9″x12″ canvas. Then on top of that I glued down tea bags that I had stitched together. I love texture on my pieces, so I decided to leave the thread tails hanging off. Here’s a detail.

Then I glued down the center image. It’s a paper litho print that I made and then painted to add color.

Before I framed it, I added a wash of color and then varnished it. Since the auction has been postponed, I unfortunately can’t give a link to bid on it (yet).

Using tea bags in my work wasn’t new to me, but I hadn’t used them in this way before. I really liked the effect and want to do some more experimenting with them.

Since the Lawrence Arts Center had to shut down mid-March due to the pandemic, that meant the entire spring session of classes were cancelled. I’ve been teaching a wide variety of kids classes there for quite a few years for kids ranging from kindergarten up through high school. It is SO different from teaching adults! It’s very challenging and often stressful, but we also have a good time. Here are some photos I’ve taken in some of the kids classes I’ve taught over the past year.

This was from last spring when we made ceramic bunny bowls in my Clay Play class for K-2nd graders.

Look at all of the prints my middle school students made last summer in my Alternative Printmaking class.

This was a collaborative exercise I had my high school students do in the stARTup class, which is a portfolio building & career development class.

We made ceramic chicken platters in my Clay in Many Ways class for 3rd-5th graders.

This adorable student is showing the ceramic snowman she made in my Clay Play class for K-2nd graders.

The cancellation of the spring session unfortunately cut out a big chunk of my income. And how the summer classes will happen is a little up in the air right now, which adds more stress.

I’ve been sheltering-in-place since March 14th. It’s been scary, but at first I thought with all of this time on my hands I’d get so much art made! That would be the bright spot to all of this scariness. Boy was I wrong. Instead I’ve been spending a lot of energy on trying to deal with what to do about the bills I can’t pay, trying to file for unemployment as a self-employed person, and applying for grants to try to get some financial assistance. I know a lot of people are in the same situation. It’s been exhausting. At first I was hard on myself, feeling like I should be able to get more done. Days would sometimes go by without really accomplishing anything or knowing what I did the whole day. But now I’m trying to be more forgiving to myself and trying not to feel like I’m wasting all of this time at home.

I thought about getting a temporary job as an essential worker to make up for my lost income. But that terrified me because of my health issues–not only because my history with chronic bronchitis & sinus infections, but because of my brain cysts.

Things will be opening up around here soon. And honestly, that kind of scares me. But I’ll continue to shelter-in-place for a few more weeks.

I hope you all are hanging in there, are safe & as ok as you can be. I’d love for you to leave a comment to let me know how you are & what you’ve been doing.

Ruby, 2011.

Note: I wrote this post July 10, 2018 but didn’t post it. I wanted to include photos of Ruby, but was too heartbroken to go through them then and prepare them for the post. And doing it now still brings back all of the painful heartache of losing my best friend.

I’ve lost my best friend. About 3 weeks ago, on June 17th, I had to unexpectedly put my dog Ruby to sleep.

She was staying at my mother’s house while I was away for the weekend, vending at the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival. When I went to pick her up on my way home Sunday night, she didn’t come running to greet me, sliding across the floor in excitement like she usually did. My Mom said she was fine that morning, but something was wrong & she didn’t eat any dinner. Something was very wrong. She wagged her tail, but couldn’t stand up and seemed out of it. Plus, her belly felt very full.

Ruby, taken 2009 when she was about 3 years old.

The emergency vet hospital was fortunately near my Mom’s house. So we took her there–I didn’t want to take any chances by waiting until the morning to see my vet in Lawrence. I was scared. Ruby was getting on in years, but she wasn’t that old. She had arthritis issues, but other than that had seemed fine. My Mom said they even went on a walk that morning. So something happened during the day. I didn’t know if she had a stroke, or got into something.

Me and Ruby in my studio, taking pictures for when my studio was featured in Studios Magazine, 2009.

Luckily we didn’t have to wait long for her to be seen by one of the vets. It turned out that Ruby had a tumor on her spleen that had burst, filling her stomach with blood. That’s why her belly felt full. There was nothing that could be done. I think the vet said the cancer had metastasized, and her heart and lungs were filling with fluid too. I don’t really remember because I was in shock.

Me and Ruby, right inside my studio, doing a photo shoot for Studios Magazine, 2009.

I asked if there was anything that could be done so I could take her home for the night, and then take her to my vet in the morning. The vet said anything that she could do, would at most prolong her life an hour. She wasn’t going to make it through the night and could go into cardiac arrest while I was saying goodbye to her–her body was shutting down.

Ruby taken through a fish eye lens, 2009.

I couldn’t believe it. My dog wasn’t going to go home with me. I had to say goodbye to her right then, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t want her to suffer any more. The vet told me to let them know when I was ready.

Me & Ruby, 2016.

I laid with her on the floor for quite awhile, hugging her, crying, and whispering to her how much I loved her. I didn’t want to stop or let go because I knew it would be the last time.

Ruby & Clover in my studio, 2012.

I don’t remember if I stayed on the floor hugging her while the vet gave her the medicine to put her to sleep, or if I sat on the floor petting her–it’s all a sad blur. I do remember I really, really didn’t want to leave because I’d never see her again or be able to hug or pet her again. I kept trying to get up to leave, but then would kneel back down to be with her. She just looked like she was sleeping.

Ruby on her first camping trip, 2011.

Even though she was a dog, she was my person. I didn’t know what I was going to do without her. Everything I did at my house, she was part of. Every time I went outside, she went with me. Every time I went out to my studio, she went too. She’d usually go in for a few minutes, then go back outside and lay by the door until I came out. Every time I watched a movie and ate popcorn, she’d eat it with me. The same goes for tortilla chips. She was even in my books Print & Stamp Lab, and The Art Journal Workshop.

Ruby on my studio couch after an open studio, 2012.

When I had studio open houses or workshops, she greeted everyone and thought they were there to see her. Because well, they were. Then she’d give them a little nip when they stopped petting her. Everyone loved Ruby. Even the boyfriends that she bit because she didn’t want to share me–they still loved her. She was a character. I think she was a human in a dog’s body. I’m pretty sure of it. I adopted her in October 2007 and it was love at first sight for both of us. I got her for myself as an early birthday present. She was the best present ever.

Having an art day on my birthday with Lydia Ash & Ruby, 2011.

And now it’s been a little over 3 weeks since I had to put her to sleep. I feel like part of me is missing. A really big part. Muscle memory is strong. I know she’s gone, but I still do things out of habit as if she’s still here. And I do them while I’m thinking about how much I miss her. I wish I could turn off my muscle memory. A friend, trying to comfort me, said now I have more freedom because I don’t have to get home to let her out or to take her for walks. I never saw it as an obligation. I never minded doing those things for her. She was my person. And we were crazy about each other.

Me & Ruby, 2016

I miss her so much.

Goodbye Ruby. Our last photo together, June 17, 2018.

We made colorful blank tags with yarn attached to them for people to write their wishes on, and then tie onto the tree. Since the tree had large branches, without easy places for people to tie onto, we strung yarn around it to serve as an armature.

Here people attending Final Friday are starting to put their wishes onto the Wishing Tree.

People loved the wishing tree, so I left it up for everyone to enjoy, and to continue adding wishes to it. Every time I went to the Arts Center, I loved seeing the colorful wishes dancing in the wind.

Some time later the local news was downtown to cover a story, saw the wishing tree, and decided to do a story on it! I wasn’t at the Arts Center when this impromptu story happened, so they spoke with Neal Barbour, the Director of Youth Education. Below is the video that they shot.

I knew that things would get tattered and start falling apart from the rain and weather. I saw that as part of the process. But I didn’t realize that the unused wish tags in the ziplock bag would get waterlogged when it rained. So I’ve had to do maintenance from time to time. I haven’t figured out an easy solution to keep water from getting into the bag that’s attached to the tree.

This summer, I taught the Guerilla Arts class again, but as a week-long class. We left the existing yarn & wishes on the wishing tree, and spiffed it up by adding beads, ribbons & more yarn for places to tie on wishes, along with new signs.

I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of the wishing tree and it makes me happy seeing the community add their wishes to it. I loved working with kids in this type of workshop, teaching them different ways to spread positive messages or even just happy art out into the world.

I got the idea for the wishing tree from Keri Smith’s book, The Guerilla Art Kit. (This is an affiliate link to Amazon, and I might get a teeny tiny commission if you use it.)

The kids summer classes are over at the Lawrence Arts Center, but I am teaching two adult classes this fall.

Making things with my hands always lifts my spirits, and it probably does you too. So with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I thought this would be a good time to have a sale on my Heaps of Layered Handprinted Cards Online Workshop. It’s on sale for $35 through midnight (central time), February 5th. That’s a $5 discount, and you get lifetime access to the video workshop. While making beautiful cards, you’ll learn some printing techniques, how to make some stamps, and how to make your own envelopes. So go here for more info and to sign up. Have some art fun making cards, then spread the love by giving them to friends and special people in your life, or even strangers who could use a smile.

Here’s a teaser video to give you an idea of what the workshop is about.

If you have trouble viewing it, you can see it here.

Also, it’s not too late to sign up for my Bonkers Fiber or Yarn Club. I’m working on it this weekend and plan on sending everything out as soon as everything is dry. This month’s Yarn Club will include a knitting pattern to knit a scarf from the yarn. The fiber club will also get a goodie!