i he(art) seattle

This past Saturday was the Pratt Fine Arts Center’s 28th Annual Fine Art Auction and I, along with hundreds of other generous artist from the Pratt family, made a donation of a piece of work. There were over 300 works of arts at the auction and it was a wonderful event! There were 3 silent auctions and a live auction along with dinner. I can happily say my piece was bid on multiple times and the winner kept an eye on the piece until the close of the bid to make sure he took it home! YAY

This was my first time donation a piece, and even thought it was hard to see it go… I was happy to donate to Pratt and happy to see it so well received and going to a happy home! Makes me want to run back in the studio and make more art!

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010.

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Going.

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Going....

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Sold! To the highest bidder!

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Red balloons & high ceilings at Hanger 30.

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Wine & good times.

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Salad.

Pratt Fine Art Center Auction 2010. Artist: Kamla & Amy Lee

My favorite First Thursday’s Art Walk are always in the spring… when it stops raining. So you’ll catch me there May – September Seattle’s drier sunnier months. This one was special, I saw plenty art – too much to share sadly but I did mange to grab a bit

Kamla Kakaria Mixed Media

Rickie Wolfe Mixed Media

Rickie Wolfe Mixed Media

Rickie Wolfe Mixed Media

David Weed Lights Installation

David Weed Lights Installation

Tatanya Brown, Flower Fairy

These artist on the walk were great too, I just didn’t snap a photo: Sara A. Everett, Kate Vrijmoet, Howard & Lorraine Barlow, and Jody Joldersma.

collage vision board 2010

Okay, so back in December right after Christmas, my BFF and I stole away to a resort in Indiana on my long trip home and worked on vision boards, 2010 plans, and had some much needed spa time. Our vision boards consisted of everything we want to manifest for ourselves this year 2010! I’d read something online out outlining your body and I am not sure if it was for vision board purposes but I thought, “Awesome idea!” and me and my BFF proceeded to get long rolls of Kraft paper and a magic marker to add to our collage efforts. We both outline each other, all 5 feet 7 inches of ourselves – doubled and started to cut and paste in our hearts desires.

Now fast forward to February 5, 2010… my vision board was too large to fit on my walls or door as I had originally intended so I cut my collage self into bits and am working on finding enough frames to fit all my pieces into. I’ll keep you posted on that…

collage vision board 2010

collage vision board 2010 close up 2

My inspirato is walls of frames and pics and mirrors. Back in 2006 I had a wall of mirrors to die for! I think we had about 17 different mirrors on our wall – it was awesome! I’ll have to dig up a picture to share. Anyways, see below for some cute shots of inspirato I’ve been collecting…

wall decorations - store front at Nordstrom

wall decorations - store front at Nordstrom

Artspace Hiawatha Lofts Artist Wall Inspiration

Artspace Hiawatha Lofts Artist Wall Inspiration

Yoga Motion, originally uploaded by jmurphpix.

This morning, I stretched. I guess I do each and every morning but this morning was a bit different. Actually the last few weeks I have been stretching in ways of which I am mindful of my growth and hopeful for consistent positive change in my life.

In life we (hopefully) grow to move and be flexible in different situations, to learn from each stretch, what brings more pressure to us and what actually relieves us. I had been practicing meditation for years and just recently picked up yoga truly and it has been a practice of mental and spiritual growth. I loved meditation but yoga really takes it to a tactical level for me. Being mindful of the feelings and pushing anyways. Another lesson learned in Seattle. Another reason to love this town… full of yoga studios. And opportunities to stretch and grow!

Think about how you can stretch yourself today and feel the comfort and discomfort in that act of growing yourself. And enjoy it

“A unique place for rustic and recycled home decor”, At West End, is a yummy website and catalog featuring everything from recycled pop art signs made from Haitian old tomato paste drums, to vintage yard signs, to wooden jockey sets from Mississippi. There wonderful catalog came to me in the mail and was meet with “Oooo”s, “Ahhh”s, “I want that”s! So before I chop it up and collage it, I wanted to share these whimsical finds and this great site! And I may be getting the hanging heart sign for my room / office

Leetspeak, an awesome indie/electro/pop band based out of Seattle, WA & I are working together on fusing art + music! They have have released their debut EP “Alpha” where my art work is their featured cover art. And we hope to work together much more in the future!

The symmetry between their sound and my art was crazy smooth, I was approached by bass player, Bryce Gifford, to maybe do a collabo for their first album cover and the band looked thru my art work to find the piece that resonated most with this album and we could go from there. They really loved the piece unnecessary 3, as is… so I altered it a bit and it worked out perfectly for the cover! Listening to their music has even inspired more developments on the Unnecessary series… their tunes and topics match so much with what I’ve been feeling lately and what that piece represented.

Alpha is a pretty awesome CD and is now available now for free… from their site, http://leetspeakmusic.com/. Just provide your email, give the link to the music, and get added to the Leetspeak mailing list. Physical compact discs and live shows in the Seattle/Tacoma area coming soon…

Tracks 01 You’ll Have My Heart, 04 Wave of The Future, 05 Nothing Left to Say, & 06 Alpha.rmx are my absolute faves!! The whole album is on repeat for me. Enjoy!!

So, I pre-ordered a copy of Kimberly Wilson‘s 2nd book, Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play! And right as I come home from work sneezing and coughing, I see a package at my doorstep! I was soo stoked. My package was complete with book, two inserts: one about the book and another about her clothing line TranquiliT – which has soft, flowing, ego-friendly wares, and a yummy teabag – Numi Velvet Garden White Rose… pink, of course (she loves all things pink!).

Kimberly Wilson is a teacher, writer, do-gooder, entrepreneur, and eco-fashion designer … and not to mention a weekly podcast / blogger at Tranquility du Jour where, since 2007, I have listened and been truly inspired by her, her guest, and her yoga practice.

Thanks, Kimberly, you made my evening