studiosuzanne

Halloween Bottle - Elizabeth Shea

Artist Elizabeth Shea created this very cool art bottle using the rubber stamps from the Oxford Impressions "Wicked" collection! I find it wonderfully creepy!  One more day until Halloween!  Boo!

Design Team Search!!

Oxford Impressions has a GREAT team of designers!  I feel blessed to have such talented artists supporting and promoting OI rubber stamps.  The team has a core of regulars who participate every year and two to three guest artist spots per year.  Guest spots have been available by invitation only. The team for 2009, however, will be staffed differently.  This year there will be a competition for the open spots!!

What is required of Oxford Impressions design team members:

Design team members receive all new stamp collections for the year unless they choose to "opt out" of a particular collection. In return for the free stamps, a minimum of three samples per collection must be submitted to OI. Samples will be displayed on the OI website and blog. We really appreciate our members showing off their OI art on personal blogs, photo-sharing sites, and yahoo groups, but it is not a requirement. Oxford Impressions encourages magazine submissions.  If a design team member is published, the member still qualifies for free stamps under our publication reward policy.  It is not uncommon for design team members to own ALL of our stamp collections.  

Contest Requirements:

1. Artist needs to submit 3 different projects for judging. Projects are artist's choice. Art can be card fronts, ATC, canvas art, mixed media, etc. As long as the pieces demonstrate the ability of the artist to successfully use rubber stamps, anything goes. We want to see work that showcases the artist's individual style. 

2. Submissions can be made by email or regular postal mail.  Submissions can be scans, photographs, color copies, or actual pieces.  If actual pieces are submitted, they will be photographed for judging. Art will not be returned so don't send anything you can't part with.

A. Email submissions - send art scans as a .jpg to designcontest@oxfordimpressions.com . If an item is multi-dimensional, send no more than 3 views per piece.

B. Postal submissions - send photos, copies or art in an envelope marked "DO NOT BEND" to the following address:

Oxford Impressions

Design Contest

P.O. Box 382721

Germantown, TN 38183-2721

3. All entries must be received by December 1st, 2008. Entries become the property of Oxford Impressions.  Entries may be displayed on the Oxford Impressions website or blog during judging and any time after new members have been announced.

 

4. Artist MUST demonstrate an ability to effectively use photo-style stamps.  Applicants are not required to use Oxford Impressions stamps for entry - any photo-style stamp will be sufficient.

5. Submission should include name and email address.  Please send a BRIEF note with the art generally outlining any past experience of getting your art published.  A specific list is not necessary, but recent publications would be of interest.  Being published is not a requirement for entry, however, a willingness to submit is a strong plus!

6. If you are currently a design team member for another rubber stamp company, please let us know.   Our team openings are for the year 2009. You may want to check with any company you currently work for to see what their policy is regarding multiple team commitments.  Oxford Impressions allows our design team members to participate in other design teams, but we expect an honest commitment of support for our products. Not all companies are as flexible.

Contest Judging:

I will personally review all submissions.  However, I will not be choosing the new members.  I will present a slate of the best candidates to a panel of qualified judges - the current design team members!  Each submission group will be identified by number only.  The six design team members will vote to choose their peers. The new members will be announced the first week of January.

If you have any questions, please contact me at designcontest@oxfordimpressions.com

I can't wait to see your art!  Thank you for participating!

Suzanne

Halloween Art - Rosemary Reid!

I am proud to show off some new Halloween art by Canadian artist Rosemary Reid.  I have received so many wonderful pieces of Halloween art this month, I created an entire "Halloween Art" Photo album. (Click the link or see the left sidebar of the blog.) I hope you will enjoy the art!

The Naked Witch

 

One of our newest collections, Wicked, has a naked witch image.  I knew from past experience (See our Soul of the Rose collection 2001) that I would catch some grief over the nudity. I like this image so much, however, I was willing to chance it.  What is it about this witch? Many things! First, she isn't an old crone, neither is she a young chick.  Her body is voluptuous and she is unashamedly "hanging it out there".  Look at her!  She isn't pretty, and yet she is clearly joyful. I could learn from this woman. This middle-aged witch makes me happy!  When I get the inevitable question, "A naked witch, Suzanne?"  I just grin and reply, "Yes! Isn't she great?!"

Halloween Art - Elizabeth Shea!

I love getting mail!  What rubber stamper doesn't?  Yesterday my mailbox was full of Halloween art from the very talented Elizabeth Shea!  The card above was created with rubber stamps from the "Trick or Treat" Collection. Elizabeth's art is regularly featured in a variety of Stampington publications.  See more of her gorgeous art in the galleries on the Oxford Impressions website.

Bread and Tulips

"Imagine your life.  Now go live it."  This is the tag line from the movie "Bread and Tulips".  I watched this intriguing foreign film today while working in my shop.  Almost every day, my job requires some manual labor.  I am by nature, a multi-tasker.  If my hands are busy, my brain needs entertainment.  If I need to think something over, I always find a menial task to complete while I ponder. When I'm in the shop, the best movies to watch are those I have seen before. Then, I am not compelled to look at the screen.  My mind fills in the visual based on the dialogue. 

Today, I broke that rule and watched something new.  I knew Silvio Soldini's "Bread and Tulips" was an Italian film, but I just assumed the movie had been dubbed for an American audience.  I was shocked by the absence of English.  "Subtitles?!  I'm going to have to read subtitles?!"  I snorted in disgust.  How was I going to follow the movie without watching every moment?  I was already engaged in my work, however, and decided that I would "listen" to the music and the murmur of soft Italian until I reached a stopping point. That point never came.  I was deeply hooked into the movie within the first five minutes and was compelled to watch to the end.

Rosalba is a middle-aged Italian housewife who is left behind at a road stop by her vacationing family tour group.  Her egotistical husband and self-absorbed teenagers do not notice her absence until it is too late to return for her.  Instead of staying put as her husband demands, she decides to hitch-hike home.  An opportunity to visit Venice arrises and Rosalba takes control of her destiny by going ... and staying!

The movie is one of self discovery; of finding personal joy. The runaway housewife forms friendships with a variety of quirky characters and builds a life filled with meaning and love.  The movie has gorgeous scenery and is visually beautiful.  The music, however, is just okay - no grand passionate strains that pluck at the heart and leave one haunted. That about sums up my only complaint about the film.  There is no grand passion; no extreme drama or emotion! Love and life are portrayed as calm, quiet beauty.  This is a more realistic outcome than we are used to in American movies.  We like our characters to overcome great adversity to get their reward.  We want the "bad guy" to get his deserved end - and we want to see it! Rosalba's cheating husband would not get off so lightly in the American version of this story.  I imagine him suffering a great deal more than the frustration over his lover refusing to iron his shirts. (She's his mistress, not his wife, as she reminds him.)

This is film is a total chick-flick, and it gave me a great deal of pleasure this quiet afternoon - 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5 in my opinion. I watch half a dozen movies a week and I'm always looking for something good. Leave me a comment and recommend your favorite! 

Halloween Bottlecap Bracelet

This fabulous Halloween Bracelet was created by my talented friend, Shelly Hickox!  She used the Oxford Impressions "Halloween Inchies" collage sheet and our bottle cap pack. Cool!

Halloween ATC by Wendy Robinson

I had to share this adorable Halloween ATC created by Wendy Robinson.  I just love the composition! All images are from the "Trick or Treat Collection" by Oxford Impressions. Thank you, Wendy!

Pink Palace Crafts Fair

"Too much is never enough" was MTV's slogan in the early days.  It also seems to apply to Memphis Festivals!  This weekend is the Pink Palace Crafts Fair and the last in my long string of art events. Instead of bounding with enthusiasm this morning, I questioned myself.  "Haven't I seen it all?  What else is there?! Do I really need to go to the Pink Palace Crafts Fair?"  I could actually stay at home this weekend. After briefly weighing the merits of clean laundry against the pleasures of exploring, I slung my camera over my shoulder and set out for the park. 

The Pink Palace Crafts Fair is naturally heavy on the "Crafts", but what sets this event apart is the demonstrations.  Not only can one admire and purchase a hand-made broom or basket, one can watch the artisans make them!  Over 30 types of crafts are demonstrated.  The visitor can see how soap is made, watch a bowl emerge from a chunk of wood and see strands of cotton become cloth.  To the curious, these processes are almost like magic.  When a raku potter pulled a bowl from a kettle of ash and plunged it into the water, there was an audible gasp as the steam cleared and the startling color of the bowl was revealed. Unfamiliar with Raku?  Visit the Pink Palace photo album to see a few examples.

My festival experiences are almost over for the year.  I'll be at the River Arts Festival November 1st. I will not be photographing this last event.  River Arts is a juried show and many serious artists frown on the photographing of their work - especially by amateurs.  As an artist, I am sensitive to the copyright issues.  I try my utmost to be respectful with my photos and ask permission.  I also try to shoot art at angles, or make sure the view is cropped so as not to show an entire, single piece.  This is why my festival albums are usually light on the art, and heavy on the human interest.  There is a reason I have so many pictures of the food booths!  Now. Go experience some art!

Wendy Robinson

Today Wendy Robinson shared her art with me!  Readers of Stampington publications know Wendy's art. She currently has TWO cards on the front of the Oct/Nov issue of Stamper's Sampler! (See below.) Her "Dance among the Shadows" card is the first card I've received that was created with my new "Trick or Treat" stamp collection. Thanks Wendy!

Wendy's Stamper's Sampler Cover: