Art And Soul.....

My Kids had the day off from school yesterday (again)

...So we decided to head out and about on the town......going to different Vintage stores, Urban Outfitters, back alleys, and art supply shops.  we had a great time!

 My daughter always likes to park at the tippy top of the parking structure and look out high above our town....

my son just likes to be goofy.

  Such a great town we have...so diverse, colorful,  and fun.

we love poking around the alleys,  looking at all of the colorful graffiti....

my son loves this kind of stuff,  and so do I......such free spirited art...this place is more like an art installation,  than a mere alley with graffiti...

This wall in particular amazed me...completely covered in little pieces of chewed up gum,  each one painted.....

and applied just so.

  (i know I'm weird,  but I like these kinds of things)

This places is huge.....long alleys,  with walkways overhead..

grungy, dirty, colorful...just like I Like 'em!  ;)

 such a cool place!

  we headed on over to my favorite Vintage store on State street called "the Get UP"

i love it in there,  they have an amazing selection of vintage cowboy boots,  great shoes,  and fantastic jewelry.

  I ended up scoring a vintage brown acetate dress with tiny little rhinestone buttons.....

 

from the 1950's!  so cool...and after my next stop to the thrift shop to get more wool sweaters to felt for pillows,  I scored some brown shoes in the EXACT shade as my dress,  for $3 bucks.....ha ha!

i'm so lucky,  I didn't even go in there looking for shoes ;)

  I also nabbed a vintage camera for $15...I don't know if it works,  but it looks like it has a nice lens... I would really love to take some pictures the old fashioned way, with actual print film.  so we shall see....

I actually love taking pictures,  and photography in general,  a complete amateur that's for sure,  but I love learning new things each day.  I spent the most of last night taking digital pictures of Jewelry to load up onto my website.

 I found that natural light works best,  and LOOKS the best.

here's natural light....

and here's indoor light....with strong spotlight..

see what I mean?  out doors is best.

Also, if it's one tip I could pass along,  it would be to NEVER EVER use flash.

ever.

period.

pictures just look better without it.

 SO earlier in the day after we picked our supplies we headed home to be creative...

My son playing his new Birthday present that he got this weekend.....

 

because in our household,  you cannot create with out music,.....  really you cant do ANYTHING with out music in our opinion!

 So Fiona and I got down to creating...using our new super colorful chalk 

and making our own graffiti on the kitchen blackboard walls...

so fun!  that chalk is really amazing!

(now I think I might paint my living room wall in blackboard paint,  just so we can doodle)   :)

  Our next project was to create our own self-portraits on tiny canvasses.  It's a project I want to do as a class at my shop,  so I tried it out first with my family.

  each one of us getting our own little 4X4 square.

 Fiona made hers...

Jackson his...

and mine....(I think I'm from Avatar)

well...the kids could not WAIT until their dad got home to paint his......

as soon as he walked in the door they told him what was expected of him...now mind you,  the man does not paint,  or draw, (except for the SHOE he always doodles...Check above blackboard pic for his shoe doodle)  don't ask me why he doodles shoes, but he does....everytime.....

so the man is not really creative,  unless you consider building things like furniture,  well then,  he is amazing...but this was different.

so he sat down to do his self portrait.....and I about DIED.

first off,  he is actually REALLY good,  and second

the fact that his self portrait reminded me of this guy,

had me DYING laughing!

 do you remember the MOD Squad?

I LOVED that show as a kid!

well,  now I cannot get it out of my mind.  too funny!

So here's is Ian's finished piece,  i am still laughing......

so SUPER FLY!

 (the kids think he is DYNO-MITE!)  hee hee hee.

Isn't he great?

he might have actually found a new calling...I am thinking so!

  So on that creative note....I am off to the shop to work on more pillows...

I have been a machine lately...creating pillow after pillow...all of them sold,  but more on the way I promise.

hope all of you are having a creative and wonderful day....turn up the music,  and Have some FUN!  I know I will ;)

XOXOXOXO

Comments

[Theresa Hein]

I have followed your very colorful blog for a while now, way before I dove in the water to try one... you are so talented! No wonder your kids are. My son goes to UofM and we have looked for your store a couple of times, I think I have the location down now (he actually lives close by so I Have Got To Stop In. I can't wait to be inspired by all of your wonderful creations! It looks like you all had a great day off! Theresa

[catherine]

Thanks Theresa,
you are so kind, we look forward to meeting you some day in person!
(your blog is lovely BTW)
:)
catherine

[Karen Greenfield]

I loved Mod Squad and was thrilled to find Linc on The Mystery Woman series (Hallmark channel) though the new character is not nearly as exciting and we never get 'the leap.' Miss the the leap. xxKaren

[jackie]

Your pillows are so fun and colorful.
What is the brand of the colorful chalk. They are awesome!

[Suzanne B.]

Catherine, now I totally want to do the family self-portraits! That is so brilliant! And they are all killing me, because THEY LOOK LIKE YOU GUYS! You must be psyched. Ian's is incredible . . . and that shoe! :) You should make him do more art. Make it mandatory. Ha. :D

I would also like to inquire about the colored chalk brand. I have some but it breaks if you look at it too hard.

[simpledaisy]

Love the chalkboard graffiti!! I might need to look into that brand of chalk:)
Oh and your pillows are super cute~

[catherine]

thanks everyone!
now about that chalk....there is a little link right on the blog post....if you look at the words "colorful chalk", they are highlighted and underlined... it will take you directly to a link where you can buy it......it's made by Prang, and is called Ambrite....or something like that! we love it!:)

[Shannon]

I wandered over while blog browsing off Attic24, and just had to let you know how much I enjoyed my visit! Inspiring art and music. Thanks for sharing!

[jackie]

Great outing...love all your goodies!! Check out Alisa Burke, great sorta graffiti artit, she is on my blog, but her name should come up if you google it. As usual, love your art especially the art you did with the kiddos!!

[superbadfriend]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing. :)

xojess