Market Finds! Small Business Profiles- Parcel in Mountclair, NJ

No, I haven't fallen off the edge of the Earth... shoppin' gals'

just absent from blogging for a while - but rest assured - I am back.
I've been working on an OOAK (a one of a Kind Art Doll) that you are soon going to meet. In hunting for little rare knick-knacks with which to embellish her clothing and top hat, I went looking for specialty trims and findings. I was so happy, that I remembered a wonderful, exquisite little shop named Parcel in Mountclair, NJ. It can be a challenge to classify Parcel, but it is well worth the work. Parcel is paper goods store, a magical treasure trove of authentic ephemera and little charms, ribbons, crowns, drawers of findings and pips! Secrets linger in every nook, corner and shelf. Even their website PARCEL is a delight for the curious creative.

So check out my bounty of small delish treats from Parcel and check them out as soon as you can -you wont be sorry!!

Little dancers found in the magical Store Parcel in Mountclair, NJ Treasures from an Earlier Parcel Shopping Spree... so so so so cute! little surprises found at Parcel.... my full bounty collection from Parcel vintage postcards from Parcel cluster of small wonders and pips for my dolls top hat! The Top Hat I made embellished with Parcel finds for my OOAK doll !

So STAY tuned and come back this weekend to meet my OOAK doll, read about the artist that inspired her AND be a part of helping to NAME her!

Modern Day Queens

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photo by Gregg Emery

Context - The Dwight-Englewood School will be putting on a theatrical production of Alice in Wonderland this weekend in Englewood, NJ directed by Clinton Carbon

The Witching Hour is Near...

sketchbook scan by marisol diaz

Lil' Red Is the Theme...

My Most Fave Time of YEAR - ALL HALLOWS EVE Approaches...hint hint

not my picture!! REBLOGGED from ANIMALSTALKINGINALLCAPS

Until there is a CHANGE- I will continue to post this on Columbus day...

The Loss of an Iconclastic Icon and a Personal Inspiration- Steve Jobs

In need of a bit of motivation - take just fourteen minutes to rethink how you approach your everyday life. In 2004 Steve Jobs was given only 3- 6 months to live...yesterday Oct. 5th, 2011 (7 amazing years later) Steve Jobs has passed away.

Bullseye Glass Class in Portland, Oregon

So it has been a pretty jam packed summer for and unfortunately blogging has taken a backseat on the priority list, but tomorrow begins the new school year for me and it is time to buckle down and get back in front of the computer. The last two weeks of the summer I was in Portland Oregon taking glass classes at Bullseye glass. This is my second time taking classes at Bullseye and it never ceases to please. So here is a sneak peek at some of the new glass and sketchbook work that I have been working on.

my desk in the Bullseye Glass Class on Silkscreening on Glass with Michael Endo and Louise Krampien student work from my Image transfer for Kiln Glass class with Carrie Iverson and Louise Krampien

Can you guess which of all of these student pieces is mine? if you're a follower you should have no trouble at all! :)

A Survey of Color in Mexico...

Here are a series of photographs that I took this summer in my travels to Ensenada, Mexico and Manzanillo, Mexico. They're a study of color that gave my camera a run for its money and hopefully they spark the iris of your eye.

As a writer, I am often reminded that reality is frequently much more bizarre than fiction- but the same goes for the visual arts - since no painting I could ever do could embody such colors without appearing contrived. So I hope you enjoy these and let me know which are your favorites...

Artist Assistantship with the De La Torre Brothers in Ensenada, Mexico

"Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality."-Arthur Koestler

This is the perfect quote to surmise my summer thus far. It implies taking a wet rag to the set ingrained dirty lines of dust on your windshield and wiping them clean of routine, it implies an end to the repetitiveness and turning your life inside out and upside down by taking a 6 hour flight and landing into undetermined circumstances...to endure something new, something unadulterated and fresh - never before witnessed by your sensory powers. Hence something original is born.

I was super fortunate this summer to be asked/selected by the my long time prof glass artist friends, the De La Torre Brothers, to assist them with their work for three weeks this summer.

And so after kissing my fam goodbye, flying into San Diego and driving down to Baja California, I am finally here. And I am loving the wine region, fish port land, the people, the spanglish and the creative studio gig! The flora and fauna is absolutely stunning...I'm mesmerized. I feel like the ranch we are stationed on is right out of a Georgia O'Keefe movie. So I thought I'd share some vignettes of my beautiful trip so far- oh n my trailer...I hope you like!!