Time Warp!

I have to take a little break from the constant cutting and pasting I've been doing. I'm working on a few new paintings. If you are not familiar with my art, I like to make collages of black and white clip art gleaned from old magazines and other various sources. I cut a lot of images out before I head down to my local Kinko's, where I make a sort of themed wall paper out of it all (I have to do that because the ink they use in the printers there doesn't run when I put paint over it). I then lay it all down with flat glue before painting on top of it and then putting it in a vintage frame. the finished products look something like this one:

It's a multi-step process, and it takes a lot of time. I have about 4 paintings going right now, so I've been perusing old magazines and clip art books for days on end. I feel like I'm living in another time! It definitely affects me when I've been doing it for too long. The images and words take hold in my brain and lodge themselves there. My vision is tinted through vintage glasses.
Right now I'm working on Western themes of Old California and warm kitchen themes with home cooking and comfort images in the background. I have a pile of Old West magazines which not only yield great images, but funny stories too... 'Woman Hater: Ned Mersfelder' or 'Catch More Critters!' and 'Texas' Best Hobo'.

I also have a great stack of old Sunset magazines... they are fantastic, with downright beautiful fonts, hilariously funny modern product names, and gorgeous colors and placing.


I like the blue gloved hand holding the product
(or is it a recipe book?) in this cake ad! HA!



Some of the ads are so sexist it's hard to believe! They'd have us all barefoot and in aprons with 2.5 kids and dinner to prepare! Even so, there is a familiar warm and comfortable quality about it all. Something safe. Something known. This one kind of turns me on though... is that bad? HA! HA! HA! Really? Your husband would spank you if he knew you were taking the risk of serving him stale coffee? My oh my!

O.K. Back to work with me!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Helly Bloggy,
I've been lackadaisical in writing lately. It's too freakin' hot, and not much has been going on. The heat wave topped out at temperatures in the high eighties and low nineties in Santa Barbara. I can only imagine what LA must have been like. I was one of the lucky ones that got to go to the beach every single day of the heat wave. I floated, euphorically, in the ocean, where the water temp was a cool 64 degrees. Ahhhh. My favorite place. I felt like I was on a mini-vacation.
Despite my best efforts, umbrellas, sunscreen, I still got a little sunburned. Funny to hear how the weather affects nearly everyone's conversation. People fell into two camps: The 'Omigod it's too F'n hot' camp and the 'Oh, This is nothing!' camp. I guess that depends on where you're from. If you're used to humidity and lung crushing heat, than I guess this summer blaster was tolerable for you. If you're like me and you're from California, than we are a little spoiled, I guess, not used to such drastic temperature change. To make matters worse, my house has NO insulation and inside our top floor it was at least 12-15 degrees hotter, making it climb into triple digits, no joke, so I could not be inside at home during this. I couldn't paint or work on anything at home, so I threw up my hands and spent the last few days at the beach with no guilt and all enjoyment.
On other fascinating nail biting topics besides the weather, I've been working on more signs for various restaurants around town. This latest one was for Chuck's Steakhouse down at the harbor:
I got to incorporate a little stenciling for this one, which was fun. I go back there today to faux finish their ceiling, now that it's cooler I can actually work.
And by the way, I'm looking for new summer music to listen to, so if anyone has some personal favorites, please let me know! I need to branch out. I haven't been listening to anything new lately. Please help me by making some suggestions, I'd really appreciate it, thanks!
Cheers!
~Sheryl

Oh, Dear God in Heaven, NOOOOO!!!!

Just when you thought this horrible fashion trend couldn't get any worse...just click on the red link below...
My eyes!!! My EYES!!!

HIGH HEELED CROCS!!!!