Handmade Journals for Sale!

It all started when Mr. Right bought me a Zutter Bind-It-All.  On top of a really beautiful collection of paper (which I use for collages, etc...) I've been painting a lot of paper lately and so, swiping the covers from an old, discarded book, I made myself a new journal.

This is nothing new... well, except for the Zutter.  I have made sketchbooks/art journals for years, all kinds and methods.  There are many posts about handmade books on this blog.  I have a longstanding fascination with bookmaking and with creating content for these books.

  

  

  

I started working in my new journal. I'm not formally participating in the #yearofcollage but wanted this book to be a collage journal. Making pages, posting them to IG, creating little collages to go on my pages, cutting up old watercolor paintings, making more pages.

   

Armed with the new Zutter toy, I made a second journal for a librarian friend of mine who is so, so generous and lets me know when she has damaged books that are headed to the landfill.  I really love giving a library's leftovers new life!  

  

Well, you know where this is going.  I'm having so much fun making journals that I can't stop.  And I've gotten lots of interest through Instagram -- you can visit my Instagram page and my Etsy shop to see many more photos of the individual journals for sale.  Both links are in the column to the right. 

Little Sister No. 10

So delighted that Little Sister No. 10 found her forever home... Away she goes!!  I love her big overstuffed chair/hair and the way those legs drop down into earrings.  Boy, as an artist, you just can't make this stuff up!   Big thanks to my collectors for engaging with my art and my heart.

Little Sisters No. 19

I love playing with these girls.  No. 19 is a modern-day angel with an Alice in Wonderland dress, made from a book page that's been hand painted.  Her wings are small but mighty.  

I dream of hairdos.  And I love to find some scrap/s of paper in my stash and make random hairdos out of them.  Don't you want to wear polka-dotted polka dots in your ponytails?

You can click on any photo and see it larger.  No. 19 is up on the Etsy store and available!

On Dust-Settling, an Etsy shop, & New Art

Greetings Friends,  It's good to be back.  The past few years have been busy -- Mr. Right and I have graduated one from college, launched one into college, and built our dream 'empty-nesting' house.  I've gone back to full-time school-marming, with plentiful time in the studio during evenings and weekends. I'm not candy coating it -- there have been some rough spots. And maybe we'll go into all that later but for now suffice to say, no surprise, the creative process continues to be a mainstay of joy in my life. And so let us commence with joy!

I want to show off a few things but first, drumroll please, I'm opening a new Etsy shop! Just like the blog, it's name is MitziEasleysStudio (Etsy doesn't allow spaces...).  There are links both in the column to your right and up at the top of the blog on a new tab named "SHOP."  I'm still setting things up, moving displays around, dusting and primping but please join me there!

To celebrate the shop opening, I've created a new series of little postcard-sized collage/paintings collectively called the Little Sisters.  They are soooo fun, a little bit quirky, and perfect for gift-giving.

Some have messages; some don't.  

  

Some are angelic.

Stay tuned; I'll post more.  Perfect on just a little easel.   Aren't they a tickle?

 

Zig-Zag: Gifts, Wrapped in Chevron

Zig-Zag

oil on panel, 12x12, $240

I love our culture's current fascination with the time-honored chevron pattern.  Mustaches are hard to understand but give me a good chevron obsession and I totally get it!  (Also curley-que ribbon, which never really goes out of style.)  While painting this gift, I dreamed about a pair of slipper chairs upholstered in a chevron fabric... gray would be lovely.  Or a beautiful chevron patterned brick floor.  I like this little present a lot.  Thanks for looking!

Paper Painting Whimsy

Today is "paper painting" day in the studio.  It's amazing how quickly my stockpile runs out when I'm tearing and pasting for collages.  I'm certain every artist has their own process.  Paper painting for me is a little how I imagine some abstract art to be created. No finished product in mind -  making decisions based on color and form and value, mixed with a big batch of serendipity.  Lots of "what ifs" and inky-painty fingers and funny tools like carved corks and cardboard rolls.  Yes, I'm that person who snatches paper towels with interesting quilting patterns and Starbucks cup cozies from unsuspecting friends. No such thing as a bad choice. Love it, love it, love it.

Dontcha Love Teachers?

Many Thanks

oil on panel, 8x10, $140

Teachers are some of my favorite people.  I've had the privilege to work in schools for the past 15 or so years - a non-teacher amongst teachers - and I can attest that they have a unique blend of God-given talents and personally developed skills.  Mixed with cah-razy amounts of energy and courage. 

Speaking of, I took Julie Ford Oliver's Daily Paintworks ArtByte Tutorial on Fracturing a while ago.  Neat.  Then recently, on a trip to Houston, I visited Texas Art Supply and found the handiest little "fracturer."  Made by Princeton, it's called a Wedge.  Highly recommended.  Thanks for looking.

Gifts, Wrapped - A New Favorite

Congratulations!

16x20, oil on canvas, $525

This one is just happy, happy. Thanks for looking!

Gifts, Wrapped

Dottie

9x12, oil on panel, $180

SOLD

Good that I bought a whole roll of this darling dotted paper as I've used it before in collages and mixed media pieces.  Thanks so much for looking.