Red Shoes blog

Wanderlust

I have a deep rooted desire to hit the open road.
Always have.
Maybe its from all those years of driving from Michigan to Texas with my mom. I always admired that she had no fear taking off and doing just that with two small girls in tow.
I Also have a deep rooted distaste for assembly line stuff.
I cannot for the life of me do the same thing over and over.
So I've decided to create some 'grunge'
Fairy doors...something completely different than what I've been doing. inspired by wanderlust, open roads and freedom.
I think these fairies would heavily favor the music of Lucinda Williams, I imagine them in red pick up trucks with a faithful dog by their side sunshine on their faces and the wind in their hair.
Because if I were a fairy, that's what I would do.
But since I am not.
I just dream if these things while I paint.
Cuz that's the next best thing I spose
When you're losing your marbles doing the same thing over and over ;)
Tee hee hee.
Grunge doors will be up on the website for sale tomorrow.
Xo

Detroit love

  I have a thing for Detroit.  Maybe it's because in this day an age where everyone seems to be striving for perfection,  being imperfect and full of flaws is what I find real and admirable. That city has lived hard, experienced life, and lived to tell about it.

 I love going around seeing the old buildings, and neighborhoods, the graffiti, and grunge, the new lofts being built out of old factories,  Eastern market,  corktown, and southwest Detroit.  Each pocket of that town has something interesting to offer.

I just love that raw stuff. It's probably why I find the the vintage so appealing.  They are things that have survived years of use,  been overloved,  or cast-off , tossed out,  beaten up or buried and have a story to tell in their peeling paint, chipped edges, and weathered patinas.

you could say the same thing about Music,  the Blues in particular. I have a deep love for that genre,  where songs of heartache, struggle and pain translate into deep powerful songs that really move me.  I love hearing those voices.....voices that have experienced things,  seen things most people haven't  and lived to sing about it....in fact alot of them seem to have a really good time singing about those things,  which just goes to show you that perfection isn't what it's all about.

you've gotta live a little,  get a little dirty,  and just be yourself.

So I raise my hand to Detroit....

authenticity is far better than perfection in my book. 

 

I found this pile of vintage postcards in the rubble of the old Packard plant....

of course my kids were horrified that I touched it,  but

the jackalope is my favorite ;)

Fisher building=amazing!

the following images are from the Henry Ford Museum

Buckminster Fuller's uber-hip Dynamaxion house

Rosa Park's famous Bus....

Kennedy's car :(

Complete, AMAZING diner!

and so much more to look at.

but it's time for me to get to work......

so on that note.....I will leave you with this last image...

I've been making these,  and am now willing to teach YOU how to do them!

paper flowers made out of vintage text and metal...painted with acrylics!

Class schedule is UP. 

click here

space is limited,  so sign up if you'd like to learn some of my little secrets...cuz I am always willing to share ;)

XOXOXO

 

 

 

Festifools Parade

   I am so lucky that ALL of the people in my family are creative.   I have been pouring over tons of photos that we've all taken over the past few days....from the fool moon event,  to the parade,  to our recent trip to Detroit, and then the Henry Ford museum yesterday.  We rarely have a chance to all be together because of our busy schedules,  so it's been a treat.   I Especially enjoyed being with my son, the nomadic 13 year old who rarely graces us with his presence.  It's been great having him around making me laugh,  spinning awesome tunes for me, and offering his creative visual take on things.  love that.

  I also love that he's comfortable hanging out with me around his friends.....I guess I'm not at that embarrassment phase yet. phew.

that's my boy in the middle.

They had me paint moustaches on their fingers.  goofballs.

love his flinty look on the end.  ;)

So here are some pics from the Festifools parade......

I used that Hipstamatic App on my Iphone for the majority,  I am seriously addicted to it....in fact it's the only thing I used this weekend to take photos from our various travels.

gives it a very vintage feel.....

I loved that float with his big buck teeth :)

I adore anything with skulls.

And I also adored hanging out with my girl..... last night  she came into my bedroom with a pile of money from her piggy bank.  she dumped it all on my bed proclaiming I could have all of her money so I wouldn't have to go to work,  because she enjoyed being with me the past  days.

I'm still scraping my heart off of the bottom of her shoe where she crushed it.

oh my sweet child. 

I love her.

you make sacrifices to own your own business I tell ya.

but It makes all those times that you do spend together very special and hopefully something that will leave a lasting impact.....such a fun time

i'll post more pictures of Detroit and the Henry ford museum soon.

I love that place.....nothing like a cool collection of Vintage cars to make my boy gene kick in.

o.k.,  i'm off to craft!

one of these days i'll post more pictures of that,  because yes,  I am still creating things too :)

XOXO

 

A visual Feast....

 This past weekend was the annual Festifools celebration. It's  a unique event to our town.  It's a project that  the U of M's Art school started as a way of bringing together art and community. it happens every April 1st and is quite the visual treat.  For the past few years it's only been held one day for an hour,  where the main street is blocked off featuring a parade of Gigantic paper mache puppets and music filling the street,  similar to a Mardi Gras celebration. This year the event was several days long with a kick off with a new event called "Fool moon".

 Fullmoon was a Luminary procession filled with tons of local people (including us) that made luminaries out of wire, tape, paper and glue in all sorts of shapes and sizes......we wove our way through the downtown streets and ended up in the heart of downtown where the streets were closed off and Music and people filled the streets with so many sights and sounds.  it was amazing! 

  So the following images are from the past two days,  I hope you like them.  it truly was a magical event.  I am super proud to admit that not only was I born and raised in this town, but I love living in a place that embraces the Arts the way we do here in Ann Arbor, every place should be like that!  :)

We started with creating our own luminary.  It's a really fun project and easy to do,  you can come up with any kind of shape or design here is a link to a tutorial if you'd like to make one yourself :)

here's ours

ok,  So

I just had this whole post worked out with a ton of pictures and links,  tons of text etc. etc.  and my computer froze,  losing everything that took me literally 2 hours to upload.   Grrrrrr!

SO, needless to say I am SUPER grouchy right now,

technology!!!!!   ERG!

  I am now only going to post a couple of pics from that night,  and a small video to give you a taste,  it really was a visual and audio treat.

our little Fiona and Fish weaving it's way through the crowds...

when we got to our final destination,  it looked and sounded like this

  

you can then see some fabulous images from my adorable friend,  and Uber Amazing photographer Myra Klarman

....her pictures on her blog are AWESOME!

 Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the Parade....

here's a peek

I took photos of those using my Iphone and the Hipstamatic app.  very vintage and cool,  if you don't have that app,  I suggest (highly)  that you fork out the .99 cents,  you will not be disappointed :)

XOXOXO