Around town

I try to be observant. You know, that whole "stop and smell the roses" thing. Sometimes I miss things, sometimes I catch something.

Kerry and I frequently take walks to Waneka Lake. It's a nice, long walk that provides a fair amount of exercise. The lake is pretty and not too far away. On one of our walks this winter, I noticed this in a vacant store front:

Ok, look a little more closely....

The store front is available to rent. Perhaps the owners believe that a little St. Joseph, so often used for good luck in home sales will also provide good luck in rentals. Snopes.com even has an article devoted to St. Joseph with complete instructions for how to use St. Joseph to your advantage. While home sellers and Realtors advice varies, many trust the good fortune this little plastic statue can bring.

But, in this time of down turned markets and slow real estate, what's the harm in believing in a little extra good luck?

and another...

This is an 8 x 8 collage. Again with a word. I used a vintage postcard from Bryn Mawr a vintage letter, paint, a flashcard, paper, and a metal hinge.

Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace. - Buddah

another collage...

This one is on on a 4 x 7 canvas. I used paint, rub-decals from 7 gypsies, a vintage train ticket, reprodution images, and metal hardware.

Make some mistakes...

Kerry and I are always looking for new art adventures. In addition to launching our new webstore (see below) are are venturing deeper into the world of collage. Who knows, we may even put some of our new collage items up on our store. For now, I'd just like to give you a quick sneak-peek. This is one of my mixed media collages.

It is on a 8 x 8 canvas. I used a vintage letter, reproduction images, antique buttons, paint, mod podge, handmade and other papers as well. As always, I like to incorporate words into my work. I used the quotation "Those who don't do anything, never make mistakes." I like the sentiment. It challenges me to take some chances, maybe I will make some mistakes. Hopefully, the chances I take will lead me to more creativity and fulfillment.

Although I sometime find it hard to know when to stop, I am calling this piece complete. I think I like the final result.

fh handmade

Kerry and I have opened another store!

fh handmade is the online storefront for the Helen Parker Art Studio, a Lafayette, Colorado destination. Partner designers Rachel and Kerry founded Milagro Jewelry and have sold their art and run classes out of the studio now for five years. The studio offers fine sterling silver and semi-precious jewelry, a wide assortment of fabric art and everyday fabric items as well as a growing line of mixed media collage. The fh line continues to grow with expanded lines and new art forms. You can see and be the first to own our new creations as well be introduced to up and coming artists in rotating showings. Visit often to see our changing inventory and to catch those one of a kind items before they are gone.
fh handmade is the place to go if you want that unique art accessory for yourself or your home. We hope you enjoy!

things are changing...

"None of us knows what the next change is going to be, what unexpected opportunity is just around the corner, waiting a few months or a few years to change all the tenor of our lives."

Kathleen Norris

Movies Sell More Books

Kerry and I are members of a book club. Currently we're reading Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. It is a non-fiction, women's studies book, that while interesting, takes me straight back to that basement classroom where I my first women's studies course. Not that it's a bad thing, I loved my college women's studies and women's literature courses. The book makes a good refresher utilizing that oft-used motto as a framework of women in history.

Yesterday, I went to the bookstore to pick up the next two books on our list. The February book, Trailerpark, by Russell Banks looks interesting. It is a series of short stories about the lives of people in a New England trailer park.

I am looking forward to reading our March book, as well, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for literature for this book. I had to search a bit around the book store to find this one, as it had been moved off its regular spot on the literature/fiction shelves to create a display that capitalized on the books' upcoming movie release.

Purposefully, I selected a copy of The Road that did not look like the movie poster. I generally appreciate books as books, not movies. After I bought my book, I noticed a large gold seal proclaiming "Now A Major Motion Picture." No worries about that, I would just peel it off. Which I did. Underneath the Motion Picture sticker were the remnants of the Winner of the Pulitzer Prize sticker. How sad. What does it say that book sellers would peel off the sticker proclaiming the book had won one of the top prizes in literature and replace it with one that advertised a not yet released movie? What does it say about us? Sad, but true, movies sell more books.