It is with great pride that I announce my book
"STYLING the STARS - Lost Treasures from the Twentieth Century Fox Archive"
 The idea for this book took root when I discovered hundreds of never before seen continuity photographs in the Twentieth Century Fox archive while researching photos to include in"The Sound Of Music Family Scrapbook."   (There are a limited amount of copies available signed by the SOM7 left)
Through photographs never intended for the public eye, Styling the Stars takes fans of film, fashion, and photography inside the Twentieth Century Fox archive to deliver an intimate look at Hollywood's golden era and beyond.
I asked my friend Tom McLaren to collaborate with me and we were given unprecedented access to the archives. We are thrilled to bring these amazing photographs to you in one large, gloriously printed 9.8 x 13.2 inches, 304 page coffee table book.  
I will be happy to sign and personalize STYLING the STARS
for you. The book is a perfect holiday gift for anyone who loves movies, photography, fashion, hairstyles, movie stars or the film industry.  Come and meet Tom and me at one of our upcoming events. 

VROMANS BOOKSTORE
A discussion and booksigning

November 17th - 7:00pm
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-449-5320

A BEAUTIFUL MESS - HOME

We'll be signing our book while sipping on some bubbly to celebrate !
Join us November 15th = 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Whizin Market Square
28861 West Agoura Road
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
T- 818.874.9092

3rd Annual "Afternoon With the Authors"
A Day at The Barn  -  The Hollywood Heritage Museum
December 6th  -  12:00 pm - 4:00 pm  
Discussion and Booksigning
Jeffrey Thompson the 20th Century Fox archivist will also be joining Tom and me. 
In The Lasky-DeMille Barn
2100 North Highland Avenue  
(Across From The Hollywood Bowl)
Hollywood, California

loving deeply...

once again life has gotten in the way and it has been quite a while since I have posted.  there have been some trying times lately...great loss...some sadness... but i would like to share this poignant passage to ponder...it is by Henri Nouwen “Love Deeply,” found in his book “The Inner Voice of Love.” I feel like it is worth reading...  loving deeply contains great pain... is it worth it?

Do not hesitate to love and to love deeply. You might be afraid of the pain that deep love can cause. When those you love deeply reject you, leave you, or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love ever more fruitful. It is like a plow that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root and grow into a strong plant. Every time you experience the pain of rejection, absence, or death, you are faced with a choice. You can become bitter and decide not to love again, or you can stand straight in your pain and let the soil on which you stand become richer and more able to give life to new seeds.

The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you. They will become part of yourself and thus gradually build a community within you.

Those you have deeply loved become part of you. The longer you live, there will always be more people to be loved by you and to become part of your inner community. The wider your inner community becomes, the more easily you will recognize your own brothers and sisters in the strangers around you. Those who are alive within you will recognize those who are alive around you. The wider the community of your heart, the wider the community around you. Thus the pain of rejection, absence, and death can become fruitful. Yes, as you love deeply the ground of your heart will be broken more and more, but you will rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear. 

doodling for a good cause....

I hope you will consider bidding on my doodle or one of the many who have doodled for the NF Network.  100% of the proceeds go to the Neurofibromatosis Network

Go here Doodle #1 or Doodle #2

List of others on EBAY who have doodled for this cause...

spring is found in the treasure chest...

Spring had arrived...

here I am with my sister Veronica in our Easter bonnets and dresses

ready for our yearly Easter egg hunt... we always looked forward to the hunt...
 there were always Cadbury chocolates to be found...

This year my fashionable Mom had a new straw Easter hat too...

I remember it well...

My Mom always dressed us in the loveliest clothes...

My Dad in his suit with his girls and our French poodle Pierre...

Hope an Easter egg hunt is on your agenda too...

Happy Spring to one and all...

today is my mum's birthday...

Happy 90th Birthday to my Mom today... 

We colored many a picture together,
and have traveled many roads...
we have learned many of life's lessons...
and
in my heart there is a special place I hold,
just for my Mum...

lineage: a personal journey...

On May 31st, 2013 I told you about some art I was making called 'Lineage'. Well I am proud to say they did a lovely article on three of my pieces in the March/April issue of Somerset Studio Magazine which is on news stands the beginning of the month or available at Stampington & Company . (BTW have you checked out the Stampington store online lately...they have so many fantastic supplies and creative stuff...and they ship quickly too.)

The article describes how you can go on a personal journey and create your own lineage artwork.  Here's the three pieces that are in the article Lineage: A Personal & Private Journey, and a few pieces that were not that I wanted to share with all of you.

 The first piece they showed was a square piece 24" x 24" I made for my husbands birthday of his family that was rooted in Indiana and Kentucky in the USA.

The second piece they highlighted was of my roots which began in Great Britain. I love the Union Jack and this lineage journey actually began because I wanted to have the Union Jack flag displayed somewhere in my home. What better way to display it than adorned with old family treasured photos on this 12 x 24 art piece.

 The third piece was one I did for the Polamero/Tunzi family where I used the Greek flag as my background and the families personal photos, passport stamps, maps and ephemera.

I wanted to share with you a couple more of my Lineage altered art paintings that were not included in the article.

LINEAGE:  Henkle / Freedman
I thought I would point out a few of the special things in this piece. For the background I used the Flag of Wales, the James family crest, and a piece of the James tartan pattern all part of the family roots. These were intertwined with the photo booth picture of Rosemary Henkel that I hand painted, alongside her father’s passport picture. I scratched, distressed and painted with watercolor, acrylic and oil pastels portions of the photographs.

I made this piece in honor of my friend Connie’s mother who passed away when she was just 10 years old. A handwritten postcard from her mothers first trip she took without her children was a memory Connie definitely wanted to preserve. The beehive image was used to symbolize Utah, where her mother lived. A specific memory Connie has was that of her mother constantly crafting - crocheting, embroidering and stitching on the bus she rode home from work each day. I attached pieces of sewing tissue over some of the images as a symbol of her love of handcrafting.

LINEAGE: Brunengraver Sisters / Kessler/Hartz

For this piece the concentration was on the city of Queens in New York.  This is the place where Lena and Jacob German emigrated to from Germany in the 1800’s and resided in Ridgewood, New York  with their five daughters.  Lena Brunengraver owned the Pork Store on Forest Street and was an influential family in the state of New York... so a map of the city streets seemed a perfect background for the family’s treasured images of their Queens roots, home and business. 

You can see the article in Somerset Studios Magazine on my website by clicking here... 

I hope it inspires you to follow your own lineage and display some of those family images trapped in that shoe box. 

Happy 2014!

Here's to a kinder, gentler year ahead...