Thursday, October 28, 2010

I got it!!!

I got my Flip Pal portable scanner!

For those of you who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about... here is a link to my original post about the Flip Pal.

What a cute little thing and so amazingly accurate. I thought I'd test it out first thing this morning on a huge old bible cover. Remember now.. the beauty of this little guy is no matter how big the image is it can stitch it together.

I scanned this old bible cover in 9 passes (yes.. huge) to test out the stitching capability of the scanner and here is the result:
I've left the image large enough so you can click on it to see it larger. Can you see any indication at all that the image was stitched from 9 separate images?

Now... one thing you have to remember is to be sure to overlap with each pass. As you can see by the small black patch on the bottom, I missed that overlap... so that was my fault. I could have gone back and done it again but I think you should see what happens so you can avoid it.

Pretty cool huh? Now I can scan anything/everything no matter where I go and it's all on one tiny chip ready to be read/stitched.

Sounds like I own stock in the company doesn't it? No, I have no financial interest in the company. The woman who did the demo for me last month is trying to raise enough credit with the company to get one for the Historical Society so they can scan old pics and documents for the society.

'Nuff said... I love it!

Have a great autumn day!


Best... Canace

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

As Promised.. Art Is.. Adventures with Keith Lo Bue and Michael De Meng

I actually find this post a bit daunting as there was such a flurry of activity the whole 'Art Is You' weekend. Workshops, laughing, seeing old friends, laughing, making new ones, laughing, vending, laughing, eating yummy stuff, yep ...laughing, The Miracle of You Art Auction etc.... and we arrived on Saturday. Things had been going full swing since Wednesday.  It seemed like we were ... yes... we really were on the run (and laughing) the whole time and loving every minute of it. Sallianne and Ellen did such a fabulous job of coordinating the event and making it the best possible experience for everyone.

Wait until you see who they have lined up for March of next year and then October! March Madness/Art Is Who

This is Janet's and my 3rd year attenting Art Is You and it gets better and better every time we go.
This time we took a one day class with Michael De Meng called 'A Change of Heart'. I found one of the most valuable lessons was when Michael demonstrated all of his paint formulas.. of course including "Uszhhh!!!", "Serial Killer Red" or "Dirty Doll Pink".

Michael has a great... albeit macabre sense of humor.  I finished my heart... well... nearly... I have big plans for how to display it.


We also took a two day class with Keith Lo Bue

"Lasting Impressions: Etching & the Found Object". This was our second time learning from Keith and we agree that he's just the best. I would take classes from him in anything he chooses to teach. We learned soooooooo much! He's such an amazingly talented/sweet/caring/attentive/sharing wonderful teacher. No, I don't really stalk him but I told Sallianne I want to take him home and keep him in a cage in my studio....lol

When we're in his class we just like to absorb all the information and then take it home to work. .. and there is so much to absorb! This is a sheet of Keith's monogram/logo on brass:
 Now (the headless) Keith is demonstrating the etching process.
 Here is a piece of brass that Keith cut from brass (effortlessly I might add).
 And here it is with his monogram and domed, ready to be mounted..... such perfection!
Thank you to our sweet friend Wendy for allowing me to use her pictures. I was so caught up in the class I didn't take any.

I love all of Keith's work but this is one of my favorite pieces:

I've been etching away and applying Keith's techniques which are impeccable. I hope to have a few finished pieces soon to share. This is only the beginning:
Again... thank you to Sallianne and Ellen for making this yet another memorable year and giving us on the East Coast the opportunity to study with the best of the best. Is it time for another Art Is experience yet???

I want to say thank you too to all of you who visited Janet and I on Vendor night. I hope you are happy with your new treasures. I have more butterflies if you need them! :o)


Best... Canace

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Autumn Splendor in the Shawangunks

In my artist's statement I mention hiding out in the Shawangunk Mountains .. puttering in my studio. I thought I would share a pic with you that I took yesterday on my way home from a meeting in Plattekill.

This is only one small area of the Shawangunks showing part of what we call 'The Ridge'.




Autumn is just such a gorgeous time of year here in the Hudson Valley!



Best... Canace

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Shame on Me

Not only have I not posted about our amazing weekend at Art Is You, but I've been so busy since that I didn't even post a freebie Friday.

Okay, now pretend it's Friday........  k??? 

Freebie!

When I can once again see the light of day I will definitely tell you all about Michael De Meng and Keith Lo Bue's classes.... promise!

Best... Canace

Friday, October 8, 2010

FREEBIE FRIDAY

Well it's finally here.... Art Is You, East Coast Retreat!
Off and running tomorrow morning... everything is packed and ready to go.. can't wait!

In the meantime I will leave you with a freebie to play with. Have a great weekend!




Best... Canace

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Weekend Wanderings

I hope you all had a great weekend. It was glorious here, with all the trees turning their vibrant fall colors. The sun was shining, the air was sweet and Saturday was a great day to get out and about.

Janet and I generally plan on Saturdays to be 'our day'. We've just about got her family acclimated to it but they would much rather she stayed home and played with them.... too bad... so sad! lol

Anyhow, I read that there was a metal salvage place up in Kingston so that was a 'must do' as well as the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange in New Paltz which I have written about before. It's a treasure trove of materials donated by different manufacturers. It might be wooden circles, marble tiles, doors, windows, paper, fabric... you name it it's there, so much fun to root through and the prices are very cheap cheap cheap. They do a great job there, keeping all these products/bi-products out of the landfills.

So, we did the Materials Exchange and headed up to Kingston on Rte 32 which connected with 213... easy peasy.... and a beautiful ride. BUT....... when we're nearly there suddenly we come upon a closed bridge and detour. Long story short... round and round we go.... 213 detoured this way... that way.... over hill .. over dale... and we never did find the metal place. The comedy of errors was compounded by the fact that not only I forgot my cell phone... but so did Janet!

We'll go up again sometime and all in all it was a great day. Just wanted to share one of the pictures I took along the way.  It's of the tower at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz.  Enjoy.... and have a great week.


Best... Canace

Friday, October 1, 2010

It must be FREEBIE FRIDAY

Doncha jus luv em?   ;o)



 Have a great creative weekend!

Best... Canace