That's what the cashier at Goodwill said to me when I checked out. The other books were around a dollar so I guess she thought the extra .97 cents would shock me or something.  Actually I was shocked that I got all 4 of these books so cheaply!

I love old books. The smell, the formality of language is different, and I always wonder who owned these books before me.  What were they like, why did they buy this book? Especially the one below, The Conquest of Disease by Thurman Rice.

The Governor's Daughter is described as an "engaging and exciting story about the lovely, spirited daughter of the Royal Governor of New York Colony who undertook a daring venture to aid her country - and who lost her heart to a man as bold and proud as she!" I do not read love stories but the cover got me I have to admit it.

And then there's Theodor Storm's Imensee. It's in German and I don't speak German but I'm 95% German so I bought it. What? ;)

What a random selection! I don't know how I'm going to incorporate them into my artwork but they were bought with the purpose of making art so I'm sure I'll figure something out.  Any suggestions? Of course I won't be touching the German book because one of my many ancestors named Johannes or Wilhelm will probably haunt me in my dreams if I scribble over the German written word. :) 

I've been wanting to make a zine for awhile but didn't know how to go about it until I read online about a mini zine, basically a cleverly folded piece of paper. This video shows you how to fold the paper:

But what to put in it? I remembered back in high school how I'd photocopy images of paintings and pin the photocopies on my walls at home. Weird I know but I thought I'd do something similar for this zine, so I made some mini paintings and photocopied them. 

I'm also very proud of the image on the cover, it's from an old photo I found that belonged to my grandmother. :) I made 50 copies so if you'd like one please send me your name and address to my email staunch@staunchstudio.com.  This first volume is free because my folding skills were not up to par and also I learned some things along the way that will make my second volume better. 

Have you made any zines and what were your experiences?

So yeah, it's been several months since I've posted on this blog.  Blogging intimidates me, I mean what do I say? And why would I think anything I have to say is interesting to you all? But I need to get past that I suppose so here begins my 1000th attempt at regularly blogging. I'm setting a reasonable goal of one post a week to get back in the groove.  I've tried it before and it hasn't worked but I'm stubborn as hell so maybe it will work this time. :)

This post will be super easy on me and you-my submission to the Twitter Art Exhibit, which is being run by the amazing David Sandum. You can read more about the exhibit and the charity it's supporting in this blog post.  Lots of wonderful artists are participating and it was cool to have such awesome vibes surrounding this painting as I worked on it. 

I decided to call the painting "Instantly New".  I've become obsessed with sanding away everything on a painting right now.