Happy Holidays everyone!

I just got through the first wave of holiday craziness this past weekend. I had my daughter's 3rd birthday party combination Christmas gift exchange with my family. We leave for Minnesota for Christmas with my in-laws this coming weekend. I love it but I'll also be glad when it's all over.

I'm still spending my creative time drawing and digitally coloring images. And, huge amounts of time on etsy promoting my artwork and my shop. so if you wonder where I am or what I have made recently, visit the shop and you will see it there.

Here is my daughter's Dora cake. Not to bad for a quick cake. She looks a little crazy in the eyes but my daughter was thrilled so that's all that matters right?

And, I bet you didn't know I'm also a chipmunk! Look at that face! I couldn't get the match to light!

And, here are a few of my latest little drawings.

I hope everyone is finishing up their holiday shopping and are able to enjoy the warmth and love of their friends and family this year. I miss my Dad but I'm happy to be surrounded by all the people I love.

What have I been up to?

Well, I wish it was being more creative. But mostly I have been working on the business part of my art career. I've put tons of hours into my etsy shop with over 100 items to choose from. Come and take a look if you haven't lately! Lots of inexpensive magnets and notecards of my original images as well as prints and originals available. Really, check it out and if nothing else give me some feedback. I love critique! Etsy shop link is on the right side of this blog or go to www.hmiracle.etsy.com

Art/Craft show this Saturday 10am-2pm at UUCA in Atlanta

I'll have a booth with my artwork including lots of items for gifts like magnets and notecards of my original images. I'll also have notecards with UU (unitarian universalist) inspired themes.

A couple of fiber art items.

Finally took some photos of some of my fiber work i've done recently. Here ya go!
A pin, a scarve and two felted bowls.

Sisters

are the best. I've been thinking of by 2 sisters a lot lately as we go through this journey of griefing the loss of our father. We are not alone, we have each other. Even though I drew only 2 sisters in this drawing, I was thinking of them both. I love you guys.



This image is available as prints in my etsy shop.

SALE!!!!!!

Check out my etsy site. I've lowered prices on many of my items. I'll be reducing more items as the holidays get closer.

Art Show Tomorrow! Artisans at the Etz.

Hi,

If you are in the Atlanta area, come on out tomorrow for some holiday shopping at Artisans at the Etz at Congregation Etz Chaim, 1190 Indian Hills Parkway, Marietta, GA , 30068. Myself and some great artists friends will all have booths there.

I'm beginning to at least sketch again and have been working on Santas. Here are a few with digital coloring. The last one is my son's, alien Santa with pig nose. :) It's 30 cents if anyone is interested, hint, hint aunts and grandmas reading my blog.

I have also been making felted bowls. Tons of fun! I'll take photos soon.

Take care and have a good day tomorrow,

Heidi

Feeling Much Better

Hello again,

I'm feeling much better with the passing of time. I have spent my days mostly at my computer doing family history/genealogy. I have discovered so much including a group of distant cousins that have online family trees with photos of my grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents, great-great uncles, etc. I even got up the nerve to call a half-brother I have never met to let him know of our father's passing. My father had nothing when he died. Literally. I had a few photos, about 4 to be exact, of him from before he was married to my Mother. Learning some of his history is easing the pain and keeping my mind occupied.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. As I said in the previous post, the shining light in all of this has been finding out how much my friends care for me.

Heidi

My Father is Gone

I've debated about writing something so personal on my blog. My blog which I try to keep related to my creative journey. But, I must write about this and share it.

My Father passed away on Tuesday, November 6th, alone in a nursing home. It was not really expected. He was 76. I am making it through but it is the hardest thing to go through. I don't think I could have ever imagined this pain. I want to go back in time for anyone who has ever lost a parent and make sure that I have been there for friends and family. My biggest comfort right now are my friends, my sisters and my kids.

Writing things down is helping. Not sure why. The day he died I jumped out of bed when my sister called at 5:20 am and got in the car and drove the 1 1/2 hours to Calhoun, GA. I spent the day in a rushed blur of funeral arrangements and overwhelming grief. I got home that night at about 10 pm. I hadn't seen my kids at all that day and when Maggie, my almost 3 year old awoke the next morning I was busy trying to complete the remembrance cards/bulletins for the visitation that evening. I was overwhelmed with sadness and nervous and anxious about completing this task in time to get it to the printers and back up to Dalton, GA before the visitation at 5 pm. So, I called a neighbor and walked Maggie down to their house so they could watch her while I finished the bulletins.
As we walked down the road from our house, I realized Maggie may not understand that I was going to be leaving her there instead of our usual playdate where we all stayed together. So, as we walked down the road I said, "Maggie, you are going to stay with Ms. Betty and Joey while I go home to take a shower and finish up some things for Daddy J." Well, as soon as I said that I realized it might be confusing for her. I hadn't seen her the day before, the day my Dad died, and I knew my husbad had told her but hadn't had a chance to ask him how he explained it to her. So, I turned to her ready to try and figure out what to say to an almost 3 year old when their grandfather has died. But, she beat me to it. She said so sweetly and matter of fact "No... Daddy J died." and I teared up and tried to hold it together and I said "Yes, he died."

Maggie: "He's gone."
Me: "Yes, he's gone."
Maggie: "He's not coming back."
Me: "No, he isn't coming back."
Maggie: "We need to go and get him."
Me: "No, we can't sweetie. He's not coming back. He died."
Maggie: "We need to go get a 'nutter one."
Me: "No, we can't get another Daddy J. There was only one of him. But, we have a Grandpa and a Nate."
Maggie: "Yea, Daddy J died."
Me: "Yes, he died."
Maggie: "He's not coming back."
Me: "No,he's not sweetie."

Long pause and we walked some more.
Maggie:"We need to get a 'nutter one DAddy J."

Me, tears won't stop.

Words of a 2 year old. If only we could. I want the same thing.

There are so many more things I want to write, so beware, this blog may not be the usual things you are used to for awhile. Hopefully, I will find a way to release this pain in my artwork sometime soon. For now, it is just coming in words.

In remembrance,
J.C. Miracle
We love you Daddy J
June 11, 1931-November 6, 2007

Print Gocco Rocks!!!

I made a impulse purchase recently and bought a Printo Gocco machine. What in the *(!#$ is that you say? Well, it's a little machine that allows you to make screens for screenprinting on paper, fabric and more. I tried it today and making the screen was SOOO easy. Now, I just have to master using the inks and such. I can't wait to start using the screens. I played around a little bit on paper and it worked great. It's very small and each screen is very small so it will only be for small projects but how cool is that!!!! I'll post pics soon of some Print Gocco artwork. Anyone out there with experience with this gadget, please send me some ideas!!!

Heidi

Two Upcoming Craft Shows this Month

Hi guys,

Anyone who is in the Atlanta area the next two weekends should come out and start their holiday shopping, hint, hint. I'll have a booth at the Bizarre Bazaar this Saturday, November 10th, 710 Arnold Mill Road in Woodstock at the Arnold Mill Elementary School. I've got all kinds of goodies ready to go including lots of magnets, two coloring books of my artwork, new felted items (bowls, pencil holders, small bags, pins, coasters) and all of my drawings and pastel art on paper and canvas.

The following weekend, on Sunday, November 18th, I will be at Artisans at the Etz at Congregation Etz Chaim Temple, 11am to 6 pm, 1190 Indian Hills Parkway in Marietta. There are fun things for the kids to do and I have heard great things about this show.

Hope to see you there!

Heidi

Today's Drawing

Well, actually it is yesterday's drawing but I scanned it in today and added the digital color. Here is the original and with color. I call it A Mother's Joy.

Journal Quilt 2007

Here is my Journal Quilt, Let Them Be. It is my first time participating and this is the last year so I suppose this is my last Journal Quilt as well.

And, here is the text from my Journal Quilt statement:


Creative Quilting techniques used: water-soluble pastels on fabric (p. 72); large hand stitching (p. 72); beading (p. 72); hand-dyed fabrics (p. 79); felting (p. 150).

The text (part of a poem by Kahlil Gibran) touched me as it so fully represents my thoughts regarding children. The full text of the poem is below:

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness; for even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

I began my quilt by drawing my image and the words with a Pigma pen on white cotton fabric. I then “painted” the cloth with Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels, acrylic pearlescent ink, traditional tube watercolors and Crayola spider writers. I extensively hand stitched on the piece with cotton, rayon and metallic embroidery floss. I used two layers of batting because I wanted to create texture. I needle felted the bottom and added grass blades using pieces of my hand-dyed fabric by simply stitching them down with the floss. I then beaded the wings and the antennae.

I started several journal quilts but none wanted to be finished as much as this one. I also tried several new techniques as a result of this challenge including painting on lutradur, monoprinting, dyeing fabric (first time outside of a class) and creating digital imagery using Corel Paint Pro. Although not all of these techniques were used in the final quilt, I learned so much from pushing myself to try new things. In addition, I learned it is okay to let a piece tell me what it needs and not to work too hard to include something new. There is a balance between trying new approaches but also staying true to your own artistic voice and vision.

More Colorized Drawings

Starting to get the hang of this. Oh boy is it ever addictive.
I've shown the original and then the colorized versions for the first two. The last one I just uploaded the colorized version. My son named the funny shapes I've been drawing zoogerzogs. So here is Zoogerzog I and Zoogerzog II. :)

Enjoy.

heidi

Colorizing Digitally is Awesome!

I'm going to have to read up on this or take a class. I want to learn so much more about using Corel Paint Shop Pro to enhance by black and white images.

Okay, now I'm really off to sew on my
fabric piece. Or see a movie. ;)

I have my computer back!! Yea!

so now I can upload the photos of my recent drawings. still mostly in black ink on paper right now. playing around a bit with markers on paper too. having lots of fun. avoiding my piece i need to quilt. hopefully after I upload some of these black and white drawings i'll be ready to tackle it. Hope you enjoy looking! I'll try and upload these and some more to my etsy shop tonight. Check it out if you haven't already (link on the right side of this blog).

Try this experiment. Take a cheap Bic pen and plain white piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Doodle on the paper until all of the ink in the pen is gone. It's fun!

Heidi

Computer Woes

My computer died a few weeks ago and I"m going crazy without the ability to download or scan photos of my artwork. I can't add items to my Etsy shop, I can't post photos on my blog, I can't send pictures of works in progress to friends for feedback. Thank goodness my husband was able to set me up temporarily with internet and email capabilities.

I just wanted to post to let you all know why you haven't seen any new photos lately. I am still drawing lots of angel figures in black ink. I hae also been working on one on fabric with my watercolor crayons.

I recently attended a meeting of the Georgia chapter of the Surface Design Association and met some really talented and inspiring artists. I'm excited to get more involved with the group.

I'm busy planning the 2008 Art at the Mill event for my son's school. I co-chaired it last year and it was a ton of work but a huge success. I'm looking forward to making it even better this year. so, if you are an artist in the Atlanta area, send me an email if you are available February 5th, 2008. We are looking for new and exciting mediums/techniques/artists to include in the event.Seriously, if you have questions send me an email and Ill give you more information.

I'm hoping to have something finished by Saturday for the Form not Function exhibit. Not sure if I'm going to make it yet.

Go out and have some fun today. Have a coffee break and do some doodling! Dig in your garden. Just do something creative! I promise, it will make you feel good.:)

Heidi

Angels are Everywhere!!! And, new Etsy shop!!!

Hi everyone,

Well, I am totally stuck on pen and ink drawings of angels now. I shouldn't be surprised. They have been showing up in my sketch book since I first started drawing a year and a half ago. They have a very personal meaning to me. They represent my growth. I have an image that I haven't quite been able to portray artistically of an angel cradling me, I'm an adult but somehow a baby too, but if you look closely the angel is me also. I WANT it to be angel, someone else who can handle all of the pain and chaos of life. But, it can't really be, it has to be me. When you are an adult you have to learn to be the one to take care of yourself. Well, it gets more complicated than that. Maybe I can't quite get it artistically because I haven't quite gotten it in real life. Still working through it. Here are a few more.

And, I am super excited to announce that I have opened an ETSY SHOP!!!


Check it out!! I'm very excited to have a new and easy way to get my artwork out their easily and quickly. Check often because I plan to try and add an image a day.

Off to Charleston for a few days. Hope to have fun with the kids and fit in some pool side sketching time.

Take good care and do something CREATIVE today!

Heidi

What do angels look like to you?

So I've been trying to move away from fairies but they keep appearing in my work. I often start off thinking of angels but they somehow always turn into fairies. So, I've been trying harder and finally am beginning to sketch some angels I'm happy with it. My 6 year old son sat down beside this morning we had a conversation:

son: "What is THAT?"
me: "An angel."
son: "No, angels don't look like that."
me: "What do they look like?"
son: "Well, they have a round halo and wear a long shirt. And, their faces are just different than that."
me: "How do you know?"
son: "That's how pictures of them look."
me: "Who drew the pictures?"

anyway, you can see where this is going. So, who really knows what an angel looks like anyway? Be creative, think outside the box! And, I don't want my angel to look like anyone else could have created her!

Heidi

I AM AN ARTIST!!!!

I realized today that I have finally become comfortable with saying "I am an artist" when someone asks me what I do. I don't mutter it or say "I want to be an artist. I am trying to be an artist." and it feels great! I don't know exactly when that happened. When I was able to say it start calling myself an artist with conviction. It might be that I have had some milestones in the last few months that have increased my confidence. Winning an award in a juried show, selling an image for a professional flyer, being invited to teach at a school for a day, being asked to teach private lessons to someone. Or maybe it was making some money at my last arts festival. I suspect it may be the last. Selling things to people who come off the street was a real rush. I try to not let my identity as an artist be tied up in my ability to make a real income with my work, but I just can't seem to escape it. I guess despite all of my other goals as an artist and ways that it feeds my life and my soul, ultimately, I want to make money and support myself. Well, my husband supports the family now. Which affords me the luxury to stay home with my kids and pursue my art both really full time. But, I have a need to know that I COULD support myself (which I could of course in other ways, as a mathematician for instance) as an artist. Many artists are very, very successful but still have to hold full or part time jobs. I don't want that. So, for now I'm holding on to my dream that if I work at it hard enough I can do this.

And, work at it hard I do. I still find the second question hard to answer after "What do you do?" . I can say "I am an artist" just fine now. But, when the next question is, "Well, is that just a hobby?" or "Do you work outside the home?" or "Do you make a living at it?" I get kind of stuck. I need to work on my answer. Maybe it should go something like this:

No, it is not a hobby. It is my job and my identity. I work as many hours or more than many do in a full time job outside of the home. I sell my work, I am beginning to teach, my work hangs in galleries in juried shows and I have won awards. I do not support my family with my art career.....YET.


How does that sound? Maybe it sounds a little to defensive. I'll work on it some more. I am working on the selling myself part. I love sharing my story, inspiring others to follow their dreams, but I don't like saying "Rah-Rah" for me.

I don't want folks to think it is all about money though. It's not because I want more stuff like cars, houses, or material things. It's really about who I am as a person. An over-achiever. My therapist recently had an ah-ha moment regarding my artistic endeavors (yes, I have a therapist and I am proud of it). She had thought my moving away from mathematics to art was a whole new me. A different kind of way of working. But, as she listened to how I approach it. Which is OBSESSED!! And, totally workaholic like. she realized, oh, this is still Heidi, she is just putting her energies in a different place.

So, what does a day look like in the life of an artist? Well, today was a day "off" meaning out of the "studio", no major deadlines looming for shows or festivals, and I wanted to get out of the house and away from the responsibilities of wife/mother. So, it started by having coffee with my husband at Border's/Starbucks after dropping off Maggie at school. This turned into reading about graphic design and copyright research. I researched how to get more of my artwork into things like magazines, book covers, gift cards, etc. Other creative ways to sell and make money doing what I love, so I can do more of it. Then, off for lunch with 2 artist friends (to pick up some of my artwork from them) which was fun but we discusses judgingj/jurying processes, how to sew a great binding, planning a show for next year, etc. Then, off to the library to return some books which turned into more research about graphic design and checking out books on some of my favorite artists (Kadinsky, Klee, Chagall). Then, finally, a pedicure. My main objective for my day off. During which I sketched about 10 drawings. Pedicures have produced some of the sketches for my best work. Now I am home. The kids are in the back yard. I am blogging in hopes to share my journey with others.

Now, say it loudly with me, I AM AN ARTIST!

Probably more than you wanted but I have been wanting to write more about my whole journey, so here it is.

Now, time to go outside and check on the kiddos, push a swing, play some tage and maybe do some more sketching. Above are a few sketches from my pedicure time.

Heidi

What have I been up to lately?

Well, I mailed off my quilt for Journal Quilt Project 2007 yesterday. Pictures are not allowed but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Since then I've been mostly doodling with black ink on paper and looking at lots of art online. Having fun cruising around etsy shops and "outsider" art blogs and web pages. There is so much to see and learn!!!!! And, in the mail today I received the latest issue of one of my favorite zines: Art and Life by Teesha Moore. I haven't read it yet but I have flipped through it to absorb some of the color. Beautiful as usual.

I'll post pics of something soon. Just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about posting.

Take good care.

A few photos from the CAG festival

You can see some of the new artwork I completed for the show and some of my family members there to support me.

heidi

Art Show a Big Success

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to say I am back home after a whirlwind weekend in Dalton, GA (my hometown). I had a booth at a local arts festival and it also turned out to be the weekend of my 20th high school reunion. I just got home literally 5 minutes ago and instead of unpacking the car, I came in to unwind with my iced latte and the computer for a few minutes.

These art festivals are a ton of work but I love getting to meet people, especially children, who like my art. I love telling my story of how this is a recent new journey and encouraging people who are just starting on their own.

My biggest hit was my coloring books (not financially, just in terms of actual items sold). It was a last minute idea and they went like hotcakes. I'm going to spruce them up a bit and make a large quantity now that I know they are a hot item.

I sold several larger items including my Stitch Frenzy piece which recently returned home to me from the National Small Art Quilt exhibit in Groton, NY. I lost a few sales since I don't take credit cards so I'm going to fix that problem before I do another show.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and support. Every day I know that I have really found my true calling.

Take good care,

Heidi

My Hope Piece

Here is the detail image of my Hope piece. This is before I decided to stuff her face so she looks a bit different now but not much.

Heidi

Fiber Art Fusion-Hope Exhibit Opening

Hi again,

Last Thursday evening was the opening for Fiber Art Fusion's member exhibit. It turned out beautifully. A special thanks goes to Rebecca Reasons-Edwards (the beautiful blonde in the photos), President and founder of the group. Her vision led to this event after only about a year and a half as a group. I took a few photos, but forgot to take one of my own piece. I'll post more when I can. I hope to go back and take some more photos soon.

So, if you live in the area (Marietta, GA) check out the exhibit at The Art Place. I believe it runs through the 23rd.

This weekend there are several events worth checking out--The East Cobb Quilt Guild exhibit, the Creative ARts Guild Festival in DAlton, GA (I have a booth there), and the Roswell Arts FEstival. So, if you are looking for something fun to do this weekend there are plenty of choices.

Sleep well everyone,

Heidi