OWOH- 2011, Welcome! Welcome!

This post will stay at the top until 2/16/2011

just scroll on down to see what Art from my Heart is about and my most current post.

There will also be updates to this post if you want to check back.

*Updated 02-01-11, scroll down to see the heart*

Welcome to my blog, Art from my Heart. I live in beautiful southern california, USA
My name is Marie Segal and I am a stay at home gramma and artist. Sounds like a 12 step meeting doesn't it?
In a way it is. I work for myself and I create, teach, and live my artistic life, I also watch my 2 year old grand daughter, Madi, 5 days a week and sometimes on the weekend when her mother has appointments or things going on!
I mostly feel grateful for this, except when I want to go to the bathroom by myself, eat my own food with out sharing, work on my pieces uninterrupted, or have a moment of silence from 2 year old chatter. ;-D
We, though, are learning to share with each other.
The thing about working as an artist sometimes is that if you do not do the work or you are sick, you will not get paid, so it has been a process of learning how to stay motivated and make things, write about them, and teaching. I can not just play when the muse comes to visit. I have to play whether the muse comes or not.

I entered in to the OWOH giant blog meet and greet last year, at the last minute, when I my Mother in law had just passed away and I needed something to fill up my brain instead of the sadness. This was actually one of the best things I could have done.

Thank you, Lisa Swifka (she runs this thing), at A Whimsical Boheimian. There were 1100+ bloggers participating in this last year. I loved visiting and finding out about my fellow bloggers and looking at their pages and the art work or writings, I felt like I was spending time with dear, like-minded friends, and sitting in their studios with them. You may still have time to sign up if you want to and you can do it here
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/2010/12/annoucning-the-fifth-and-final-one-world-one-heart-event-.html
This set me down right in the middle of a huge creative community, people searching for themselves and looking for what makes their hearts sing. It also became the time when I started feeling like a blogger and relating to the other bloggers around me. Being a stay at home gramma and artist can be an isolating experience, but not now, I have a community here and you can too. Visit the other multitudes of people here.
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart-1.html




Bluebird of happiness

Here is the bird finished

 Also if you leave a comment below I will give you a entry in to my giveaway. I am going to make something out of this OWOH bird, either a necklace or pendant, I have even been known to add a few more pieces if I have a lot of comments, I do have my comment moderation on and I will be out until tomorrow until 1/31/11, leave your comment anyway, they will post when I get back.
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your precious time with me, I am honored by your visit.

1/31/11
I was gone all weekend in Los Angeles, thus the brief post for OWOH. I am going to be closing this early on the 16th, but will posting the winners on the 17th and sending my stuff out from the other side of the US. My daughters got me a ticket to go see my mother and father. It was my Christmas present, along with a scrapbook already set up for florida and my visit. I couldn't figure out why they would give that scrapbook. I kept looking for clues and they said MOM, don't you get it? You are going! It was one of the most heart loaded surprises of my life and I get to spend a week with my mom and dad. I just wanted to share this with you that are going through some tough times too. You just never know when someone will likely make your day. Keep your chin up and keep smiling.

When this ends I will be on the other side.

I was gone to CHA/Los Angeles for work purposes and preparing for it weeks before, at the start and at the end of OWOH I was and will be gone, but I just couldn't miss Lisa's final OWOH. It has been a light in my life this year and I can honestly say that I have met some outstanding, honest, talented, caring, and genuine people through this event! Yes indeed, there are tons of good people out there, I have learned and lived the law of contrast ;-D

I am now working on some more pieces for this event.
This is a glimpse of what is coming next and it will evolve in the process, but this is commemoration piece for this OWOH Journey we are now on.
Blessings all over you all.

2nd piece, not finished yet though!

Finished

This how Lisa describes her wonderful event!
One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy.

OWOH 2011- finished pieces

If you want to win these DO NOT respond here, go here http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/01/owoh-2011-welcome-welcome.html

This post is to say hi to everyone and to show the now finished OWOH pieces.
I finished the Blue Bird of Happiness necklace. I love him!



This is the picture in the OWOH post



I am really happy with the beaded part, I used faux pearls and silver bead caps on each one, I wire wrapper each link in almost a rosary flare. On the right side I used 3 pink glass hearts and a little gold tone metal heart hanging from it. I thought if I used the gold in the crown and the little gold heart that it could be worn with either metal.



This is the finished necklace with additions and embellishments



I added an iridescent blue acrylic paint to the blue bird to give a sheen to his feathers and then I added a blush of gold acrylic to the crown to pop that out.

To top that off I have a green crystal on the crown.



Here is the whole necklace

 I added a handmade 20 gauge non tarnish silver wire hook with a 16 tinned copper jump rings. All the the faux pearls are wrapped with 2o gauge non tarnish silver wire.
The non tarnish silver is copper wire with a silver plate, the tinned copper wire is copper with a tinned plating.
This will go to the first person picked. Unless of course the wish to have the heart here.
I am thinking about making more birds, they love Madi and are around her all of the time. I am seeing them everywhere. She loves that they can fly and sing too, she says "Burd, Burd, tweet tweet, gamma"
It is the cutest thing,


This is the OWOH commemorative heart necklace.

 This is a world heart with OWOH letter circles of granite clay on it. I also has a red heart on it. It also has the year on it because this is the last year that Lisa Swifka at A Whimsical Bohemian is going to do this blog social and you can see from the other people that are involved in this project of hers that this has been a life affirming and pleasurable experience for all of us. Thank you Lisa, this is a wonderful thing you have done and I, for one, appreciate so much all of the work and hours you have put in to this event and I will miss the magic of it. But as I am starting to realize, somethings are never copied or remade in the same magnificence of the original.

This is a pendent with all the colors of the earth and sky in the ribbons that make up the necklace hanger.
So those are my two pieces.
And if you follow or read my blog, but you do not have a blog, you are so welcome to play and enter also. Enter here.
Good luck everyone.
I am running around trying to read all of the posted blog for this event, which was when I checked last at 780, it is still not too late to join us, you can go here to find out about it too