creative in other ways

 

I'm feeling a little "saturated" today. I should be working in my studio, getting work done for my last show of the season. (Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar) But I wasn't feeling "it" this morning. I've been working on these little date magnets for my Advent calendars for the last 4 days now and I'm getting a little burned out. Or saturated.

 

 

So I went out to mow the lawn. Then I broke the mower.

Now what??

On my way back into the house to figure out what to do next, I passed my wagon full of ripening tomatoes plucked from the garden just before the last frost and suddenly knew what I was going to do next!

I would cook up the ripe tomatoes, along with some peppers, including some habeneros I bought last weekend at the farmer's market and then freeze it to use as a chili or soup base. And just like my artwork, this idea evolved.

It tasted wonderful and had quite a spicy kick to it! I only used 1 habenero, but I also used some fresh jalepenos and a tiny hungarian pepper from the garden. I decided instead, to make some black bean dip.

 

After simmering the tomatoes in olive oil with onions and fresh garlic, I added sea salt, some pickled jalepeno juice, and (yes) cinnamon and sugar. Added to that, 3 cans of black beans.

 



 

This delicious concoction is now simmering to perfection and I feel as if I created something today ~in my kitchen, if not in my studio.

 

Now I need to go get some tortilla chips!

 

 

 

 

 



BCA Project Update

Yikes! Now I'm stymied!! I am suffering from artist's block, probably brought on by the deadline for this project being August 15th if I want it photographed.
Well, this is what I completed 2 days ago. I added a vintage faux pearl choker to which I added a vintage trim of glass beads, probably from a Flapper's dress!
I affixed a stone heart to a rusty metal heart and stuck that on with some glue and some rusty wire. Vintage lace was added to the bottom and a mix of different shades of pink and white sequins were glued to the breasts.

Hopefully, I'll get an idea or 2 today. I guess if I didn't get any more ideas and didn't do anything else to it, it could be done. But in my mind, it is not completed.

Breast Cancer Awareness Project

These next couple of blog entries will document my progress with the Impact Artists Gallery Altered Perceptions: A Journey of Strength and Courage project. 80 artists were asked to donate their creative imagination with recycled PVC mannequins. These mannequins will then be exhibited, juried, with the 30 best printed on a poster for sale, and finally, put up for bid in a bidders' live auction.

First, I made a plaster cast of the PVC mannequin. The top is then decoupaged with dress pattern tissue paper. The bodice is painted with pink, acrylic paint.

So far, I've glued tiny, square glass and stone tiles left over from one of my husband's construction projects across the top of the bodice. I affixed the stone heart to a rusty metal heart and affixed both with wire and glue to the form. 2 vintage drapery tie back tacks have been added to the center of each breast and a line of m.o.p. buttons embellished with rusty wire has been created down the center of the bodice.

That's all for now!

And sometimes it IS pretty!

I've had this match safe for a while, not really knowing what to do with it. While I was working on creating some nests for another project, I suddenly got the inspriration to turn the match safe into a garden.

It's available now in my etsy shop

http://www.rustybuittonstudio.etsy.com/



Rochester Museum and Science Center Women's Council Holiday Bazaar

I just got back from a weekend in Rochester, NY. I had been invited to do the Holiday Bazaar at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. I had never heard of this show before, so after I had been invited to participate, I went home and researched it some online. I found out it was a quality show with approximately 175 fine artists and craftspeople. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I got there. The work was exceptional! I immediately called my husband to tell him about it. He asked me if I was flattered or intimidated. I said a little of both. If I had not been invited to this show, and had gone to it first, I'm pretty sure I would have thought I wasn't good enough to participate in it.

All my doubts went away when I heard all the wonderful comments about my work from all the people! The feed back was incredible! I met alot of awesome people, made some great friends, talked to alot of interesting people and made some money, too! I must say, this was by far the friendliest show I have ever done. I want to thank Christine DeTurck for inviting me to do this show!

As promised, I have included some (poor) pictures of my display. I had an odd space. It was 14 ft. long by 3 ft. wide in an entrance hall. It was just enough room for 2 6 ft. tables and my desk. There wasn't even enough room for me to sit in my space! Luckily, the woman next to me let me sit with her in her space. We became fast friends. Hi Kim!

There were some advantages to the space. Being in the entrance hall, everyone had to walk by. We were also located directly across from the restrooms, so all the vendors had to walk by too! It was also convenient, since I was basically by myself, I didn't have to leave my space too long when nature called!

All in all, I had a great show! I was a little nervous doing this show out of town with extra expenses to cover, but it all worked out fanastically and I would definitely do it again!