Here Come the Whales!!!

So I have been kind of quiet for the last few days because I have been cutting and glueing and cutting some more! I then had to do photos and get them all ready to go. Unfortunately I have to get more photographing done as some of the pictures are showing smudges on the glass in the frames and glue that I missed when I was cleaning up the whales.

So here they are, some cutie whales, ready to be sold!

I love this paper cutting, it just mellows me right out and makes me feel happy. Some came out better than others but they are all equally sweet.

It was Mikes Idea to use the maps to cut some of the whales from, he is pretty smart, I guess that's why I keep him around. I am going to keep cutting stuff out and see what else I can come up with. Hopefully I will sell some of these little guys. cross your fingers! Here are the rest of them. Please let me know what you think of them, I would love some feedback!

Anyone Have A Bridge For Me To Jump Off Of?

Because I need one at this time. This year has been nuts. So here is this week's rotten drama: My Mike witnessed a death. He was at work Monday and one of his fellow electricians was accidentally killed on the job. My poor sweet baby saw the whole accident happen and was the first one to get to the guy but it was too late, the accident was just too bad. So, needlessly to say, he has been a mess the whole week. And sick. He got sick on Sunday but I guess the shock really sent his immune system for a loop because on Monday he just got sicker. He continued to get sicker by the day and finally today, after a 30 minute coughing fit, he decided to go to the ER. Pneumonia. Oh Yeah. Now he is upstairs trying to go to sleep but can't stop hacking.

Then my sisters horse kicked her chihuahua and killed it. WITF!

Can I just fly away to some sunny place that is full of drinks with umbrella, clear blue water and tons of sunblock? Just for a week? The Bermuda triangle?

But I have come to some conclusions about human life due to the events of the past month. First of all humans are like bugs, they can get squished very easily and croak. Life is so fragile, it can get snuffed out so quickly and there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it but accept it and move on with my own life. Maybe that sounds cold or unrealistic but the more I think about it the more I realize just how I have to be another animal in the world of animals. Animals don't freak out and lose their minds when another fellow animal dies, they just keep foraging for food, a safe place to sleep, defending the young and procreating. So that is what I am going to do, just keep moving, trying to produce my work and make some money in the process. I;m going to keep living my life but I will always cherish all of my memories of those who have passed and be thankful and grateful for the things they have given me, may it be physical or otherwise. Who knows, maybe this is my own way of reasoning my way through the grieving process, I'm not sure, but at this exact moment this is how I feel about death.

All of that said I have been making the silhouettes and I really like how they are coming out. Cutting paper makes me feel better. I like the process of drawing the design on the paper and then cutting it out without messing it up and then trying to adhere it with out destroying the whole thing. Here are a few:

This first detail is of a fish that I cut from "music" paper. It makes me wish I had real music paper to destroy!

So there are just a few to give you all an idea of how hey are coming out. I have two listed on etsy and plan to keep going. Even though there seems to be a black cloud following us around I am still more motivated and driven to make stuff than I have in a long time. My creativity is preserving my sanity and gives me a reason to make goals. I know that I am in trouble when I;m not making goals and since I am and keep making them I must be okay. However, i think I need some voodoo majic in this house. I need to get it smudged or blessed or something. hings have got to get better from here. Wish me luck and please visit my etsy site to see all of the silhouettes as I add them! www.TilleyVoegtleArt.etsy.com

Best wishes to all!

AND THE SILHOUETTES ARE.....

On their way! So I adhered and glued some of the silhouettes and did some photos that are absolutely sub standard, but only because I wanted to get them on here so I can keep my word as a good blogger should.

Here are a few

Some of them I am enjoying, the others not so much. But I am going to keep cutting and trying different shaped on different types of paper. I am even thinking of painting some to give it more of a mixed media boho feel. They seem to need a little help...

So since I have gotten my little Mimi I have been a dog whisperer fool, watching him every day and I have begun the process of trying to train her and retrain Buddy (Mike's chocolate Lab) in that manner. I took Mimi for her second walk today and she yiped through the whole thing. She was barking at me, trying to get me to pick her up, biting my shoes and just whinning like the little diva she is. I am trying to do what I can to make her "un-diva-esc" but I am not sure if it will be possible.

Mike is coming home this weekend and he has decided since I haven't been romanced in awhile he is going to make some plans. At first he said that the most romantic thing he could think of was to sit on the couch next to me, let me watch QVC, and then.....let me buy something! Ummmm....No. mmmmm....ughh. Not my idea of romance. But he has done a fairly good job in the past so I am sure he will come up with something. With all of the drama that just keeps coming in my life I feel like I need a little attention and petting. Ideally I would like a spa vacation in a warm sandy beachy local but I am most like to get dinner out and a trip to Borders in the mall. Well....at least they have cold brewed iced coffee there. Lata peeps!

P.S. Here is Mimi, helping momma crochet and helping mom vacuum by putting all of her toys in front of it the second I walk away.

Bad Blogger, Bad!

Okay, what is my deal, I have been really bad at this blogging!

But, things have been rough around here since Christmas. Everyone is fighting, then my dad went into a nursing home to recuperate from pneumonia, money stinks and is always not there when you need it and I get to be the CFO of this corporation so everybody has a complaint and guess who they come to!!!!!!

Then, when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my dad died. He died. At the age of 73. He would have been 74 on March 3rd. He died on Tuesday, February 17th at 4:00 a.m. in the nursing home in Baton Rouge LA. My daddy who I had finally established a fantastic relationship with and loved like crazy, passed away. I have been in complete shock ever since. It has been absolutely horrible. And sad, so damned sad. The only thing that has kept me from being a complete and total lump (because I just want to lay down and cry all the time) is my new Pomeranian puppy, Mimi.

Mimi is a gift from the Gods!!!! She is cute, funny, and an absolute love bucket. And she is crazy about me which is wonderful because I don't think I could deal if she didn't. Taking care of her has been what has gotten me through. I tried to paint, I tried to make some cards, I tried to draw....nothing! So I just hugged my puppy and that made me feel so much better.

Now I am working on wrapping up my dad's financial stuff, he donated his remains to science so I haven't gone down to LA yet for the memorial. We are going to go down when the will has been completed and we can clean out his house at which time we will have a memorial service. So, until then, I am just trying to work here an make more stuff. I am working on cutting some paper silhouettes of various things which I will have ready to post in a few days. I promise, promise, that i will be a good blogger from now on!

To all of my friends out there, I hope you all are well and happy!

New Year, New Art!

Well....I have been a very bad blogger! It has been awhile but I have not forgotten about keeping up, just haven't had the chance.

New Painting!
I have begun a new painting that I am totally excited about and can't wait to finish it. It has become one of those that just comes out so easily and almost effortlessly. I know when I am on to something when that happens! I hope to finish it by the end of next week so I can get it photographed, listed on etsy, up in a store that I show my work in, and entered into a few jurried shows.

I love painting and I have been away from it for so long, following my other creative endevours, that I let it go by the wayside and almost forgot about just how much I love it. Although it can drive me quite crazy at times...

The painting itself is made up of similar leaf forms from my drawing " Study of movement and line" and has a baground of hexagons stacked like a honey comb. I have been having a constant dialog with my cousin Bianca about the pro's and con's of being an artist making a living from art work and my creativity and the giult I feel about no longer being a good worker bee amongst the workforce. I have been so sick that it's just not an option for me to hold a regular job anymore but the illness that is keeping me out of work is keeping me home where my studio is.

So, that said, I intend to finish this painting and work on more that follow this dialog that Bianca and I have been having. I intend the series to be a documentation of the struggle I have been going through and will reflect the way I grow and change and make new life plans within that struggle.

Me, Me, Me, It's all about me. Yep. That's what it all comes down to with my art. I get to be as self centered as I want to be and show it to everyone else for critique. I think I must be crazy!