Monday, January 24, 2011

Collaged Board Book Pages

SATURDAY I took a Donna Bauermiller "Board Book" class at Art on a Lark. It was so much fun and I came home eager to do more. I spent the entire afternoon and evening in my art space pasting and tearing and practicing writing. Here are a few (incomplete) samples. More later - femminismo

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Imagine my surprise ...

I THOUGHT I had already posted this picture. And I haven't! So here goes my first bracelet project (finished! yes!). You don't need to tell me it's lovely, because it is only an experiment and is not lovely from all angles.
At Art and Soul (Portland) in November or December I saw one of the class participants in the most ingenious and beautiful cuff/gauntlet-type/vintage encrusted/goth/Emily Dickinson-era "bracelet," and I now wish I had insisted on taking a photo of it. She made it herself and I've been scouring the Internet for something similar - or at least something to give my memory a boost on how she did it.
I think the nearest I've come is the top of a sock (cut off an old one) and then covered with sewn on bits of fabric and lace and ribbon.
The bracelet I ended up making was like one I saw online, where you have longish pieces of fabric, fold them in half, make a slip knot at one end and braid what's hanging from there. At the end you make a regular knot and that goes up through the opening in the slip knot.
I had pieces of yarn braided through and tied beads on these to make sure they were secure. It's nothing I'd post on Etsy - if I had an Etsy page - but I like the idea of cloth bracelets because they're not cold and jangling - femminismo
P.S. If you know of something like the fabric cuff bracelets, please, please, please let me know!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Blue Lady

TODAY, in quietly experimenting with Adobe Illustrator a little bit, I suddenly went wild. The day outside was so very, very gray and drippy! Color - in a large dose - was needed.
It all began with just trying out different brush strokes in different colors. Branches appeared and then flowers. And then pistils at the ends of the flower.
Then a face showed up - a big heavy about the eyebrows - but with a gleam in her eye she couldn't be stopped. She insisted that a background of color be applied even if it turned HER face blue also.
Blue like the Mediterranean Sea. Branches gold as a sunset. Flowers bright as bougainvillea. Pistils like liquid sun.
The outlines of leaves and then a smaller brush, drawing in loops, to suggest trailing vines. (I'm drawing with my less dominant hand here.)
Illustrator has these "libraries" of "Nature" items that include dragonflies, and the small flares of light might just be lightning bugs mixing in with these winged insects out after dark.
I tell you: In Oregon, during the winter, we will do anything to brighten up the day with color - femminismo

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Perfect Day

I give thanks for this perfect day. Miracle will follow miracle and wonders will never cease. - Author unknown

This journal page is just a few quick trys at color, drawing and an altered page of text.

A perfect day must include art - femminismo

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Yellow Shafted Flicker ... or Red?

SO what's the deal with this bird? Not a red shafted flicker. Golden yellow under the wings but I didn't see red on the back of its neck. And if it's a male, it doesn't have the black "mustache." And I do think it's a male since it has a mustache - and it's so very red.
I didn't see any color on the back of his neck, so I don't think he's a golden shafted flicker.
That leaves the gilded flicker, a resident of the deserts of SE California, southern Arizona and Baja California.
Brr! Why come up here. We were thinking of traveling down there!
If was so much fun watching the suet feeder this morning with this guy swinging on it. His beak is made to reach through the cage to get the goods. There were tiny little gray birds - like sparrows or finches, perhaps - and their beaks were tiny, too. They liked the suet but ended up frightened away by the bigger birds and ate from a tray of millet, thistle seeds, peanuts and cracked corn further away.
As you can see in the photo, the flickers had consumed most of the suet, so the Mister and I went to get some more. I hope to have lots more birds to watch tomorrow. I hope you've spent a relaxing Saturday doing something you enjoy. I spent the second half with family, and hopefully the birds found a warm place to roost for the night - femminismo

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Oy! Glory!

I HAVE no idea what my little "poem" or free association has to do with the drawing or vice versa. I liked the look of this Crayola crayon/ink drawing on painted white gesso. Tonight I'll try something a little more daring if I can get up off the couch and stop knitting.
I watched Lisbeth Salander last night - beaten, shot, buried overnight - exact some measure of revenge on her creepy father (oh, I should have mentioned a spoiler), and now I can't wait to see "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest." She makes me want to take up kick-boxing, weight lifting and get my nose pierced. But the smoking I could live without. (Although she does have a unique way when she does even that!)
Have a wonderful evening - femminismo

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Second Day - Second Project

TODAY I finished this neck warmer/scarf with a large antique button. Is "antique" anything over 25 years? It might be 50, because I am not really sure where it came from. I think it was in my mother's button box and might have been there a lot longer than anything I've found.
The yarn is really soft and fluffy, but NOT itchy! Love that about any yarn.
I also wrote in my art journal and drew a picture, but that can wait. I find myself thinking about drawing something I would want to show on this blog and then I get real nervous. Takes all the fun out of it, so I think I will only show pages from time to time.
The jasmine in the sunroom is beginning to show small buds and I can smell the little white flowers but I can't see any! Is this possible? I hope so. Maybe the foliage gives off an odor before blooming? Just wondering how powerful the imagination can be.
Oh! If you have time check out the link for these lovely book manipulatons and photographs on Art Propelled's blog. Really something!
Second day of the new year, and so far, so good - femminismo

Saturday, January 1, 2011

I Can Do Plenty - My Word is My Bond

I FOUND a journal and decided it would become my January art journal. I was inspired by this Suzi Blu YouTube video, right here.
I was amazed at the way my woman and living room took shape. She doesn't look much like me, or maybe she is the "me" I didn't turn into.
I also wouldn't have pictured she would live in a house like that with purple walls and a blue sofa with yellow and blue pillows. And that picture on the wall! I love trees, but ... ?
Last, I wouldn't have thought to put myself in a short sleeved blouse because that's so not me! And a headband? Who is this woman?
Well, it looks as if there might be an art easel resting in the room to her left. She'd better leave off gazing into space and get in there and go to work.
I wrote in the journal the way that Suzi did. I wrote down all the good things about me and what makes me special and the skills I take pride in. Suzi painted over hers and then let the paint dry and then scraped it away. Me, I couldn't even find a waterproof pen, but I think you'll get the idea. Perhaps painting over them makes you able to write them down and then cover most of them up to show you don't want to be boastful. What did you do today that was artistic? I'll bet it was something - femminismo
P.S. I'm back. I forgot to say this: Be Kind To Yourself!!