Hoping for good weather for our show!

The weather reports for Thanksgiving on the East Coast are looking grim. I can only pray they are wrong! It's sad to realize how many people's travel plans will be affected. You can't predict the weather when you are making your plans for any event. But we are sure hoping it will be excellent on December 7th from 9 a.m. to  4 p.m. ... especially since it is an outdoor show!

There are lots of bargains to make it a great time for anyone to collect some art. We bring our no longer needed art books and supplies and mark them way down. We do the same for some of our paintings to make room on our walls for what we plan to paint in 2014! We've hand painted almost a dozen beautifully made decorative bird houses and because the talented builder who made them for us is Carmen's generous husband, we are offering them at very reasonable prices, so come early for the best selection!

The preparation is extensive. Making art seems relatively easy to me compared to getting it ready for a sale. I don't have a surface in my house that isn't covered with projects, labels, mats, markers, paintings getting a check up, light switches covered in clay and waiting for packaging, inventory sheets, polymer clay and prints.

A few of my new steampunk light switches - polymer clay with gears!

A few people have requested "rocker" switch plates. There's not a lot of room on them for decoration but I'm giving it a try. Note that the finish is the same as the regular switches above, just these I used a flash and the above are in natural light. All are brushed with metallic powders and have an iridescent protective finish so they change with the light.

Checking out some 10x10 acrylics I have for the sale.

Getting a few of the watercolors (12x9) matted and protected.

9x12 watercolors getting matted and protected.

This is just a wee bit of what I'm getting ready. Between the 8 of us Pieces, there will be many beautiful objects available to make great Christmas gifts or to decorate your own home. So please keep us in your plans for Saturday, December 7th! And even if the weather does not cooperate, we hope you will drop by. What's our backup plan in case of bad weather? Well, we'll crowd everything into Carol's garage, play the Christmas music, eat, drink, be merry, and hope people come anyway! We always have coffee, sodas, delicious cookies and snacks and are looking forward to seeing everyone, rain or shine!

Concrete collage! An experiment in Poetry by Fay Picardi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concrete Poetry Collages

An Experiment by Fay Picardi 

 

 

One of my favorite classifications of poetry is the concrete poem. Just the name creates a myriad of images in my mind, not the least of which is the concrete city. It's a form that grew popular in the sixties and is awaiting a rebirth. The poem above is one of the poems which most appealed to me because of its innate contradiction and its incongruous subject matter. I decided to exploit the idea by creating a triptych based on different fruits and their predators.

 

 

Above are the results of my experiment. On the left in French is a pear (poire) and its predator, the bee (abeille); in the center in Italian are grapes (ova) and their predator, the Italian grape moth (lignoletta della vita); and finally on the right in German is the apple (apfel) infested with its worm (vurm).  In the background of each collage is a repetition of the word for the fruit depicted. Lots of words; lots of fun. Look for this triptych at the Holiday Sale!

                                                                Apfel  by Fay Picardi
                                                                   8x8 paper collage

When is a birdhouse not a birdhouse?

I know many of you have asked yourself this very, same question and now you don't  have to wait until our annual sale, Dec. 7 to find out. The answer is "When it is a birdbarn".
 Now who says a bird has to live in a house? You might run across a real country bird who remembers seeing those wonderful old barns along those wonderful old back roads as he was flying south. How would anyone way out in farm country have ever known when the circus was in town or about all the wonderful sights, natural and man made along magical, mythical Route 66?
I know you will all enjoy our wonderful, unique birdhouse projects but there is much more than that at our sale. There is something for everyone from something to sit on to something to wear.
See you Saturday Dec. 7, 9-4 at Carol Schiff's house.  See the website for a map.
Donna Vines

My Still Life Paintings in the Hills in Georgia

I really do not like painting outside.  I want music, air conditioning, and my comfortable studio instead.  While the PO8s were painting at the home of Phillis Holland in Georgia last week, I finished two small pictures of vegetables that I first painted and then ate. The paintings will be available at the Pieces of 8 annual art sale on December 7 at very reasonable prices.

We will see you on the 7th.

"Peppers from the Garden"

"Beets before We Eat"

Denette's website

Denette Schweikert

Please: SIT ON MY ART!

I love to paint...but I also have a tendency to chase shiny objects!  These distractions are great fun while I am working out the solutions to more "serious" work.  Now my husband will remember 2012 as the year of glass flowers.  They were everywhere!  But he thinks 2013 is shaping up to be the year of the chair.  And while this abundance of chairs has been great fun for me, HE is ready to see some of them march out the door....sooner than later.

These works of art are ready for new homes...a little corner that needs some brightening or maybe beside a door to hold all the items you need to remember to take with you.  For years I had a special brightly painted chair in the bath to hold towels etc.  If you find your walls full of art, chairs is another way to bring more in.

These will all be available at our annual Holiday Sale and Show on December 7 at Carol Schiff's home.  I hate to admit that I have more underway so please do my husband and me a favor and drop by to see if any will work in your home.  And I didn't forget the kids or grandchildren, here's a look-see on a tot sized table for a playroom.  It's ready for crafts or games and it needs a new home!

We'll be ready for business between 9 am and 4 pm so come visit us by printing the map here:

If I can find new homes for the chairs and the table (hint: I'll be easy to bargain with around 3 pm) then my husband may take me out to dinner!  We will all be happy.....and I can dream up a new shiny object to chase NEXT year.

See you at the sale,
Cindy Michaud

Annual Holiday Sale December 7th!

Gift Shopping at its finest! December 7th, 9 to 4


The Pieces of Eight sale will be bigger than ever this year! As an event within an event, my husband made birdhouses for each of us and we each decorated ours, without anyone seeing the others. On Sunday we had a big reveal, and I am so thrilled with the creativity shown by every member. These birdhouses are amazing!

There will be deep discounts on paintings like my Coconut Palm, above left; painted furniture; handmade jewelry and many more lovely gift items. Here's my birdhouse and my jewelry:

Posted by Carmen Beecher

Abstract Seascape Painting, Daily Painting, "Blue" by Carol Schiff, 8x8x1.5" Palette Knife Painting

A new abstract landscape with all my favorites...texture.....variation in paint thickness.....palette knife work....color interaction I am fond of.   Hope you like it!

Purchase here
130 + shipping

8x8x1.5" canvas
Sides painted



www.CarolSchiffStudio.Etsy.com