Hello Universe. It's Me, Sandy...

A really nice studio space suddenly became available on the second floor at Concord Community Arts Center!

The room is about 850-square feet - It's big and bright - lots of windows, and painted white. (I can fix that though...)

It's about a gazillion times bigger than my current studio...

Which means I could have more than three friends in there...

...and we could even sit down!

This Possibility just happened on Friday... I joked to Laurie that I needed a "sign from the Universe"... since I obviously don't have that kind of money... I said:

 

"If the Universe thinks I should do this, there will be a check 

   in my mailbox by the end of this weekend." 

I thought - maybe I'll get the payment for some of the science kits from Montshire!

 
No check on Friday. 

No check on Saturday.

Bummer.

So I tried NOT thinking (obsessing) about it.

On Sunday, I got up the courage to go to White River Junction (VT) for a Cornerstone Creative Community (3CVT) Mash-up and met some very cool people. Matt Bucy (Tip Top Bldg. and American Legion bldg.) and Eric Bunge from the Northern Stage and a lady who runs a maker space... Very exciting. I was exhausted AND hyper and desperate to be a part of this sort of thing too! I want an art community! A Collaborative Creative Space!!!

At the end of the Mash Up, I went up to these really cool graphic facilitation diagram-sketch-things on the wall...

I took out my phone to take photos of them - and I saw a text from the CCS student who is now living in my former apartment. She said some of my mail had been delivered there and where should she send it? 

I texted back - "I'm HERE in WRJ right now - I'll come get it!"

Guess what it was? 

A check from Montshire!!!!? 

Let this be a lesson to trust in the Universe, but be as specific as possible...

I should have said,

"If the Universe thinks I should do this, there will be a check 

   in my CURRENT mailbox by the end of this weekend." 

So the Universe delivered the money to my mail box before the end of the weekend! And I now have a lease for this crazy-amazing STUDIO! And I have begun my OCD (CDO!) process with floor plans and I made a visual catalog of all the displays I could take from the Wingdoodle building and my home and home studio...

Yes, I measured (and colored) them all.

I'll let you know what transpires. I have to go tomorrow and move everything out of my tiny studio and uuuuuuuuppppp to the second floor... doesn't seem like much is in there, until I have to move it!

If you have been thinking how you'd LOVE to be part of a vibrant, creative, collaborative studio space filled with lots of art toys and workspace... I am looking for about 8 fun, positive artists/crafters/ Zentanglers... to share this space with me! I might do a Kickstarter, but if this sounds like you - let me know you're interested.

And here is some artsy inspiration from the walls at my daughter's elementary school. It made me want to MAKE STUFF! Enjoy.

Gory Daze Parade in WRJ

The Gory Daze Parade in White River Junction has become a tradition for me and my daughter.

Walking around in the dark with a thousand other freaks - many who GLOW! - is my idea of the best halloween ever!

This weird musical instrument runs on FIRE!

It's very very dark tonight, but that suits the Huntress and the Bat!

Wish you were here with us? Take a look around:

And giant BUBBLES blown by Bubble Santa floating over everyone...

 Flaming pumpkins on the roof of the bar!

The T-Rex made us laugh so hard!

Next year I hope to make it to the "Ball" held after the parade!

Cartoon School - Come With Me!

I know it's been very quiet over here in The Belfry for the past year. There's been a lot going on though!

I have one more year at The Center for Cartoon Studies and I encourage you to join me for my Senior Year.

"Year Two".

I just launched my second Kickstarter project last night. This is similar to the first one - it funds my blog - Glyphs & Glitches - which documents my adventures at Cartoon School.



If you have always dreamed of leaving your boring office job and returning to school to get your Masters in Cartooning...

OK, so maybe that's not practical for you right now - but you can still fulfill your fantasy by backing my Kickstarter project.

You'll get access to my blog - Glyphs & Glitches - where I write about all my experiences, comic projects, classes, the Visiting Artists and the mess-ups too.

But wait, that's not all... you also get PDFs of comics I create at school!

I just launched the Kickstarter last night and I have 19 days to fund the project.
If you can't back the project yourself, please help me spread the word. The link is: http://kck.st/1VyeBke

Thank you!!

Spring Into Warner Recap

It started off raining and dark, but dried out and brightened up. Lilah and I were really worried we wouldn't get to work on the mural, but as you can see, much painting was done!

Here are some close-ups of the murals. There are two - one is an ocean scene and the other is a forest. This time, we didn't end up with any narwhals in the treetops and tigers in the ocean. I think the colored backgrounds really helped.

 Next chance I get, I'll clean up some of the lines and scribbles and fill in some missing colors, but I was really impressed with all the mermaids who appeared today!

Inside, the book sale went really well. I still have a lot of books and other supplies so maybe I'll do another bigger sale this summer.

The best part was meeting new people who had just moved to Warner and best-est, was getting to see my college friend, Andy, and his family! It's been... a really long time.

When we got tired of selling books and painting, we closed up shop and visited with the other vendors, checked out more of the yarn-bombing - these chicks had appeared on our bench overnight! - and then got some ice cream at the Velvet Moose.

In the same building as the Moose, is a new/old shop. It's old because Country Cobwebs has been around for ages and was pretty much across the street from my house. And new, because it has new owners and a new location. I hadn't had a chance to go in the new shop because I always had the kid with me. I was impressed at how much they fit into the space and how it feels a lot like the original CC. I'm not really into "country" but I have always adored the jams and sauces. 

I was so happy to see some of my friends today - "Hello, Apricot Jam and where have you been Local Honey?!"

And as I was checking out I looked up and saw these adorable kitten earrings! I may have to go back for the red hightop sneaker earrings too. 

If you are in the area, be sure to take a look. The owners are the sweetest people - and did I mention they are right next to the ice cream place? (Try the Sweet and Salty Caramel ice cream!)

May 16 - Book Sale and Mural at Spring Into Warner

There is nothing like a little advance notice, eh?

Tomorrow is Spring Into Warner - a celebration of the Arts in our little town. It is low-key and a lot of fun. And a little bit odd. Everyone is preparing today and the yarn-bombers have been at work...

They decorated the trees in front of my studio too!!

Lilah can tell you which of the trees have the softest yarns...

and, yes, sweaters DO grow on trees!

(Treehugger!)

They're everywhere - bike racks, fence posts... there are even knitted monster feet on the town hall's railings!

There are lots of great events going on, so here are the map and schedule (click to see the details).

From around 10am-2pm...
Inside The BeeHive Studio - we will be having a HUGE BOOK SALE! There are craft books, art-biz books, journaling books, Zentangle books, garden books, cookbooks, even some great novels and art books for kids too.

Every book is 20% off. BUT - if you buy 5 or more books - you get 40% off instead. The discount applies to the NEW books as well as to the already discounted books with the yellow bookmarks in them. I know - that is kind of crazy since many of those books are already marked down to less than $10. (I sound like a used car salesman!?) "CRAZY Prices!! Come on down!" But, seriously, I just got in some new books from Quarry - and they are on sale too.

This is part of my I-need-to-raise-money-for-cartoon-school-so-I'm-selling-off-everything campaign. There are three tables full of great books, and two bookcases, too.

If it doesn't rain (please don't RAIN!) - I'll be outside with Lilah working on the mural. We painted in the backgrounds and tidied up the art, so it's ready to have more characters drawn on. With all the color, it really stands out from down the street. The Velvet Moose is a good viewing spot. Ice cream cone in hand...

If you are brave enough, please join us - we could use the help. I have paint markers so it is easy and fun. If you aren't comfortable drawing, you can always pick a character to color or add some Zentangles.

Besides, how often to do you get the chance to draw on the walls?

May 21 - Creative Business Mastery

I just found out that my interview on the Creative Business Mastery Tele-summit - will be on the third day. That's May 21st. I'll be the first "Master" of the day. I still get such a kick out of it! Me - a Master! I hope we all still feel that way after the event... I'm sure you'll let me know what you thought of the interview. (Please?)

If you missed the first post about the tele-summit, you can read it HERE.
And if you haven't had a chance to sign up yet - it's free - so go ahead - click HERE or on the image above. There are really interesting women speaking on Money, Marketing and Mindset. All good stuff.

And feel free to share it with more of your friends!

Confessions of a Creative Business Master

(That title was written with a smirk and a wink.)

Confessions... I am absolutely terrified of speaking in front of people. Any number of people. And, I am easily distracted by shiny, new ideas. I love them. I have notebooks full of them. I create logos for businesses I want to create.

And yet - I have piles of unfinished projects that just make me feel guilty when I see them and I usually hide behind the excuse of "If I only had enough time..."

Sometimes, these flaws can be put to good use. The flip side of the idea thing, is that I believe that anything is possible. I used to read magazines like Somerset Studio and Cloth Paper Scissors and notice the same artists' names popping up - and they would do round robins together - and I wanted to be part of a group like that! And I listened to podcasts, and blog interviews and then tele summits where these amazing people would talk about their lives and ideas and problems they had overcome...  I wanted to be one of them too.

Guess what!?!

Turns out all my mistakes and ideas and fears - over time - fermented into something also known as "Experience". And I now qualify as one of those people I always wanted to be.  How cool is that?

Minette Riordan asked me to be one of her experts on her upcoming Creative Business Mastery Telesummit - and despite my number one fear (speaking in front of people) - I said "yes".

I guess my passion to be heard, is greater than my passion to hide!

Click the image or HERE to go to the site and register. This is a FREE Telesummit with some very cool ladies including Minette - (who is also a Certified Zentangle Teacher).

You'll love the info if you have ever felt unfocused, distracted by ideas, panic-ed about income, or overwhelmed by your own passions.  There will be 3 days with 16 speakers, broken into 3 topics: Money, Marketing, and Mindset.

What if you aren't Right-Brained and have no intention of listening to the interviews? That's fine too (although I have trouble believing that since you read my blog...) but be sure to click through anyway and then scroll dooooooowwwwwnnn to see my photo mixed in with all those other amazing women!!

I want to make a really big deal about this because it IS a big deal! I don't want this to be just another one of those cool things that I accomplish but allow to be lost in the sludge of other ongoing yuckiness. You know what I mean? Because THIS is where I want to put my energy and creativity. (I'm sure at least one of the speakers will cover that topic too).

I hope that you will join us online - May 19-21. I can't wait to hear all the wisdom - and great ideas - at the Tele-summit. And be sure to pass this info on to your other Right-Brain friends!

The Mural's Second Life

We had gorgeous, if really-chilly, weather for the Fall Foliage Festival. I couldn't feel my fingers as they gripped the paint markers to work on the new mural. There were only gawkers and peekers at first... I'd hear them whispering "what is she doing?" and as soon as I'd turn to smile, they'd run off.

But once I had snagged my first, brave soul, others came closer and closer and when they realized that they too could put their mark on the wall, I had plenty of eager hands reaching for markers!

Before I forget - I want to thank everyone who donated to the mural!! See if you can spot your requested images and names on the mural! (Like "Where's Waldo?!") You all financed the sanding and repainting of the old mural, and purchased our new Molotow professional graffitti markers. And, no, I don't think that "Professional Graffitti" markers is an oxymoron. ;-)

  

I divided the scenes with the left panel as an Ocean theme and right panel with a Forest theme. I explained that to every person and said to sign their names on the border. The one rule was "No scribbling!" I still spent over an hour on Sunday morning painting out the scribbles and plethora of names tagging the artwork. I left the narwhal in the tree... flooding? And the school of fish on the side of the mountain... rock paintings?

Doing a community mural is an exercise in patience and, like Zentangle, involves lots of deep breathing and a constant repetition of "let it go" and "that's just fine" and "it's all good" and "I can always paint over that later..." ;-)

 

 

 I heard from one of the dad's - that drawing on the mural was his kids' favorite event of the weekend! And that's with competition like Tilt-a-Whirl rides and fried dough! Yeah for Art!!

Laurie, Debbee and I did a bit more work on it the mural this past weekend. I'm still hoping I can get another tree painted and some blue water to help the sea creatures stand out a bit more. We'll have to wait and see what the weather does in the next few weeks.