A good week

Well, it has been a good week.  Fun, creative, and productive.  I am proud of myself for doing what I said I would do--got "in the studio" by 8:30 a.m., which also stopped me from going back to bed and wasting the day.  I also managed to avoid floundering about what I wanted to do, thanks to all the thinking I did in the last couple of weeks about what I hope to achieve this year.  I've got goals!  :-)  

These first pics are of the little book I cut pages for last week, mentioned in my last blog post.  I made covers for it from white presentation board.  So far I have decorated only the front of the front cover, but I was pleased with it.  The tree is from a KaiserCraft wood piece (used as a mask), and the rest of the materials used include Adirondack Color Washes, thin Prismacolor markers,  Distress Ink pads, and Sharpie poster paint markers.

I love trees, with or without leaves

Last night while occupying myself in the lobby of the Brushy Creek Community Center during the kids' taekwondo classes, I put myself to work using some of the doodle ideas from Traci's Strathmore workshop on one of the inside pages.  It was fun!  I mainly used a Micron pen, but there are a few bits of a blue Sharpie poster paint marker as well.  Adding the border transformed the page, and also I noticed again how extremely useful Zentangling has been for helping me doodle.  I do remember that I used to *love* to doodle when I was in high school and would draw loads and loads of different sizes of circles on pages . . . need to get back to that.

Doodle close-up

Another thing I am really quite pleased with is that I did something new this week:  carved my own stamp!  Traci Bautista's Strathmore workshop had me thinking about this yet again, as I have many times before, and then when I was wandering around Jerry's Artarama early last week I noticed that they had a new kit by Speedball for stamp carving.  Clearly a sign that I was meant to get it and do it!  It is one more way for me to make my art my own.  The kit came with a small piece of pink rubber block, a knife handle and two tips, and tracing paper.  I searched my drawers of stuff for a suitable image and ended up using the top of the palm tree from the Mexican loteria cards (#51).  Traced, transferred, and carved.  It was so much easier than I expected it would be!  I added the lines within the design myself.  It may not look like much to anyone else, but I love it.

On Friday I finally made a decision about what kind of book to make. One of my goals this year is to become much more familiar and practiced with different book structures. Often I get bogged down in aspects of that which I think I "should" do . . . so this time I decided that my goal was simply to practice the book form, and thus I wasn't going to add pressure to myself to embellish or create the perfect cover at the same time.   Voila--unblocked.

I measured and cut boards, sanded the edges, and cut paper from a beautiful sheet I'd gotten from Hollander's a couple of years ago.  I have found that I have an unsettling & probably unhealthy urge to hoard supplies for the "perfect" use, but I am coming to realize there is no such thing.  So with nary a qualm I pulled out the paper and cut it up for this project.  (With some of the scraps I even made a smaller book.)  I did not yet get to the point of punching holes in the signatures or the covers; that will come this week.

Small boards (3-1/2" square) covered
with scrap from the big notebook

My plan is to do my first caterpillar stitch.  It's not exactly clear to me how one attaches the signatures, since normally one works up from the back cover and this caterpillar appears to go the opposite way, but it did occur to me yesterday that I can do the cover stitching, and when I get to the signatures, I can just turn the whole thing 180 degrees so that I feel I am adding signatures from the back cover to the front.  Hopefully that will work.

The little book came out quite cute.  As the covers are 3-1/2" square, I cut the pages to be 3-1/4" square.  I used many different shades of Archiver's card stock that I thought would look good with the book cover:  kraft, cabernet, pomegranate splash, pastel yellow, carob cream, neutral tan, pear crush, natural, cream white, sugar cream, and fudge cover.  The point was for this to be quick and easy (and not lay around half-finished for weeks or months), so I used my new Cinch 2 that I got in a great post-Thanksgiving Day sale.  Worked great!

Finally, at the weekend I came across the site of Marilyn Scott-Waters, and from it I did the following little cover for a 5x8" ruled pad.  It was easy and took all of about 10 minutes to do, and it gave me some great ideas for making my own.  Plus it is something my daughter will like and also something she can help me do.

Front cover, added to a 5x8"
lined notepad from Office Depot

The inside has a pocket;
I covered up the Office Depot logo
as best I could with lace tape

So upcoming this week I seem to have lots of social engagements and not that many days of uninterrupted creative time.  Thus I am setting goals that I think I can accomplish without pressurizing myself:  do the last week of Traci Bautista's workshop, and complete the caterpillar book.  Ought to be able to get my head around that!

Whoosh! There went the last two weeks

Well, I was doing so well there with the reverb10 prompts, and then all of a sudden I didn't even have a chance to think in the privacy of my own head about whatever I wanted to--I had to think about the thing I had to do next.  And I very consciously make an effort not to overcommit myself too!  I shudder to think how things might be if I didn't do that.

2007 bookmark/gift tag for the PE coach

It was primarily the end of school for my kids that sucked up my time.  At my son's school the families give gift cards to the teachers at the holiday party, and ever since my first year there I felt that although that was absolutely the best gift to give, it was also rather impersonal and lacked any "wow factor".  So I volunteered that year to make bookmarks that also served as the gift tags attached to the cards.  I cut each one by hand, selected reproductions of vintage schoolbook covers that fit with each teacher's subject area, and fastened them on with eyelets.  That year there were only 12 . . . this year there were 47.

2007 bookmark/gift tag
for a kindergarten teacher

2007 bookmark/gift tag
for a humanities teacher

I made custom embellishments using fragments, punched out individual tags, wrote each teacher's name on the tag, made the envelope for the gift card from the signatures that families had left on a sheet of paper in the lobby (scanned it into Photoshop Elements & added a layer of generic winter scenes--we strive for multicultural rather than Christmas specifically), folded each one into an envelope, tied ribbon around it to keep it closed, then tied each tag onto the ribbon.  As you can imagine, if you made it through that entire sentence, it took me a while!

I could have had help if I'd gotten prepared a little earlier, but that's my own fault that I didn't, and honestly, I didn't mind.  I recognized that it was important to me, and when I thought of using fragments to make a decoration for each one, I had that inner feeling that nothing else was going to do, so I might as well just get on with it and enjoy the process.  And I did!  Unfortunately, I didn't even have time to take pictures of the finished products, so nothing to share visually from this year's gifts.

2007 bookmark/gift tag
for a science teacher

At the same time, I also had to make a double recipe of shepherd's pie to take (my son got put in charge of the food committee this year, so I felt obligted to contribute something more than my usual plastic utensils & paper plates).  Then there was finding our enormous crock-pot from the boxes in the garage so I could take it to my daughter's school for their party, and getting all our holiday cards ready for sending . . . I didn't even have a chance for a few days there to read my blog list, and I ALWAYS do that.

Things seem to have settled down now, although I have a cold my daughter so generously passed on to me (luckily she doesn't seem to have shared her ear infection too) and I am hosting Christmas dinner for 11 adults & six children.  I am looking forward both to blogging and making things again.  Yesterday I did have a very successful day making a present for a cousin who'll be here for Xmas . . . I'll post about that soon as well as revisit some of the reverb10 prompts I've missed.

Journal Pages

So today I thought I had this lovely morning + early afternoon to do arty things, and then I ended up doing necessary household stuff (although I did get my most recent post up as a reward to myself just before dashing out of the house).  

packing tape transfer from a catalog

Finally mid-afternoon I had 45 minutes to myself while my daughter was in her ballet class, so I worked on a few more journal pages.

 

Mainly I had some little circles I'd punched out from a magazine ad--I just loved the shade of orange it was--and I needed to do something with them before they got lost or thrown away.  

Then I did things here and there to other pages as I could, nothing fancy since I didn't have a lot of time.  

It felt good to get lost that way for a little while in all the rush of the day.

"Courage" Portfolio Cover and Small Notebook

Well, so much for my attempt at posting once a day this month (much less doing something artsy each day and writing about it!)--but I'm not unhappy or disappointed.  I'm proud of myself for that!

My mom was visiting for five days (whirlwind trip that included attending an outdoor performance of Hamlet under an oak tree on the edge of a graveyard as well as the opening night of La Traviata), and trying to fit all the other stuff in simply wasn't going to happen.  But I did feel that I was creative every day--on both Thursday and Friday we played our duets together (Mom on tenor recorder, me on a folk harp), and on Wednesday and Sunday I prepared nice meals for us to share.  Sunday evening, her last night, I made risotto with carnaroli rice and fresh parsley & dill, topped with roast chicken and drizzled with an aged balsamic sauce.  One of my favorite dishes--visually appealing, healthy, and delicious.  Then today I had to spend a lot of time doing finances with my husband; not any fun, but necessary, unfortunately.

So I am going to post up about a couple of notebooks that I made at the beginning of the summer for my cousin who was both turning 18 and graduating from high school.  She has had a difficult childhood and IMO never got the support she needed from either her parents or the school system, and it's a testament to her strong will that she is still here, frankly.  But I find it difficult to talk to her (always hear in my head how stupid I sound trying to talk to a teenager when I'm forty with two kids) in person, so I tried to put all my feelings, hopes, and emotions into what I made for her.

As always, I didn't have enough time, so they aren't very complicated.  The saving grace is that everything was done by my own hands--at least I hope I can lean on that :-).

For one item, I made a portfolio cover (inside it holds manga illustration pads, since she is writing cartoons but has others do the illustrations), and the bookplate design I crafted in Photoshop Elements.  I used scans from some old diary pages of hers and then wrote "COURAGE" over the top.  The cover is painted with Lumiere paints, and I affixed a great multitude of carefully selected talismans and embellishments to the book rings.

I also made a smaller notebook that would be easier to shove in a backpack.  It has painted grungeboard covers (I mixed up a custom shade of purple--her favorite color, again using Lumiere paints), and for the little special touch, I put some origami paper behind the keyhole decoration.

My hope is that she spent time at some point looking at all these things and knowing that I made it for her.  I haven't heard from her about them, but my guess is that 20 years down the road she'll say something about it.  It's okay that she hasn't said anything, too.  I probably wouldn't have at that age either, and anyway, that's not why I made them--to hear a response.  I made them because I needed to give them to her, end of story.

Faux Vintage Glass Shards

Been plugging away at those holiday cards, and look what I discovered the other day . . . the excess Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint that I brushed off the edges of a tag looked like this.
They would be great in a mixed media project or in one of those cute little Ranger Memory Capsules. Everywhere you look, there's beauty if you're open to it.

Visual Journaling--papers and media

I thought I'd share a little more of my personal "discoveries" (new to me, at least!) and what I synthesized out of all the investigation I did in preparation for my son's middle school visual journaling project.

The first thing I decided needed to be determined was what paper to recommend to the teacher to use. Very quickly I realized that was determined by what media were going to be both available and feasible for the kids to use in the time & space they had to do their pages in. So I quickly had a go at making pages using the following papers:
--Canson XL Series Mix Media notebook (7x10"), which is 98lb paper and recommends itself for acrylic, watercolor, and pen & pencil
--Strathmore 400 Series cold press watercolor paper (9x12")
--Strathmore Visual Journal (5.5x8"), 90lb paper, recommends itself as "great for wet and dry media including watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, pencil, crayon, charcoal, marker and collage"

Frankly, all of these papers had the problem that they weren't going to fit well into the standard-size binder that the kids were using. I decided to put that issue to one side and just concentrate on the paper, since that could be addressed later.

The Canson Mix Media journal I did not like at all for watercolor, whether tube paints, pencils, or crayons (Neocolor II). Once it got wet, it started pilling, and that was not a desired effect! It wrinkled easily and didn't dry flat like the heavier Strathmore 400 Series paper did. It was fine as long as reasonably dry media was used (markers, pens, colored pencils). I don't even think it would do too well with glue.

I had a lot of fun doing pages on the watercolor paper. It took an UHU glue stick with no problem (carnaroli rice page), walnut ink & acrylic paint also no problem--paper stayed flat and sturdy. The problem, however, was that it is expensive (nearly $10 for a 12-page pad), and I thought the rough surface might put the kids off from a writing perspective. Here they are, not all what I would call "complete":




















































































































These are the only two pages I've done in the Strathmore Visual Journal:




















Both are done with watercolor tube paints, and the paper holds up great. In the blue one the tissue paper was adhered with Mod Podge applied with a palette knife, and that also is fine. I like this pad much better than the Canson XL Mix Media.

However . . . for my son's class, as much as I was enthralled with either watercolor tube paints or acrylics, I didn't think that was a workable offering for them. Little pots of water to get knocked over, brushes that wouldn't get cleaned, papers that would need somewhere to dry, pricey papers that would need to be continually bought throughout the school year--nope. But I still felt they needed some way to apply color quickly to the entire page, and something with fuller & easier coverage than colored pencils or art stix. I also didn't want them to use anything that required use of a fixative (pastels) or protective sheet to prevent sticking (acrylic paint).

Luckily, I've been busy making lots of Tim Holtz-inspired holiday cards (this is the only occasion for which I make cards each year) and familarizing myself with his techniques for the amazing products he's got. I realized that the Distress Ink pads would satisfy all the requirements for this project. They can be used in the following ways:
--apply directly to paper with the foam pads & handle
--apply to nonstick craft sheet, spritz with water, and make a monoprint
--apply to nonstick craft sheet, spritz with water, and use a paintbrush to apply as paint
--use ink pad to ink up any mark-making object (end of a cork, corrugated cardboard, ruler) and then apply to paper
(I probably missed something, but these are the things I showed the class how to do.) Clean-up requires not much more than a paper towel.

And now that we weren't going to use really wet media for applying broad swathes of color, I could tell the teacher to get a package of heavy cardstock (110 lb) at our local grocery store for about $5 per 150 8.5x11" sheets. THAT is price-conscious!

Other media used in the journal pages shown in this post and the previous one include oil pastels, colored pencils, graphite sticks, Micron pens, china markers, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, multiple shades of walnut ink sprays, tissue paper, gel pens, . . . and probably a few other things that just don't spring to mind right now. I really went all out to make sure that whatever I recommended to the teacher to buy was good stuff!

Bottom line regarding paper: if I were going to use a store-bought journal, then I would get either one with at least 120 lb. watercolor paper or the Strathmore Visual Journal. (My moleskine also does pretty well, and it definitely doesn't pill like the Canson does.) If I were going to make one (which is my preference, since book-making is truly what gets me going), then I'd use a combination of hot and cold press watercolor paper plus some heavy cardstock.

Bottom line regarding media: that depends on how mobile one wishes to be. I think the watercolor tubes are huge fun, and I have no problem using them in the hallway of our community center while my son is in his taekwondo class. Seems to me the ink pads would be harder to carry around--they'd need to be in a box so they stay flat. Essentially I think one could use anything as long as you've got the right surface for it . . . just like the rest of the art we make!

I wrote this in response to an inquiry, but it's rather long-winded b/c I also wanted to share my thought process on helping a classroom be successful with this. Please ask if you seek any clarifications.

Halfway through the Complex Collage Designated Shape lessons

After taking about 3 months to complete a single collage (a funeral, end-of-school activities, and then summer trips have considerably slowed me down), I am finally moving on to the second one in the wonderful & amazing online workshop by Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen called Complex Collage.

This is on an 8x8 gallery-wrapped canvas. First I added the 3 architectural blueprints (from a sheet bought from Finchley Paper Arts) with soft gel gloss medium. I knew that I wanted the background color to be Van Dyck Brown, but I was concerned that it would be too dark. So I have come up with a two-part solution to counteract that: dilute it considerably with Acrylic Glazing Liquid, and also lay down some gold gesso before painting on the Van Dyck Brown. That did such a wonderful job underneath the acrylic inks, and I am hoping for the same results here.

Later . . .



In the middle of the lesson, I added a drawing of a Green Man onto my canvas and then painted it (shown in attached image before painting, obviously). At this point, I'm not too happy with what I've got. Too much opaque paint (the red oxide, I think), and I want the man to be coming out of the shadows, and that is definitely not what is going on--there's no transition between the background and the image. I may have to post it where it is and ask for help.

Ongoing Projects

I have so many things to do I thought I'd better make a list:

1. Finish "Bathtime" piece
This requires continued messing around with it. I think I am on the right track--this evening I painted interference violet and blue paints over both the clear granular gel and the black background, and it ended up reminding me of wisps of steam rising up in a hot bathroom. The rivulets of clear granular gel remind me of the condensation that forms on the mirrors and drips down. I think the "bubbles" are going to work out all right with the glass balls over them, but I'm not sure yet. Should I put some kind of border around the circles--and if so, what in the world would it be? And how to adhere the balls to the piece is yet to be decided. I am going to need to paint some overall covering over everything too, and I need to decide what that will be (soft gel, heavy gel, gloss/matte/satin, etc.). Finally I have to decide how to integrate the nude woman panel into the whole thing. Using glass mosaic pieces at the corner of both the small panel and the large one does a good job, but I need to decide if I should add some blue & purple swirls into the fog at the bottom of the inset panel, or if I should add just a few streaks of interference red paint to the larger background panel. Or what the heck--maybe both!

2. Finish two fairy canvases
I have the idea of wrapping each with wire and having crystals strung on the wire. That's also how I could attach the bottle with glass shards inside to the piece. Also need to put a couple of layers of gel medium over them.

3. Complete house accordion book
The cover is done and the signatures are sewn in, but I need to add text to them. I think I'm going to put stuff in from Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness. I need to decide what the test is, lay it out on the page, and execute it.

4. Complete Renaissance women's triptych
The triptych itself is done, but I need to make a final decision on the paper for the signatures, choose the embroidery thread for sewing the signatures, create and add text & illustrations to the signatures, and sew them in (must also choose beads to cover the spine sewings). I think I'm going to use the Katherine Phillips poems, because its weirdness is useful to demonstrate the small box that women used to beat their wings against, some more successfully than others.

5. Finish off the little blizzard books I made a few weeks ago. They need covers (or to be incorporated into something larger) and text on the pages. I haven't thought about these much so am not sure where I'm going to go with them.

I'd really like to wrap up these projects so I can think about the new book styles I want to try and also figure out some different ways to use the beautiful chiyogami papers I received for my birthday last week. I am now a proud members of those in their forties! And happy to be there.

Book Idea for a Christmas Present; Personal Challenge

Recently I found Book + Art: Handcrafting Artists' Books, by Dorothy Simpson Krause, on the shelf at Borders and had to get it. It is beautiful, lovely, and filled with inspiration. I read it at a time that I was wondering exactly what I thought I was doing, and this helped everything to coalesce in my mind. I love books, I have always loved books, and nearly everything I have learned over the last three years is all useful in creating books. I am still going to do other things, because I don't think I'm made such that I could do only one thing, but I can embrace the idea of being a book artist.

I really liked Stepan's blog posts about their trip to the Czech Republic this summer, and along with his pictures I think they would make a beautiful book--and a great Xmas present. Been thinking about how to do it. Would love the images and words to overlap. Wouldn't it be neat to do it on glass pages, and use the nifty Keith Smith Coptic sewing to attach? I think that's beyond my abilities to execute for this Xmas though, with everything else I have to do. Maybe I could print the pictures onto canvas, or do image transfers onto Claudine's sticky back canvas (reverse before printing), and then have the text on paper? Could I use plexiglass pages instead of glass? More durable is better. Then I could put images and text on and have it all look like it's floating. Would it be too hard to read, and would that matter? Or could put the text on a translucent paper, like onionskin or vellum, and have the images printed on transparencies. Ooh, that sounds like it has possibilities. Will keep ruminating on the matter.

One of my biggest challenges is to take my art to a personal level. I still have a very large barrier between me and what I make, and I think if I can surmount that, what I make will have more power. That is going to require me to slow down my thinking a bit and also focus it more. There are just so many things I want to try! And the quote by Lily Tomlin quote about her teenage diaries that I read on Dorinda Fox's blog recently does express one of my biggest fears, I'm sorry to admit. ("What if it's boring . . . or if it's not boring, it might be too revealing, or worse, it might be too revealing and still be boring.")

How to Finish the Water Nymphs Piece?

The water nymphs piece is not done. I could clearly see that when I took a picture of it. But what does it need, and where does it need it?

Maybe something more, something 3D along the lower lefthand and bottom sides. Could add necklace of small glass spheres from Alpha Stamps to main nymph? Put iridescent wash over all but nymphs, so they remain clear and glossy? Seems to need to be under some kind of layer--looks too raw to me. But I want to keep the difference of the women from the rest of the piece. Maybe put glaze over the nautilus and matte gel over the rest excepting women? Include an interference blue in the nautilus glaze?

Also could experiment with circles of white paint--it occurs to me the white of the water & foam on the nymphs isn't carried through the piece. Not sure where to put the circles, though, because I really want to preserve some of the open space between the nymphs and the cameo. Maybe larger ones over the lower area and a few smaller ones in upper area? Will have to experiment on a duplicate image.

And still would like edges to look a bit more finished. What if I glued small mosaic tiles in blue shades all along edges? That might be quite nice and actually be in keeping with the whole water theme, since I associate mosaics with baths.

Thoughts on Making my First Pendant

I have learned two important things: you can't reheat Glossy Accents with a heat gun in the hopes that it will smooth out, but you can remove the entire contents of a pendant blank and start again! I poked around the edges with the sharp pin I use to clean out the tips of glue bottles, and it all just lifted out and peeled away, even the paper I'd put on the bottom, and it was as though I'd never put anything in it.

So, what did I like and not like about my first effort? I liked the paper, but it needed something dimensional, I felt, so I sprinkled clear microbeads on the Glossy Accents when it was still wet. That didn't turn out too well. The detail of the picture disappeared, of course, so instead of seeing three red flowers one just saw three red blobs. If I'd had one of those lovely glass red roses from Alpha Stamps or something like that to add, it might have been okay, but I didn't have anything suitable. Also I think I simply put too many microbeads in.

Whether that contributed to how the Glossy Accents dried, I don't know, but it had a lumpy surface on it that was displeasing to me. (That prompted the experiment with reheating it to smooth it out. Works with beeswax--not with GA! It bubbled and probably gave off some horrible noxious gas too.)

When I started over with the newly blank pendant, this time I began with the dimensional accent rather than the paper backing. I found that one of the little armadillo charms I had fit perfectly in the bottom of the pendant, so then I just needed an appropriate background for it. Couldn't find any Texas-style paper (with all the papers I have, I couldn't believe I didn't have the right one) with bluebonnets or cacti on it, but I did eventually find the border to a punch-out card that I got in England last year looked quite nice behind it. I cut it down and adhered it to the blank with a few dots of Diamond Glaze, then I put DG all around the edges and bottom. The armadillo went in next, and out of frustration (couldn't get the tip of the DG unblocked for more than a few seconds at a time) I removed the tip and just poured DG in straight from the bottle. I had to do this carefully and slowly at first so I could prick some bubbles I saw coming out, but I think that may have worked out better than doing it from the tip since it was such a large quantity I needed. It's still drying, but it looks very smooth on top, and I think I'm going to be very satisfied with it.

Note to self: add picture once finished.

Initial Thoughts on Time

Back to me to pick this month's challenge for our group--I went with "time". None of us seem to have any right now, so it seemed appropriate!

While at a mandatory seminar last weekend, I jotted down some notes and thoughts on the topic; here they are.

To begin, I need to decide if I'm going to look at time as neutral, as an enemy--prisoner of time, a limiter--or as positive. And personal level or society level?

Could do a family tree/genealogy theme. Or could use the fog of time that obscures things, yet sometimes it's only time that brings true clarity.

Incorporate mirrors (small ones) here and there in the piece, because you can't escape time, it is relentlessly objective, there is no appeal--it shows you what is, no escaping.

Also use an hourglass somewhere, or the shape of one? Could get the sand medium to use on part for "the sands of time" (might be too cliched). Or could do some train tracks somewhere for "the tracks of time". Maybe just do an entire piece using common cliches about time! Ha.

What are the colors of time? Browns, golden, iridescence, sand medium around edges.

What are the patterns of time? circles, spirals (use the new technique just learned with wireworking to make some--could use in the border)

Elements to use:
chains
mesh
mirrors
sepia tone
spirals
words/quote on side running off the edge

Find a quote about time--something that addresses how it imprisons and frees us at the same time.

Could do a progression--distressed at top, progressing down to pristine images--passage of time.

Could make a memento box with tiled top (and sides?)--would have to use all manufactured tiles. Idea from Mixed Media Mosaics.

Shapes of piece:
grandfather clock: a portrait rectangle with a circle hanging below it from a chain (chains of Time).
hourglass: two landscape rectangles with circle in middle
other: square on top, circle in middle, triangle on bottom (could use past, present, future in triangle)

My Goals for Finished Pieces

The more I think about what to make for my challenge pieces with my local friend, the more I find myself thinking about what I like and do not like in my own finished pieces. Even just thinking about what I'm creating has helped me think differently about the pieces I see in a museum. I think I'm broadening my horizons!

One thing I am definitely becoming certain of is that I am firmly in the mixed-media category. Anything else would bore me, but this offers such a wide variety and the potential to keep learning new skills. I also am increasingly that I want all my pieces to have dimension to them. This began even over a year ago when I was still in my homegrown cardmaking workshop year, learning a different technique for each card I made. Just adhering something with foam tape so that it was on a different level than the rest of the piece was brilliant, I thought, and I am now finding that I am always looking for a way to add some dimension or extend something across a border.

Tonight I was contemplating the piece I'm working on for our "beginnings" challenge. It is certainly my most ambitious and I am not at all certain it's going to work out, but even if it doesn't I should learn something from it, so on at least one level it will be a success. Anyway, I realized that it is a personal requirement of mine that first and foremost, I want what I make to be pleasing to the eye. I'm not sure how to put it in any more exact terms--harmonious? pretty? [no, not that]? But some artists want their work to be disturbing on first glance, and I guess that at least at this point, I'm not one of those people. I want what I make to be something I or anyone would want to look at, something that if glanced upon on one's way from room to room, it would give a smile, a sigh of appreciation/pleasure, something like that.

Secondly, after one has simply found the viewing to be pleasing, I'd like the details of the work to be interesting for those (like myself) who find that intriguing. So there needs to be a backstory or amplification of the work that if explored is also satisfying in some way.

I still find great resistance in myself to having words on my pieces (seems way too twee), but this evening I read about Soul Soup and loved some of her poetry that is on her paintings. So maybe sometime in the next two or three months, I will add my own personal stipulation to our monthly challenge that I have to include words on my piece. It would be good for me!

"Water" Challenge Final Result

Late last week I finished my water challenge pieces. Originally I intended for the two to be one--I was going to have the glass slides hanging down from the canvas--but that didn't seem to work. I think if the canvas had been larger it would have been all right, but it was too small to support three. Going on the premise that sometimes one has to be ruthless and jettison one's favorite thing (advice from writing class in college), I pulled the slides out completely and made them their own piece.

Much to my surprise, I have to say I'm really pleased. It's a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Here were some of my musings when I was contemplating having words on the piece:

Surrounding
     Supporting
          Enveloping
Lifting us up
     Carrying us along
Rhythmic waves
     Currents
Motion and complete stillness
     Simultaneously
Our beginning
     Somehow we recognize this
     deep inside
Lulling
     Utter peacefulness
     Deep calm
Best when the sun shines
     Thousands of tiny mirrors
     Sparkling

19 July 2008

Woke up this morning ten to five and foolishly went into kitchen for more water. It was so bright I couldn’t go back to sleep properly. Kept having dozy dreams, many of which were about things I want to make.

I’m still thinking about my ocean piece. Saw good idea somewhere in which the artist had used glass pebbles (like my flat-sided marbles I got at the Moon Marble Company) along the ocean bed. Good idea! Could use different sizes and mix of blue, green, clear.

Also had some ideas about those dolphin peel-off stickers I like so much and some ideas for a mixed-media piece on it. I just need to do some of these things and see how they turn out. Anyway, I was thinking of something in an L shape, and then something bridging the space between to represent water, and then the dolphins leaping above the “water”, behind it (use a mesh?), and below it so they are completely underwater.

Not sure what the “L” is made of—two pieces of wood? Two canvases attached somehow? Maybe get sheet of playwood (or big canvas or foamboard) in square or rectangular shape, then fasten canvases onto that for 3D effect. Mesh could go over canvases, and then it’s easy to fasten things behind the canvas onto the backing plywood.

Would like to work into the background images of those old maps with sea monsters lurking in the waves, and images of ships, compasses, maybe constellations in the sky.

Do something to the mesh so it’s shimmery, sparkly, but not too obvious.

Maybe paint warm colors above mesh (on both backing and top of left canvas) as sunset, or if want cooler colors then stick to light blue and clouds. Not a stormy look, though.

Carry what’s done on canvas across to backing board too. Experiment with Glamour Dust—use in constellations, possibly.