Tammy's Tablet

Grandma's Birthday Gift

2008-07-16T21:36:00Z

Here's the latest creation - I actually finished it up a couple of weeks ago and sent it off to my grandma for her birthday! This piece memorializes her grade school marble champion title!

Father's Day Gift!

2008-06-12T16:45:00Z

Here's my latest creation that will find it's way to my dad for father's day. Dad is a model railroading fanatic and chases trains all over the country to tak photos of them, so I hope he likes this creation just for him!

Lake Superior Altered Pics

2008-05-10T20:29:00Z

Even with the skyrocketing gas prices my husband and I still love to drive up the shores of Lake Superior to see the ever-changing lake. We only have to go a few miles and we can walk too, we don't even have to drive! I combined a couple of my most recent pics of mossy rocks along the shore to create this montage.

Kai's Quilt

2008-04-08T21:20:00Z

Here you can see the quilt that many members of the Artella community contributed their creativity and well wishes to greet Marney and Tony's new baby, Kai, who will be arriving shortly!

Hollywood in Duluth!!!

2008-03-25T20:06:00Z

Yesterday was so exciting as my favorite living actor was here in my hometown - all the way up north in Duluth, Minnesota!!! George Clooney and Renee Zellweger kicked off a press tour to promote their upcoming film, "Leatherheads," a fictionalized account of the Duluth Eskimos football team during the infancy of the NFL. That'a ll the factual stuff - now on to that I was a foot away from George Clooney - someone that I never imagined I would be in the same city or same room - and he was that close!!! I took lots of pictures and wanted to share them as I'm proud of them especially given that I only had about a minute and had to contend with the pushing crowd and all. I did a little Photoshop work to these shots - I added a sepia tone and film grain effect to match the era and tone of the movie as well as his attire. Sadly, I was not able to get any pics of Renee as she was too far away and people's heads were in my way.

Birches Calligraphy

2008-03-10T16:20:00Z

Here is my latest creation - it turned out even better than I had hoped for!!! It took longer than I had hoped as I was pretty sick for nearly a couple of weeks but I am thrilled to have completed it at last!

This piece combines my photography of birch trees around our area in the Northwoods of Minnesota with calligraphy and handmade beads that are reminiscent of birch bark.

I came across these words by Robert Frost and knew they were just perfect for this project. The latin term for the birch is also lettered on the piece. The elements are tied together with the painted canvas, dyed cheesecloth, fabric, trim and birch branches. The peice measures 16" x 27" and I'm getting ready to submit it to Sew Somerset for consideration for their next issue.

I'm also excited to begin my next piece which will feature pines - we're supposed to be getting some more snow here this week so I'm hoping to go get some more shots of snow covered pines to use in that piece.

Winter Wonder Moments

2008-02-20T20:58:00Z

Following a whim and experiencing nature equate to a day of many perfect moments. My husband and I spent a day over the weekend did just that over the weekend. We had created quite a list over the last few months of places to visit and explore in our new hometown, so following a wonderful breakfast of scones, carmelized pears, and strawberry-covered waffles (perfect moment #1) we began to recall out loud some of those places we wanted to explore and went! We drove up the North Shore of Lake Superior and walked around the town of Two Harbors, visited a lighthouse in the area and took lots of pictures (perfect moment #2)! My husband even stuck his hand in the unfrozen lake water (which is ice cold, even in the heat of summer!). Then we drove back to Duluth and went hiking along a road that they shut down in the winter due to the conditions but it's perfect for walking and cross country skiing. We were surrounded by millions of birch and pine trees and newly fallen snow (perfect moment#4) and took tons more pictures which I am very excited to combine with my calligraphy! At the end of the day, my husband and I both felt so peaceful and inspired and refreshed and began looking forward to another hike in the woods (perfect moment #4).

Valentine's Day Gift

2008-02-14T16:59:00Z

Here is my latest calligraphic creation - one of my Valentine's gifts for my hubby! I had it sitting at the table when he came down for breakfast this morning and he was so excited to take it to work and show it to all of his fellow professors!

The various languages here are English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German, and Dutch!

http://www.artellaland.com/TammyHensley.html

J'adore Chocolat

2008-02-13T23:43:00Z

My love letter to ...CHOCOLATE! It may seem slightly unusual to proclaim my love for chocolate in a letter, but as Valentine's Day quickly approaches, I thought there could be no better time to do so. Chocolate for me is not only associated with Valentine's Day but every day! For many years, Valentine's Day was pretty inconsequential to me in the romantic love sense anyway - it was still meaningful and I still took the opportunity to express my love for friends and family in creative and heartfelt ways. But chocolate may truly have always been my first love! Husbands are wonderful, but I can occasionally be angry with my husband. I don't recall ever having been angry at chocolate unless there was none to be found - but wait, I've never let that be the case in my house!!! It's always there! The taste, even the color - it's a comforting, enveloping, warm hue!!!! Now Valentine's Day is yet another occasion to indulge in this marvelous concoction!!! For this V-Day, I'll be making Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate-filled Croissants) to surprise my husband at breakfast and Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes for dessert at dinner (there's nothing wrong with me getting to enjoy them, as well!!!). Cooking and baking are another art form to me and chocolate is my most favorite media to incorporate!

The first thought in my head this morning...

2008-02-04T04:13:00Z

is "Oh, No! - It's Monday and my weekend is gone!!!" The second thought in my head occurs a nanosecond later when I look at the clock on my cell phone to discover that it is, in fact, only Sunday morning!!! I still have time to create my Valentine's gifts for my family and my husband!!! I can still stitch away on the pretty petite pincushions for my mom to use while she's quilting; I'm still able to bring out my pen and inks to pen and collage homemade valentines to send off to my brother and sister and still make the mushy cards for my hubby to find stashed in his briefcase, under his pillow, and taped to the bathroom mirror when he wakes in the morning. I'm just grateful to have a day to make meaningful gifts for my family and create beauty on a beautiful January day in Minnesota!

More Calligraphy - Valentine's Inspired!

2008-02-03T22:03:00Z

I've been inspired by the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday and created some more calligraphy featuring "love"ly quotations! A set of notecards featuring these designs will soon be available in my Artella shoppe! I hope you like them!!!

http://www.artellaland.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=83

Faraway Friend Gift

2008-01-29T16:58:00Z

I was finally able to finish another project after about nine months! It's a small calligraphy piece for my faraway friend! She just received it and loved it!

It's just felt so wonderful to be delving back into calligraphy again! I'm in the midst of working on some valentine-themed pieces that will be donated to a local fundraiser and available to purchase in the Shoppes very soon!

Sunday morning quiet

2008-01-27T15:10:00Z

It has been sooooooooooo long since I've written!!! So, I thought, while my very sick hubby sleeps (he has the flu, which I'm trying desperately to avoid getting!), I would take a couple minutes and jot something down. I'm thrilled to have actually completed a project this week that I have been trying to get to for about five years now!!! I've included a pic of the two trunks that I refurbished and decorated. They happily reside in my studio/craft room; they bring a smile to my face and inspire me every time I walk in the room!

The base of each trunk is painted and embellished with artistic words.

I padded the lid of each trunk and cut up an antique quilt to create comfy seating for when I want to curl up with my magazines and books for inspiration!

Somerset Home came today!

2007-07-14T22:46:00Z

I was so happy to go out to get the mail and discover that I had really fun mail! Somerset Home arrived today and I'm there on page 93! It was also nice to have something to cheer me up as I find myself feeling sad as I'm packing up my house and especially as I pack up my studio/office. I've never been a big fan of packing and moving to begin with but it's that much harder for me when our home starts to like an empty, hollow room. As excited as I am that Somerset Home is here, I find myself having to keep it another room so I'm not tempted to spend hours looking over the sumptuous pages and keep packing!

Seeing my name in lights (well, not lights exactly, but print...)

2007-07-03T20:02:00Z

I just received a piece of my artwork back that's going to be featured in a magazine in a few short weeks. I get so excited when this happens especially when I think about the days when I thought that I would never see anything I created out there for the world to see! This will be my fourth time having a piece featured in one of the Somerset publications. My hubby gets so jealous and says he has to catch up to me in publications (we are in completely different fields so it's not really a competition!). My next goal is to be featured on a cover, but that will have to wait til we get settled in our new place and I have time to create my own art again!