Ingenious Inkling

Wisconsin Adventure Day 2

This morning we got up early, put on our rain jackets, and headed out in search of what I had been told was one of the best breakfasts in town ... and they weren't wrong.

We were early enough to get a table at Mickie's Dairy Bar without a wait.  We ordered from the breakfast menu posted on the wall ... a Scrambler & Banana Cinnamon Nut Pancakes.  I also ordered a piece of Apple Coffee Cake to go (for afternoon snack).

The servings were huge and the food was fantastic ... it should be a sign when the server asks if you want a single pancake (half-order) ... we put a good dent in the full order, but were far from finishing it.

Next, we headed to one of my favorite places ... Whole Foods ... to pick-up some local brews and yummy foods.

They have one of the best olive bars I'vever seen ... with which my husband was not impressed (it's one food group that I love ... and he hates).

Next we stopped at Penzey's to add some new spices to our cooking repertoire ... and then stopped at Wisconsin Cutlery and Kitchen Supply to get a new cheese knife.

After that it was lunch at Sa-Bai Thong ... always delicious.  We tried a new dish ... Seeda Longsong - Chicken Breast with Steamed Broccoli & Peanut Sauce, which had been recommended in a recent issue of Madison Magazine ... and it did not disappoint.

We spent the afternoon walking along State Street.

We shopped in lots of little stores along the street and found some fun purchases at Anthology (where I picked-up some fun rubber stamps & paper products), Driftless Studio, Little Luxuries, and A Room of One's Own ... an amazing Independent bookstore.

We loved all of the fun Valentine's Day window displays.

 We also picked-up some delicious fudge from Kilwins & toured the only open Exhibit (they were in the process of installing two new shows) at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

And no vacation would be complete without a new pair of shoes ... I found some great Keen SunRiver Snow Boots at Madison Sole ... perfect for hikes in the snowl.

After a little rest, we walked along Monroe Street ... shopping in Orange Tree Imports and enjoying a fantastic Wisconsin Fish Fry at Brochach ... baked cod and some of the best warm German Potato Salad I've ever eaten.

All-in-all another perfect Wisconsin day filled with art, shopping ... lots of walking ... and of course delicious eats.

Wisconsin Adventure Day 1

We hopped in the car yesterday morning & headed off on a little road trip to Wisconsin.  Our first stop was in Dubuque, Iowa where we picked-up lots of goodies at the Calico Bean Market.  They carry lots of bulk spices and unique foods and are a required visit if we're ever in the area.  You can also order online.

Next we walked down the street to the Outside the Lines Gallery, also a favorite stop.  They had some most-excellent yarn-bombing on their front porch.

We picked-up a fun little face made by Denise Greenwood and a great wooden block face from local artist Aaron Butcher, 

The next stop on our trek was Mineral Point, Wisconsin where we stopped at our favorite gallery, the Brewery Pottery Studio.  They weren't *officially* open due to winter hours, but they graciously let us come inside and pick-up a few things.

This enamal work is some of my favorite & I have one of those gorgeous light switch covers in my bedroom.  They also have the Johnston Gallery downtown where you can chat with their lovely daughter (and find more cool art).

We stopped for lunch at our favorite B&B restaurant, the Brewery Creek Brew Pub where we treated ourselves to some of their amazing Belgian Fries.

We also had the special of the day ... Beef Pasty with Corn Souffle (because afterall we're in Cornish Country).

Next we walked around downtown (because a walk is needed after all that wonderful food) and shopped at a few more galleries.  Loved this amazing outside art at the LongBranch Gallery.

Next we headed to Middleton, Wisconsin the home of the National Mustard Museum.  If you're a fan of mustard, you'll love it here.  They have a tasting bar where you can try any mustard they have in the shop, and they will make recommendations based on your preferences.  I picked-up several fruit-flavored mustards from Terrapin Ridge Farms ... Rod went with some stronger brat mustard and a Wasibi Mustard with quite a kick.

Next we made a donation and tried the Hoops for Koops' Mustard Ring Toss where I managed to score a bottle of Honey Mustard.

The Mustard Museum is in the basement of the building ... you can watch a film, take a trivia quiz (we scored 8 of 16, so we obviously need to brush-up on our Mustard trivia) or take your picture with a bottle of Mustard.

And of course I couldn't resist trying on a few Pickle Fingers ... because who doesn't want to play with their food.

Middleton also has great shopping including Archiver's where they had a mecca of 6" paper pads ... as well as new Hero Arts stamps and other fun goodies.

We ended our evening in downtown Madison with supper at The Old Fashioned.  We had tried to eat there on previous occasions, but the wait was always too long for our preference ... but early on a rainy Thursday  night turned out to be perfect timing. 

I have a rule at a restauarant ... if there's a dish on the menu named after the restaurant, you should probably try it ... so I went with the Old Fashioned Burger and Haystack Onion Strings (the #30 if you're ordering) ... it was fantastic ... who knew an egg on a burger would be so delicious (and no, I didn't even begin to eat the entire plate).

Today the weatherman is predicting near record high temperatures with a little rainfall, so we'll be heading out for another day of Wisconsin exploration.

Santa Fe Museums & New Shoes

Today we explored some of the museums of Santa Fe.  We started our morning on Museum Hill at Museum of International Folk Art.  As always, we arrived early, so we started by walking the brick Labyrinth outside the museum ... the weather for our trip has been so amazing ... makes me want to stay outside all the time (and for those that know me, I'm typically an inside gal).

The museum was filled with folk art from around the world ...

in all sorts of mediums ... I was particularly mesmerized by the intricate beading ...

and the woven textiles ...

and the detailed paper cutting.

And of course, the clear blue cloudless New Mexico sky.

This afternoon we went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (no photos allowed) where we took a tour with one of the Docents ... learning about her life and her art was truly inspiring.  This photograph of her by Ansel Adams was one of my favorites.

And of course, no vacation for me would be complete without a new pair of shoes.  I found these wonderful elastic shoes by Bernie Mev that are so comfortable.

And I couldn't leave New Mexico without adding a pair of Minnetonka Moccasins to my wardrobe ... the bright pink ones on the right are coming home with me.

Altogether, another wonderful day in Santa Fe.

Art Finds on Canyon Road

Today we spent an absolutely gorgeous day walking up and down Canyon Road ... it was an art junkie's nirvana.  We were thrilled at how many of the pieces were outside in art gardens (remember you can click through the pictures to see the full size shots).

I was particularly drawn to the copper pieces that develop such gorgeous patina over time.  These are kinetic wind sculptures by Lyman Whitaker found at the Wiford Gallery ... they have the largest selection of his works in the US all displayed in an amazing garden.

I even found art among the natural landscape ... I can't get enough of the contrast of the trees against the pure blue sky.

I also love the blues against the pueblo architecture.

Love these statues that came in and out of the earth.

and of course I couldn't resist a shadow shot on this gorgeous morning.

At Marigold Arts, we picked-up a gorgeous rug woven by Sandy Voss from recycled materials ... it's like a textile rainbow.

While I'm usually not a huge fan of animal art, I did find the various horse sculptures to be enchanting ... especially this majestic blue horse.

If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend a walk through this artistic wonderland.

Stampa Fe

We're enjoying some much needed vacation time in New Mexico ... and after only 24 hours, I have completely fallen in love with the area.  

This morning we loved exploring the Farmer's Market, which was a nice mix of covered and outdoor vendors ... the smell of chilies and autumn apples were in the air.

Adjacent to the market was an amazing park filled with art and fabulous landscaping ... would love to see more space like this in Iowa.

We also explored the artist's mart where I had the privilege of meeting the oh-so-talented Paula Best.  Her rubber stamps were some of the first ones I added to my collection ... her art inspires me.  I enjoyed visiting & picked-up a few autographed prints to take home to hang in my studio.

Here are a few cards I found in my archives that I have made with Paula's stamps.

Love these angel wings.

And of course we had to stop at Stampa Fe to check out the local rubber stamp store ... I was excited to find there were very few stamps in their inventory that I already owned ... such great variety & always a joy to see new stuff ... most certainly worth a stop if you're in the area.

The space was filled with card samples ... another thing I love to see in a store ... loved these seasonal trees with texty touches.

Lots of fun regional designs too.

Loved (and brought home quite a few) of their awesome sentiment stamps as well.

We were also thrilled to discover the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival ... so many creative artisants.  We really loved Aaron Voigt's Upcycled Robots.

Paste Paper Cards

I decided to cut into one of my pieces of Paste Paper to make some cards ... I also wanted to play with some vintage hymnals I found at an estate sale this weekend ... they were a bit water damaged and falling apart ... which makes them perfect to re-purpose into cards.

I used this week's Cardabilities sketch and some flower appliques I found in my stash.

Another using a larger hymnal page.

I covered the entire card base with paste paper ... I tried to die cut a detailed butterfly but with the thick paper and paste texture, I couldn't get the detail to cut through ... however, I did like the embossed detail, so I inked it with a bit more red distress stain for contrast and added some wonderful Graphic 45 trim.

Love turning my art into mailable art.

Paste Paper Art

Tonight I went to a Paste Paper Class at our local Museum taught by artist Mary Zeran.  She called it *finger painting for adults* and I have to agree.  She made buckets of flour paste and starch paste.  We also played with Modge Podge and a variety of paints (using empty Greek Yogurt cups ... I will have to start saving them for my own artful play) ... so much fun.

I started with a combination of green & yellow paste and a big paint brush.

Next I moved on to a combination of oranges and pinks ... this one involved lots of pouncing with a piece of bubble wrap.

Next some purples and pinks ... with stripes made from a scrap of foam board (in the top left corner) ... one lesson from the class is that anything can be an art tool.

And lastly, a favorite that involved imprinting into the colored paste background with a plastic doily.

I was very tired and not feeling well, so I almost skipped the class ... but was so glad I didn't.  At one point a classmate said to me *you're really in the zone* ... and I was.  Creating art never ceases to transport me to a better place ... and playing with art is such an inspiring experience.

Can't wait to turn these fun paste covered papers into some cards.

Crystal Bridges Museum Visit

Today we ventured to Bentonville, Arkansas to check out the Crystal Bridges Museum.  Despite the sweltering temperatures, we started by venturing out to the Art Walk trail.  There are multiple trails around the museum if you want to do lots of outdoor exploring.

I loved this wonderful Love Sculpture by Robert Indiana.

Stella the pig by André Harvey graciously posed for a photo for me.

In addition to outdoor art, there were also lots of gorgeous walkways with flowing water along our walk.

We enjoyed the wonderful walk through the history of American art inside the museum.  

While we love it all, we are particularly drawn to the contemporary pieces.  One of my favorites was Smoker #9 by Tom Wesselmann ... such great shape and colors.

We also loved the amazing 3-D oversized Old Self: Portrait of the Artist as He Will (Not) Be. Variation #2 by Evan Penny.  It's hard to capture the amazing detail of this creation in a photograph ... I was mesmerized.

And being from Iowa, we especially appreciated the amazing art of After Grant Wood (American Gothic) by Devorah Sperber.  When you look at the wall, you see rows of thread ... but when you look through the large viewing marble, it transforms into American Gothic.

The finale was this amazing creation called Sound Suit by Nick Cave (I had seen my first Nick Cave creation in NYC).

I hope you enjoyed our little Crystal Bridges Museum mini-tour ... if you're ever in the area, it is certainly worth a stop (and the admission is free).

Saturday PhotoHunt ... Creative

This week's Saturday PhotoHunt Theme is Creative ... so many possibilities.  

I went with my first thought which was this piece of art I made in 2008 in Kal Barteski's class when I attended Donna Downey's first Inspired Event ... my first creative excursion that I took all on my own.  It changed the way I thought about myself as an artist ... and about being creative.

More Magnet Mania

My Magnet Mania Tutorial from 2007 has been getting quite a few clicks through from Pinterest the last several weeks ... which reminded me how much fun I had making them ... so I decided to make another batch.

This time I used the Tiny Bubbles Collage Sheet from ARTChix Studio.  I loved how each image has a black frame around it which looks so cool under glass.

I particularly loved the Eiffel Tower and Purple Fish where the image goes across several circles ... and how fun are those bingo numbers.

I punched each picture using a 5/8" circle punch and used clear adhesive to stick it to the glass.  This time I used Liquid Nails rather than E6000, and it seems to be reacting a bit with the lighter papers as it dries.  I don't think it will be an issue for the random images, but it might be for ones with faces.  I suggesting testing with whatever medium you use and let it dry for several days first.

After those dried overnight, I used the same adhesive to attach the magnets and voila ... a fabulous magnet menagerie.

I usually package them in Origami Gift Boxes, but my sister pointed out that six would fit perfectly in an altoid tin.