LIFE IS ART

But sometimes life just gets in the way of art! When there is more "life" than art, I tend to get a little cranky. Ideas are still bouncing round in my head, but the facts are, just not enough time to get them physically done. Out of balance, that's what it is.

My last two trips to Anthropologie were still on the camera, so I got them loaded and organized enough to post a few. A trip to Anthro usually gets me so enthused I come home and make something right away, but I didn't this time. I have to get some of the ideas out of my head before I can stack new ones up in there.

SAN DIEGO ANTHROPOLOGIE
Palms reflected, and garlands in window, made of PVC pipe. Clever, but not really beautiful. However I think they would be great outside.



Candles and Onaments



Wooly trees.



Didn't we make these with our kids?



Made of plastic swizzle sticks. Actually looked much better in person.

A Sampling of ICADS

Here's a few from September. I keep finding these cards stuck everywhere, in books to flatten them, some finished, some barely started. What's wrong with me? I am so scattered and disorganized...I may be finding these index cards in weird places for quite some time. Some of them I didn't even date, so I'm sure I have more than enough to account for every day of the month. Some of them I really like, and some I can tell my heart wasn't really in it. My mind is still processing that dilemma.

I am not totally satisfied with my photos from today, but here they are. The light wasn't good, maybe I should take the others outside tomorrow. I uploaded them to Flickr as well.

I'm Still Trying to ICAD

I haven't given up on doing my Index cards, but I have fallen behind a bit. I missed almost a week in Sept. and have been playing catch-up ever since. I have taken two trips to be with family because of illness and there was a subsequent death in the family as well.

I have a stack of cards that I still need to photograph and get posted to Flickr. I've been visiting the site regularly and not very many people are posting now. Maybe the 3 month summer challenge did everyone in. Come on, where are y'all? Anyhow, I still enjoy the little index cards. Since I have a lot of them left, I will continue to carry them around with me and try to continue to create a bit each day. Even if some days it's only my shopping list. Some days are better than others, but it's all ART..right??? Well, it may be CRAFT, but these days, the line between the two seems more blurred than it once was.

I tossed these in a chair by the window, tomorrow I hope to get them individually posted.

Anthropologie in Downtown Chicago

Remember, I've told you that I love the stores because you never know what you'll see in each one. They all sell the same merchandise, but their design teams do different things with the same materials. This one is on two levels. Each photo is clickable to view details. There are a lot of photos, so if you are not totally enthralled with Anthropologie, I understand if you opt out. I tell hubby all the time that I need a living space this large to hang all my "treasures". He agrees, but we haven't quite quite figured out a way yet that we can make it happen.

UPSTAIRS:
Central area of store

Orange Hat

Smashed beer cans on orange wall

LOVED this window. It was over 3 feet deep

Me, on the inside

Hubby, on the outside




DOWNSTAIRS:

From top of stairs

First wall at bottom of stairs

Pale collage tucked in a corner under the stairs

Low ceilings, recessed lighting

Cool signs

Mixture of "stuff"

Close-up

Fixture made from large pots.

Lots of dishtowels

Let's go to Anthropologie

I haven't done a post about Anthropologie in quite awhile. I visited two of the stores while in Chicago. One was in one of those really nice malls in the city of Geneva. The other was downtown. I'd like to have gone to more of them, but just ran out of time. They were both interesting, and each one different. Remember, images are clickable to view larger.
In Geneva Commons:
Rather ordinary exterior for an Anthro store.


A huge installation of wooden hangers over the registers. Photo does not do it justice, it was much cooler in person.

On a narrow post they had used these for photo display.


Wall of torn fabric strips.

Close-up torn fabric strips, the fabrics were very opulent.


Always love their mirror displays. Always!
Reflecting light fixtures in center of store.

Hubbys legs & boots.


This clipboard display wall would be fun to use as an Inspiration board.


Big board of spectacle frames.

My favorite of course.



I'll do Downtown Chicago store in the next post.

I RARELY buy RED

With the exception of a couple of pair of shoes and my reading glasses, you won't find much red in my life at all. I hardly ever use it in my artwork. So this continuing set of ICADS seemed like a double challenge for me. But I took a deep breath and added my name to the list. Red does not HAVE to be used in each one, there are additional prompts as well. But once you hear the word, it's kind of hard to put it out of your mind, at least for me it is.

Here is what I usually buy, colorwise:


I had to search a long time to find this old Chalk Ink pad in Warm Red. Likewise a couple of bottles of red from Golden sets. Then I went and bought the Liquitex tube of Pyrrole Crimson, and another jar of some kind of bright red.



My first set of Red cards. I am not wild about any of these cards. But, remember, I am trying to NOT rely on collage so much, so that is an extra challenge thrown into the mix.
You will see off to the right a notebook cover I did using red. It's a sketch book for my nephew.

The Summer of ICAD Has Come to a Close

This is it. I am finished with the challenge. I can't believe I managed to last to the end. I am having mixed feelings about continuing on with the new one that started on Sept. 1st. One the one hand, this challenge got me to do the only creating I actually did all summer. So that is a good thing. And I really started to enjoy the small "index card" format, even the flimsy cards, and the "NOT preciousness" of them. However, I think I need a bit of a break. But, if I do, can I continue to create on my own? Well, I'll decide in the next day or two. I already did a card yesterday and today, so I won't get too far behind if I decide to commit to the next two months.

Here they are...Wish I could put them in a grid, but I don't know how.






















Whew! That's a lot. There are some missing, ones I did while in Chicago. It was hard for me doing them on the road, because I could only carry a few supplies with me. Difficult for me to draw...as I am mainly a collage kind of gal. The ones from August 17th through the 20th are on the Flickr site. They were nothing to write home about..if you know what I mean. But I am proud of myself for managing to get them done while away.