What is in my studio?

First off, as you can imagine, my studio is filled with stuff....it is everywhere and looking at it all brings me great joy and visual pleasure. So I am starting a series on my blog called what is in my studio so you all can see what I consider my fabulous stuff. And since I buy other artist’s work from Etsy I thought I could also introduce you to some of my favorite Etsy artists.

These adorable plushes sit right next to my laptop where I write my blogs. They are from an etsy shop called Knitting Dreams.www.etsy.com/shop/knittingdreams They are very small and oh so cute. It takes awhile to get your plush, Aintzi the artist, makes them after you order your plush. And Aintzi is located in Spain so shipping takes a bit of time. But the wait is well worth it! Annie bought these two cuties for me for Christmas. I can never have just one of something....I usually have to have two or three. People ask me why don’t you just make your own stuffies like these...you can surely copy them. Trust me, you can never successfully copy someone else’s work...it never looks quite the same because your piece does not have the artist’s spirit in it. And of course I want to support other artists and their work just as I want them to support me.

Big Things and Me

Those of you who have known me for a long time know when I am on a road trip I love to search out what I call big items....you know those big advertising statues that you see along the road, big cows, spacemen, and cartoon characters. And then I like to have my picture taken with them. Sometimes it is just me standing by the statue, sometimes I can rope Gary into standing with me. When Annie was young she would always join me by a big animal but now ever since she was a teenager, she just rolls her eyes and tries to convince Gary not to even stop so I can get my picture taken much less join me standing by a cow udder. So I will be posting these pictures for you to see. 

This first series is from an antique mall in Illinois....not sure what town it is in but it is not far from St. Louis. Enjoy!

Look at my cute gerbil drawings

As you all know I love gerbils. I love having them in my studio while I work, I can watch their antics and they are SO cute! 

As always in faculty meetings I like to sketch while I listen. I always can process information better when I am drawing or doodling. And, of course, the drawing helps keep me awake. We have our faculty meetings in the same auditorium that I had my art history class in when I was a freshman at Washington University and five minutes into class I was usually dozing. And since sleeping is frowned upon in faculty meetings and I want to keep my job, I sketch.

At one of our last faculty meetings of the semester, I decided to sketch some gerbils. I realized that no one puts gerbils on greeting cards, fabric, wall art and wrapping paper. Hamsters and guinea pigs make appearances all the time but they are not nearly as cute as gerbils. And I have been assured by Monica Kelley, a gerbil breeder who sold me Hazel and Henrietta, gerbil products would snatched up by us gerbil lovers.

Should this be my next line of products?

Winners!

Remember I while back I asked all of you to explain this picture to me and the best explanation would win a prize. Well we have two winners....I could not decide whose explanation was best. So kudos to my friends Bob Fanter and Sally Masters. And now for your prize. Each of you go to my Etsy site www.etsy.com/shop/lindasolovic and pick out two prints you would like, email me and I will send them to you no charge! Now I know in Bob’s case, Gini will be picking out the prize but that is okay with me. The winning explanations are below:


Bob Fanter/Gini Bicket
We think the picture is a nightmare, not unlike those dreams where all kinds of weird things happen but everyone else thinks it is perfectly normal. That looks like Marilyn Monroe in the pink. The man's hairline suggests Nixon or maybe!-- Tom Hanks playing Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can!-- and that's why there are fake checks and incriminating documents laying on the table in the foreground!--and he's wading in water with his suit on, perhaps he is about to be baptized. I don't think that is Scarlett O'Hara, it's more like Sara, plain and tall, emphasis on the plain. That thing at the top is either a weeping willow or a leaping whale. The girl with the rose is Gypsy Rose Lee, and the other girl is Scout from to Kill a Mockingbird and that bowling pin lamp thing is her costume for the school play and she doesn't want to wear it-- that's why she is hiding. That makes about as much sense as a nightmare.


Sally Masters
Okay, there was a storm or a flood or something at the top. The parents are on the right. One of the daughters (pink one) died and her memory drips into all of their lives. Her sister can't let go (rose reaching up to dead pink sister); another sister is lesbian but can't come out from under the table. The baby of the family is a crackhead (cracked lamp baby).
So thanks to you two (three) and send for your prize.