Spring Fairy

Spring Fever is here! Friday will be the first day of Spring (finally) and I thought I'd make a little happy reminder. Now it seems my tastes have drifted to the pink palette. I'm still working on my various projects but have had setbacks due to health reasons. Things seem to be getting a little better so hopefully much more progress will be made in the coming days.

Coming Apart

This is a digital collage I put together that will be part of a larger work. I was glad to see that I am able to work in another color besides blue! I have ordered some Lutradur which is something I've wanted to work with for a long time. I also ordered Lesley Riley's new book that talks about different ways to use Lutradur. So, I'm looking forward to putting some of my digital works onto fabric and incorporating the Lutradur.

Grunge Beauty

I came across an art journal prompt that said, "find beauty in the unexpected". So I took an old rusty background and added various fibers, color and images and came up with this. How fun! On another note, I'm working feverishly on the two art dolls in progress. I will post photos of them when finished.

I Believe

OK, after stressing out about the deadlines I did take that deep breath and decided to make a little helper! She gave me just enough magic to put it all in perspective and reassured me that everything will go out on time and to my satisfaction!

Captive

I made this digital collage to show how I feel today. Time just keeps running out for me lately. I'm trying to get too many things done at once and end up not making much progress on any of it. Time for a deep breath! I'm definitely a captive of the ticking clock...

Broken

This is a digital collage I made the other day. I am continuing my love affair with blue, I see. I can't get away from using it, so this is my "blue period". ;) On another note, I think I've got a pretty good start to my game board (see previous posts) but I'm stumped for my "hero" character. It looks like some people are having the same problem from the looks in the message forum.

I have to make a batch of polymer clay faces for another project, so I'll just make something with every mold I have. Maybe one of those will speak to me and I can build my character from there. I can't think of a character name either. Barb Kobe (the facilitator in the Creative Journey) suggests naming your hero FIRST and then maybe an idea will emerge. So, I'm off to try and figure all of this out.

Home Movies

I posted this digital collage earlier today but I wasn't satisfied with it. So I changed it a little and now it's more like I envisioned. After going through some old family photos I realized I didn't have any of the house I grew up in. My sister still lives in the same town so I had her drive by and take a few photos. The place has really gone downhill in the 30-some odd years since I left, but after some tweaking Photoshop I was able to get the place looking more like it did back then.

Art Doll

This is an art doll I made using some of the techniques of doll artist Joanna Pierotti. There was a wonderful section about her dolls and her techniques in the book, Exhibition 36: Mixed Media Demonstrations & Explorations by Susan Tuttle.

You start with any plastic doll head and using her techniques you end up with a head that looks like an antique porcelain doll. Here are some closeups of the face:

I love the technique. The body gets wrapped in lace and fabric and then mounted on a piece of wood. So, not bad for my first try.

Preparing For The Creative Journey

I've been preparing my game board for The Creative Journey (see previous post). This is what I've got done so far. I used a sketch board that I found at Micheal's as my base. I just removed the hardware and that left a nice surface for collage. If you click on the photo you'll get a much better view of the board.

The board is divided into three sections of a circle. The top right portion is "Leaving Home". The bottom half of the board is "The Wilderness" and the top left portion is "Coming Home". You are given certain milestones along the journey and the images you put onto your board are what you consider your interpretations of the milestones. I'm almost finished with it. I'll be adding to it as the game starts and progresses, but this is almost ready for the first session of the class. We will have a teleconference on March 8 and you are to have your board finished, your Hero finished and given a name, and your Herald finished and given a name.

This will be fun. I'll post updates along my Journey to give you some idea of how the game works.

A Creative Journey

I have just signed up for a wonderful class! It's called "The Creative Journey" and it's loosely based on Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey. If you Google "the hero's journey" you'll get a lot of info on the concept. There have been a ton of classes formed that explore this idea further as it applies to certain areas of people's lives, e.g. creativity in this case.

The class is taught by Barb Kobe and you can read about it at her website: http://barbkobe.com/ The class runs from Feb. 22 to May 3. It's designed to help you through a difficulty in your life, a life transition, deciding what to do with your life, or any kind of question you may have about how to proceed on a certain issue.

The class is set up in a game motif. You design a game board based on your life and what you're going through. The above example is someone's actual game board from a previous class. Throughout your journey you'll design game pieces to signify obstacles, allies, fears, etc. The dolls in the collage above are actual game pieces from participants of past classes.

It's not too late to sign up. There has only been one lesson so far. You can listen to the recordings of the classes if you are unable to "attend" via computer. You get an e-booklet of the class structure and all the info you'll need for designing your game board, creating characters, etc. There is a private Yahoo group set up for the participants where you can access files, photos and any other info necessary.

Can't you tell I'm excited about this? I'm in the process of designing my game board now. The next teleconference is a week from Sunday and you should have your game board and your "hero" designed by then. I'll be posting bits and pieces of my personal journey here, along with my other art. It should be a lot of fun!

No Escape

Periodically, I'll post these collages that I'm making to submit to the Baker's Dozen Collage Exchange. This one was a challenge because I hardly ever use men in my collages. No reason; just don't do it that often. The elements in this one called out for a more masculine touch, I thought.

Balancing Act

Here is another collage I've made for the Baker's Dozen Collage Exchange (see previous posts). I found a great glue for adhering magazine paper: Zip Dry. I got mine at Michael's but I've seen it at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Hobby Lobby, too. This glue does NOT wrinkle the magazine paper when you apply it!

I also had great luck in my first image transfer using packing tape. I adhered the packing tape over a magazine image of a little girl, burnished it really well with a bone folder and then soaked it in warm water for about 15 minutes. Afterward, the paper peels off easily from the back of the tape. Once removed, you get a transparent image that's gorgeous! The little girl superimposed onto the meditating woman is the transfer I'm referring to. I know it doesn't work with inkjet images; you have to use laser printed images.

Storm Warning

This is another collage I made for the Baker's Dozen Collage Exchange. These are all 8" x 10" in size and so far I'm using only magazine and personal photo images. The house in this image was my Great Grandmother's home.

More, More, More...

And now for a lighter note! All of this introspective work gets to be a bit much. Time for some levity. Here is one of the finished (semi?) collages I'm submitting for the Baker's Dozen Collage Exchange. Obviously, the theme is More! I've been saving all of these jewelry catalogs I get in the mail thinking there would be a good use for those gorgeous shots of diamonds, gold, etc. This was a lot of fun and a breath of fresh air.

I've already told hubby not to talk to me today; I'm in the zone! He's busy anyway, so it's a good thing. I want to knock these 13 collages out so I can get busy on my art dolls, canvas works in progress and a hundred other things I'm itching to get back to working on.

It's a snowy, rainy, gusty, windy, gray day here: a perfect day to stay in and make some art!