today  you get a tour of the amazing mosaic tile house in 

venice, california.  gonzalo and his wife, cheri, have created 

a site to behold in their home.  every inch is covered

in tile.  i was lucky enough to attend a tour with one of my art groups.  

also, are two of my recent charcoal portraits on paper.

here we go...

i couldn't stop taking pictures!

the side wall!

a little bench for your weary bones.

it all started here when the bathroom wall needed patching.

 instead, 4 x 4 white tiles were broken and patched the area.

but it didn't stop there. 

they continued on to the wall,

covered the tub!

while working in their studies.  both are artists and each has their own space

to tinker in.

then back outside again. 

 oh, every house needs a  working kitchen!

the sink!

i think these pictures say it all!

have a lovely weekend.  mine will be taken up

with fixing -- technical issues, home repairs, the

continued decluttering process (going very well, by the way).

posting today with paint party friday art friends

hello, I have been experimenting with gelli plate magazine transfers

 after watching  brigit koopsen's  youtube tutorial.

i experimented with various paints, different magazines,

images and amount of paints.  here are three examples. 

the actual transfer was a failure here but what was left of 

 the magazine image turned out intriguing. 

one of the eyes did not transfer so I collaged a face 

that I had previously drawn on a vintage dictionary page.

more paint was added after the transfer was made to complete this print.

in summary, so far in experimenting with gelli transfers, I found the results to be hit or miss.

I have not been able to determine what the factors are that make a successful print.

one transfer from a magazine would not transfer at all, while another

would.   the one thing that is consistent is that a thin coat of acrylic 

gives best results.  it is a fun and relatively easy process and I will continue play with. 

while I visited my son and fiancé in chicago last week 

I finally was able to visit the center for intuitive and outsider art where I 

found one of the exhibits to be absolutely fascinating.

henry danger was a gifted and obsessed artist who never

told anyone he created art.  his art was discovered by his landlord 

after he died at the age of 81.  fortunately, his landlord was a photographer

and recognized the talent of this reclusive hospital janitor.

henry's small room was filled with magazines, a large sized manuscript of 

mixed media art and writing.  the contents of the room was donated 

to the center and is on display.  

the manuscript in process was over 1000 pages and became 

so large and  unwieldy that the only place henry could put it 

in his room was on the bed so he would sleep on a chair .

his work sells for thousands of dollars and is collected by museums

and galleries throughout the country.  there is also a book published

posthumously on his life and works.

  he is considered an outsider artist because of his lack of formal training.  

this was a full week.   I also visited the chicago art institute, 

an egyptian portrait exhibit at northwestern and another 

fascinating exhibit at the center for intuitive and outsider art and 

the mosaic and tile house in venice.  I will share pictures of these next week.

thank you for visiting today.  i always appreciate your

comments and am interested in your feedback.

linked with friends at paint party friday an online community 

hosted for 6 years by eva and kristen

this was a week full of creative adventures

and also I cooked a big dinner for a friend's birthday.

i'm pooped and going to give myself a day off.  but only

a day because I have many weekend plans.  

here are a few daily coffee shop drawings.

and continued charcoal love

I did a few monotypes, first applying inks to 

a paper.  after letting it dry, I ran it through a press 

with an image.  finally adding collage.

I worked on this large spring abstract painting.

finally, went to the santa monica hanger artists

open house.  I found it odd that many of the artist 

studies were not open but did enjoy the trip.  my 

apologies for not having the artist names for these pieces.

this is gus.  his mother has a studio next door.  her work is below, 

the pencil birdhouses.  gus just returned from  painting his way through a 

multi country tour.  his  mother said that as a student in college, gus 

was on his way to being an attorney.  when he mentioned that what

he would do when he had enough money was to pursue art, she said,

why wait?  what a refreshing outlook as a parent.  It turned out to be a good 

decision for gus.

each activity had its unique and interesting 

aspect for me to ponder and learn.  as you probably 

can guess, I try to squeeze as much in my life as I can.

thanks so much for joining me this week.

this posting is linked to a weekly art community,

 paint party friday hosted by kristen and eva.