Sunday, December 11, 2011

Outsider Art


Outsider art, quirky, creative, unusual -
all of these words could be used to describe the 
Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips, WI.



Retired lumberjack, Fred Smith (1886 - 1976) was the mastermind
 behind this menagerie of 237 concrete sculptures.




A "green" artist ahead of his time,
 Fred used shells, glass shards, beer bottles from his tavern - The Rock Garden Tavern, 
and other junk art materials to create a cast of historical characters.



You'll find larger than life cowboys, miners, Indians,
soliders, horses, oxen, wild animals, and gigantic fish
standing against the backdrop of a pine forest.






Built over a period of 14 years,
 this self-taught sculptor said of his obsession,
"It's Gotta Be In Ya to Do It".

As they say in northern Wisconsin,
"Yeah Ya Betcha!"


Wishing you a Blessed Holiday Season
and a wildly creative New Year!!!

I'll be taking a holiday break......
see you on Monday, January 2, 2012!


Monday, December 5, 2011

Finish Line


I've been busy working to finish up a couple art quilt and beadwork projects.
These will be the pieces that I enter into shows in 2012.
I was thinking about how it feels to finally be finishing these projects after months of work ~ 
Pride? Joy? Exhilaration?.......
well actually, I mainly feel relief.
Relief because, now I can start something new.
I always have so many creative project ideas with only two hands and 
only so much time to do them in!
I'm looking forward to new beginnings :)


Wishing you happiness in all your creative ventures!

P.S. I've added a new category heading titled, Camera.
On this page you'll find info about what's in my camera bag and
a list of my favorite photography books, all with links.
I hope that you find this helpful.