Oso Azul Design

Aluminum as art.

2009-11-22T11:09:00.004-06:00

Once upon a time, I joined a group who were creating a periodic table with only the following requirements: your element must be made in a printmaking form, be 6"x6", display the atomic symbol & no. somewhere in your design. I picked two elements, Aluminum & Thorium. This blog post is dedicated to Aluminum! I am not going to go on and on, off on a tangent about how I love aluminum; you can read all about THAT in the listing for the print in my ETSY shop.

I just want to give the Aluminum print some extra love here :-) The project as a whole can be viewed here. This project was the brainstorm of Jenn Schmitt come to fruition. She collected all of the prints from the contributors and has put a lot of time into promoting our Printmaking Periodic Table and getting exhibitions lined up for display of the periodic table. I think that Jenn Schmitt is tops and appreciate everything she has done. No slouch of a printmaker herself, check out her ETSY shop here. She does really beautiful work & I enjoy how she layers colors.

Have a happy sunshine day y'all!

Before "The Absence," there was...

2009-04-15T15:28:00.010-05:00

...."Liebe von Volkswagen"

Love of the Volkswagen is right. I've always had a soft spot for VWs. Nothing quite looks, smells or sounds like them. They are perfectly imperfect without apologies. They strive to be nothing else, they are copied from nothing else. In high school, I drove a 1976 VW Rabbit (not for long) & finished out my senior year in a turquiose 1965 Beetle. In 2000 I bought a VW Jetta TDI and have put 175, 000 miles on it. It is dinged here and there. It makes suspicious sounds at times. It is much more imperfect than perfect since the day I drove it off of the lot. The passenger window fell out again but I just love this car. What can I say, love of the volkswagen.

This print was my first try at reduction printing. For those of you not familiar with fine art printing, I used the same piece of linoleum to print all four colors. I started with white, then cut the lino for light gray, then cut the lino for dark gray, then cut one last time for black. This means I had to print in between all these cuts. AND to add extra adventure, I used no means of registration for alignment, just eyeballed it....cuz I like to add a pinch of madness to everyday life :-P

As I do not own or have access to a printing press, all of my prints are completely hand-pulled. It is a bit scary to do just one print, let alone 4 prints on top of each other! In the end, it turned out pretty cool but I am not sure when I'll do another reduction print any time soon.

Fortunately, I got some good prints out of this effort and you can check them out in my Etsy shop!

Break the Log Jam!

2009-04-12T22:15:00.004-05:00

I've finally done it! Finished my first website. Yay! I've put everything else on hold to get this up. A neighborhood favorite, The Walrus Restaurant, recently changed hands. They've created a new look and wanted a website to go along for their customers.

Phew. Although, there'll be small tweaks here & there, its done baby :-)

If you are in the Bismarck, North Dakota area, you MUST give The Walrus a try. There is loads of good stuff, beers, etc. Seriously!

Check it out: http://thewalrusrestaurant.com

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Jill & the crew at The Walrus

NOW it is time for me to get a sketchbook or 2 done for Moly 59 and then Moly 58. Sound the trumpets.

We shall refer to this period as, The Absence

2009-04-09T11:28:00.005-05:00

Yes, yes, yes, I took a look at my blog the other day and realized that I hadn't posted since 2007. Seriously, 2007? What in the hay happened to 2008.

*hangs head in shame*

Truth be told, I was very busy with anything other than artwork for the majority of 2008 :-( boohoo. On the upside, I did get a new camera to play with but alas, haven't even posted any photography to prove it, so I must smack my own hand and get some stuff up here! Certainly the few followers I had have abandoned me by now!

For my artsy fartsy side this past year, I've had a few things cooking....oh....well...yeah, cooking has been part of it. Trying to keep myself fed as a new vegan has kept me in the kitchen and out of most restaurants AND fast food drive thrus. Anywho, I've currently got 2 more art collaboratives with Moly X and am working on creating a website for a local restaurant, besides my day job making technical drawings for a civil engineering firm.

So, in the future look for some posts about the Moly X projects, update on the Printmaking Periodic Table project, website design madness & photography.

*blows kisses* Thanks for peeking in :-)

Bizzy Busy Bizzeeee

2007-12-10T16:16:00.000-06:00

That is what I've been lately. I need to get some new artwork listed in my shoppity shop but I've been trying to get another etsy shop together which is a collaboration of 2 great minds (har har har) called Marge & Vina, to make vegan friendly soaps, bath salts, home items....etc. We've got the shop ready to go, it is just waiting for me to list something....anything :-P Besides still trying to hash out some good formulae for soaps, I've got some upcycled bowls to list if I could just find my flippin camera! *to the oh tanenbaum! melody* "Oh cameraaaa, oh cameraaaaaa, where the hell have you gooooone" Ergo, what do you call on online seller who cannot photo her product? a non-seller *insert feeble rimshot here*

In the end, it is gonna be fun I think :-) You may visit the shop and with any luck, I will have found my damn camera by then so that you can peruse more than just the banner! weeeee. Also, the shop will be tying into my new-to-vegan blog once it gets cookin, good lookin. tah-tah!

To visit shop click here
To visit the bloggy click here

Belly full, Gray day...

2007-10-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

It is chilly and gray outside. My belly is full of hot, chicken soup from lunch. I've read about a half an hours worth of a new library book. I'm ready for a nap! I would love to jump into one of these beds for a some sleep....

There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled. ~Edward Lucas
The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late. ~Charles Caleb Colton
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb
There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast. ~Author Unknown
Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up. ~Author Unknown
Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. ~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002
The feeling of sleepiness when you are not in bed, and can't get there, is the meanest feeling in the world. ~Edgar Watson Howe

Avast! Ya scurvy dogs...

2007-09-19T09:27:00.001-05:00

Today is September the 19th and that means only one thing....it is Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrrrgh n shit. So for today, you can refer to me by my pirate name, Dirty Anne Rackham. Again, arrrrgh, i say. Arrrgh. Arrrrrgh! *insert a cough* ARRRRRRRRRRGH! Ah, that was much better.

Two years ago, I had decided that me and my friends should all dress up as pirates for Halloween and set out upon Austin like a roving band of hooligans. This we did and good times where had by all. Sure, some rum was consumed and I did lose my sword once after falling down and then rolling through an enormous rosemary shrub. No harm done really and I smelled fabulous for the rest of the night! Thank goodness I don't act like Dirty Anne Rackham every day...or I'd be a part of a whole other group...yeah. I'll admit though that it was a lot of fun to don some flashy, swashbucklin' clothes and a pirat'ish/english/irish accent for a night faux pillaging.

My advice to you is to give it a try, you might like it! Here are some links to get you started....

get yer pirate name:

http://www.piratequiz.com/

study up! this site will ramp you up quick like:

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

respond to my blog and let us know what your pirate name is...we always like to see who's on the ship...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

pirate

The Birds

2007-09-17T17:52:00.000-05:00

Yup. The birds. Remember the movie? The birds lost their flippin' minds and just wanted to kill, kill, KILL! Nobody suspects the birds. I mean, they weigh like....nothing and are mostly wee sized. They make chihuahuas look like heavy weights. Nobody ever suspects the damn birds.

So there I was, walking my precious little fella, Smoky Joe. We were sniffin' every tree trunk, not leaving a blade of grass pass by without inspection. Minding our own business mostly except to leak a little here or wiz a little there. Beautiful day it was here in NoDak. Winter will be here soon but today there is no need for doggy sweaters and boots. Just us and the tinkling of his tags and the clicking of his toenails on warm concrete.

Did I suspect the birds? NO. About a block away from home a bird was chasing another bird and the two of them zipped by my head so fast that I felt the breeze and heard "wooooof" in my ear. I winced and ducked in panic as they bulleted up into the tree canopy and out of sight. I was awash with a wave of chill. Smoky Joe and I scampered along and tried to play off the bird taunting. I wonder if any of the neighbors saw!

Nobody ever suspects the birds....

A Stitch in time...

2007-09-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

Jack of all trades and master of none. This describes me very well. Curious, curious, curious always wondering, questioning, trying something new. I’ve always stated that I am rarely ever bored. There is always something to do, read, listen to, experience, learn, whatever! Even if that means keeping time with the muzak in the doctor’s office waiting room. I cannot even begin to approximate how many projects or hobbies that I’ve started and moved onto something else. My behavior at times has driven a few people in my life mad (myself included) but this is just who I am and I no longer apologize for it :-)

My new temptation is embroidery. Yep, as simple as that. I love the look of cheesy old dishcloths, western shirts and bowling shirts...how fun! So I researched some basic stitches and thought that I’d whip up some cutesy owl dishtowels for the kitchen. Purchased the patterns, some embroidery floss, needles, a wee hoop and an enormous dishtowel to practice my stitches on before I went and destroyed something else with crazy needlework! Thank you Thrify White Drugstore of Mandan, NoDak for carrying the oddest assortment of items within your walls to include an embroidery supply section tucked at the end of some forgotten aisle.

I got some easy instructions on the basics from Sublime Stitching of Austin, TX (p.s. go there for some awesome patterns-I bought 8 immediately!) and off I went practicing straight lines and curves with each stitch type. Ok I was over that after 1 minute and drew a little rocket pattern that was on one of the patterns that I had ordered. Stitched that. Eewww, fun! At this point I was laying in bed and didn’t feel like getting up to get a pencil and/or idea for a pattern so I decided to just lay down stitches freehand to practice and why not do a head. Yes, I thought, a head with a messed up face. Like somebody who takes to fightin’ and says WUT? a lot. This is when Billy Fred Cooper entered my life.

I was so pleased with Billy Fred that I had to give him some sisters to protect/fight with. Again, I was just freehand stitching them because this was practice, practice, practice. So yesterday afternoon born of my needle were Vesta Mae and Fancy. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with these 3 characters. I keep thinking of story lines for them. More importantly, HOW DID I GO THIS LONG IN LIFE WITHOUT PICKING UP AN EMBROIDERY NEEDLE? Now I just need to figure out some practical applications that I can sell in my Etsy shop!

Seriously, if you haven’t given it a try (or any new technique of arts & crafts for that matter) get some information, get some supplies and give it a whirl. It is a lot of fun!

A fan or not a fan, we all have opinions...

2007-08-30T09:52:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday as my partner and I were enjoying her very first weekend off, we were hit by the revelation that "Oh wow! We can go to garage sales now". You see, she has worked in positions which have left her lucky to have 2 days off in a row her entire adult life. Now she works 7a-3p monday thru friday. YAY!

So, we whip out the newspaper and start hunting down addresses. I'll admit, we are lightweights and only made it to about 10 sales, but treasures we did find! A yogurt maker (never used), a board game (still wrapped in plastic), a 4-pane window (ripped from someone's house and destined to become something fabulous in ours), a "Premium Saltines Crackers" tin (remember these...in excellent shape) and another little treasure was this old, small, rusted fan.

I swooped in on it at once and carried it around the garage which was full of sale items. It was such a sublime find to me...I couldn't/can't stop looking at it. 25 cents. All mine. I brought it home, created a photo studio and modeled it for the camera yesterday :-P "Oh yeah, THATs hott!" I've never claimed to be anything but silly. I know nothing of the fan's origin or history. The plug was ripped off. It would need re-wiring to see if it worked or not. I am not at all concerned if the little fan blades will ever whirl round n round n round again. I think that it is fascinating just as it is.

Strange isn't it the allure of things old, not-so-perfect or even useful. One person's junk is another's object of beauty. It seems to me that these old things with their thoughtful aesthetic designs and details are juxtapose to our new, shiny, smooth, plastic world. Neither is better than the other in my opinion. Balance is always key to every part of life. Perhaps too much new, shiny, smooth is what attracts some of us to the old stuff, just for a change.

Here is a list of 5 things of which I am a fan of:

Animals. Love'em. Especially snuggly or frolicky babies!
Architecture. Structures, Details, Shapes all captivate me. Especially architectural restoration.
Food. No seriously. I've come to realize that I really do love food.
Discovery. Satisfying your curiosity about the world around you is...well...satisfying :-P
NPR. It is a staple of each day that never gets old. Thoughtful, provoking, entertaining, good stuff.

Here is a list of 5 things of which I am not a fan of:

Complacency/Apathy and the fact that I am both at times.
Working for a living. I'd rather that money DID grow on trees!
Slugs. They creep me out on a deeply emotional level. Thank goodness that they cannot move swiftly as well. eeeeeeeek!
Changing the litterbox. It isn't even hard! I need to get over myself with that one.
Mean and/or careless people. Their ugliness only perpetuates more ugliness. STOP IT! Love IS all we need :-)

I'm here....honest....

2007-08-15T14:32:00.000-05:00

really... I am. I've been busy/stressed/anxious/worried/scattered/etc. lately. I feel a new blog post coming on though. Soon. I promise.

On a good note, a wonderful friend bought "Elli the Elephant" ACEO. I am very happy that it will go to a good home :-)

The end.

It is purrrrdy

2007-06-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far! ~John Muir

A screen shot of my most recent treasury. I just love it and want to preserve it in some form before the treasury gods swallow it whole tomorrow. Simple enough, looked for black & white trees and found this group. One of my favorite photographers here is Chicalookate. If you haven't checked out her shop on Etsy, well, you should! I've bought a few of her photos and just love her style! If you hurry quick like fox, you can get a close up view of this treasury. Otherwise it will be gone by the date listed at the bottom of the image (3pm~June 20th).

Breaking News and all of that there...

2007-06-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I was forced at art knife point by Amoeba and her Friends to publish a blog post about how disgruntled they were. Amoeba is a wee bit aggressive I think. Today I start chatting up with some of my Etsy friends and one of them, Jooley of Little Killers, informs me that Amoeba and her Friends made the Etsy Frontpage! At the same time another buddy ol pal ol buddy, Janet from MonkeyDog Studio, captured a screenshot for me to cherish forever and ever :-) Thank goodness these ladies had their heads on a swivel! I must also give thanks to tofunutloaf for creating the treasury that found its place on the frontpage. Amoeba is on the far bottom right corner.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

She sucked worse than she thought with HTML...

2007-06-08T18:02:00.000-05:00

SO, I've moved into this fabulous little bungalow spot that I snagged up today on Blogger! I had been blogging on WordPress and was just a little too lame with my web competence to do very much with it and/or troubleshoot it. SO, here I am!

I need to get my hustle on and straighten up the house before some of my favorite people arrive into town from Minneapolis. I'll check back in later and continue to familiarize myself with blogger-ville and add schtuff to my blog.

See y'all laterz gatorz.

Why can't I be popular?

2007-06-08T16:33:00.000-05:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED 6/7/2007

Yes. Why can't I be popular? I am not asking this for myself, I am asking this for one of my paintings "Amoeba and her Friends."

Personally, I could not careless about popularity contests but this is not the case for Amoeba and her Friends. They are so put off by the fact that they have received nearly the least views of anything else listed in my ETSY shop. Ever since I've created Amoeba, she has griped and groaned about "that hideous acid green" that I've set her afloat in. On and on she goes about "why did I finish with gloss varnish here" or "why am I so obsessed with adding texture" to everything. What a crab she is! Perhaps the Etsy world will decide that Amoeba and her friends need to remain hanging on my wall. That would be alright by me because I love that acid green color I mixed up one sunny Sunday and as for Amoeba's filthy mouth, well at least she cares, right? :-P

BRILLIANT!

2007-06-08T16:32:00.001-05:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED 6/6/2007

Oh dear...I've been away for too long! Forgive me tiny readership, forgive me please.....

Sometimes, it is the most innocent, haphazard things that you create which catch someone's eye. For April's Fools day, I drew my "Buddies" illustration for my Etsy shop. A group of us nutters decided to proclaim April 1st Avatar Butt day and we'd create butt themed artwork for sale. The funny thing is, out of all of the items that I've listed on Etsy, this Buddies illustration was the most viewed/most marked as favorite & sold before anything else since it was listed. It is a cheeky drawing and maybe I should explore my cheeky side more often :-P

I would like to thank my models for the photo which lead to this illustration, Smoky Joe & the Princess Sophia. My darlings, I know that the 3 day journey in the moving van was unpleasant....but it paid off for momma. Treats all around!!!

A Printmaker's Project

2007-06-08T16:31:00.000-05:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/17/2007

In the event that you are a printmaker, or at least someone who wants to give printmaking a whirl, I have come across a sweet project for you. Select an element from the periodic table (about half are yet to be claimed) and create a print. Even better, you have until May31 to ship the print off. This is open for all skill levels (beginner to superhuman), so don't be shy. I haven't created a print in over 20 years, but this project just seemed like too much fun.

All the guidelines are at the following links:

http://azuregrackle.com/blogs/index.php?blog=5

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5055577

Today was a warm, sunny day...

2007-06-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/12/2007

The first 70+ degree day since last sept. or oct. YAY! I came home and my doggy was wagging his tail and crazy to go for a nice long walk.....and so we did. Walked to the library to get Kristin a new book. Awww...happy days.

On the serious side, I need to get more stuff up on my etsy shop and develop this blog page more and develop my myspace page more as well. phew. I am going to list some of the originals of the repro. prints that I already have up. I am just trying to get all the descriptions right. If the snow ever melts away from my back yard so that I can set up out there, I need to photograph my large paintings so that they may be listed too. I'll offer them as repro. prints 1st and consider selling the originals later....I am kind of attached to them right now. I want to get a few stuffed creatures and mosaic tile pieces ready within the month. This may be a bit ambitious considering how busy I have been and my "real" job is getting very busy (=overtime soon). BUT nothing wrong with goal setting....right?

wanna check out out my stuff???

http://www.OsoAzulDesign.etsy.com

http://www.myspace.com/osoazuldesign

Hello World

2007-06-08T16:27:00.000-05:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/8/2007

Welcome to Oso Azul Design.

I just wrote a touching 1st blog which was lost because my network went down as I finished spilling my guts to you people. Forget it. I am not trying again! Good night nurse. Don't you all just love when that happens. Golly.

So, anywho...I am here mainly to have a presence while I continue to develop my artsy fartsy side. Feel free to check out my etsy shop at the above link. YAY! I also, have to get my website together and up. All I really want to do is draw or paint or build something or finish unpacking our house or what EVER! I do interrupt my daily activities with holding down a full-time "real job" but I am trying to get busy with the stuff that I love to do. I am cereal people! and silly...

Now it is time for tacos....YUM!