Can't Figure Out What's Missing

Here is the beginning of this piece...all drawn w coloured pencils....
you should have seen it before-I swear I posted it here on this blog somewhere...


This is the after gluing hand-made paper pieces on and then painting everything--and then going back to outline the spirit forms with sharpie.....there's glitter and glue involved as well..I do believe....


Something is missing yet. It still feels unfinished. I am not quite sure what it needs...although I have a partial story evolving in my head around it....

Collage With Poem

I printed out a plastic model of the human heart.
My original intention was to cut it into pieces, but to glue it down in the correct shape so that the heart was visible on some level.
Then the dog jumped onto the bed and the little pieces went !WHOOSH! so I improvised....

Working My Own Way Through Things

We received a world map in the mail from doctors without borders (please look them up - they are a worthwhile organization).

As soon as I saw the map, I knew I had ulterior motives for co-opting it. I just wasn't sure what.

Today, comprehension is dawning

This is what it looked like before:




This is more of a during shot. I wanted to cover the entire back over. My original idea entails folding this thing up and sticking it in my art journal, so I can go to my journal and open the book, open the map and voila-huge thing in a small space.



As I keep going, I am thinking maybe more may be done on the back-but don't quote me on that til it happens....

I used my standard favourite navy blue acrylic paint for this and an old 1 inch paint brush. All I did was smear the paint everywhere-all over my hand too...but I didn't paint my hand on purpose--really. I am too tweaky about my ring. However, to note, acrylic paint does come off of sterling silver and i didn't really have to scrub. Much. :-)



Then I flipped it over and covered up all the words on the map side. Then I flicked the brush, gave the appearance of some sort of wave confluence all over the map.



I took a blue fine sharpie and sloppily traced around all the continents and major islands, simply because I wanted to be certain the land masses showed up after all was said and done.

Then came the final coat of white tempera (poster) paint--which I applied with my brayer, cause I have seen alot of that lately on various blogs and I thought it was too cool because it never dawned on me to use the brayer for that before.....



Now the plan is to draw on the thing....I have had images of the whole "you are here" thing in my mind for days since before that map arrived at the house.

We'll have to see what happens and where this Muse-and my drawing abilities, if they can keep up--take us.....

First Installment- Encouragement Box

I work in a circular motion.
Eventually I get to finish everything I start-unless I don't want to finish something-but I always come back around.

This is just round one on this particular box.

And this is now officially the encouragement box.

Altered Altoid Cans

Here is the very beginning of the 'surrender box' series.....

Finally, I Did Something With My Altered Book

Ok, so it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to.

My original intention was to run the yarns through the binding and tie them off--which went well enough.

I was going to then re-arrange the yarns and alter the placement of each end so that the ends hung all the way up and down the spine instead of all at one end or another.

What happened was I ran out of space in the spine--and the yarns refused to co-operate when I went to move them around, even to adjust where the ends stopped.

Rather than fight them, I just glued them in place along the spine, since it needed to be done, and let it go at that.


After I did that, I was stuck on a call with a client so I knitted something--three strands of novelty yarn, on size 11 needles, all garter stitch-not that you can see any stitch pattern at all. I am thinking it will be a bag of some sort--not sure what yet. And I didn't take a picture of it yet--simply because I didn't really feel up to it yet. But I will get to that point some time soon. :-) I like the effect and the way the fabric turned out.

The River

Creative Therapy Catalyst Number 58

I never said I would do them in order, did I?

What's your favorite word? And why?

Why?
I just love the way it sounds--and the imagery it evokes in me every time...

My Faery Queene -- Before And After

Some New Collage Work To Post

Today's Finished Collages

Ones I didn't finish-or am about to finish-they don't count...but these ones do. :-)

New Collages Made And Available For Viewing

Collage Backgrounds Hand-Painted

Just playing with paint and seeing what I could do.
These are collage backgrounds in my art journal.
More pictures are coming of the finished works.

Octo-Page

The first page I worked on on Wednesday. The octo is actually the backing off the iron-on appliques that I painted w left-over paint from painting collage backgrounds. The brown thing there is a layer separator for the box of candies I got for Valentine's Day from that wonderful client of mine.

Then there is the bits of poetry. There are three pieces. Each piece moves in the same direction as the rest of its lines--so all the lines heading the same way are together, even if there is space between them.

Old Paint Sheets

I pulled these out of one of the nefarious boxes of who knows what I still have sitting around here being ignored.
These were pages I used to protect whatever surface I was painting on when I originally did something back in WV.
Today I decided to make good use of them--as collage backgrounds in my art journal.

Little Blue Book (Pictures Forthcoming Upon Finish)

My altered Alyce book is coming along. I am not really happy with it though. I really should have waited for the gesso. 
First I removed half the pages of the book.
Then I painted with blues and white for the backgrounds on each remaining page.
I pulled out my rubber stamps and stamped things, using black ink pads.
I glued on various pictures in various fashions.
I glued the metal pieces on for the closure.
I glued in buttons for one scene. Fabric for one scene. Leaves on one scene. Etc. I am not yet done gluing—or drawing.
I began to add the poetry in this morning—with a regular black marker. Not a special permanent ink one or anything. The ink bleeds through the pages too much. Only here and there. But still. It’s bleeding through. Which annoys me.
Some aspects I do like though. In places the black of the ink pad cancels out the black of the marker but for a shadowed affect. I like that.
I really like the way some of the glued-in pictures turned out.
I haven’t finished gluing things in, colouring certain bits in w coloured pencil, or adding poetry. I will post the poetic bits later on, probably under photos of the pages.
But at least I am working on it, a little bit every day.

Board Book Adventure

I have the pre-prepared and ready to go board book that I started last year before the move. All the backgrounds are covered, painted and ready to go. All I need to do is set the story and embellish away.

I am waiting to receive the pdf file of Alice in Wonderland images so I can print them out and see what we have and how I am going to combine them. (this post was written days ago and just now posted)

I am using Alice templates and pictures—but I am not doing an Alice in Wonderland book.
I want to play on the outrageous and bizarre angle. The sweet little girl stuck in a strange land surrounded by the strange.
Not necessarily Alice at all.

And then as I was pondering the Alice board book theories—I remembered a cache of goddess imagery that I have had since before we left to move to MD. In between pondering the Alice layouts, I had a lot of ideas about the goddess images. If the Alice images had not worked in the current ready board book—I would have used that book for the goddess images.

So—I have two board books in the wings. The goddess book—which I have only partially prepared—as in E tore some of the glossy bits off the pages, but not entirely. Si it still needs to be gessoed and prepared and everything. And the Alice book, which is fully prepared and ready to go.

Basically what all of this leads to is the fact that I have to go through and pull out all my glues and pencils and markers and paints and everything else available that I have packed up and packed away—which I have actually been looking forward to the past efw days—since this idea originally began to germinate.

One thing that has helped push me forward is the arrival of my copy of ‘ The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Altered Art’ by Allyson Bright Meyer. Why did I buy this? I saw it for sale at Edward R Hamilton – but since they don’t accept credit cards any longer (I haven’t ordered from them in nearly two years, when they first started to take credit cards it seems) I went to amazon and half.com to see about getting it—and although it is very simple—it really helps me to focus on certain things—and I am hoping it will help me when I approach different techniques and applications.

Again I will keep you updated as things progress. First of all—I have to figure out where I put all those goddess images. Then I will decided where to go from there. 

Either way, my Alice book will be worked on and finished before all of that. I am sure.

Ciao.

February Delight

I know what it is about February—I know what it means to me.

I am trying to remember what I did last year in February—and I know that’s when I bought the beads and everything else for the beading process.

This year, thanks to a wonderful client who tipped me well, I started out by buying the baby knitting books.

Then of course Valentine’s Day – and I knew I would have to get something for myself for Valentine’s Day from the kids (even though I do so love the artwork by my son that currently hangs on our refrigerator)—the whole thing was precipitated by my excursions through ebay and etsy looking at Alice In Wonderland stuff. The bracelet from my kids came a couple days ago—and it is so beautiful. My light-switch plate came that day as well— it is ugly as sin up close and way thicker than I had thought it would be—but I love it.
I’ve been having those thoughts and wishes and desires about making my own doll—which caused me to order a lot of beautiful handspun yarn—and now I am awaiting its arrival.
It makes me glad that I ordered the yarn swift and the yarn ball winder. earlier this month.

Today I was unpacking more—this past week I had made a great deal of progress in the storage room. All the kids toys are out of the den—and the floor is now scattered with all my own things—papers and pens and bits and pieces.
But I was more than happy to find a great stash of things that I had just forgotten I had had—and many things I knew I had somewhere and just hoped that I had brought with me when we moved—rather than it being at dad’s waiting for me.
I found paints—oils and acrylics and water colour. I found paint brushes. I found stamps and ink pads. I found my bamboo reed pens. My tin of doll faces. Soft oil pastels. Brads. Blank ATC cards. Prepared tags.

See, my board book for Alice is bearing down on me—and I had been wondering about where my pencils and markers are—well—my pencils seem to be at my dad’s—but my markers are all here and accounted for—and I have my lesson book as well too—that will come out later on. Alice is why I originally started poking around tonight.

I am so very glad I did.

My printer is running low on colour ink—but I have been printing things out with the mediocre inks—and I have been loving them deeply. I spent a bit cutting the tiles and squares out this evening before I started poking around.

When I saw my tin full of small prepared tags I kinda got giddy. I have some very small Alice images. Things that would be so perfect for these tags.

I have had bits of poetry and stories and imagery flowing in and out of my brain ever since the Alice In Wonderland escapades online.

I am a very happy woman tonight.

So many avenues and mediums at my fingertips tonight.

One thing worse though—most of my supplies came from ollies in OH—and they were quite inexpensive—and now I have two stores to whine about not being able to get to while in St Louis—but then again—that’s what trips to visit family are for, right?

All right—so enough for tonight—as my goofy little girl is getting squirrelly about the dog not laying right here beside us for a change.

Ciao.