New Series

It's always fun to create a new series and make the transition from what's swirling around in your mind's eye onto paper.

This series, dubbed "Ribbons of Inspiration," is loosely inspired by pages in my art journal, which frequently feature a "ribbon element."

I'm just a gal who likes to swirl and doodle with markers in her art journal, and it's fun to take that one step farther.

© Nancy Lefko

For All the "College Moms"

When I read this essay, I knew I wanted to share it with all the other moms who have experienced the flight of their college-aged children.

When I read this essay, I knew I wasn't alone in my feelings. The author, Beverly Beckham, looked straight into my heart.

When I read this essay, I felt the palpable quiet of a house that is missing two very large & loud young men who, just yesterday, were little boys who cuddled with me on the couch.


I WAS THE SUN AND THE KIDS WERE MY PLANETS

By Beverly Beckham
Globe Correspondent September 4, 2012


I wasn’t wrong about their leaving. My husband kept telling me I was. That it wasn’t the end of the world when first one child, then another, and then the last packed their bags and left for college.

But it was the end of something. “Can you pick me up, Mom?’’ “What’s for dinner?’’ “What do you think?’’

I was the sun and they were the planets. And there was life on those planets, whirling, nonstop plans and parties and friends coming and going, and ideas and dreams and the phone ringing and doors slamming.

And I got to beam down on them. To watch. To glow.

And then they were gone, one after the other.

“They’ll be back,’’ my husband said. And he was right. They came back. But he was wrong, too, because they came back for intervals, not for always, not planets anymore, making their predictable orbits, but unpredictable, like shooting stars.

Always is what you miss. Always knowing where they are. At school. At play practice. At a ballgame. At a friend’s. Always looking at the clock midday and anticipating the door opening, the sigh, the smile, the laugh, the shrug. “How was school?’’ answered for years in too much detail. “And then he said . . . and then I said to him. . . .’’ Then hardly answered at all.

Always knowing his friends.

Her favorite show.

What he had for breakfast.

What she wore to school.

What he thinks.

How she feels.

My friend Beth’s twin girls left for Roger Williams yesterday. They are her fourth and fifth children. She’s been down this road three times before. You’d think it would get easier.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without them,’’ she has said every day for months.

And I have said nothing, because, really, what is there to say?

A chapter ends. Another chapter begins. One door closes and another door opens. The best thing a parent can give their child is wings.

I read all these things when my children left home and thought then what I think now: What do these words mean?

Eighteen years isn’t a chapter in anyone’s life. It’s a whole book, and that book is ending and what comes next is connected to, but different from, everything that has gone before.

Before was an infant, a toddler, a child, a teenager. Before was feeding and changing and teaching and comforting and guiding and disciplining, everything hands-on. Now?

Now the kids are young adults and on their own and the parents are on the periphery, and it’s not just a chapter change. It’s a sea change.

As for a door closing? Would that you could close a door and forget for even a minute your children and your love for them and your fear for them, too. And would that they occupied just a single room in your head.

But they’re in every room in your head and in your heart.

As for the wings analogy? It’s sweet. But children are not birds. Parents don’t let them go and build another nest and have all new offspring next year.

Saying goodbye to your children and their childhood is much harder than all the pithy sayings make it seem. Because that’s what going to college is. It’s goodbye.

It’s not a death. And it’s not a tragedy.

But it’s not nothing, either.

To grow a child, a body changes. It needs more sleep. It rejects food it used to like. It expands and it adapts.

To let go of a child, a body changes, too. It sighs and it cries and it feels weightless and heavy at the same time.

The drive home alone without them is the worst. And the first few days. But then it gets better. The kids call, come home, bring their friends, and fill the house with their energy again.

Life does go on.

“Can you give me a ride to the mall?’’ “Mom, make him stop!’’ I don’t miss this part of parenting, playing chauffeur and referee.

But I miss them, still, all these years later, the children they were, at the dinner table, beside me on the couch, talking on the phone, sleeping in their rooms, safe, home, mine.

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company

Original collage available in my Etsy shop.

© Nancy Lefko

Halloween, Already?

Halloween has arrived in my Etsy shop, and although this "summer-loving gal" is not quite ready to embrace it, I know that Fall is on its way.

So if you are ready for all things bronze, gold and crimson, with a little splash of ghoul, head on over to see the mixed media originals that are currently for sale.

All three of these particular pieces, as well as others in the shop, have been published in Stampington magazines -- Somerset Studio and GALLERY.

© Nancy Lefko

An Artful Mask

In an effort to raise funds for scholarships, the faculty members of "Art Is...You Art Retreats" are creating one-of-a-kind masks that will be up for auction.

About a month ago, a blank masked arrived at my doorstep.

Having created 3D art only a few times before, I decided to approach this mask as I would a page in my art journal.

I collaged the mask with dressmaker's tissue and ephemera and then added color with acrylic washes.

With markers I added a little bit of doodling and written words. Then collage a few butterflies, add some dangling hearts, attach a scalloped edge with decorative paper and it's done!

"Creative Soul"

"She is brave and strong"

"She lives an artful life"

You can see some of the amazing masks created by many artists appear at the "Art Is...You" Facebook page.

© Nancy Lefko

Coming Soon..."Art Is...You"

Every day we get closer and closer to the magic that is Art Is...You: The East Coast Art Retreat in Stamford, CT, the BEST art retreat you'll ever have the opportunity to attend. TRULY, it will change you in, oh, so many wonderful ways! Registration is fast and easy...and ends soon, so hurry on over!

I'll be offering a Saturday workshop this year. If you like to play with color and get messy with paints, papers, inks, water-soluble crayons, markers, oil pastels...join me for MIXED MEDIA MANTRAS on October 6th and we'll have oodles of artful fun!

No matter your interest, there is a workshop offered at "Art Is...You" that is perfect for you. And if you are a west-coast dweller, then the Petaluma, CA retreat is practically in your own backyard. Check out the list of amazing artists and the fabulous classes offered...and I hope to see you in Stamford.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ TALL

As much as I love Starbucks, I can never quite get a handle on the whole "grande," "venti" and TALL distinction. Just can't seem to commit it to memory. I guess I'm just a small, medium or large gal.

In any case, here's a TALL latte for you.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

Original collage available in my Etsy shop.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ TEACHER

Trixie may have been a lot of things, but a school TEACHER she was not.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ FREEZE

Dress like that for ice skating, little lady, and you're sure to FREEZE.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

Original collage available in my Etsy shop.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ BOUNCE

Coffee...that wonderful elixir that puts the BOUNCE in my step.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

Print available in my Etsy shop.

© Nancy Lefko

"Art Is...You" Art Retreats *SALE*

If you've been undecided as to whether or not to attend this most amazing art retreat, here is a little push to help you choose to join in the fun.

Art Is...You: Your Mixed Media Art Retreats are amazing gatherings of talented artists and the most wonderful and welcoming people. While at the retreat you will be filled with art, fellowship, laughter & joy and you'll leave with an over-abundance of inspiration.

I am thrilled to be teaching at the Stamford, CT retreat again this year and really hope that I get to meet some of my blog readers. If you have been searching for an east coast art retreat, look no further. This is where you belong. If you come to Art Is...You alone, you will leave with more friends than you can count.

I hope you'll join the Art Is...You family and I'll see you in Stamford!

Image © Visually Speaking

Illustration Friday ~ LONELY

And when all three have flown from the nest, I daresay, I'll be one LONELY girl.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ CARRY

Let the dreams in your heart CARRY you away.

"My heart sailed with open wings."

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

This 8" x 10" collage is available in my Etsy shop.

© Nancy Lefko

Illustration Friday ~ LOST

"I have wandered in different countries throughout the world"...and have never once been LOST.

This artwork hails from the archives circa 2007. I haven't given out fairy wings or dunce caps in a good long while, but it's fun to look back on little cuties such as this fellow.

To see the myriad of takes on the prompt, hop on over to Illustration Friday and check out all of the marvelous artwork there is to see.

© Nancy Lefko

Buried Treasure

I've signed on to join with Seth Apter in his "Buried Treasure" project where participants re-post hidden gems from their blogs that may have been missed, or forgotten, over the years.

The following post dates from June 13, 2009 and documents the culmination of an artful journey I made with seven other artists, who all met on a mixed media Etsy forum, and decided to create a group canvas. The traveling canvas made its way to eight states and received a signature component from each artist.

This project was more than an artful experiment for me, it was the beginning of friendships that grew ever stronger over the years. Granted, there are some members of the "sisterhood" whom I connect with infrequently, and some not at all, but many with whom I enjoy online chats regularly, among them my very close friend Pam Carriker (who was the brains behind this original idea :)

Sadly, all eight sisters never did collaborate again; but on a high note, three of the sisters met in real life at last year's Art Is...You Retreat in CT and this coming October FOUR will meet there! Also, the canvas and journal were ultimately auctioned off with the proceeds benefitting breast cancer research. A worthwhile ending to a wonderful project.

I hope you enjoy this post I've "dug up" from the past and make it a point to visit the other "buried treasure" via Seth's blog.

*******************************************************************



This month's highly anticipated issue of Somerset Studio arrived in the mail today. It features a collaborative article entitled, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Canvas," which documents the journey of an art canvas that traveled our great land and was given artistic life by eight talented artists. It was my great joy to be among this group of artists, who began the journey as online acquaintances and completed it as close friends.



In addition to working on the canvas, each artist also created a journal page (front and back) to be bound in a journal documenting our sisterhood. The journal covers were made from scanned images of the canvas and embellished in a fanciful manner.


This project, having spanned many months, was such a joy and to see its culmination in print is so rewarding. I am bursting with pride on behalf of my "sisters" and look forward to collaborating again.



© Glenda Bailey, Pam Carriker, Kim Geiser, Denise Hayden, Nancy Lefko, Kathy Maximo, Alisa Nordholt-Dean, Jodi Ohl.

The Sketchbook Challenge ~ CIRCLES

The Sketchbook Challenge theme for July is CIRCLES.

I grabbed a little bit of time to work in my art journal where I'd already created a bit of background a while ago by "cleaning off" excess paint from my brayer. Tonight I added some design elements with pigment from Inktense blocks activated into rivulets and printed circles. The sentiment reads, "sometimes she dreamt of soaring in circles above the clouds."

If you need a little push to get yourself creating...then the Sketchbook Challenge is just for you!

© Nancy Lefko