Basil is Back!

Many of you may remember My dear friend Basil and his friend Silvia...
what?..... you don't? ..
ah well
 let me give you a back story .
.many years ago..
back when Alex and I worked for K mart
( now don't grimace it was a fun job!) ..
I was introduced to Basil Seaton and his lover Maurice..
and their friend Silvia...
 Alex just happened to know Silvia..
.Basil , Maurice and Silvia were all very busy and often forgetful about going to check their mail
So Alex and I each offered to be couriers for their correspondence
 ( and we would read their mail!) .
both Basil and Silvia were very good artists
and delighted in making extravagant and beautiful art for each other.
while sharing snippets of their very complicated lives..
Basil had many friends that he corresponded with this way .
and at one time my PO box was filled with more mail for Basil than for me!
alas
as time went on and the computer became the primary tool for communication
the number of letters and cards Basil got started to dwindle ..
 Alex and I became busier and had less time to deliver them.
and both Basil and Silvia were similar on their desire to not use the computer to talk
soon after, Basil and Silvia started to travel excessively and we would hear only whispers of news from each of them
 Basil was last in town promoting an album of Song About Death..
that did well in France but not here in the states,,

but recently Silva contacted Alex to have me find Basil..and luck would have it we did this on the same day Basil and Maurice were opening a gift shop here in Sacramento!

I would help Basil and Maurice frequently with bill and chores and odd jobs
and kept almost all of the beautiful cards and letters they had gotten from Silvia
( it was my hope they their fame would spread and I could sell them to the media!)
below are some of the examples...

there is a large community of mixed media artists out there.

.people who do artist trading cards, mail art, collage, book art

I send a kudos to all the mixed media artists out there..

many who do amazing work just for their own enjoyment

and if anyone wishes to reconnect with Basil or if you would like to correspond with him please let me know!

Destination Art!

so last weekend I went with Alex and her sister Elizabeth to "destination art" it was a fun tour of six different stores with interactive projects , souvenirs and a fun drawing if you went to all 6 places ...here were the locations... It was fun to spend the day with my friends and explore shopping

1. The Bead Fetish, ...................................... 1725 L Street, Sacramento, 916-447-7979

2. Art Ellis Supply, ......................................... 2508 J Street, Sacramento, 916-448-1875

3. Gatherings, ........................................ 650 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento, 916-483-0820

4. JR Flamingo, ................................... 1139 Fulton Avenue, Sacramento,  916-481-1139

5. The Paper Garden, .......................... 2601 El Paseo Lane, Sacramento, 916-48-paper

6. Babetta's Yarn and Gifts, .. 4400 San Juan Avenue No. 20, Fair Oaks, 916-965-6043

I learned some new technique too!  a medium called angelina fibre ..you heat set individual; fibers so they become a fused non woven fabric the iridescence didn't photograph well but its very cool ..

I also did some wire crochet ...I got some very thing silver wire and was playing with scale ..I think that this would be fun when I add beads and more bling..and crocheted wire looks like more than it is up close ..fun and easy!

I also finished my Koolaid dyed shawl

Alex had done this method of dying wool in a crock pot and it worked very well....Michael helped me roll 1000 yards of this very thin yarn.and I spent almost 2 months on this .but I think the results were worth the time

that's all for this week! Thanks for reading !

a day with Tat and Family

I adore all my friends !
getting to visit tat

and her family is always a treat for Michael and I
 ..since our Nieces and Nephews live so far away Devon and Sara Reiley our our surrogates.
and I love having "art days" with them ( and she like to post pics of me so I get to post one of her!)

Devon was ( in Tats words) was being a "teenage boy" ..he isn't into our our art days as much ..but he is pretty crafty in his own way ..we was making Chain Mail bracelets

and had just gotten new supplies in ..they are made with rubber rings and metal jump rings ..very fun! ..and they glow in the dark!...he had a book full of patterns and was starting on some very complicated designs..I was kinda jealous..so means I need to learn something new!

I challenged Sara Reily with a new felting project and I was helping her with planning images and inspiration. but we ended up making more of the fun jar pendants...

tat even made one !

I love to make these! and tat got the bottles for me .....

even with Vegas and art Day I did manage to finish 2 projects

Michael saw this year and on the wrapper was this super cute pattern and he asked me to make this for his nieces baby

I finished my deconstructed sweater bag to wear to Vegas ..but will do a whole post on it later!

Vegas and More

I went for work last week to the  Catersourse Conference in Las Vegas
it was a great event met lots of nice people, took some great classes and saw some really cool art.

Now if you haven't been to Vegas before.. it is all about scale ..everything is huge and extravagant !
we stayed at the beautiful Paris hotel..and our conf. was at the Cosmopolitan

the crystal chandelier at the cosmopolitan !

the hotel had tons of really cool modern art ...I mean TONS! it was like a museum

one of my favorite pieces of artwork!
now one of the cool things they had several of were  artomat ..old cigarette machines that vend artist trading cards! How cool is that !

Now Vegas wasn't new to me but the cosmopolitan was...and I got to eat at their Wicked Spoon Buffet

yummy gourmet buffet! with the best desserts I have ever seen at a buffet.

to top the whole thing off I got a change to Visit with my friend Sara AND got to not only hear Nathan perform ...but we got to hang out AND have drinks ! I wish Michael could have gone with me ..but there is always next time!