About Art ~ by Grace Augustine

I’ve always had a fascination with art. All forms of art. I love watching potters working with their hands and spinning the wheel. Looms and weaving and spinning yarn—amazing. Painting, yup. That’s my thing (other than writing, of course.)

When I was a child, my mother enjoyed doing the paint by number oil paintings. I cannot tell you how many of them graced every wall in our home. She wasn’t particularly good at it because her eyesight was terrible and she refused to wear glasses, but she had fun. And that is the prime reason to create art, to have fun and express yourself.

In high school, I usually took summer school classes and one was art. I also took art as a standard class during each of my 4 years. Then I graduated, moved, and art was no longer something I did personally. I went to many museums and admired the art of others. I went to concerts and enjoyed the singers/songwriters. But my art, well, it was shelved for other things.

It wasn’t until three years ago that I decided to pick up a brush. Mind you at that point close to 40 years had passed. I began watching videos on acrylic painting and painting along with the artists, putting my own spin on their projects. Bob Ross videos and television programs still make me smile.

I chose to do acrylics because it seemed easier than oils or

watercolors. I had tried each of those early on and found no satisfaction. It took too long for oils to dry and too quickly for watercolors. Recently I found another medium—gouache—an opaque watercolor. It doesn’t sound fun either.

Acrylic pours are extremely popular right now, but it seems so messy and uncontrollable (can’t tell I have control issues, can you?) I will leave that to those creatives who have the patience to deal with their quirky ways.

I love experimenting with new subject matter. My latest is Monet-like scenery and Santorini inspired blue doors. Most of my creations are calming in nature, maybe because I need it. May be because I enjoy it. 

Anyway you slice it, art is a way to unwind. Whether it is music, textiles, pottery, dance, wine tasting (yes it is an art!) or painting have fun. Branch out. Do something new, something you never thought you could.

To check out Grace’s other posts, visit her MEMBER PAGE or her OBD ART PAGE. You can also find her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER

All photos used are property of Grace Augustine and may not be replicated or used without permission.

 

 

 

Little House in West Virginia ~ by Drema Drudge

I don’t think my parents set out to mimic the lifestyle of the characters in the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but they did. My early childhood was like a modern spin-off of the books. My parents and I shared a love of the books, and many a winter was whiled away reading them, passing them around. I don’t think we ever discussed them, but I saw the evidence of my parents reading them in our lives.

When my father was laid off from the Heinz factory in New Jersey

in the late 1970’s, my parents decided to move back to the state of their birth, West Virginia. I remembered it from former visits as a land of loving relatives, of dark, black coal, and nature in a way I’d never experienced: flowering dogwoods and wide-opened morning glories. And then there were the hillsides of trillium, still one of my favorite memories of the place. I couldn’t wait to move, especially when I saw how excited my parents were.

Before we moved, my father checked out books from our local library on how to build a house. I remember wondering how such a thing could possibly be done; I was eight and building seemed a kind of magic.

He also checked out some of the Little House books. Later, they’d buy a set, treating them, it seemed, as much as a how-to series as books that really were so, a remarkable feat.

Dad started right in on the house, because we were sleeping in two campers in the meantime. When Dad had done all he could to build the house with nothing by way of instruction but books and a little help from a neighbor, my mother’s brothers rushed to help roof the house, a show of familial unity that warmed our hearts. We had lived in New Jersey away from the family for a very long time, only visiting on occasion. This, too, reminded me of Little House books, where extended family was shown to be so very important, but distance kept them apart. Except it was the opposite in our case.

Many of my parents’ enterprises during my childhood after the move had the flavor of Pa Ingalls’s endless projects. But while the Ingalls raised and butchered a pig, my father bought a pig and couldn’t bear to kill it; he sold it instead. I was glad he sold it, because we had named it Jill. My mother didn’t care for chickens, so mercifully I, an anxious child, didn’t have yet one more animal to fear.

My father didn’t find a tree full of honey like Pa Ingalls did, but he

depositphotos/Grace Augustine

did find an abandoned apple orchard and received permission for us to pick and can apple chunks, adding sweet, buttery fried apples to our winter meals. He scouted a hillside full of hidden blackberries for us to pick to both sell pints of and to make blackberry jam and cobbler.

Much like Pa Ingalls and his propensity for building, my dad built whatever we needed: our house, even though he’d never had experience building one, a pen for that pig, outbuildings, a chimney from the ground up, a root cellar for storing the jars of green beans, tomatoes, and corn from our garden. We dug that cellar by hand, swinging out reused lard buckets now full of dirt until we made enough space to install shelves. Between the buckets and using a pickaxe, my hands were blistered, but the result was worth it.

My dad dug the earth for a garden with a tiller instead of with a horse and plough, but it required a pre-clearing similar to Pa Ingalls’ type, since the land around the house we built hadn’t been touched in decades. Axes and hacksaws and then, chainsaws for the bigger trees.

The lean years brought our family the most happiness; employment

depositphotos/Grace Augustine

wasn’t always steady in our region, but precious time together became more available. As money to buy new house materials disappeared, we did projects like tear down old houses together and reuse the two by fours and the beautiful hardwood flooring. We went for walks, collecting cans from the ditches along the way. These cans, once sold for scrap, paid for school clothes one year. My father learned to hunt ginseng and Mayapple root to dry and sell. Ginseng prices were way higher than that for Mayapple, but it was also way tougher to find.

Our family was very poor for a time, but my parents made miracles out of scraps: they took hand-me-down clothes and made cozy if not fancy quilts. Working side by side, my parents labored over the patches. Always I seemed to find a parallel, if I tried, between them and the Ingalls.

When refilling the propane gas tank became prohibitively expensive, my father put a wood and coal burner in our house, something I equated with the fireplace in Little House. He and my mother stayed up late nights literally keeping the fires burning. Even though I did not like working outdoors in the heat of summer (I was always susceptible to overheating), and though I’d rather have read than do pretty much anything else at the time, I found myself happily watching firewood pile up as my father split the wood from fallen trees and stacking up firewood, loading the arms of me and my siblings as we walked back and forth to the wood pile, though mercifully it not during a snowstorm like poor Laura Ingalls when she and her sister Mary had to carry wood during a snowstorm.

The well dried up, so my father ran a line of PVC from a spring to our house. When it froze or dried up, we used lard buckets again – albeit clean ones – to carry water from the creek for baths and cooking.

Snowy days found Dad making snow ice cream. He took the rawest of ingredients out of our low stock and created what seemed impossible foods: donuts, onion rings, hush puppies.

Every weekend was filled with projects, attempts to bring in money to cover the electric bill, to buy some gas, whatever. Somehow, though, they became adventures with no one saying how important they were.

My father believed in big breakfasts: pans of biscuits, huge skillets of gravy, sausage if we had it, maybe bacon, or plain. Or platters of pancakes with homemade syrup and sides of sausage. He would get up early on a weekend and sing and hum as he made breakfast, then call for us to wake up. My later teenaged self would groan and attempt to open my eyes, wondering why we had to eat before daylight. While the family used to tease me about how much I liked to sleep, no one ever mentioned to my dad how often he napped. I figure it equaled out. Thank goodness I didn’t consider using that bit of sarcasm at the time.

While perhaps his habit of cooking big meals (lunch and supper were often the same: pots of pinto beans, chili or vegetable soup, meatloaf, and baked beans with a side of green beans) differs from the Ingalls, Dad enjoyed cooking for his family. He baked cornbread, pone bread, and “fried” bread, the same recipe he used for pancakes. Cast iron skillets heaped with potatoes fried in lard were a treat.

Much as the Ingalls’ Christmas was supplemented by the care barrel sent them from back east, government commodities stretched our food budget: huge hunks of American cheese in plain cardboard boxes, powdered milk, honey, and butter, once luxuries, became important staples that added variety to our diet and options we didn’t otherwise have.

Pa Ingalls went away to work on the railroad; my father went to work for HUD, pulling back trailers that had been used as temporary housing for those caught in a flood years before. While employment made life easier financially, we missed him. He worked long days, long hours. But then the seasons of no work came, and he was home. Money might be tight, and we might have to give up phone service or sell the family car, but there would be Dad again, in the kitchen, cooking, singing Sixteen Tons. And the world would be right.

I took mental notes and sometimes even journaled during my childhood and early teen years, thinking maybe sometime, like Laura, I might write about my unique upbringing. I knew what was happening was a special period of time, one that, once I went off to college (and I knew that somehow, sometime, that would happen), nothing would ever be the same. Unfortunately, I don’t have my early journals anymore. We don’t always know what to value when we are young. That applies to more than just journals.

Drēma Drudge suffers from Stendhal’s Syndrome, the condition in which one becomes overwhelmed in the presence of great art. She attended Spalding University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program where she learned to transform that intensity into fiction.

     Drēma has been writing in one capacity or another since she was nine, starting with terrible poems and graduating to melodramatic stories in junior high that her classmates passed around literature class.

     She and her husband, musician and writer Barry Drudge, live in Indiana where they record their biweekly podcast, Writing All the Things, when not traveling. Her first novel, VICTORINE, was literally written in six countries while she and her husband wandered the globe. The pair has two grown children.

     In addition to writing fiction, Drēma has served as a writing coach, freelance writer, and educator. She’s represented by literary agent Lisa Gallagher of Defiore and Company.

     For more about her writing, art, and travels, please visit her WEBSITE

What’s New and How-To~by Joanne Jaytanie

If you’re looking for a fun story, interested in hearing some new music, or admire a piece of art, Originality by Design is your next must-read. Stop by and see what’s new. We have a wide variety of guest bloggers with a multitude of subjects. And, we’re introducing a brand new page titled, REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS. 

Are you excited to see what there is inside the pages of Originality by Design (OBD), but a bit bewildered?

No worries. I’m here to give you a quick rundown. You’ll become an expert in no time.

When you enter the OBD site, the newest blog post will be the first thing you see (like this one). To the right of this blog post is a list of PAGES. If you click on the HOME page, you’ll see the description of Originality by Design. And as you scroll down, the next block is once again, the newest post. Under that post is a list of the ten most viewed blog posts. 

The next tab under HOME in PAGES is MEMBERS. There you will find an introduction to each of our members along with a link to their PERSONAL PAGE. Each member’s page can also be reached by clicking on their name in PAGES. Along with the MEMBERS, we have our REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS and the list of GUEST BLOGGERS – by year. You can also CONTACT US if you have suggestions, comments, or are interested in joining us as a guest blogger.

Have you found a person you’d like to read more from but can’t locate their posts?

If they are a MEMBER, when you click on their name in the PAGES, their personal page will come up. There you can read all their posts to your heart’s content. You can also find links to their other sites, such as Facebook, Pinterest, and their website. Each member’s page is tailored to their choices.

If you’re looking for a specific GUEST BLOGGER, REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR, even a MEMBER, and you don’t want to scroll through pages and pages, let me tell you a little trick. Scroll up to the very top of the blog. On the top left side, above the Originality by Design banner, you’ll see a “B” next to that is a white box. Just type in the name you are looking for and hit enter. Everything relating to that person will appear. 

Those are the basics. So feel free to pursue OBD whenever the mood strikes. There’s always something new to read, a thought to ponder, or a laugh to be had.

Enjoy!  
Joanne

An Interview with Daniel Travers CEO of Redideo

Tell us a little about yourself (where you’re from, if you have a job apart from your craft, family, etc.)

Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to take a small peek into

Daniel Travers/Redideo

my life.

I’m originally from the Midwest but currently, live in Southern California.

Probably one of the most common questions I get is, “What does ‘Redideo’ mean?” The word may look funny at first, but it’s pronounced “ruh-did-e-o.” It’s a fusion of the words red, radio and video to morph my once red hair, aural, and visual communication skills.

Growing up, staying out of mischief was sometimes a struggle for me but art and music were two things in my life that I could always count on. I was attracted to urban art and underground music and eventually found focus by earning a BFA in New Media from the Kansas City Art Institute. I currently work for a broadcast media company and do art on the side.

What are your most significant challenges when you create?

Not having enough time in the day! Maybe once I’m retired I can pursue art full-time, but for now, I have to focus on what pays the bills. So, I guess you could add funding for art supplies to the list as well.

What inspires you?

That’s a pretty big question! It can vary from day to day and it

Photo: Redideo

really depends on what kind of art I’m creating at the moment. Inspiration can come from something that someone says, or I read, music I hear or, maybe I see it and subconsciously it sits in the back of my brain just waiting to come out.

My environment obviously has a big influence on inspiration. If I’m having a bad day, I may want to produce something more aggressive or however it relates to my mood. Or, I may have a thought about current events, science or the progression of art in general that makes me want to do a more conceptual piece.

In the end, it really depends on the project.

When did you first know without a doubt that what you do today is what you wish to share with the world?

I’ve been doing art for as long as I can remember, and it’s always

Photo: Redideo

had a rewarding effect on me which encouraged me to do more. I wouldn’t say it came naturally, but it just seemed like the right thing to do and pursue.

At this point, I think it’s more about sharing the growth (or lack of haha) and how different events in my life and the world have an effect on my creative endeavors and interpretations.

To be honest, sometimes I wonder if I should be doing something else. But, I think it’s only natural to evaluate what you’re investing your time into.

What is your favorite medium to work with and why?

I honestly don’t have one favorite medium to work in. I like to

Photo: Redideo

experiment and change things up which ultimately contributes to my overall growth as an artist. And then when I have that idea down the road that meshes more than one medium, hopefully, I’ll know how to do it.

But, if I had to name one, it would probably be acrylic painting or drawing. They were some of my first go-to’s and give me nostalgia.

I love doing digital art, but sometimes it’s hard to measure something you can’t physically put your hands on or feel like you put your personal energy into it.

Who would play you in a film about your life?

Brad Pitt, probably. Not because I think I’m a good looking guy, but because he’s from the Midwest as well and he’s played a lot of diverse roles (some better than others). My second pick would probably be Jack Nicholson. He’s just a classy, charismatic guy with a lot of personality.

Have you ever decided after completing a piece of artwork to totally trash it and start over?

All of the time! I’m probably my own worst critic and ¾ of my art is never seen by anyone but me. Art is obviously subjective, but I usually have a vision in mind and some kind of standard for myself. It’s hard to describe what each of those are exactly for every piece just because they’re all different.

What encouragement and advice could you offer to someone wanting to promote their artwork?

Don’t compare yourself to others! I find myself doing it at times, but I have to stop myself. It’s only natural. But, you never know how that person got to be where they are and the things they had to do to achieve it. So, believe in yourself…. Which leads me to the next piece of advice I’ll give… marketing. Marketing is a huge part of the equation and people will not find your art if it’s collecting dust in your house. Get out there and network, talk with people, and utilize social media. If you’re not good talking with people, find someone who is to help you.

I also love a quote Andy Warhol once said, “Don't think about

Photo: Redideo

making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

To connect with Daniel and Redideo, click the links below.


**All photos property of Daniel Travers/Redideo and may not be reproduced without permission.

WEBSITE

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

My Thoughts Exactly ~ Vicky Ann

Winter is closely approaching. With it, the hot summer sun, mosquitoes, barbecues, and wearing our favorite shorts are quickly becoming distant memories. The Fall in between has been shortened at both ends this year. The masses are infusing pumpkin and spice into everything touchable, aromatic, and edible. Salads and juicy fruits are being replaced with baked goods, hot dishes, and comfort food.  Luckily, it is my favorite time of year to wander on foot with camera in hand. Hopefully, those extra calories won’t stand a chance! The colorful turning leaves and the backdrop of ever-changing skies during the Fall season can provide fascinating source photos for my paintings. Wish me luck to find them before the snow makes the leaves drop too quickly.

Vicky Ann

I should introduce myself. My name is Vicky Ann. I am a writer, painter, and photographer who loves to travel and consume music. You can find me front row center in small clubs swaying to the beats and melodies played before me. I am often surrounded by musicians, and nothing stirs the soul quite like a story set to music or told solely by the instruments. Hardcover books, Oil Paints, my camera, and Vinyl records are my most prized material possessions. You can generally find one of those items as my companion on any given day. Especially when it is cold, rainy, or snowy outside.

The smell of a recently printed, brand new hardcover book has to be one of the top aromas ever to by enjoyed. I love to read. Picking out a new book to read is almost a romantic endeavor for me. The cover and title meet your acquaintance, the author blurb gives you a glimpse into the human aspect, and the synopsis either entices you to delve deeper or put it back and look for a new companion. Once you bring it home and crack the binding, hopefully a successful romance blossoms through the words. 

The cold weather days have proven to be the best time for me to put some instrumental jazz vinyl on the turntable, get a cup of hot coffee, and write. My warmest sweater and a glass of wine can work too. I currently have two WIPS or “Works in Progress” as writers like to say. One is the first of a three-book trilogy titled Chrysalis I have dubbed my maxim opus. Unsure if I say that because I think it will be my best writing or it is just taking forever to write. I will report back on that when finished. 

The other is a tale of time travel and the pros and cons of growing up too soon titled The Paradox of Rushing. This book is inspired by watching my youngest son Nicholas grow up and leave the nest. We had intended to write it together, but he is busy living his life as an Airman in the US Military.

When I am not writing, traveling, or wandering with my camera, I am usually painting. I am a Kansas City-based Oil Painter. I paint landscapes, still life, architectural, portraits or pretty much anything. Although I predominantly use a lot of color in my pieces, I am especially drawn to creating black and white paintings. 

Ansel Adams is my favorite photographer. I like to think that shows in some of my work. I may add a little blue, Sepia tones, or other subtle color nuance to them on occasion. I love being restricted to only being able to use values and not rely on color. 

Thomas Kinkade is my favorite painter, so not a surprise I enjoy working with different lighting in my paintings. 

I am a member of Oil Painters of America and regularly show paintings at Buttonwood Art Space in Kansas City Missouri and occasionally at other galleries around the metro. I am always humbled and excited when someone connects with something I have created and chooses to take it home. It is like the first time every time.

I look forward to sharing my books with others as well. Before they are released, I want to be as excited reading them as I hope the person who chooses to read it. There are so many great books out there written by so many great authors. It is quite an honor when someone picks up your creation and takes the time to investigate it. 

I will take criticism, both positive and negative. You can’t grow in constant praise, especially if it isn’t genuine. I need a little kick in the rear every now and then. I love to read. Two rules I give myself in critiquing another artist's work--be truthful and be kind. It is all any writer could ask. Sure we all want to hear we are the next bestseller, but above all, we want to get it right for ourselves and inevitably for the reader.

It's nice to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. You can connect with me by clicking on the links below.

WEBSITE

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

Cheers,

Vicky Ann

Street Fair Season! ~ by Lexa Fisher

The weekend of May 18th and 19th kicked off my favorite part of summer with the first street fair of the year in Seattle's University District. 2019 is the 50th anniversary for this street fair and average attendance for the two days is 150,000 people!

I especially love street fairs for the locally crafted wares. There are booths with T-shirts, handmade soaps, jewelry, candles, honey, and of course plenty of food choices.

Local honey from Shipwreck Apiary

Local honey is a favorite of ours, and we learned a lot when we asked the honey vendor about a rare variety, fireweed. It turns out that the fireweed flower grows primarily at high elevations, and around here a beekeeper needs a forest service permit to place hives in most of these areas. Placing forty hives would have cost the beekeeper at Shipwreck Apiary $3,000.00, so he had no fireweed honey to sell this year.

My favorite balsamic vinegars and oils

Balsamic vinegar is my go-to salad dressing and my favorite brand OMG! was there this year. OMG! is also available year-round at Seattle's Pike Place Market. We bought strawberry fig, vanilla fig, peach white balsamic, and an herbed oil for oven-roasted vegetables.

Delicious looking! But too pretty to burn?

Cupcake and parfait candles! We experienced power outages three times last winter, so candles were just a prudent purchase, with a cherry on top (of the whipped wax frosting). These smell as delicious as they look!

Our favorite local soaps

Our favorite Washington-made soaps were here again this year, and we stocked up for a few months. Stormy Mountain soaps are made in the small central Washington town of Entiat. Stormy Mountain will also be selling at Seattle's (in)famous Fremont Solstice parade and street fair June 22nd.

A handsome man I saw buying soap. The same guy I married fifteen years ago. 😊

Meet Our Members ~ Grace Augustine Art

Not only is Grace Augustine an author and editor, she also dabbles in acrylic painting on canvas. Her love for art began in her early teens and carried through high school. After 40 years, she picked up the paints and brushes and found solace in the art on canvas. Click here to view her artwork.