Happy birthday, little website!

The Husband just pointed out to me that my lil' website is now a toddler. It's my two-year anniversary on lisamb.com!

These last two years have been eventful, to say the least. I nearly broke my brain with all the stuff I learned in Artist Trust's EDGE Professional Development program for visual artists.

Turns out it was just a sprain. Since then I've shared innumerable work-in-progress photos and videos...

My assemblage diorama "Minors", created especially for the Art a la Carte fundraiser benefiting Seattle Children's Hospital made with @flipagram See more at https://flipagram.com/f/n9o5J1q8dG

I've celebrated here when I convinced people to give me money in exchange for my art...

"Best of the Northwest" art festival, fall 2015

and this year some generous folks gave me a big hand in sustaining my career as an artist who parents small children.

Happy dance! I just found out I've been awarded a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation. I'm so grateful to the jurors for choosing to provide material support for my work.

So now we're here: I'd like to invite you to the opening reception for my latest show, "HEX and the Monstrous Feminine"!

Please join me at Twilight Gallery on October 13th: we'll celebrate feminine fire plus my little digital birthday!

Art not happening? Dig deeper

I was making headway on four big collages, but my production has stalled out. It makes me feel a little stabby.

I sealed the rust onto these old railroad spikes, while it was still dry and sunny outside.

Keeping that awesome rust intact and clinging to an old railroad spike.

I got the aged maps attached to the boards, even got holes drilled at angle (which is hard!) in the smaller panels. But I'm having trouble on the mom front: TwoBoo's on a waitlist for after-school day care at his new school, among other issues. Very little studio time. I've been anxious and frustrated most of the week.

But I had a fantastic time observing an actual archaeological dig last month!

Dr. Ulrike Krotscheck and her students unearth a metal artifact at the Bush Prairie archaelogical site in August 2016. Evergreen State College students are helping to excavate discards from the homestead of Tumwater pioneers George and Isabella Bush, who settled there in 1845.

Students from Evergreen State College, led by Dr. Ulrike Krotscheck, have discovered thousands of artifacts from the Bush Prairie Farm.

The most exciting thing to me: the original homesteaders in 1845, George and Isabella Bush, were an African American/Irish man and his white wife. But people of African descent weren't allowed to own property then: remember, this was before the American Civil War. It took their white friends in the territorial legislature and a literal act of Congress to grant the Bushes their own property title.

I was going to finish the big collage panels, and then make smaller collages using the archaeology photos. But it might be better to switch up those plans. Huh. Funny: I'd be using a literal dig to help me dig deeper into my art practice.

HEXed at Twilight Gallery

St. Felicia, patron saint of goodbyes, is predicted to appear to her faithful followers next month!

I've delivered the icons to Twilight Gallery in West Seattle for their October exhibit "HEX and The Monstrous Feminine."  Here's a little more about the exhibit theme:

I've had my eye on showing my work here for a while now, and lo and behold, St. Felicia has paved the way. The exhibit opens October 4th; I don't have a reception date just yet, but I'll update you as soon as possible!