Working on a new mail art swap where each of us have to start a collage and then it gets sent on to my peeps to make their own additions. Jo was inspired by the work of Armand Brac and suggested we try to do something similar.
This is the first layer for each of mine - one goes to Jo and one goes to Lenna for a second layer - when done, they send to each other for the third layer and then it comes back to me. Took awhile for us to get our heads wrapped around the progression lol.
I am looking forward to seeing what my two very talented friends come up with! Enjoy.
Signed up for Randel Plowman's class which has been interesting if not educational. He has a different style to what I am used to - feels more academic - but that's okay. So here is what I've done so far...
Day 1 - Diagonal: It was tough getting started and I probably ruined more images than I would have liked to but finally pulled this one together...
Day 2 - Childhood Memory - use one of the following - line, shape, space, color
Day 3 - Three Elements
Day 4 - Black and White
Day 5 - Pairs
Day 6 - Analogous Colours
Day 7 - What Is It? (I'll reveal what these are later). Enjoy! Jewels
Wow - I managed to from relatively nothing to more than I thought I could manage with online classes lol - not that I am complaining. Randel Plowman's 30 day collage class started today - I think is more academic than previous classes I have taken but that is a good thing. Will share about that later. Meanwhile, Tammy Garcia's Groovy Grunge started over the holidays - I've managed to get two spreads done so far following the Outside/In activity.
This was the first - you paint up your background, start collage around the edges and then do whatever you want in the middle. The quote is from Teddy Roosevelt - words to live by when it comes to looking at other's art work!
For my second spread (which included "painting" the text instead of using markers) I committed to a black and white theme - but with a little added colour using a technique by Naomi Vona.
Sprayed the this 1941 thrifted picture with a fixative and then used POSCA paint markers to add some pop.
The next exercise is ominously called THE WALL lol. Enjoy. Jewels
The last 2016 Mail Art Swap with Jo and Lenna was Weather Report....and as usual totally different interpretations (though Sun and Rain played a big part in all lol). First up is what I received from Jo...
who lives in the UK and knows my family roots back to England. Perfect collage...
and a cool envelope to go with it!
Lenna's art is truly fab - she experiments with different materials and techniques - I love the texture she has created on this piece...
...and my personal weather report on the back.
A close up from her envelope.
Mine were both included in packages to my friends so no fancy envelopes. I dipped into my retro collection and found these two ladies (both are from ads for coffee).
Jo's is based on one of my favorite songs!
I found this lovely poem by Langston Hughes that inspired Lenna's card.
So that's a wrap. Our first Mail Art Swap for 2017 is Alphabet Soup...meanwhile, enjoy. Jewels
Lots going on over the holidays in my studio. Some pieces taking longer than others. I did manage to whip out another catalog spread. This one was inspired by a book I found while cleaning up my basement - Getting along in Russian by Mario Pei (probably late 1950s). Given the current political climate I thought I should brush up on my Russian just in case. You can tell the book is dated by some of the "common" phrase provided - like: Where is the ashtray? I should like to have for breakfast orange juice or prunes. What an awful dump! and of course the very useful I think I may have dysentery ... I think the five phrases in my piece are pretty important too lol. This is the "before" page...
And the "after". I always try to keep a part of the original page...
Painted background (Payne Grey and Chambry Blue). Stamped gold paint using a Tim Holtz stencil. Dripped Naphthol Red Light high flow acrylic and Iridescent Bright Gold Liquitex Ink. Additional marks using POSCA pens. Vintage atlas map and scrap as well as cool 1968 Russian stamp. She came from a spread in an old Better Homes and Garden mag...
Enjoy. Jewels
Goodness - May!!! My poor neglected blog. I'm thinking I am going to do some revamping over the holidays...
..of course saying and doing are two very different things.
But I am going to give it another go and see if get enough traffic to justify posting. I am much more active these days over on Facebook and Flickr.
Just seem to get more interaction there.
The pictures I am sharing are from my Sales Catalog (Younkers) Art Journal that I have been trying to do 15 min exercises in (though often it goes longer than that)....
Any who, hope you will leave a comment to let me know your visiting. Enjoy. Jewels.
Johnny is asking the class if they are ready for ICADology lol!
I really enjoyed ICAD last year though I did not art everyday - still I did create a lot of fun cards and loved seeing how everyone else interpreted the themes. SO....going to try and do it again this year. Here is my first "warm up" card. I found a ton of the old kind of cards at my parent's place and hope to repurpose them this year. Hope you join too!
