I read your whole blog on the crafts you have been doing lately!! I had enough of "peace" signs when I lived through that era & hippies had them all over the place(which was fine) but then same people got unruly & had to be arrested so they didn't "live" by their signs-at least some of them didn't. Your peace signs are full of meaning & loved the blue & green 1 tho! But I found your elephants are wonderful, you mentioned you love to work with bright colors but you wear black & don't know why. It's because you feel you are "just the artist" & it's the art you want people to notice! I love your thought processes when you are doing your work!! Would expect you to be a loner, man & live off in some rambling strange house in the woods but you are a young mother with a 3 yr old & unusual approach to art or maybe it was training you got at an art school. Your art has a lot of deeper meaning. I saw on TV this week a homeless man's art. It is abstract but so interesting, he does large paintings about 3x5 ft. A woman supplies him with paint & supplies & place to work on them. His paintings are full of beautiful color & you can see "light & hope" in them. They are starting to sell. But reason he is on street is he is mentally ill. He is maybe60 yrs old, they don't get much out of him in way of talk,shy smile, chain smoker, but it comes out in his paintings, maybe 'what he wants to be' None of his paintings are dark & dreary like his real life on the streets. They are trying to get him into an apt. wonder if it will change his art!! Anyway enjoyed your site as always!! Jan

hello jan :)
thank you so very very much for the wonderful and insightful comment. i really really appreciate you spending time looking at my art and seeing beyond what's on the surface. i have been pondering on that question of why i personally am so different from what i create. i think you have something going on there when you say "you're just the artist" and "you want ppl to notice your art". for me, art is something that comes from inside. i have to have a purpose of making a certain art. for instance, the lady that helps sell my art on consignment asked me for dragonflies today... i was thinking about it. i haven't figured it out cos i haven't found the purpose of making dragonfly art/crafts (apart from it'll sell with her clients.. dun get me wrong, she's a wonderful lady and always encouraging me to make art..) but i have to find something to connect me with dragonflies first before i touch my canvas. if you've read my blog on 'spockie elephants', i wanted to create retro elephants but what really came out was what's hidden inside ... my obsession for the new STARTREK and spock! that was what really manifested in my elephants! i couldn't believe it!

i use to make costumes for my dance troupe, and it's like that with costumes as well. they all come out colorful, glittery and extravagant. you'll never catch me wearing colors like that in real life!! perhaps i can only manifest what's inside of me through my work and not through my appearance.

i have never been to art school (i was an accounting & economics graduate... can you believe that?!?) i started painting at folk art classes... went to a once a week course in a small art shop near my place. that was like 6 years ago and stayed for about 6 months. then i got pregnant and couldn't take the smell of the mediums so i stopped. at the course we painted roses, fruits and farm scenes and i loved it. first we did one stroke painting then i asked to be taught how to shade and highlight. my art has evolved from there and now i dun even know what it is i paint... just that it comes from within :)

your story on the man on the street is totally interesting. it reminds me of art in places like india and mexico. their sarees(india) and murals(mexico) are all exceptionally colorful and vivid... but if you think about it, their living condition and standard of living there is so poor and dreary (not all but most ... esp those who make the art). so how can people who are suffering in poverty like that make such vivid, colorful and happy art? i guess the argument is exactly like the man on the street ... it's hopes and dreams, it's what they hope to be. also, if you're already living in a condition as dreary as that wouldn't you like to surround yourself with color and happiness? it's a way to escape reality ... art.

i've really enjoyed this conversation with you Jan :) hope we can talk some more!! God bless and big hugs!!
luthien :)

You are very talented...I love your work. I will definitly check out your blog...

The coasters are lovely. The art work is wonderful and I love the message. I love to decoupage too and started to create some of my own art for the same reasons that you do but haven't been real successful at my attempts so far. Fortunately I love medieval monk art and theres not the copyright issues.
I will read your blog too, but I wanted to ask you how your coasters hold up to use? I've always wanted to make some but it seemed that they would get ruined.
kathy

thank you leveta :)) hope you'll enjoy my blog ;) pls feel free to give me your comments on anything at all :))

thank you kathy :)) the base of my coasters are mdf board. i paint the base with acrylic (sometimes mixed with sealer 1:1) then i decoupage the reprints on top. since i print with an inkjet printer, ink will smudge with any contact with water or in my case the glue i use for decoupage. i have a can of inkjet fix which i spray on my reprints before i decoupage. then i coat the coasters with at least 3 coats of gloss varnish, sometimes up to 5 coats. so far no one has complained. i have also been using a couple just to test the durability ... it's been months and the coasters are still fine. water spills can be wiped away, takes moderate heat as well. :) hope this helps :)

So pretty!! You blog has many nice things on it also! You are very talented!! Great job!

aw...amberscu :))) thank you for the sweet comment!! really appreciate it :))