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Ta-Da! It's finished! Here is the album cover for my artwork from The Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge. The album, which I found at Target, is perfect for the collages I created on 9" x 12" watercolor paper. I liked the color because it reminded me of a journal an explorer might use. And the fabric cover was perfect because I could embellish it with ribbon and 7-Gypsies gaffer tape that I already had. I looked through my stash of word embellishments and when I came across this word pebble, I knew my search was over.
The Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge has come to an end and the final prompt offered by Kari is DESTINATION & REFLECTION. This theme seemed like a natural for me because I spend a lot of time reflecting. Self-discovery equals growth as far as I'm concerned. Not that I spend all my time living in the past, but I do think that we can learn a lot about ourselves and life from our history. My creative process usually begins by looking within. Before I can reach my ultimate destination I must first reflect upon where I have been. To illustrate this I used photographs of suitcases and other travel related elements such as a map and compass. The journaling reads, "Always remember - the journey is more important than the destination."
I finally had some time to work on a little art today. Good thing because I was able to complete my HAPPINESS page for Kari and Bonnie's "Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge." Only one more prompt to complete. As soon as I saw this theme, I immediately thought of the title of Will Smith's latest movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness." {The Declaration of Independence came to mind as well.} Unlike the movie title, I chose to use the proper spelling of HAPPINESS because quite frankly the misspelling annoys me. I suppose it is the school teacher in me that is bothered by it. I haven't seen the movie and so I don't know if the way it is spelled is an integral part of the film or not. If there is, please let me know so I can stop being annoyed. I chose to use a lot of pink on this collage because I think pink is a happy color. . . i.e. bubble gum, cotton candy, roses, Barbie dolls, baby girls, etc. I printed the title on a transparency and adhered it with vellum dots. The blue paper lace, the vintage rose paper, and the quote are scraps from the wrappings Kari used when she sent me her swap pin {see previous post}. I love to recycle those kind of little bits and pieces. {I guess you could say it makes me HAPPY to reuse them!} The rest of the papers used in the collage {with the exception of the background paper} are from my scrap basket. I like projects where I can use papers leftover from other projects. I never throw any of my scraps out.
I am happy to say that I am officially all caught up on my Cabinet of Curiosity challenge prompts! Hooray!!! (Cue the confetti and balloons!!) I have always been a person who works best under the gun. But then I also like the feeling of having things completed. Go figure! Anyway, prompt number six was COLLECTIONS. Well, I didn't exactly know where to begin because as my DH would say, "You collect EVERYTHING!" Being a mixed media artist, it is difficult to part with anything that you see as a potention design element! I am sure you all can relate to that feeling. I wanted my collage to have a vintage feel to it since I collect mostly vintage items such as white ironstone pitchers, antique salt cellars, vintage cameras, old ribbons, lace and buttons, anything bird or nest related, garden themed items, vintage postcards, and so on and so on and so on. . . . . I know that all this collecting is part of the large problem I have been experiencing recently, which for those of you new to this blog is TOO MUCH STUFF in too little of a house! Even when I have the good intention to seriously start to purge, when I am actually faced with the decision of whether or not to toss out that tattered handkerchief or book I no longer use, I end up keeping them for that elusive project someday in the future! Bad, I know. Someday I will overcome this addiction. But then when I see photos of other artist's studios or work spaces and see the fabulous amounts of baubles, treats, and doo-dads that they have crammed into their areas, I no longer feel that I am the only one with this "collect and save" mentality. I guess it must just be an occupational hazard that I must learn to accept and live with. That concept is especially difficult to for someone who happens to be a Virgo and by nature likes things organized and tidy. But until I figure out how to solve this dilemma, I will continue to collect beautiful things that catch my eye and tug at my heart because "someday" may be just around the corner!
The fifth prompt from Kari and Bonnie's Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge was INSPIRATION. This is a favorite theme of mine to use in my artwork. There is inspiration all around us...you just have open your eyes and take it all in! This collage highlights my favorite inspirations du jour. I used an example of each of them as elements of the design. These are listed inside the little quotation tag. They are Books, Magazines, Nature, Cavallini Papers, Color, Famous (or not so famous) Quotes, Music, Catalogs, and Other Artists. If you look closely you will find a snippet of Kari's layout from this post where she included a photo I sent her. I was thrilled to see it used in her artwork, so I found a way to immortalize it in my artwork.
I was able to complete two more pages this morning for the Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge which is running here and here. Bonnie and Kari are giving us fabulous prompts and thoughts to ponder. The DREAM page is all about goals and dreams. I used a photo of our "Dream House" that we just finished building and also a wee version of a "Dream Big in 2007" layout that I did after the first of the year. Inside the polka-dot organza bag is a clock face to remind me to "take time to dream." I created the WONDER page with a shell chandelier from an old Anthropologie catalog, which I glittered up to make it seem like it was lit. For me the word wonder evokes a sort of a lighting up in our brain about all the possibilities life has to offer. I used bright colors to help carry out that theme.
Can you believe it? I actually have two pages of the Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge completed. I am thrilled to finally have some time to work on this project. I'm creating these pages on 9 x 12 sheets of watercolor paper instead of in an album. I am not sure how I am going to house these pages yet - I have a couple of ideas cooking in my head - so I thought it would be best to just keep the pages loose for now. The watercolor paper (140 lb) is great for collage work because the stiffness of the paper adds stability to the artwork.
The first page of the challenge is EXPLORE. I concentrated on exploring nature through walks in the woods and on nature trails. There are so many things to discover on these outdoor excursions -bird nests, flowers, leaves, butterflies, trees, etc. I love all the colors in nature....you can find any color you imaginable. The greens and browns are especially appealing to me because there are unlimited variations of each.The second page of the challenge is CURIOSITY. My focus here was the typical questions people ask when they are curious about something - Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Being curious about things is how we expand our minds and learn about new things. It's the secret to personal growth. Be sure to ask questions of yourself as well as those around you. You'll be amazed at how much knowledge we all have to share.
I am so excited about a new challenge that I am going to participate in starting January 18th. Kari and Bonnie are hosting it and you can read about it here and here. If you are like me and need to jump start your creative juices you may want to join in on the fun!
I tossed around several ideas for the opening in the cover. At first I was going to create an entirely new piece for it. But then I started playing around with the images of the different collages and I decided I would use portions from each of the various challenge prompts and create a montage of them all. . .sort of a collage of the collages. I like the idea of giving the viewer a sneak-peek of what's inside. Later I may ink the edges of the album to age it a bit. I'll just have to let it sit and evolve over the next few days like I usually do.
