Swell

That's an underused word in my vocabulary.
It feels round and humble and smiling. It feels simple and fabulous.
Frankly, I want more of it.

My feeling is this "I want more life in my life".
For me that means more freedom, more love, more creation, more travel, more laughing, more bliss.
That's where I'm headed in 2014.

What does it mean for you, I wonder?

Green Mint. Feels like more to me.

This is it

The fire's lit. The wood bin stocked.
There's plenty of chocolate and Christmas cookies.
And now, to top it off, it's snowing!
Now there's some mountain Christmas out of Hollywood.

Oh, and I also vacuumed the house and parked the car at the end of the driveway so I don't have to shovel all that way. Now there's some Christmas out of my reality.

Today is also the last day to get all the goodies at Joann Tomsche Studio at 15% off.
So take a peek, and I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with some friends.
If you order it today, I'll ship it off to you tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your holidays are bright.

For the next 6 days

Here it is, almost Christmas. Cliche, I know, but seriously, where did 2013 go?

So, here's the scoop: starting today, until Thursday, December 19 I'm giving a 

15% discount on everything on my Etsy shop Joann Tomsche Studio. 

That makes it a great time to get your holiday gifting completed, stock up on some art tiles for 2014 gifting, and treat yourself to some goodies too.

Hope. Peace. Art Tiles.

Joy. Love. Art Tiles.

(here's where you insert the voice of that guy who sold things on late night TV in the 70's)

And that's not all! For a limited time you'll also receive free shipping on orders of $50 or more. 


(okay, I'm back)
I ship via USPS Priority Mail which takes 2-5 days depending on where it's going.

After December 19, I figure I won't want to do a lot more shipping, so order your stuff now. My last shipping day will be Dec 20. 

After that, I plan to mostly sit by the fireplace, eat dark chocolate and Christmas cookies, drink wine or spiked hot cocoa, and read a book while I enjoy the fresh smell of pine and sparkling lights on my tree. Hope you'll be doing the same.

Feeling the love...

now go get your shopping done.

A new place to love

Finding a new someone to have fun with is always exciting. Sort of like on match.com, only better.

Merry Merry. Original collage design. Available as an art tile.

I'm so happy heirloom in Claremont Village and I have found each other.

This little store first turned up on one of the legendary Art Bitches Day Trips. We left with great greeting cards and other fun stuff.

Enter a new artist friend, Nancy Mannon, whose unique jewelry sells there, and... Voila! A new home for JTStudio art tiles and holiday ornaments.




heirloom is owned by Rob Lewbel and Becky Morgan. Their focus is on simple goods for modern living. A good fit with my aesthetic, yes?
heirloom is right next to the movie theater on Indian Hill Blvd. You can't miss it and you're sure to find some treasures for yourself or for gifts.

If you have not been to Claremont Village, stop in there for some wonderful shops with eclectic merchandise, and a pleasant, walkable, charming shopping environment. Make a day of it. Have lunch. Whenever I go I want more time!

Please send this on to friends in the area and share the love!

Artful

The idea of living artfully is a big one for me.
At first I thought - Oh, okay, make art and make my home an expression of me. Check.

Recently though I've been thinking in terms of artfully facing challenges that arise for me. For me that means really opening my mind to think creatively about new ways of looking at solutions.

Create Today. Original paper collage.

I have this hat I wear called Art Teacher.
Lately I've had a love/hate relationship with that damn hat.
The Love part is that when I'm in the studio with my students it's fun. I enjoy them. I like helping them think about alternative approaches and ideas they could explore. It's rewarding to see a spark ignite in their eye when something connects. I learn new things with them.

The Hate part is that when I'm immersed in my own studio and excited about my current ideas and art pieces, then putting on the Art Teacher Hat feels like dragging myself away from my true love.

So, living artfully.... How do I switch hats gracefully? How do I integrate my own studio work into the time I spend with students? What's the question to ask?

I would love to hear from you about how you live artfully and integrate the different roles in your life.

Hope and Love for the Holidays

Hope. Original paper collage. 

These brand new collages are what I made in the studio yesterday. I'm excited about design numbers three and four in a series of holiday word collages I started last year with Joy and Peace. It's been on my mind to do it since last year, so hurray! Mission accomplished.

Love. Original paper collage.

For both of the new designs, to keep continuity in the series, I repeated the map and the snowflakes on sand images. 

Then I shuffled around a bit through my image drawers and found some candy canes, apples, poinsettias, Christmas balls, oranges, and gorgeous botanicals to make the new designs unique.

So now it's a complete set that I am offering as art tiles!

You can get all four for your home to use as coasters or small decorative art pieces, or give them as truly unique holiday gifts.

Buy them now at my Etsy shop:
JoannTomscheStudio

$16 each art tile when you buy one. 

$14 each art tile for two. 

$13 each art tile for three or more.

Please pass this along to two friends!

Peace. Original paper collage.

Joy. Original paper collage.

Up-Cycling

I recently gave myself a larger studio space. What a joy! I mean, a studio can never be large enough to hold all the possibilities, but bigger is definitely better.

Unpacking my art materials reveals to me some of the treasures I've been collecting that I so enjoy making art with.

My friend Anne laughed when I used the word up-cycle to describe materials used in my art. New buzz word? Yes, I suppose. But I like it! And it defines what I love to do: Take things that on their own are just interesting artifacts of life, worn by nature, and combine them to make a new something.

Freedom Love began with this old drawer piece. I wonder where I got it. The cross came off an old bird house that has been weathering in my garden for 20 years or so. That rusty metal piece (What IS it?) was found on a hike out near my house. And tree roots have such great undulating form. Any one who knows my art knows I have a fascination with text, letters and words. And Color!

So there you have it. A piece that speaks to me of things worn by time; the spark that color adds to life; and says right out loud two things that I value: freedom and love.

Please pass this on to two friends who might enjoy.

This piece is available at my website www.joanntomschestudio.com.

PS, a great blog I came across is www.upcyclethat.com. Lots of great ideas for reuse of everyday things, and also some beautifully crafted art pieces.