Let Heaven and Nature Sing ! Mixed Media Angels Hastypearl

Let Heaven and Nature Sing !

Mixed Media Angels

Hastypearl

I don't know when I made my first Mixed Media Angel.

I know that after the first, I wanted to make more !

Angels have such great symbolism, 

and we sing about them a lot, during the holidays.

The Bible discusses them often, 

in both the Old and the New Testament.

Nehemiah 9 : 6

"You are the Lord, You Alone.

You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens,

with all of their host,

the earth and all that is on it,

the seas and all that is in them;

and you preserve all of them;

and the host of heaven worships You.

Angels are powerful, but never meant to be worshiped.

They always point back to their Creator.

They have many duties and some are Created to be our Guardians. 

Artists have attempted to paint and draw them, 

but I love to use my imagination and Engineer them 

out of my collections of Vintage Finds.

I realized, that I have quite a few in my Hastypearl Etsy shop right now, 

and thought that you might enjoy seeing some of them :)

~$90. ~

This little Angel, is very elegant and pure.

I used Garnets...my favorite stone, and some silver leaf.

There is a bit of bridal trim and rusty bits.

Her crown has an Owl on it symbolizing, Wisdom.

I often find tools on my Vintage Hunts.

This one was perfect suggesting a body !

I built her on an amazing Wooden Vintage Plinth,

 that I found at an old Texas estate.

*

~ $120. ~

This next Angel, may be one of my most complicated, yet.

I bought a "lot" of Vintage Clock Dome glass.

I wanted to simulate something of an old snow globe, 

only interpreted My way :)

Instead of snow, I filled the "globe" with lots of Vintage Pieces.

When you shake it...with care of course, 

the pieces are free to settle anywhere they fall.

I put faces on both sides, so it is as pretty from the back as it is the front !

Her body, is a wood finial, 

that I bought at the estate of a retired Clock Repairman.

That estate will rank in my top 5, for a very long time.

I don't have an instruction book when I make my Angels.

They are very labor intensive.

Every step has to be thought through and figured out before I drill or glue.

If not, I often cant undo it !

I bought another "lot" of Vintage Mother Of Pearl Chinese Game Tokens.

Only One, had a hole drilled through it.

The hanger on this angel was a perfect place to use it.

The tiny details hand inscribed in this Token, are so beautiful.

My Mother taught me from a young age, to look for details.

She pointed out tiny tucks and lace and buttons on garments.

I still look for the details, to this day.

No piece is too small to save.

I waited for a Long Time, 

to use this tiny piece of Victorian Lace.

It is very old and is exquisite.

*

The Renaissance Angel below, 

had its beginning from a flat furniture finial.

I found a rusty metal strap and thought it would make perfect wings!

~ $78. ~

I hand coiled tiny wires, for her radiating halo.

Her necklace is made from seating a found moth in a resin filled bezel.

I have a whole drawer, 

dedicated to Natural Wonders

 that are also waiting to be used, on just the right piece.

Angels cover a lot of ground, 

so I thought I would help this one along by giving it a wheel.

Scripture describing some Angels...

Ezekiel 1:16

The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, 

and all four of them had the same form, 

their appearance and workmanship 

being as if one wheel were within another.  

Trying to imagine that is Fantastic!

*

Finally, this Angel was part of a challenge by an artist friend.

Her suggestion...See if you can use a spoon in your piece.

I had a number of wooden spoons in my kitchen, 

so I used them in different ways.

I love how this one turned out.

~ $80. ~

Gold Leaf and Clock parts make for great Details.

Again, Garnets.

The very tiny buttons are quite old.

She can be hung anywhere by the attached beaded loop.

She could hang from a Christmas tree, in a child's room or on a book shelf.

She has no powers...shes just vintage parts, 

but she can remind you of the legions of Guardians, 

that surround you !

*

'Tis the Season to think of such things !

Gifting and the Messages that come with them, are important.

I love gifting Handmade Things.

They seem to last longer and have the added Bonus, 

that someone's Hands and Hearts have touched them.

Please stop by Hastypearl Etsy, 

to see additional images of these Angels 

and other Angels that I have listed.

These wont be the last that I make...I promise :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Best...Laura aka hastypearl 

New Possiblilites ! Hastypearl

New Possibilities !

Hastypearl

This posting may look a lot like my last.

The image is the same, but there is a New Message!

I was delighted, after showing you four 

Mixed Media Collage Etsy Hastypearl listings, 

that one of them Sold !

OK. Not really delighted, but rather...

Ecstatic!

It is a Terrific RUSH, 

to know that something that came from your own heart and hand, 

has Moved Someone enough to hit the buy button, 

and want to look at it, everyday :)   

So, maybe you remember the one...

It is titled,

you, me, us...

Below, is its picture.

A VERTICAL oriented piece. 

I wrote to tell its buyer, how pleased that I was that she had purchased it, 

and that I would deliver it to her home, as she lives nearby.

She said, "Great ! 

We can walk around the house, and see where it should go. 

I could hang it or maybe put it on a shelf...

could it be placed, HORIZONTAL ?"

I thought.

No.

I Made it to hang, Vertical.

Thennnnn, 

I remembered that within that last blog post, I clearly said...

I don't tell my buyer My story, 

because I want them to have their OWN story!

Hmmm...already, I must Walk the Talk?

I knew the piece well enough, that I turned it horizontal in my mind...

and I realized...

It Would Look Fantastic Horizontal,

 and that Way, it would tell Her story, too !

I present to you...

you, me, us...

Horizontal!

And Why Not ? :)

Lots of lessons here.

The greatest is, that we keep our minds Open to New Possibilities, 

and to hearing stories in more than one way.

We can all have a Different View, and still all of them are, Good !

Do you sometimes catch yourself thinking, that Your voice is always the best ?

*

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day...

either, Vertically OR Horizontally !  :)

Best...Laura aka hastypearl

 ...to see the three other pieces that I posted about, click here !

One Thing Leads To The Other... Hastypearl

One Thing Leads To The Other...

Hastypearl

As you well know by now, 

half of my heart resides in the Hill Country, in Texas, 

and the other half belongs to the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado.

Right away, you can see that I have Great Taste, right? :)

A while back, one of my favorite Art and Business Mentors, 

(I have quite a few), 

told me to start submitting my art, 

and One Thing Would Lead To The Other.

 I took her advice.

After all, What Would I Have to Lose? 

While I always know that Providence is in control 

of everything 

that happens in my life, 

including the good AND the bad, 

I still love watching it play out.

For instance...

A Colorado Home Owners Association reply letter from me 

and sent to a neighbor Betty Bradley,

with my Hastypearl Etsy and Blog addresses in the signature, 

led her to explore my Etsy shop.

After that, 

she asked if I would submit a piece of my Mixed Media Art 

to a fund raiser for a ministry, that we have known about for years.

Of course I said, Yes!

I didn't know that she was the President of the Redstone Art Foundation, 

that holds an annual Art Show, to raise money for 

Art Scholarships for High School students 

headed to Art Schools.

She asked me to participate in that Art Show

....my very first Show Ever!

Again, I said, YES! 

See?

One Thing Leads To The Other...  

I'm sure that you have had similar things happen to you, both large and small.

This past 2015 Labor Day weekend, was when the Redstone Art Show took place.

It wasn't easy long distance preparing, shipping and setting up

...but I am So Glad that I did it.

It has given me a total new respect, 

for those of you who do this on a regular basis.

Now I can see what you guys go through :)

It was a wonderful learning curve and I feel so much better for it.

I am thrilled that I have been invited back,

 and even asked to make the name tags!

So, while I worked Many hours daily at the Art Show, 

I also found time,

 to practice shooting in Manual mode with my camera

...another wonderfully steep learning curve!

Lets face it, every where in America is beautiful, 

so all you have to do is look around, and snap!

Below, are various photos that my husband took of my space.

The weather was all over the charts, 

but the fantastic enclosure that it was held in, was not only charming, 

but also very safe for the Art.

At closing time, we enjoyed the great restaurants in the Redstone area, 

and as Always, found a few necessary minutes out in nature.

One day at the Art Show, was funny hat day.

I had a hat, but didn't have the Funny!

Larry suggested that I find and attach something that I had made, 

so I used my handmade leathery envelopes and lavender filled pouches.

The side benefit was that it smelled great :)

I'm not sure how people Actually took me serious, but I had to get in the game!

Larry took the following pictures of me with my customers.

I was actually Emotional when I downloaded them and saw them for the first time.

Whether they were buyers or not, it gave me such joy, 

to expose people, and some for the first time, 

to my idea of story telling with Vintage Items.

It was a brand new concept for many.

I told them, that I have a philosophy, that Art doesn't have to be Flat!

And, that there are more kinds of art than Oils and Watercolors

...both of which I love.

I want my Art to reach OUT AT you and beg you to touch it.

I want it to Move.

I want it to flutter in a breeze.

And most of all, I want it to do that Over and Over again.

I have had patrons tell me that they can see something new 

in my pieces, every time that they look at it.

High Compliments...the Best !

So, Look at their body language as I help them find their own stories.

If that is all that I came away with, it would have Been Enough.

Makes me soooooo happy!

These Mixed Media Angels, are a few of the pieces that found new homes.

I was Thrilled to learn that the angel above, named Beauty, was featured in 

Both the Aspen and Glenwood Springs newspapers.

With so much great art to choose from, 

I was Really Honored.

I was surprised when my friend Janette, still wearing her pajamas,

 appeared at my door with one of the newspapers one morning !

Beauty, was sold to a customer, that didn't know about the features!

I have another theory that can be Patience Testing.

Maybe you already know about it.

The piece above, was called, Thimble Heart and 

was far and away, my most "Favorited" Art item on Hastypearl Etsy.

Way over 1000 people gave me the thumbs up on this piece.

The cost was unbelievably Affordable.

(I have a friend on Etsy that tells me that I should raise my prices:)

So, why hadn't it sold?

Poor SEO? Too much Art on Etsy to choose from? Some other reason?

No.

Here's my theory... 

I think its because it was WAITING for its owner.

I've finally learned that Everything that I sell, 

has a special owner just waiting to find it 

and it makes me Crazy Happy 

when I can introduce them !

I had a wonderful time visiting with literally hundreds of people 

from the Aspen area and Much farther afield.

I made New friends, which was High on my trips Goals list, 

and I visited with others that I had already given my heart to.

Wonderful things happen to ALL of us.

Sometimes, we can believe the lie, that things like "That" just don't happen to me, 

but if we live long enough, Things like "That" happen to ALL of us.

For me, this past weekend will be one that I wont Ever Forget.

My Biggest THANKS to All of You that 

contributed to my Very Happy Weekend! xo 

Thanks as always for stopping by my blog...

I'm so glad that you did !

 Laura aka Hastypearl

...please check my shop as I will be listing many new pieces of Art and Vintage Parts.

It may seem early, but many pieces that I sold this weekend, 

will be gifts for the upcoming seasons!

It gave me great Joy, to hear my buyers say that they couldn't 

wait for their loved ones to see their one of a kind, finds!

Make a Collage Card Hastypearl

Make a Collage Card

Hastypearl

Some of you may know, that my husband and I 

just celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Wow! Where does the time go...really?

I thought I would show you how I made a simple Collaged Card for him.

You probably already have the supplies to do one.

I keep blank cards and envelopes around. 

They are very affordable at places like Michaels or Hobby Lobby 

and Im sure many places online.

I like to build my card on a piece of watercolor paper that is just a little smaller 

than the purchased blank, so just decide how large you want that to be and cut it out.

(picture was a little dark as it was early in the morning...sorry )

I recently took a bit of time out of a day, to sort my ephemera papers by colors.

As you can see, the collection that I selected for my card,

 was mostly black, white and golds.

Admittedly, colors that show up in my art all of the time.

Larry loves to fish, so I found a Fred Mullett fish stamp.

You've heard me say before...his stamps are great...and so realistic.

I tore off a piece of paper that would show off the 

fish stamp and would be featured on the card.

I lay out all of the ephemera in blocks, until I got them like I wanted them 

and then used a glue stick to adhere them to the piece of watercolor paper.

For some texture, I stamped over the pieces with one of Fred's leaf stamps.

I used a metallic gold. 

Not that easy to see, but added some interest.

I splattered some black ink and scribbled some numbers.

Larry speaks numbers.

I do not.

;)

I turned the finished piece over so that 

I could see the outline of the piece of paper and cut off the overhanging paper 

which gave it a crisp edge.

Then, I glued it to the card face, with the glue stick.

Time to write in the card and sign it!

I slipped it in its envelope and it was ready to go.

All of this took way less time, than it would to go to the store,

 and settle on a card that says something that I wouldn't ever say...

When you meet someone when you are a teenager, 

and stay with them for the rest of your life, 

your pictures cover a lot of years.

These start with a banquet that we went to when I was probably just 16.

40 years is a long time...

and

a lot of cards :)

I recently hosted an art workshop in my home, for Crystal Neubauer.

This technique was similar to what she taught us, 

but not unlike what I have done in the past.

I will blog about that Amazing Workshop, soon...

Happy Happy to YOU and all of the Anniversaries that you will Celebrate this year.

Pull out your scraps and glue sticks and make your own cards...

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I love that you do...

:) Laura

ps...I've listed some new things over at hastypearl Etsy.

I hope that you will keep me in mind for you 2015 gifting!   

Interactive Art Hastypearl

Interactive Art

Hastypearl

Ive always had this theory, feeling, that art doesn't HAVE to be flat!

I mean, most things in life aren't flat, right?

I think its also Fun and certainly Interesting, when additions to an art piece 

move or can be explored and interacted with.

The pictures in this posting are a corner of a piece, like many that I 

have listed in my hastypearl Etsy shop.

You can see that the piece has lots of texture, 

which makes Your eyes move around the piece and stay a while.

When You follow along today, You will see that if You are a Curious Person, 

You can actually open a Door of sorts, and see what is behind it.... 

I've used really wonderful butterscotch Vintage Buttons, 

stacked one on the other 

as the little lock to the Door.

If you U-N-W-I-N-D the Marsala fiber yarn...

....it will allow you to Open the Secret Door!

And what do You see inside?

A ghost like eco dyed print of a beautiful Red Oak leaf, 

that I collected from my Fall garden!

Yes, I could have just glued this piece to the substrate, 

but You would have missed seeing one of the sides of the paper.

You can leave it open....

....or You can wind the yarn back around the button lock 

and keep it a Secret, until You are feeling Curious, the Next Time...

Art should be Compelling and Provocative...

And FUN!!!

Thanks for stopping by...Im so glad that You did!

Laura 

Sunsets Hastypearl

Sunsets

Hastypearl

Hi. My name is Laura.

I am a Sunset-Aholic :)

I knew when we bought our land 6 years ago, 

that the property itself, was beautiful.

When we found it, it was mostly "unwalkable", 

because the juniper was so thick 

that you had to bend over to get under the branches. 

Initially, we were forced to mostly look at the ground. 

One of my first visits, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able 

to find my way Back to my car!

Little by little, as we got to know the lay of things better, 

and we had the juniper cleared and turned into mulch, 

a wonderful thing happened...

We could see the Sky, and...

We could see LOTS of it.

Elevation, is a Wonderful thing as everyone knows.

With it, you can suddenly have a Long View,

 that being on the flat wont afford.

Our view off of our upstairs deck nets long views and Sunrises.

On the hill and standing on a large boulder in the front of the house....

you can see....

Toot toot too tooooooot.....

Sunsets!

I know that when I'm inside and I catch a well timed glimpse outside,  

I run for my camera or Ipad. 

My dogs get excited and think that surely we are running outside,

 to chase something furry to Catch!

But NO...I'm Running to Catch another GreatView!

Because I always have some kind of camera with me, 

I'm also known while driving, 

to pull over on the side of the road at Any time.

After all, what I see, might not be there the next time that I'm passing by.

Below, are only a FEW of many Captures...because remember....

I am a Sunset-Aholic!

Someone once made famous the phrase...

No two Snowflakes are Alike.

Well, its True about Sunsets, as well....

Every 

One

is 

Different...

*

The above image, is a Pano shot taken on my Ipad.

It takes a little practice to get the function down, 

but it is so fun to use, once you figure it out :)

Thanks Phillip, for the lesson!

I didn't alter any of these images.

I know that the camera isn't completely recording exactly what my eyes see,  

but I don't want the Responsibility of trying 

to make it Better than it already is.

I think God has a pretty good eye at this by now!

Taking pictures at the same spot during all seasons, 

will also tell you some things.

Here, I am standing in the same spot, with the same tree on my screen. 

In one frame, the Red Oaks have leaves.

In the next image, they are gone.

*

At the risk of making the image grainy, 

sometimes, I will zoom in a bit, to make the sunset seem closer.

I took this photo, walking down our 900' driveway. 

The WHOLE arch of the horizon, was filled with these amazing lines.

I'm sure, that a meteorologist would tell us what makes this happen, 

but I don't really care, I guess.

I just know that it stopped me in my tracks.

Of course, its inevitable that we will see the signs of people going places,

 by the remaining vapor trails of the jets.

I love how these two lines intersect!

Sometimes, there aren't enough paints to recreate scenes like this.

Like I said, I will just let God make the decisions about color selections

 and be filled with awe at seeing them.

We don't have the beauty of the Aurora Borealis in Texas, 

but I think that this is a pretty great dance of light.

Well, this could go on forever, so I will stop!

I know that there are just so many photos, that will hold our attention.

There is so much Beauty to be found.

It troubles me, that we may be too busy and miss it.

I think that we must teach ourselves to slow down and Capture and Bank, 

as much of it as we can...

To You and all of the FUTURE Sunsets, Sunrises, Oceans, Mountains, 

Rivers, Flowers, Creatures, Art, Architecture, 

or whatever it is to You that is Beautiful and yet for you to see...

...be sure to Lift up your eyes and Capture your Next FREE Gift!

Happy Viewing to All and I'm so glad that you stopped by ...

Laura aka Hastypearl