Feeling Foxie?

I have a new batch of Foxgloves, this time on black.  I have also fine tuned my design.  I really wanted the cute little foxy fella to be bigger.  I'm pleased with the turn out.  Almost like wearing a puppet instead of a design.  Happy Autumn! 

Getting the most of the last few days of summer

How does August 1 roll around so fast every summer? We get the sudden urge to get out in the woods, hike our favorite trails, go play in nature. Here's the gorgeous Sahalie falls in Oregon.


My boys enjoying the cool mist coming off the icy blue waters.


The water rushes down river in a fast rush, but there are little quiet pools to cool your pads.


The amazing blue.




Surprises along the trail.

The old wood bridge above Sahalie falls.


Our local Mt Pisgah park. Its so important for kids to have time to leap, play, climb, explore in nature.


One explorer, and one who loves to catch fish to inhabit the temporary pools before being released.


What artist mama isn't inspired by a good hike and time to play by the river?
Happy summer Oregon 2011.

Around the studio and kitchen

This clematis has gone crazy this year, almost obscuring my studio window! A pretty green and purple curtain.



I highly recommend taking Carla Sondheim's online art classes. She's sooooo much fun! Great exercises for new or experienced artists. Each class is a week long, and very affordable. Easy to fit into any summer/fall schedule. I had a blast and learned some new techniques.


More tiny little people.........

Favorite blooms.

I love watching poppies unfold.

This flower has a little owlet under.

Quillan's gluten-free birthday carrot, pineapple, spice cake, sweetened with coconut nectar and honey. He loved it.

Ok, this isn't the prettiest picture, but it symbolizes the OTHER big hobby I've been spending my time on this summer (besides making fun things for my etsy shops and stocking up for the holidays).

I recently compleeted a series of food sensitivity tests and now realize I need to feed myself and my family with foods free of wheat, cane sugar, corn, yeast, sesame, coffee, chocolate, and many small items.

The results were overwhelming at first, but I wasn't feeling well, so I dove into a cleanse (that included being dairy free as well) and have spent a long time learning new ways of cooking (baking gluten free and alternatives to cane sugar). Due to the combination of foods I'm avoiding, I've had to cook everything from scratch: condiments, dips, sauce, as well as any baked goods we want to eat.

A month later, I'm feeling excellent, food addiction-free, 8lbs lighter, have learned so much about food ingredients, and how big industry creates our cultural reliance on foods that aren't good for us.

I may or may not add more posts about food, so for my main message, I'd like to encourage anyone diagnosed with food allergies or sensitivities- know you aren't alone. More and more people are becoming educated about food issues. Don't worry about what you "can't eat", just jump in and learn how good you can feel. No food tastes better than feeling great. AND both my kids LOVE all the news grains we've added to our diet, all the cooking we do together, and eating even MORE healthful food.

Dreamy Days

Who knew it would be 61 degrees and rainy most of this summer week. Dreamy, rainy, sweater wearing weather. Our pool towels hang sadly on the fence, awaiting the sun, commiserating with the grumpy tomato plants. But never mind. Lazy rainy summer days are also for slow brunch with friends, dallying over long kitchen table games with the kids, trampoline jumping in the rain, afternoons painting in the studio.

Yellow House
9 x 12" Acrylic

New Bliss Totes

New Bliss Totes in the house. Freshly hand painted canvas bags ready to tote your farmers market goods home, your knitting to the meet up, your drawing book and supplies to the park, your wallet and fav novel to the coffee shop, your lunch to work.... yep these totes can handle it all while being a walking piece of art.


Close up.... I'm having a blissful time making these.



"The Sky's the Limit" painting is dedicated to my dad, who's birthday is tomorrow. Fly high in life! See it all!


The Hummingbird bag. Layers of acrylic stamps, hand made stencils, rollers and secret writing later. One of a kind urban art bag- just for you.

See them all at Alythered.etsy.com

Urban Art Coffee Cozies- NEW product

Urban art for your coffee cuff.

My original miniature canvas paintings for your coffee cups. These perfectly fitting, reusable, insulated sleeves, will render your cup unmistakable for anyone else's drink at your table or meeting.

Painted and stitched canvas, paper cloth, and stamped images, sewn over an insulating layer. These coffee cozies fit regular sized coffee shop paper cups, ice coffee cups, ceramic "180 degrees" cups, and pint glasses, making them the perfect accompaniment to all of your outings.

Great gift for coffee and tea loving boys and girlz of all ages.

Designed, hand painted, stitched, and sold by me AlyTheRed.etsy.com at Bliss Monkey Studio- bringing you the most playful, original, and artsie coffee cozies since 2007.

Art Journal Pages

This is the pretty art journal I bought at ArtFest 2011. The handmade style, thick watercolor paper, colors, and stitched leather butterfly spoke to me. I like the small scale for painting experiements, storing favorite color palettes, and small journal entries/thoughts.



Page one lay out. Collage, then layered, washy acrylic paint, stamps, stencils, pencil, sharpie handwriting.


My Wicked ticket embeded in a layer of matte medium. Paints, etc....


The Sun and Moon layout, with a cut page, reveling the moon's sky page.


Cut out shows the colors from the sun page.



Ooooo, lots of blank pages yet.....

What's Growing Wednesday

What's growing outside Bliss Monkey Studio? Fancy pointy tulips.

I planted a bunch of bulbs last fall and it's so exciting to watch them come up. I can only 1/2 remember WHAT sort of bulbs I put in around the yard, and this is the first flowering.


Flowering kale. I love growing over wintering Kale. Yummy to eat through the cold months, then I pull it out when the aphids arrive. Rather than fight them for it, I've just taken to growing it seasonally.


The plum trees take turns blooming in early spring. All the bees gather for a humming session on warm days. Imagine the scent of all those blooms and the lovely sound of the buzzing?



I left a power cord out on the walk way and when I came home, it had made a friend. See what it is?

Artfest Day Three!

Everyone has been asking me what "trades" are. Artfest, with it's 500-600 attendees, has a tradition of bringing small works or art, small journals, artist trading cards, and charms to trade with others. It's fun.

Here's most of my haul. Everything was so creative and thoughtful: pins, tape to use in your journal, artist trading cards, packs of ephemera, or tiny packs of decorative paper, pins, and all different charms.


Look at the art! There's something delicious about teensy art, isn't there?


I brought 85 trades: printed bookmarks from a slice of artquilt I had made, my silk screened patches (like above) on linen, and a few of these wearable coffee cozies that I brought to give to my room mates and teachers.


Day Three class was Paperclay with Michelle Allen from Portland. We had good day learning how to turn tin foil (armature) and paperclay into fully formed little creatures full of life and personality. She brought tons of paint and materials for us to play with, and was fun and encouraging.

I was interested in taking the class because I haven't done any sort of sculpting in a long time, am drawn to paperclay, and wanted to learn how to make figures look old and rich with paint. Of course anything new I learn, I'm eager to share with my kids, and our friends. Paper clay is so much fun!



Here's my droll bunny figure. Interesting how working with clay, or in dollmaking, you just start working and the doll starts to form itself and tell stories. Mr Bunny has a hanging hook, a heart, and little tiny copper wings in back.

Oh! So how did we create the color? Layers of very thin acrylic paints. Layers and layers, slowly building up color and richness and letting dark browns fill into the cracks.

It was fascinating to learn Michelle's techniques, and I related to her great focus on the face of the creature. That's just everything. If the face doesn't look right, I have to keep working on it until it looks good to me, before I do the rest of the body, or there just isn't any soul in the wee thing.


Wonderful work from other students....... love this guy!


Here's our collection at the end of the afternoon. Look at all the awesomeness!


More paper clay friends!


Fabulous flying birds a classmate made, and plans to hang in her antique bird cages.


Here's one of Michelle's paper clay scenes, set in a box. Two figures on a swing. Completely charming and lovely. I recall her advising us "not to fall into trying to produce these to sell, as we'd never recoup the hours we'd put into them". I imagine so. This is a very slow, rewarding process, but not something that can be streamlined for sale.


My cutie wonderful room mates. First thing in the morning and we weren't really awake or fed yet. Sorry to post this one Girlz, but it's the only one I've got. Miss you!


A view of our bunk house from the commons.




Night walk on the beach. What a lovely setting.


And unexpected thing happened to me during Artfest. I begrudgingly developed a crush on art journaling. My resistance comes from being creative for a living. I keep a personal journal, and fill sketchbooks. I ask myself why would I want to pour time and art into a book that no one sees? After watching everyone art journal for four days, and asking questions I am intrigued.

I bought a fancy bound journal with fabulous paper, at the show, and I cut up a sheet of watercolor paper at the artstore and stitched up a very Teesha style collage journal. I've had a blast collaging and painting away in it. I maybe, just maybe, will scan and post my explorations.


Finished Green Angel Painting on canvas, with machine sewing, buttons, and fabric edge finish.