Monday in Photos

Productive

Today has not only been a productive day but a creative one! I spent a great deal of time cleaning our house this morning- after weeks of emotional distress over where to live and steps to take to buy a house...our humble little apartment has suffered! And the worst of it was my art room which was literally trashed! Thankfully a good clean and time spent organizing means I will be productive and that was just what happened! This afternoon I got tons of stuff done- I have been working on new purses and in between waiting for the layers to dry I started on a new series of paintings and this is the first! After months spent on a book and then lots of my time spent making functional items (like purses) it feels so wonderful to paint a painting- what I love most!

Embrace the Unknown!

Oh my goodness, my brain is tired, my head hurts and I am officially spent! Things have been crazy these last couple of weeks as we begin the process to maybe buy our first home- yikes!! So many decisions to make and things to think about and it is just now dawning on me at age 32 that I just might officially be an adult! I have gotten very few creative tasks accomplished this last week because our evenings have been filled with conversations (thanks to me), emotions and of course tears (since I cry about everything). I have exhausted myself with worry and I am declaring today that I am finished fretting about the unknown and instead I am choosing to embrace the looming questions. In the meantime this weekend will be spent painting (hopefully a little bit for myself) and filling some little orders and working on all kinds of new and wonderful opportunities that have come my way. And… I must give a heartfelt thank you to Maryam from Marrakesh for the wonderful blog entry about the recent tote bag that I made for her- please go check out her beautiful blog!! Tonight it’s a movie with my hubby- I need to have some fun!

This is Me Today

This is me today- reflective, challenged, creative and trying to be calm. Life is crazy right now, we have been spending our free time trying to figure out what comes next, where do will we choose to live in 6 months and where do we see our lives going? Big questions to tackle with the rest of my own uncertainties- like how best to market my book? what will CHA be like and will anyone want to watch my demo? how will I make it through my day job when art deadlines are looming? will I continue to lose sleep over the noisy students above me? and the questions go on and on and on. But I have decided to just address what I can do today- this is me today... confused but thankful, tired but strong, restless but creative...and that is enough for now.

Italy Here I Come!!

So it is official I will be kicking off my book release in Italy! You know what they say...go big or go home?!?!? Below is more information and links- feel free to email me with any questions!!

Toscana Americana Workshops
presents
"Canvas Remix
in Tuscany"
Painter/Instructor
Alisa Burke
Cortona, Italy June 28-July5, 2008
Join painter and mixed media artist Alisa Burke for a week of inspiration, travel and creativity. Marking the release of her new book Canvas Remix, Alisa will dedicate the week to teaching techniques and projects pulled from her book. With the village of Cortona as our backdrop, we will find inspiration in the sites, sounds and flavors- We will explore new colors, images, and ideas from our surroundings. Be prepared to delve into the world of a modern painter by learning about canvas and paint- techniques that range from free writing to graffiti to color glazing to splattering and making a mess! We will then push our canvas paintings and redefine your concept of art- Be prepared cut, rip, sew and remix your canvas into lovely objects and mementos that represent this amazing journey to the Italian countryside.

CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Back to Life

I am back from Oregon and as usual I am kinda bummed to be back- I love the Pacific Northwest, I love the rain, the crazy weather, my home on the coast and I often go through a week of transition after spending a week at home. The week was relaxing, lots of hanging out, lots of visits to my favorite spots and lots of board games. Unfortunately I had to cancel my class that I was teaching at my parents gallery due to the crazy weather and snow on the mountain pass between the coast and Portland- too icky for Portland attendees to drive! (but I will return at another time to teach!) in fact it took us almost 5 hours to get to the airport because of snow and ice! The whole week I was at the mercy of my husband and brother who just might like each other more than they like me! They were running around like they were 15 year olds looking for trouble, playing games, and teasing me- YIKES! But overall it was good to step away from stuff, good to take a break and get ready for the next big push! I can thankfully say that I just sent off my last author review for my book and the next time I see it, it will look like a book- I can't wait! So much to do, so many decisions to make for our lives, lots of exciting things to come!

Illustration Friday- Soar

Just a little doodle from my sketchbook- I thought it fit perfectly into this weeks word!

Home in Oregon- No Place I'd Rather Be!

A few pics from my current trip to Oregon- so far lots of rain, board games, food and of course family...no place I'd rather be!!

Full Heart

Ahh Christmas in San Diego..after almost 7 years in southern california I am still not used to holidays here but I must say that a date night with my hubby on Christmas Eve in Coronado was beautiful with an amazing sunset and cool breeze! Not much to tell just lots of food, family and more food...I am not sure I have ever been this SICK of food but I just keep eating regardless! Tomorrow it is off to Oregon for a few days and more family and most likely more food! My heart and tummy are full!!

Yummy

Another busy weekend but this weekend was full of social activity! In between finishing up last minute orders and cleaning the house we went to a dinner party hosted by my in laws and had YUMMY indonesian food. I actually made myself not do anything for a while on both Sat and Sun and managed to watch a couple of movies and veg out for a while before jumping back into "the list". Then last night was spent cooking and serving pancakes to students for our annual pancake study break- I ate way too much bacon and woke up this morning feeling it! This week is going to be crazy with holiday parties, finishing up gifts and trying to get the house cleaned!

Secret Life

My head has been spinning this week with so much going on- I feel like I am jumping back and forth between so many different worlds, trying to balance the job life vs. the art life, keeping up with all my different emotions, pulling together with my hubby to start planning our future and our housing options for when we buy a place soon! When I think too much about it all it makes my head hurts and I freak out so all I can do is just keep my eyes focused on what is in front of me and moving forward and not get distracted by drama or things that do not fill me with goodness- But boy oh boy can this be a challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to top it off the house is a mess right now…piles of canvas creations everywhere, ribbon and beads stuck in our shag living room rug, drawings all over my computer desk, stacks of fabric all over my art room…this time of year is always insane and honestly I am eager for it to be over with!

But of course amidst the chaos of life right now, there are a few things that bring me back to the center like my loyal friend Anna, who was kind of enough to help me at my little craft fair yesterday! Though Anna and I are very different she is one of those people in my life that truly gets me, she brings me a sense of stability, calm and just fun. I met her the day I moved to San Diego and we started out as work friends and now almost 7 years later I think of her as family! Right now I yearn to have people around me that support and understand who I am- life has gotten crazy this last year and with all the wonderful creative opportunities I have found it hard to relate to people, hard to go to work some days- I feel like I am living a secret life full of creative, amazing things. It is hard for me sometimes to not shout from the roof tops...I JUST WROTE A BOOK...I AM PURSUING MY DREAMS...I AM ACTUALLY MAKING IT AS AN ARTIST.... YAHOOOOOO!!!!...instead I keep my head down, stay quiet and keep working hard on everything all the while cherishing the people who appreciate my secret life all the while holding in my heart that hope for one day not having to be so quiet about success!

Illustration Friday-Little Things

A Good Week

So this week is proving to be a nice week- my cupcakes went over great, I have gotten lots of work done, managed to make it to the gym (to hopefully make up for all the cupcakes I ate!) and received these lovely earrings in the mail! I just opened a shop on Etsy and since I don't yet have time to get a variety of paintings up, I have put a variety of earrings up for sale and ended up trading a pair of mine for a pair of crocheted gold earrings from juanitatortilla who makes very beautiful and unique jewlery. So not only do I have a fancy pair of earrings but a new talented online friend who has written the kindest blog entry about our little trade! To top it off I stopped by the annual Alternative Gift Fair at USD and found this lovely purse handmade in Guatemala! The best part is that it even matches my new earrings! When I am not wearing professional attire (which usually means all black) I like to call my style bohemian chic with a (twist of punk) and these two accessories will be the perfect addition to wardrobe!

Cupcake Responsibilities

Busy evening at home tonight...making over 50 cupcakes! Despite my creative endeavors, I still have responsibilities with my "normal job" (at least for now!) and part of this means spending time with the college students that we live and work with! And this month that means a sugary sweet study break at our apartment tomorrow night! Now I just need to practice self control to not eat cupcakes between tonight and tomorrow!!

Creative = Relaxing

So far the weekend has been creative, productive and relaxing! I spent all day Sat making things to sell at a local craft fair- above is a little sneak peak at the ornaments I have created this year to sell and I am so happy with the way that they turned out.

Illustration Friday- Excess

Officially Back!

I am officially back to my blog! And where have I been? yep you guessed it...busy...which is kinda getting old to write about on here! But I have gotten lots of projects finished-for example- revamped my website with a new look and current stuff, FINALLY put some goodies in my etsy shop, filled some orders, began work on Christmas ornaments that I make and sell every year at a few different venues, created new classes that will tie to my book release and began submitting proposals AND THEN split up Thanksgiving between San Diego and Colorado and now finally I am back into my groove! Thank goodness it is Friday and it is raining- yipeee- this means I will be extra productive this weekend (something about the rain makes me work harder!).

And last- I will leave you with some info about a class I will be teaching in my lovely hometown of Seaside, Oregon after Christmas at our family gallery/studio- Burke Design Studio. Please check out the details below!

Recycled Holidays:
turn those holiday scraps into artful accessories!
Saturday, December 29th 12p-5pm- REVISED DATE

Don’t throw out your holiday cards, wrapping, or decorations- Join painter and mixed media artist Alisa Burke for a day of recycling and re-purposing all that Christmas junk! Paint, scratch, sand, collage and alter your scraps to transform them into wearable accessories, new cards, tags and more! Alisa will teach you lots of fun, fast techniques that are artsy and easy to use. You will leave class with a new collection of handmade accessories and mementos!

Location: Burke Design Studio-
Seaside, Or 97138
Date: Friday, December 28th
Time: 12pm-5pm
Cost: $40.00- (includes kit fee)
Beginner and all skill levels welcome!

for registration details email- alisabworkshops@yahoo.com

Thanksgiving in Colorado

Catch Up!

I have been such a bad blogger lately...yet again! But as usual things have been crazy and I am just trying to catch up! Thankfully I have been able to start back in with my gym routine- slowly but surely I will be working back up to my normal routine (i hope!) and I actually went with my hubby to beach one early morning this last weekend to walk and to take pics of him in the water, this was just what I needed before starting the day! Other than my typical stuff, I have been working to make class proposal deadlines, projects for a few different publications, completely revamping my website and opening an Etsy store and these are just the big projects I am trying to tackle before the holiday weekend....AND...to top it off I woke up with a strange rash on my arms this morning- it looks like an allergy-and I cannot for the life of me figure out what I am allergic to. So I am now all looped up on benadryl trying get rid of it...argggghhh!

After Thanksgiving everything is going to hit and life is going to get even more INSANE making stuff and filling small orders and project requests. Check back soon because I will be posting all kind of fun stuff and opportunities!!

Busy Wedding Weekend!

Life as usual has been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! The weekend is now gone and was spent in wedding activities, rehersal, rehersal dinner, getting dressed and pretty, helping groomsman tie their ties, helping with kids, and enjoying the festivities!! Congrats to our friends Bob and Natalie!!!

Illustration Friday- Hats