Quiet Playground
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comThe new street team for Etsy Printsy is up and running with me doing the first artist interview. Check it out over at the Printsy blog. Printsy Interview : Fustian

Last Thursday and Friday I was finally able to get some printing done, first time since March I believe. It felt very good to be printing again and even better having new prints like these. I was able to use my latest block, but only with this one for now but I know I will be bringing it out again in the future. All of my latest creations will be making their way into my shop in the next week or two. With new pieces in the works this week my shop will stay current for a good long time hopefully. Check it out!

New Old Clothes!
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com And I couldn't be happier about it. Looking for an extra curtain we should have that we need now I stumbled upon a bin filled with spring and summer clothes from three or more years ago. And for the first time in all those years they fit. This is the smallest I have been in ten years except for the summer that I biked into a job downtown five days a week.

I'm not done yet but I am feeling excited and ready to keep getting in better shape. For me it is not about weight loss but about losing inches and toning. I want to be healthy.

Framed! Last Chance
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com The Night Before
White Stripe
She Dances
Misty Beauty
Feminity
Dragon Fly!

teething sucks
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com Not really, but donations would be appreciated.

Time got away from us and suddenly Boston's Walk for Hunger is only two days away! The three of us will be walking. Well, blee won't be doing too much walking but she will be hitching a ride on my back, hip or front.

This is a very good cause and we would love it if you donated to Team Swinghammer. She may be teething but walking is one of the few things that makes her feel better.

Thank you.

Here is some cuteness for your viewing pleasure.

heavens!
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com Good evening and good morning. The weather here is rainy and awful, blee is teething so bad we actually saw a touch of blood around her new tooth on Sunday night. We looked it up and it is perfectly normal, but still hard to take.

Despite this I am doing a lot better this week. It was a hard weekend and this week is looking to be no better, but I feel like I am ready for it. I have a lot of work to do for my show which I hang on Friday and my creativity is actually starting to come back to me. In fact after I finish this post I am going to get back to carving this new block I started on Friday. It is nearly complete.

Working in my jammies
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com To get over a major case of the blues than to pull out an old partially finished block and get to carving. Everything is already drawn I'm just clearing wood at this point before adding details here and there. It is a little boring, but just what I need right now. And yes, I am wearing a nightgown under my printmaking apron. That way I can hop right into bed as soon as I am ready.

I'm also getting back in the drawing groove. But what I am not going to do is to stress myself out about creating a finished product. After all, art is about more than making and pushing a product isn't it?

Waiting and Waiting
Originally uploaded by m.Lee For something to happen. I think the title of this piece sums up my feelings pretty well. For the past month I have been waiting and waiting for inspiration to hit me. I was doing pretty well until around the time we found out about my friend's illness and the disagreement with family. Then I hit a wall and I have been banging against that wall trying to knock it down ever since.

first illness - seven months old
Originally uploaded by m.Lee We're still here, getting by each day. Little blee is sick for the first time and it has been hard on all of us. Especially at night. Saturday night was rough and I am really hoping that today goes better. Since her big problem is congestion and a cough she needs to be upright as much as possible so that means an extra lot of me wearing her. I'm very glad that I got this carrier back from the friend I loaned it from because it is simply the best for long snuggly carries. It has structure combined with long soft wrap straps. Perfection.

Dream World
Originally uploaded by m.Lee April Fools!

Thanks everybody for playing along. With everything that has been going on lately I needed something to make me laugh and lighten the mood a bit. If you enjoy my collages don't worry they are still intact and hanging up on my studio wall. And if you don't well you don't have to come over to look at them.

my wall
Originally uploaded by m.Lee What a terrible yet fitting end for a terrible month.

This was my wall of art before I destroyed them last night. Now I just
see empty nails on a wall. Last night an anonymous person took the
time to point out that my collages are too busy and it hit a little
too deeply.

It has been a long time since I have destroyed work other than to use
them in something else. The tree was spared since it is not a collage and therefor doesn't
fall under the umbrella of being too busy. But it does have a lot of
dots on it so maybe. I am starting to question everything about myself
right now. I wish I could just stop making art.

So last night, I took these collages and left them out in the rain to be destroyed over night. I will remove them from Etsy later today-not that they're in any danger of selling anyway.

wrap tei smiles
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Was not the best day for our little crew. It had some good moments but overall it just left us feeling terrible at the end of the day. We didn't get a single Easter picture. I was dressed nice, had my prettiest sling and a well dressed baby even after she spit up all over the first outfit and bib I had picked for her. But then things got hectic and negative and the camera stayed in the bag never coming out for even one shot. We didn't get any Christmas pictures due to a possibly allergy induced freakout on her part. So far the only holiday pictures we have gotten is Thanksgiving. I don't know why but this really bothers me.

Overgrowth
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Hello, it's me. Marissa. I used to fit pretty nicely in an artistic box and I was comfortable with it. I mean, I may have only done printmaking for the past two years but I did do unconventional printmaking. And I really enjoyed going back and doing it again on Wednesday. It felt fresh again now that I have many other things to feed my artistic spirit.

Gouache ACEOs
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Hi!

Back from a pretty cold and grey weekend here in Boston. Not so good for my spirits.

But I do have some colorful little gouache paintings to play around with. Some will probably get printed on, planned on doing that tonight but I don't feel well so am just going to head off to bed. Some will get collaged on and maybe drawn on and some will probably be left as is. A fun little project to keep me going during a pretty blah time in my creative brain.

My Wacom Tablet may arrive Monday, or Tuesday at the latest I expect. Not bad for free shipping. I'm not really in a good mental place to play around with it but hopefully I will be once it arrives.

2007 in a nutshell
Originally uploaded by m.Lee I often have felt like I wasted a lot of 2007 due to my rather difficult pregnancy. First I was tired all the time, followed by some sort of flu that lingered for a solid three months. Then about two or three good weeks before the horribly puking up acid reflux got out of control. Then the pregnancy induced hypertension and finally going twelve days late.

ACEOs
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Back to my roots, well one of my roots. The ACEO! (or art cards in general as I do love trading for these little gems) These have been one of my favorite methods of experimentation. My first mixed-media woodblock print collages were ACEOs and there is no reason for me to stop now that I have moved on to larger pieces. They are still fun to make and still the best for experimenting. The two I made on Tuesday night are no exception. Enjoy!

Delicate
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Good night and good morning. I am off to bed as soon as I post this. Blogging before bed seems to be the best time for me.

In case you missed it yesterday I am running a Studio Sale in my Etsy Shop in honor of spring cleaning. Clean up my studio and clean up my shop to make room for new pieces like this one and of course plenty of collages and other fresh goodies. Nothing is over $50 so if you have been coveting a piece for awhile it is worth checking out.

So glad to have my phone back!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Didn't get too much accomplished on the art front yesterday, because we were too busy out playing outside. I don't know how mom's with strollers manage. Wearing blee around the city is so freeing, I don't have a stroller to lug around, get in the way and hold me back. It was a gorgeous day and today is looking to be one too. Luckily for my art my feet hurt a bit from all the walking I've been doing and my new comfy shoes won't be here until Monday at the earliest.

I hope everybody enjoys their Friday and their weekends. I think we will go walking around an area we are interested in moving to in a couple of years. There used to be a very cute toy store around there.

Blue Pines - ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee I found a stash of finished and partially finished ACEOs while I was searching for one that was purchased from my shop. I never did find the card, one that I had a special love for, and was starting to panic when I realized that I had shipped it late last week. My brain just isn't all here today. But at least it got me back in the mood to focus on these little bits of affordable art for awhile, something I have been meaning to do for some time now. So keep an eye out for more this week and next.

I'm sewing!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Sewing can be very calming as it requires a lot of focus for me. It worked once before and liked it, I just kept forgetting to bring out the needle and thread and do it again. This time I had my composition all laid out without it but something was missing. So I dug around for my monotype printed and drawn bags and cut out a strip from it and then got out some thread and a needle. This time it is on an 8" x 8" gallery wrapped canvas. Once I stitched the strip to the backing woodblock print. From a woodblock print that almost worked but not quite, but I knew I wanted to keep it mostly intact like a stage for the rest of the image to come. Then I got out a brush and some gel medium and got to collaging.

In Dark Trees
Originally uploaded by m.Lee First, I hope everybody enjoyed their extra day. I did actually enjoy mine. I barely remember it at this point though. But I do remember that I enjoyed it.

But now trying to do it all isn't going so well for me. This is not a new piece.

She Speaks to Nature
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Where is it going to? Because I seem to be losing all sense of it. I completed this piece on February 21st, five days ago tonight. Yet it feels like it was something I did ages ago.

I'm tired, so very tired. And I am sick with a cold round two just after recovering.

I was waiting to write the perfect post about what went into this piece but life just kept pushing it aside. Now nearly a week later and it still hasn't been written. But I love this piece too much to ignore it and not share it here in my blog. So much of myself went into the creation. Images taken from various sketches, block printing, gocco, collage and even some drawing and painting all dancing together on the stage of the canvas. They work together to hopefully create a vibrant and complex yet well balanced piece. Collage challenges me in a totally new way.

washiwashiwashiwashi!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee I won the paper fetishist lotto tonight.

This incredible gift of washi and other beautiful papers that I recieved tonight has pulled me out of my hole to blog a bit. It is just spectacular and I haven't even gone through it yet. I need to find a good place to store all these pretties. I have some pretty wonderful, thoughtful and generous friends.

Speaking of friends, we took a little drive down to RI to see HeatherJeany, meet her husband and her precious new baby boy. Packed up all our gender neutral clothing along with the much loved but sadly outwiggled Moby Wrap and we took to the road Saturday morning after a sudden warmup after a bad storm. We had a great time. She's the best, her husband is very sweet and her baby is adorable and so tiny!

Pfau
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Woodblock prints are back, my first of the year actually! Not that I am anywhere near done with collaging and gocco. In fact I made a collage that I am quite proud of just last night. But I had a chunk of time and was in the mood so I made about ten prints. Not a lot for me but it was what I was feeling. The peacock is my favorite.

Mermaids - #18 Collage
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

framed reproduction!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Wish me luck! My heart is racing from it, I finally opened up a second shop for my reproduction prints. High quality archival prints in various, easy to frame sizes. I am going to stick to selling reproductions of my more expensive pieces and never in the same size as the originals. My 4" x 4" block prints and ACEOs will not be reproduced.

Pink Stream - ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Nothing says romance like a contest and possibly a free gift for your sweetie (or yourself)

1. What to do: Comment below giving me a suggestion of what you would like to see more of in my art. A theme, a material, a medium or whatever sticks out most to you. What have I been doing that you would like to see more of? What have I not been doing that you would like to see me try? Is there something you would like me to go back to? Whatever interests you? I'm in an open to experimental phase in my art and am longing for feedback.

2. Prize: This Mixed Media Perfect for Valentine's Day ACEO. Lovely pink, white and gold Japanese washi paper combined with my own block printing, watercolor and drawing.

Here they are! All of my six inch square collages. And I am quite proud of all of them. But I am officially out of all my canvas panels. I have one 8"x8" gallery stretched canvas and I had better make it good as those aren't cheap. If I get into using stretched canvas I am going to start doing it myself. I did it in art school, even high school all the time. Even going as far as making my own stretcher bars. That part I won't be doing.

wallflowers
Originally uploaded by kylie budge I really want to start featuring other artists more often. I tried to do it as a regular Friday thing, but with my schedule that is hard.

Collage #14 - Collage Challenge
Originally uploaded by m.Lee That I am done with the collage challenge . The original challenge the creator Magic Jelly set up was two weeks. Well I of course decided in a manic fury that two weeks was nowhere near big enough so I would go to the end of the month. Heck maybe until my birthday next month!

Time Capsule 2005
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Good morning and happy Thursday. This weekend can not come soon enough as I am very tired.