Check out my New Blog, Mish Mash Make!

Come on over to Mish Mash Make and check out my new Creative Process Blog!

• You'll find musings on good ideas, creative inspiration, and how to live an artistic life.
• Also, read interviews with fellow "makers" - - find out what they're working on, what inspires them and how they make creativity part of their lives.
• Check out great art and thrifty design finds.
• Do some DIY with me!

See you over at Mish Mash Make! :)

- Heidi

Update...

Just wanted to let you all know that this little guy, Desmond Muller, is a big reason why I've not been producing much art lately. He's 5 months old, and such a joy. I love hanging out with him and my four older sweeties.

I have been getting a bit of my creativity out by blogging for Saffron Marigold, a wonderful maker of luxurious, 100% cotton hand printed linens. I truly enjoy my job, and love the people I work with (albeit remotely - they are in California and India)!

Finally, my Cleveland Trunk is set to be auctioned on September 9! The auction will raise money for the Cleveland Orchestra and Blossom Music Center. I'm glad it will be out of the gallery and into someone's home soon.

Cleveland

This painting is a shout out to the 'hoods in Cleveland. I really do get so tired of hearing people talk about the city with such negativity. Problems? Yup. Every city has them. Post- industrial economic decline? There's that.

I'm not such a pollyanna to believe that people aren't part of/ most of the problem. But I do believe that human beings are a strange mix of brokenness and beauty, and when we cease to seek and see the beauty, then we have a REAL problem.

Cleveland

each panel is 18"x18"

acrylic and paper

on canvas

(sides painted black)

Love Covers

This piece in my text/montage series is getting a little more literal. I've been focusing on design, composition and color, but since I'm using so much text I felt I might as well say something!

Love Covers

8"x10"

acrylic, mixed media

on hardboard

No Sleep 'Till...

This is the second in my montage series inspired by paper plastered telephone poles. On this piece, I also used an old map of NYC and antique dictionary pages. I'm really enjoying the convergence of text and color. I can see this being a direction I want to push a little harder. As a matter of fact, I think it could be fun to do some personal montages for folks... More on that later!

No Sleep 'Till

8x10

acrylic, mixed media, acrylic glaze

New Series

The idea for this series emerged last fall, when I spent some time in Huntington Beach, CA. Maybe it was the always blue sky and the perfect sunlight, but everything seemed beautiful... including the peeling, scraped off and half-covered show posters that covered every telephone pole and light post.

I took a lot of photos of these graphic wonders, and am finally getting around to using the references for a series. I think they will give me a good opportunity to learn more and experiment more with composition and color relationships. I hope some good things come from these!

The first photo here is the actual light post - pretty sweet, huh? I think I'll make it a goal to photograph these where ever I go. I can collect shots in Kent, Cleveland, and SanFrancisco in a month when I visit there!

The second photo is the first painting in the series. It is called "Gazetteer", after the dictionary entry.

Gazetteer

8"x10" unframed, 10"x12" framed

acrylic, acrylic glaze, antique dictionary page, acrylic transfer

Comes framed in a semi-gloss, black, wooden frame.

See my etsy site for sales information:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JuxtaposedArts

Cleveland Trunk!

I have been working on this so fun project for a while now... The goal was to take this old steamer trunk, and make it into an auctionable piece for a Cleveland Orchestra fundraiser.

I was given the trunk, which, in fact, has been used by the Orchestra for almost 100 years! Various musicians have stored their personal belongings in it when the orchestra has traveled overseas. Most recently, a the principal tuba player had it.

After loving the trunk, and staring long and hard at it as it sat waiting to be worked on, I finally saw the Cleveland skyline emerge along the sides. (The trunk is actually oriented vertically, but it seems to be more versatile in a home as a low table rather than as a column.) Once I saw the skyline, things began to fall together.

I am a huge fan of the city of Cleveland. Such a wealth of culture there, and so underrated! I am really happy to be able to express my appreciation for the city and its culture in this piece.