January

Update: July 2019 - we have moved and my new address has been entered. I've also updated my profile.

I am an elementary (and sometimes middle school) teacher. Since we recently moved, I am again searching for a teaching job but I am confident I will find one. In our city there are a number of museums with art labs/studios/hands-on areas so I am also looking for a job there - wouldn't that be amazing.....

Some of my hobbies (besides art, of course) include - reading, cooking, baking, hiking, the NYTimes crossword puzzle, and working out. I was never athletic my entire life, but in the past 4 years I have tried to get stronger and healthier. I am still by no means athletic but I have more physical confidence, and I can swing a mean kettlebell.

SHOWTUNES SHOWTUNES SHOWTUNES.( I am a huge musical theater fan. We almost always buy the soundtrack on CD (old school now, most people just stream music) and we keep the ticket stub in the jewel box as a reminder of when we saw the show. In recent years, extra ticket stubs have made their way into my art journals. We also see plays, so those stubs also go in my AJs. Theater is our hobby.)

Also like folk and contemporary music, such as - The Decemberists, John Mayer, James Taylor, Gregory Porter. I also like Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse, Carly Simon, AND our son is a musician so we listen to his music ;)

In addition to music, I also listen to podcasts (This American Life, Ask Me Another, Wait Wait..., The Moth, Selected Shorts, and I listened to Serial, S-Town, Caliphate) and my new favorite, Everything is Alive. It's magic. Try it, you'll be hooked.

The Book of Night Women, by Marlon James

Silver Sparrow, Tayari Jones

The Good Thief and The 12 Lives of Samuel Hawley, both by Hannah Tinti

Modern Girls, by Jennifer Brown

Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly

The Night Child, by Anna Quinn

Halsey Street, by Naima Coster

Baby Teeth, by Zoje Stage

Behind Closed Doors, by B A Paris

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my preferred authors, and I tend to like fiction written by Indian writers. I like to read modern fiction and family sagas.
Some books that have stuck with me include -

The Paris Architect

The Pearl that Broke Its Shell

The Language of Flowers

The Night Circus

The Red Tent

The Midwife of Hope River

Orphan Train

I do not like mysteries. However, I love the series by Alexander McCall Smith called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They are set in Botswana and although there is technically a mystery included, they are gentle and beautiful and funny and make me feel as if I have visited Botswana.

Art journaling

Gelli printing, especially with deli paper

Mixed media

Making my own journals

Faces, especially odd ones

Stencils

Collage

Stamp carving

Art foamies

(I follow Julie Balzer's blog...really like her style and use of color)

(I also follow a quilting blog called Exuberant Color - her use of color is incredible)

I love all kinds of pens. I have trouble passing by pens without buying a new one but lately I have restraining myself and not buying new ones. I really do have more than enough.

Newest obsession - marbling. I've been experimenting with Suminagashi. And I took a workshop on Ebru (Turkish marbling) which may have been the most 3 hours of fun I had this year. I'm doing another Ebru workshop in September. Because the materials for Ebru (carageenan and alum) are pricey and take pre-setting, I've researched online and learned that you can get a similar effect with liquid starch to fill the tray. I'm going to be trying that - it's less than $5 a bottle. Now to figure out which paper works best...that's been tricky. If anyone out there has a good favorite, let me know.

I love bright colors (but not neon) and really, I like all colors.

I love folk art - outsider art - primitive art

I gravitate towards modern and contemporary art.

I like the quilts and color combinations of Kaffe Fassett.

I like explosions of colors and patterns.

I am drawn to faces. I cannot really draw well but I am trying to learn how to draw faces. If they come out odd, it's fine.

I also like vintage style (though not steampunk) - old postage stamps, vintage office papers, library cards, ledgers, maps, receipts, etc

If you are a "maker", I like receiving hand-carved stamps, your painted papers, altered tags, handmade journals, homemade washi tape, elegant or modern looking return address labels

Washi tape - I like vintage-looking washi or watercolor-y washi

New obsession that I've seen but don't own any (yet...!) - vintage bus tickets, train tickets, travel stuff

Pens. (See above - but I really have too many...)

Paper ephemera - such as maps, sheet music, art-y magazines, colorful papers, old ledgers

Journals - I like to make my own junk journals

Tags - my own or others' - all kept on a big book ring, fun to flip through

Holiday-related items - sorry but I just don't have use for or like receiving items for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc....so please do not send that type of item

Steampunk style Kawai style "Cutesy" stuff

Animals - except I do like birds

Tea - I do not drink tea