I think I am still on a high from the Country Living Fair! Sue and I keep calling each other and oogling over our loot, trying to find just the right place for everything. I asked her if she would share her experience from the fair with you and she agreed.

Guest Blogger, Sue Thomas

Thanks for having me over for a chat Laura, next year maybe Tina comes with us??  Do you think we will have to drag her?  ~Sue

Sue, I don’t think it would take much effort getting Tina to go especially with all the vintage items she uses in her artwork! Now getting it home may be a problem~ha! Thanks so much for dropping by. I can’t wait to see what else you have brewing on the horizon.

Much love, Laura

Hello Sweet T & fabuloso friends!

I just added two new swell things to my jar. It is important for me to stay diligent in recognizing and appreciating the goodness around me. One of the things I am truly grateful for is the grand adventure I had to the Country Living Fair and my time with my good friend Sue. They just added Rhinebeck, NY as a location for the fair so we were able to drive (they are usually in Ohio & Atlanta). It took us about three and a half hours in the POURING RAIN to get there in there but our time went by in a blink as we talked our ENTIRE ride! It reminded me of when you and I get together and fill each other up with dreams and ideas for moving forward in our lives.

There was SO MUCH to do and see! They had many celebrity guests lined up for demos and talks. Our favorites included, Cari Cucksey from HGTV’s Cash & Cari and Sue’s idol, Sarah Gray Miller, the editor of Country Living Magazine. What a fun, down to earth gal! I love this picture of us. Can’t you just feel our beaming energy?

We adopted the Sisters on the Fly motto, “we have more fun than anyone” and seriously mean it! “Sister Q” took a picture of us in front of her AWESOME camper. I think we both left dreaming about what it would be like to restore an old camper and ride in the Sisters caravan of fun. In fact, I was so excited thinking about it I even looked up some that were for sale when I got home. I have seen campers transformed for artists and always thought they were the COOLEST things!

Sue & I schlopped around in the rain all day on Friday not caring at all that we were soaking wet and frozen to the bone. The weather took a dramatic change the next day so we were able to look more closely at everything and see all the barns we missed the day before. We both have an affinity for vintage finds which were plentiful. People went all out decorating their booths and we bookmarked the inspiration. I told Sue she should consider getting a booth at a fair like this. She has an affinity for display and styling up everything, including her home, her online shop, The Collected Cottage as well as a groovy new space in Rhode Island where she sells some pretty spectacular vintage items. I love listening to the stories Sue always has. It makes me think of all of your stories Tina.

Well, I do have more to share but that is all for now. I am hoping to have Sue as a guest blogger as I really want you to meet her! Sending you the most magical warm breeze with the sweet scent of peonies…love, Laura

Dear Tina (& sweet friends),

I packaged up all of the wonderful thoughts people wrote about beauty at my Open Studio. They are on their way to you, anxious to be added to our larger installation “Awakening” for Enough Pie. Enough Pie is an organization we really believe has a lot of heart and can make great strides with community building and collaboration. We are proud to be a part of something so innovative.

It was exciting to see how well people responded to our question, “What is beauty?” Here are a few of the many thought provoking sentiments I received.

Beauty is….

in the moment

in everything that makes your heart sing and spirit soar

in the warmth of friendship with like-minded people

is an emotion coming from your spirit

genuine outbursts glowing within one’s soul

laughter with friends

the simple joy of family and friends

finding light in a world full of darkness

the innocence of a child

believing in love even with a broken heart

a genuinely happy smile

We would love for you to join us and add to our installation, even if you live far away. It will be fun to have people from all over come together for this one day event and will help Tina & I with our inquiry on beauty. Simply leave your thoughts below in the comments or on our facebook page. We really want to hear what you have to say! Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how things came together in my studio. Notice the tree branch. How awesome would it be to fill a whole tree in Charleston? Can’t wait!

With gratitude and recognition of the beauty in YOU…Laura

I put the strips in an old cigar box, the pens in an old ball jar filled with shells and our postcards out with a sign that read, “please take one”. I thought of them as a small gift from us while also providing a way for people to find our blog, learn about our work, the continuation of this project or to simply encourage sending someone a thoughtful message.

Aren’t these so AWESOME!!!

This past January I started writing the good things that have happened to me on a small piece of paper and dropping them into a jar.  A small gesture to get at something that has been bothering me.  For some reason it seems easier to focus on what I am NOT doing.  Do you find that is true?  I am working on it.  One by one they have collected over the months. In fact, I am making progress.  In numerous parts of my life too.  Progress in my art business, teaching, parenting, finances, and leading my local roller derby team to name a few.  The more I started noting these small successes the more I have come to realize I am actually doing enough.  It is a funny thing to ask oneself “am I doing enough?”, because if you are asking it, you probably are already doing more than enough.  Such over-achievers you are!

This practice might be worth trying if you are one of the victims of the ‘not-enough’ disease (ahhumm….Laura).

When Laura and I were together we came up with one little word to keep us focused for the rest of 2013.  I know, I know… we said we were going to do this back in January, but it is better late than never right?

You can read about last year’s word HERE.

This year my word is FLUID.  I am looking for a new job, steering my artwork in the direction I need it to go, being open about parenting as adolescence is approaching in my oldest son (it is hard already and he is only 11!), and overall wanting to be more spontaneous every day to include more fun.  It feels really good to let go and just be fluid about what comes my way rather than trying to force things to happen.  I am living more from my gut rather than my brain in other words.  However, I am still very much a realist when it comes to life (gotta pay my mortgage, tend to my lawn, be patient with my child’s teacher, etc).  That side serves me well to get the day to day stuff done, but I no longer am letting it squeeze out the enjoyment that each day can bring.

Alrighty, I am going to let Laura take over the rest of this post to talk about her ‘little word’.  Write to you all later- Tina

Hello friends!

Yes, it is true I do struggle with the “not enoughs” disease. In fact it causes a lot of unease in my life and I am ready to change that. I told Tina I would create a jar of goodness and I never did. Well, my friends I am FOR REAL starting one TODAY. This morning I went through my gratitude journal (which is something I keep regularly) to see if there were any milestones since January I could start my jar off with. There were SO many things! It was fun to go back and read them. It allowed me to see the steps I have taken towards the life I wish to live, which at the core is a meaningful, healthy life, surrounded by joy, beauty, creativity & love. I wish to live with purpose and use my gifts to serve the world, all while being able to support myself and contribute in a worthwhile way.

My word for this year is DILIGENT which means having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties. You see my friends I am a girl who is ALWAYS taking more classes, reading more, trying to improve on myself, my home, my relationships, my business, my artwork, organization, photography, etc… etc… and on it goes. It is time for me to synthesize all the information I have sourced and start putting it into action. I am trying to set realistic goals instead of having so many I feel deflated when I don’t accomplish them. Tina helps keep me in check with this but I still struggle. I think being more thoughtful of what I really want, diligently working towards them as well as recognizing and celebrating the completion of these goals will help.  We shall see how it goes and what I accomplish and celebrate in the upcoming months. I am so grateful to have you and Tina share in this journey with me.

What are you celebrating in your life? Is there a word that you want to focus on this year? We would love for you to share them with us in the comments.

Sending you a day filled with sunshine & love,

Laura

Dear TIna,

Your Vision totally brought me back to the day we were in NYC. I think we spent quite a bit of time in Anthropologie! It was kind of funny how the “T” mug was pink as I know it really isn’t your favorite color~ha! I was experimenting with stencils and the push and pull of color for my ReVision, thinking about the simple moments in our lives that become sacred only when we stop to be present for them. I would love to be enjoying a nice cappuccino with you. Might have to be iced if you are coming here this summer.

Much love your way…Laura

Dear Laura,

Laura Gaffke, Vision 5: Script Series

I started this ReVision many days ago and have, as usual, used this as an opportunity to experiment.  I wanted to print a photograph on old textbook pages.  I added a layer of paint on the textbook page, but it sealed the paper in a slick surface so that when I printed the image it was more of a watercolor effect.  It was interesting, but not really what I wanted.  To define the image more I decided to sew with embroidery thread.  This was also interesting, but wow…..time consuming.  Maybe if I loved embroidery I wouldn’t think it was time consuming!  So I guess I found out I don’t love embroidery.  The photograph is of the coreopsis flowers in my garden.  They are so brilliantly yellow this time of year and really wanted to capture the similar yellow of your daffodils.  AND THEN apparently I was not done with this because I added a layer of epoxy resin.  Talk about overworking a piece- this one is the definition!  I should have stopped at the print.  Here is my process…..

and the final overworked piece….I think I like the envelope better than the art!

Dear Tina & friends,

Thought I would share a few pictures from my recent Open Studio. The painting on the easel is a new painting I am working on. Right now it reads, “Have a Vision, what you believe you will become.” It is a spin on a mantra I have said to myself for years, “Your thoughts create your destiny.”

Friday night was alive at the studio with friendly faces, art, music and an amazing energy hard to describe.

These are little watercolor fish I painted. They each have sayings that go with them cut from old book pages.

As you may know, my friend Sue & I have a love for vintage items. She gave me this gorgeous window display for my work and I just love it!

The big armoire is from an antique shop in NH. It was originally from Poland which spoke to me as I am part Polish.

I mingled in some of my smaller work with this large painting. I am happy to say it is finally finished as it took me awhile! I am calling it “Connections”.

I had fine art giclee prints for sale and will be working with my printer to make some more which I will have available in my Etsy shop.

I am always curious to know what people take from my paintings and try to find new ways to learn and grow from my work. It is always interesting to me when someone finds something in a painting I may not have thought of.

I decided to have a print giveaway to get some feedback and asked people to look at my new work and share their thoughts on which painting was their favorite and why. It was so so fun getting feedback and opening doors for conversation. I have found over the years it can be intimidating for people to talk with artists. I am not sure why this is. Most artists  welcome a conversation or questions about their work and are delighted you are taking  an interest in our work. I know for myself, I have so many stories to share but don’t want to be pushy sharing them.

The most “favorited” painting from the raffle was, “The Wave”. This painting started out with a collage background and I built up layers of paint from there. I had sketched the flowers that were in my garden but changed the color of them. It is actually more vibrant in person.

“The Wave” mixed media 12 x 12 inches ©laura gaffke *available

work in progress

I had Michelle pic the raffle winner….

I am delighted to announce the WINNER from the raffle….da da da da…..ANN SERGIY!!!

She wrote, “the background is lively and the arrangement of the flowers do resemble a wave. Great color combinations!”

Congratulations Ann! I will be in touch with you!

Much love, Laura

p.s. You can see more pictures from the Open Studio HERE.

Dear Laura,

I have been invited to exhibit our collaborative book this Sunday at Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston SC from 2-5.  I am thrilled to get this book out into the public eye because I feel it is some of our strongest work.  As many of you know it took us two years to complete and numerous times back and forth through the mail.

I took your advice Laura and set up our work ahead of time so I could think of how to best represent it and give the viewer a snapshot of the type of work we make together.  I decided to not only exhibit our book but also a few of our Vision/ReVision artworks. These are hung alongside some excerpts from the corresponding blog posts.  I will also be giving away free postcards to anyone interested.

I am really looking forward to this!

Below is the advertisement for this one-day exhibition, which is taking place at two locations.  The local artists in this are exceptional and not to be missed.  After you see this work, head over to the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art on Monday to see “Rebound: Dissections and Excavations in Book Art”.

~Tina~

Michelle’s painted hands

Dear Friends,

How are you? I am catching up after a very busy weekend. As many of you know I had my Open Studio on Friday & Saturday. Everything was wonderful. The studio looked great. We had flowers everywhere, the heavenly music of Cyra Morgan, luscious food and libations galore. I was in fear of the rain being a deterrent but it didn’t seem to be. My friend Michelle arrived for the weekend straight from teaching all day in NH on friday (whew) and I couldn’t have been happier. She came with a bright smile and a big hug and I couldn’t wait for her to meet all my friends.

inspiration

As many of you know Michelle & I planned on doing another collaborative painting together on Saturday afternoon. We got to the studio early, cleaned up from the night before, set up our supplies and inspiration and were excited to paint. You can read about our first two collaborations HERE & HERE.

Beginning of Michelle’s painting

Michelle working on the painting

I was and am unbelievably grateful for all the people who traveled near and far to come out to support me and genuinely wanted to talk and share my work with them. My conflict was that I spent more time talking with my guests than painting, leaving Michelle to paint alone. I wasn’t sure how to divide my time and truly wanted to be in both places at the same time which of course isn’t possible. In the end I felt like I had neglected Michelle, my good friend who came all this way to create with me. We talked about it after as good friends do and what I take away from all of this is that combining an open studio event with a live painting collaboration was not my best idea ever. This was a great idea in theory and in our intention to share our work with the community but what I found was that in order to honor the sacred painting space Michelle and I shared in our last two paintings I needed to be 100% present and I simply could not be with the other events planned. In the end, our intentions for the painting were not realized and I take full responsibility for that. Maya Angelou says, “when you know better, you do better” and that is what I intend to do.

Michelle Dyson’s painting in progress

One thing I know about myself is that I am a better painter when I am still, when I am quiet and don’t have any distractions. Creating space for this is part of my creative process and how inspiration weaves it’s way into my heart and work. There is just no way to find this kind of stillness when you are inviting people into this space. It is my intention in the future to give Michelle this part of me in our next collaboration. I certainly learned a lot from this experience, both about collaboration as well as our personal needs for allowing creativity to flow.

Luckily, Michelle was wonderful about the whole thing and still loves me. She graciously took the lead on the painting and I have to say it is coming out brilliant! The pictures are of her work in process. I have more to share and will follow up this week with more pictures, the installation piece that will be sent to Tina to install in Charleston, the winner of the print giveaway, Tina’s & my “word” for the year as well as our long awaited new ReVision.

Sending brilliance & sunshine your way…love, Laura

“Beauty draws us in. We can’t stop looking or listening or touching. It takes us outside ourselves and it motivates us. It’s essential to life and to happiness.” — Nancy Etcoff

Dear Friends,

We will be participating in an art event with an installation in Charleston, South Carolina next month (date to be determined) where we will be asking YOU to participate.  The organization running the show is Enough Pie, that is aiming to revitalize a down trodden part of the city.  Laura will be kicking this off at her Open Studios this weekend in Connecticut.  But first, let us tell you about the main event here in Charleston coming up in the next few weeks….

Enough Pie’s mission statement is this–> “We want our work to show how crucial arts and creativity are to our community. We will measure our work so it becomes clear to policy makers that art is not just beautiful, art is not just a quality-of-life perk, art is a transformative economic tool that should be an important line item on the city and state budgets. We want our work to create lasting, sustainable collaborations between artists and mechanics, artisans and city planners, architects and community organizations…. We hope our work INSPIRES more great work.  There is enough pie to go around. Let’s cut a larger slice for artists, creative entrepreneurs and diverse, local businesses.”

Read further about Enough Pie and the “Awakening” event we are participating in HERE.

Our idea is to hang a wooden pole (which might switch to a tree branch) from the ceiling, where we will invite viewers to tie on a strip of canvas.  The strip of canvas provides space to write, draw, and create a response to the question “What is Beauty?”.   We are curious to know if beauty is an object, an idea, an innate part of the human spirit, or something else.  What is it about beauty that informs our choices, connections, and values we hold dear?

This practice of hanging thoughts or objects from trees is a practice done all over the world in numerous cultures for centuries.  We have been inspired by these actions of veneration, wishes, and prayers and intend our project to fall right in line with this.  Read more HERE.

The conversation created through this installation is part of an ongoing inquiry of co-authorship we have been developing over the past seven years. We intend to interweave the collected ideas from this installation into future collaborative art practices as well as contribute to Enough Pie’s mission to create a sustainable, cohesive, livable, diverse art and design district in Charleston, SC.

We are open to where this project will take us so…..let us hear and read what you think.

What is beauty?

You can start by going to Laura’s Open Studio and adding your piece of fabric to the project.  She will send these to Tina next week to hang in the installation in Charleston next month.  If you can’t make either event, we would be glad to write your idea down for you and tie it on among the rest.

~Tina and Laura~

We were inspired by projects like the Lam Tsuen Wish Tree in Hong Kong

Signs hung! We are ready!

Okay everyone!

Things are looking quite spiffy at Above Elite Studios as we get ready for our Open Studio. We are in the process of creating a cute spot for Cyra Morgan who will be our wonderful performer on friday evening. WE ARE SO LUCKY! Honestly, I am always unbelievably grateful for the musicians we have had at our studio over the years. They are all going places! Music is such an intricate part of my life and live music is just the icing on the cake, adding a wonderful dimension to an all ready spectacular event.

Cyra says, “My style is an intimate acoustic folk and I am a romance junkie. For me there is nothing more rewarding than creating a piece of music that paints a picture of expression vivid enough for the listener to really feel what I’m saying….. or singing. If I can touch someone with my words, if I can make a listener feel like they are not alone, that is the greatest form of success for me.”

Pretty awesome, right? Here are two of Cyra’s videos (I couldn’t choose just one!) to woo you with while you read this AMAZINGLY thoughtful guest post from my friend Michelle.

 Thoughts & ideas from Michelle Dyson on collaboration & the LIVE painting we will create together on Saturday at my studio:

©Michelle Dyson 2013

My best thoughts and ideas always come to me in the car driving or in the middle of the night while desperately trying to sleep. Now as I struggle to remember those amazing images and words they are gone, a lost memory but I will give it my best. Laura asks me,

“What are our intentions for this painting?” and I respond with “I just want to play and have fun.” After teaching all week I’m not always interested in having a plan when I paint. What I do want to do is be in a playful, peaceful, safe painting place within myself.

©Michelle Dyson 2013

When painting in collaboration Laura and I flow in and out of the work with respect for each others space and technique without words. We both are inspired by color and texture. We are inspired by flowers and music. We are inspired by the ocean and sand in our toes. We will both come to this painting with sketches of our favorite inspirational items. The music will play and with open hearts we will dive into our third collaborative painting. We decided to make this a live painting to encourage anyone who wants to watch our process the opportunity to. Sometimes it takes just a peek into the magic that is a painting in progress to invigorate the creativity of others into action. We want there to be more artists in the world. We want you to be a witness to the joy it is to let go of restrictions that can be a deterrent in art making and experience the freedom of a painting done out of friendship, relationships and the beauty of the world surrounding us.

I hope you come out to see us and look for pictures of our work on our Facebook and web pages.

Many thanks for all who support our dream!

Smiles,

Michelle

***We are both looking forward to seeing you! If you can’t make it on Saturday you can meet Michelle at the Open Studio on Friday from 5:30 -9pm and see the first two paintings we created together. Getting PUMPED!!! Event details HERE.

SO looking forward to seeing you!

love, Laura