25 October 2010

Some Art

Not much to chatter about this evening. I've had a busy day and I'm tired.
I am caught up on the 365 Project finally. The muse comes along in spurts. I wrestled all these ATCs out of her on the 23rd and the 24th.
Enjoy!


Diane's Cow
ATC

Docker's Red Cat
ATC

Feathering the Nest
ATC

Nolan's Orange Poppies
ATC

Tropical Buckeye Butterfly
ATC

Wilson's Egret
ATC

Docker's Orange Cat
ATC

Jon's Mule Deer
ATC


Mail Inspector
ATC

Nilson's Pelican
ATC

Samantha
ATC

This is all the art that has come out of me since the last post. I did work on my junk journal some more...glued a few more pictures into it. Nothing spectacular to show for it though. And I sewed a little book together sometime in the last week. I'll be damned if I know where I put that little book though....
Anyway...that's all that's coming out of me on this blog today. I worked like a dog this day, I need a shower and some pillow time!
Be good to one another. Voice the love. Share the hugs.
Be well.
Peace
831

23 October 2010

Just Some Chatter Today

I don't have any pictures to show today. I could probably find some in my picture files if I thought you all really needed some pictures and I might just do that before we're all done here!
All is well in my world! I'm still battling my body for control but all in all, I can't complain too loudly, so I won't! Hope all is well in your world!

I'm working on a few different projects these days. I'm behind again in the 365 Project. Seems a week goes by before I know it. I have 3 ATCs that need to be scanned and others from the past that I can use to get caught up with the 365 Project.
It's been beautiful weather for the last few days and I've been out in the burnt house going through crap in my workshop, tearing apart motherboards and generally getting things organized out there.

Projects on the list:
Huge Wooden Spoons and Forks-
Signs
Bottle Cap Fishes
Large Colorful Xmas Bulbs
Little Books
Tree of Life

I have another list that has nothing to do with art at all that I really need to get started on! It involves things that need their picture taken and listed for sale.
fridge
natural gas heating stove
1950s TV
bar lamp
BOOKS-that's a list all of its own!

There's a lot of work to do out in the burnt house. There's a lot of money sitting out there if I get my shit together and manage my time correctly. That and the fish bite when I get the lines thrown out.
I need to do an inventory of what is out there. A master list of sorts.
This ain't getting a thing done but yakking at you all! :)
 I'll be back with some ATCs for sure. I also have some keys that aren't keys anymore to show you all. Got one of them still drying...

Be good to one another! It matters!

16 October 2010

A Few Pieces of Art, Some Journaling Pages and A Bit of Chatter From Moi!


I've been spending WAY too much time over at FBGames and not getting near enough art created.
I must change that!
Someone really should do the dishes sometime as well.
The kitties at the top of the picture row today were drawn about three hours ago. They are headed to London under the presumption they were drawn on the 10th of October (like the rest of the kitties in this post!). London knows they were not drawn on the 10th though, so all is well.

10 Kitties for Joss
ATC
16 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
I sat in the livingroom with my eversharp and black sharpie pen in my comfy pink chair, shooting the shit with my brother while I cranked this one out. He said he couldn't draw cat if his life depended on it. I think he's mistaken! Anyone can draw cats! I don't usually do a lot of drawing in the livingroom. I colored it in here in front of the pc where the tubs of markers live.

At the moment Joe Walsh is singing about Turning to Stone.... He really doesn't know how to sing! I really like the drum parts of Turn to Stone. It's an alright song, even if Joe can't sing!

10 Gold Fishes
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.

There was a 10-10-10 athon over at AFA (there's still a link up there in the left hand corner) over the weekend. Well, no, actually it was only on Sunday, 10-10-10. The theme was, what else, but 10. Fishes made it into the athon. They are not, however, swimming away from Kansas at this point cause I didn't trade the 10 Gold Fishes. Perhaps some other time?

Hmmmm....this isn't an ATC. This is a book I sewed together on the 13th. It is approx. 4 x 6 inches, 2 inches thick. The cover is made with fabric paper colored with sharpies and then covered with clear packing tape. Sewn with dark turquoise colored embroidery thread.
I went to Wally World on Tuesday to get some new needles. Never did find my book sewing needle that went missing....
This book has 15 signatures of 5 folios. Not sure about the math of how many pages total. You figure it out. You are more likely to get it right than I am! I really need to figure out how to calculate just how many total pages there are in my little books...it's a little important to be able to tell folks how many pages they're getting....If someone wants to break that process down for me, please feel free. I would appreciate it!
I sewed together three more little books since I sewed this one. Those pictures must be on the camera still cause I couldn't find them while hunting down pictures for this post.

I haven't shown you all my junque journal. I haven't worked in my JJ for awhile either....Need to do something with the pages I've gessoed before adding anymore stuff to it.

First page in the book. I gessoed the inside of the front cover to obliterate the charts that were printed there. I didn't see a need to keep those conversion charts around. I put magazine pictures on the first page and them promptly obliterated them with gesso as well. Covered them completely! Then I waited for better than a week before taking the markers to that page and ending up with that tree scene you see here.
Lesson learned: Markers and gesso don't really play all that great together. If I want my markers to last longer, I shouldn't use them on gesso.
I also learned that if you cover magazine pictures with gesso, no matter how thick you put the gesso on, you can still tell there are other papers glued under it! If you're after that affect, go for it! If you'd rather your paper be smooth, don't bother. I couldn't tell you what pictures are under that gesso....not a clue!

Gessoing the inside of the front cover has given the cover a warp. I'm uncertain how I will deal with that warping in the future...This spread isn't done. I need to rewrite the poetry cause it isn't centered on that page like I want it at all! I love love love how the fish turned out! Magazine pictures gessoed over. I didn't gesso over the panda. I recolored the fish to my own liking with markers.
The title of the poem is on the fish side of the spread....Only to Make it Easier. I write a lot of acrostic poetry lately. This is one of them. It was written on 14 September 2010 (just as the date on the fish page indicates).
Only To Make It Easier

Over there...
near the end,
lovers frolic in abandoned hearts,
yearning to make the correct connections.

Take it down and
overhaul it.

Merry are the men who sing
a song they don't know the words to.
Kindness has been a disguise for disgrace.
Everyone knows a road to travel.

Ignite the fires that burn within.
Take what is yours and leave the rest.

Enemies only exist in your mind
and some wild child is going to love you.
Seems that is how it always goes.
Interest is of little good when
enemies invade the real.
Resistance is futile; all you can do is live.
14 September 2010

An acrostic poem is a poem written using the letters of a word or phrase as the first letter of each line. When I frequented the poetry site (I've not been there to actively particpate in better than two years) I was known as the Queen of the Acrostic. I won a few awards on the site for my acrostics. Some of them have very little to say about the quote from which they're written and some of them stay on topic. It's just whatever the muse wants to do at any given time. Just like it is with art. Whatever the muse wants, the muse gets! 

Ten Tree Forest
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
These are not traveling anywhere either. No trades for this forest.

Ten Little Kittens
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
This batch of kitties is headed to The Netherlands.

10 Carrots
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
Carrots are going to Minnesota, USA
I was really surprised when these carrots were asked for right off the bat! They aren't the best drawn carrots...least I don't think they are. But it isn't for me to decide the worthiness of any of my own drawings. I'm a terrible judge of their quality!

In The Green Room
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
These kitties are going to Georgia, USA.

Lap of Luxury
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
These pampered pusses are going to Oklahoma, USA.

10 Drops of Rain
ATC
10 October 2010
Markers on recycled cardstock.
It was raining on Sunday. And it only rained about 10 drops of rain on Sunday.
This one is going to Michigan, USA.

I traded 12 of the fingerpainting cards from the fingerpainting ATCs post a few posts back. In that trade are another 5 ATCs chosen from my availables. That's a 17 for 17 trade! I'm looking forward to my zoo of origami critters that will be coming in trade for those fingerpaintings and drawings that headed to Singapore!

And I leave you with Little Miss Annabel!
Be good to one another! It matters!

I'll be back another day with another post to either bore you to tears or excite you no end.

I know this child makes you smile!
:)
Peace
831

14 October 2010

Altered Book Progress

Well, I've messed things up with centering this line of text. Guess it doesn't matter. I had a totally different idea for a post in mind when I went hunting for pictures for the post. I ran across these pictures of my altered book on that hunt. I have not shown you all my altered book...yet to be completed.
I started this altered book early in 2010.
I started out with a novel called Our Game...no clue the author without going to see if that page still exists in the book. In choosing a book to alter, one has to take into consideration the construction of the book. This one has a sewn binding, which is favorable for an altered book. It had approximately 200 hundred pages. Nice paper stock, not too thick, not too flimsy. My copy of the book didn't have a dust jacket. (I think my youngest son may have read this book. Dust jackets never return with a book loaned to that boy.) It is best that you actually read the book before you go hog wild, tearing out pages and gluing other pages together. I have read all the pages taken out of the book and most of the ones that remain. I have however not read any of the pages that I glued together and the pages I did read were not read in cronological order. I've no idea what is going on in the story, but from what I gather it is an espionage story and I'd really like to know just what the hell Emily and Larry are up to with Timothy in the middle of it all and taking all the heat as well!
When I was doing Fish Picture 3 when I was done painting for the day, I'd take my leftover paint on the pallet and smear it on the cover of this book. The backside has no paint on it at all. Just the spine and the front cover got painted. I'll have to drag out the metallic gold paint for the back cover. I'll never be able to replicate the pattern on the front cover!
The buildings are done in black sharpie. I'm not done with the cover by any means!

It appears as though I've covered the author's name on the title page...That's a Christmas card on the left page. The saying below it says:
Be careful where you go
young man,
Be careful what you do.
Two little eyes are watching
you now---
Two little feet will be
following you.

The 3 figures on the right hand page came from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Bulletin. I get one of those every two months or so. They are full of interesting arcticles having to do with research in the medical field and they have excellent graphics as well. AND the paper the Bulletin (which is actually a magazine) is high quality stuff! I love the HHMI Bulletin for a good many reasons!
The gold foil letters below the three figures says PLAY IT WELL


These pictures are not in order. This page has some sewn papers and a bit of metallic gold paint. Says: long ago. That long ago card came from a set of flash cards I found at the thrift store. Must be close to 500 of them and they all say something different! I wish the sewing machine liked me better cause it was fun to sew these things together! The pink is handmade paper, theres some sheet music, the heart is magazine cutout and theres some clear celophane three as well. The little dark square is a gold sticker (like the letters in the last picture) but it says Helix on it. I believe Helix is the company that made the stickers. The blue and white paper is scrapbook paper.

I'm not sure what came over me to make this fellow look like he does. Sometimes the muse goes a bit crazy. Nothing I can do about it! This page looks quite different now than when this picture was taken. The left hand page is no longer blank. It now wishes us all to have unnoticed bad hair days. And on the man's page are more words, of which YOUR NERD HAS ARRIVED is among.

I've done nothing to these two pages since the picture was taken. On the left I've covered up all but the following text:
The subject of another man
my heart leapt
fix us a bloody big scotch
and who gives a damn about
men, anyway?
And I fall right in, eyes wide shut.

The cartoon says:
"Hey! When I'm talking, don't erupt!"
It came out of a book full of cheesy cartoons of this nature. It made me laugh!

The Mickey Mouse sticker was a promotion for Behr Paints. I got it at the Home Depot last year.

That handsome man on the right side is Trace Adkins. He's a country superstar, just in case you didn't know. The quote below him reads:
Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
Mohandas Gandhi
The picture behind and around Mr. Adkins is just pictures cut from magazines. I believe I got his picture from a magazine from the dr.s office. His little girl is afflicted with a disorder of one sort or another. Juvinille Diabetes perhaps. I really don't remember what was wrong with his little girl. He was in the magazine promoting research for the disorder though.

This is one of my favorite spreads in the book thus far. I've added to the blue page since the picture was taken. There is now a metallic blue starburst (chipboard) in the upper left hand corner. The layers on it are thus:
blue scrapbook paper, blue and white painted piece of chipboard, piece of blue paper, over that I splattered white paint. The little square is an inchie my dil, Terah made and the word LOVE is a rusted metal cutout. This page isn't quite done. I still need to put something in the starburst that isn't showing here.
The gold page is many pages glued together. In the center where the little green thing is, I've cutout an oval so he could go in there. I didn't cut the oval quite deep enough though and he does stick up just a bit above  the rim of the oval. I first painted the page purple/burgandy and didn't much like it so I covered the whole thing with chocolate wrappers. Ferrero Rocher Choclates. Then I glued the little green guy in. He's a Maori character for Good Luck. Not sure just where I got him from...He's pretty cool though~! There are two pieces of punchinella held on by a long green wooden stick. The letters on the right say: GOOD LUCK. I've also added a metallic gold starburst to lower left hand of this page. I may or may not add anything to it.

This is the first page of Chapter 4. Markers were drawn right over the text. The little piece of white paper, that I should have trimmed a bit, says: Everyone goes to the fair.
The right side page, you'll have to figure that one out on  your own. There are magazine pictures, stuff from junk mail, a playing card or two and a zentangle of mine on this page. Oh and there's a bit of gold paint as well.

More junk mail, magzine pages, gold letter stickers, that blob in the middle is a sticker from junk mail that I painted over with metallic blue paint, there's a paper napkin (bunnies) and a bee sticker and a couple maps on that page. The thing across the top there says: Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere
The purple page has a bunch of text on it now. It wouldn't make much sense to you without actually seeing it though so I won't tell you what it says!
Mystery is part of the fun!


The purple page is actually a few pages glued together. The spinner came out of a game for teenage girls I picked up at the thrift store. The text is gold letter stickers which say: FORTUNE IS UPON US and text from a magazine. The spinner actually spins and the choices it has to land are:
You already know the answer
all signs point to yes
only if you work for it
very doubtful
most definitely yes
don't count on it
The purple is tissue paper glued to the page with a piece of black paper behind the spinner. The purple and black were dry brushed with gold metallic paint. I went a tad nuts with the gold paint throughout this book.
The right hand page is several pages glued together, painted gold, a piece of orange magazine paper glued to it, painted gold and then gessoed over. I've yet to decide just what will happen with this page. The orange paper sticks up over the edge of the top. I don't know that it will stay that way though.

Left hand side is just magazine pictures and the right hand side is a postcard size picture done with magazine picture, paint and shredded US money glued right over the text in the book. I've since added a metallic red starburst that needs a caption put in it.

Acrylic paintings on both pages. Gessoed first to cover the text. On the right hand side there are the numbers 2060 which are wooden cutouts colored with a black Sharpie. 2060 is my house number.



This page is rather plain still. When looking at the book in person, you cannot read the words on the pages in this spread. They are covered with the wrapping my monthlies come in. It's a cloth-like stuff. Kinda like interfacing, but much lighter in weight. I've added a magazine cutout and a small article about wearing fur on this page. The fur arcticle is not very big, it sits in the lower right corner of the right hand page. It came from a McCall's magazine from 1972. We've come a long way since then!

I simply painted over the text with blue acrylic, let it dry and added a few things to the right hand side. Not sure what will go on the left, but it will contain a bit of orange. On the page:
An ATC that reads:
Phantoms seek to find
vengeance where
no vengeance resides.
cause deep inside hearts
is where only love
resides.
I wrote that poem, btw.
The 2 drawings are mine. Done on post it notes with sharpies. There's a silk leave painted black with acrylics, an inchie done in different inks, that orange paper is a pumpkin shaped post it note and the orange stick came from a wall calendar made from thin strips of bamboo. I painted it orange with sharpies.

Did you know?
We're not wimps.
I've done nothing more to the left hand page since the picture was taken. But the other page has a lovely picture of a mosaic from some ancient building on it now.

I covered both of these pages with magazine cutouts and text. There's also a check-out reciept from somewhere I went shopping on there. This spread is drastically changed! The text showing, that I wrote myself says:
Mr. may be many things, but a theif is not one of those things.
That is all covered now and it can't be read. My mind went off in another direction from where the text had originally been going.

The Butterflies are antique wallpaper with pipe cleaner and string for their bodies and antennea. The pictures from both pages are either from the HHMI Bulletin or a magazine of some sort. There's some metallic blue origami paper on the left hand side as well.

This is the motion part of the book. Magazine pictures, junk mail, stickers...the saying says:
He who thinks of the consequences cannot be brave. Ingush proverb
I made the dealywop in the center there out of a packagings catalog. I should have used tissue paper (it would have been much prettier!) but I didn't at that time have any tissue paper and when I saw the tutorial for it, I just had to make one!  And it HAD to go in the altered book!

Here's a close up of it.

This is the MAN page.

The POOF! page looks the same but I've added a bunch of text cut from magazines to the purple page.

I've still quite a few pages that are still the text of the book itself that need to be altered. I'll take more pictures as progress is made. This is an ongoing project and it might take years to actually finish it!
Peace, my friends!
Go make something with your own two hands today!
Give up some smiles and a few hugs today as well. Smiles cost nothing, hugs even less!
 But oh the pay off!!!!
Be well!
831


10 October 2010

fingerpainting

I dragged out the acrylics, the ATC blanks and my painting rag and headed to the kitchen table to do some fingerpainting. Here, the results of that mess making!
Enjoy!
I certainly had a blast creating these!

All of them are acrylics on recycled heavy cardstock. The card these first 12 blanks were cut from came from a teachers' edition of a program on nutrition. They aren't quite thick enough to be called chipboard, but they are quite hefty for cardstock.


Autumnal Tree
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #260 for 365 Project

Blank Blue Ted
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #261 for 365 Project

Blue Desert
ATC
9 October 2010


Dragon's Breath
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #262 for 365 Project

Quad Parralels
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #266 for 365 Project


Duck Nebula
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #263 for 365 Project

Eruption
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #264 for 365 Project

Natural Justice
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #265 for 365 Project

Red Nebula
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #267 for 365 Project

Sea Fire
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #268 for 365 Project

Severance
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #269 for 365 Project

Sunset Storm at Sea
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #270 for 365 Project

The Dancers
ATC
9 October 2010
Day #271 for 365 Project



I did 12 really early in the day and then another 16 much later in the day. The last of these are painted on card that came from a child's BINGO game. I actually bought the game at the dollar store for $1. It isn't quite as thick as the first 12 but it isn't wimpy either!
Again, only my fingers were used to paint with. Turly....fingerpainting! I had a blast! Felt like a kid again!
You should give it a try!
Get messy!
Make some art!

Bird In The Garden
ATC
9 October 2010

Chaos In The Garden
ATC
9 October 2010

Dog Fight
ATC
9 October 2010

Fairy Ring
ATC
9 October 2010

Hills Ablaze
ATC
9 October 2010

Interstate Highway
ATC
9 October 2010

Junipers Ablaze
ATC
9 October 2010

Mamba
ATC
9 October 2010

Monsters At Sea
ATC
9 October 2010

Olive Nebula
ATC
9 October 2010

Prairie Fire
ATC
9 October 2010

Roses At Midnight
ATC
9 October 2010

Storms At Midday
ATC
9 October 2010

I believe out of all of these, I like Prairie Fire the absolute best. Then The Dancers. Tell me which you like the best and then go make some of your own and come back to tell me where I may find you!
Peace my friends!
Don't forget to spread some smiles around your neighborhood and if given the chance for a hug, please don't turn it down!
831


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