Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Time in a Frame - again

Here are two very different pages. On one I use the new rubber stamp I cut of the eye. I liked the chapter heading so made the page to play off that starting point. The old man portrait is very slightly altered. He looked like and eagle to me - I just needed to add the nose/beak. isn't he a handsome fellow?

Time in a Frame - even more

This picture of the girl inspired me to get out my sewing machine and threads. Also a little purple tulle. The photo of the hanging of Lincoln's assassins is one I did awhile back. By painting out a lot of the background, the central images stand out all the better. I used thread for the nooses and added the ravens. The portrait of the man is only slightly altered with white gesso and black paint. Here is the link to earlier pages.

Time in a Frame - more pages



My art pal Jackie and I have been passing this book back and forth, with each of us doing a few pages at a time. It's been so hot in the Valley that I'm sort of stuck inside - no gardening for me in the heat! So, I've been adding pages in the book. Here are a few new ones. The blue man has a hand extended onto the preceding page. He was meant to be a mummy. I planned to paint him except for the face - right into the background, then shade around him and highlight the lines of the tape with stains. But - I love blue masking tape and could not bring myself to paint it out. Who says mummies have to be wrapped in white? On the opposite page there was a quotation I liked. "Stretched his hands, enforcing silence - Said 'Be motionless, I beg you!' Mystic, awful was the process. All the family in order Sat before him for their pictures.?"

The three spooky fellas need a caption - maybe someone will suggest something? Please.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Rubber stamps



A new online group for making lino cuts and rubber stamps has started and of course, I joined, because it is something I'd like to do - but never get around to it. So, last night I dug out my old lino cutting tools and they were all rusted and dull. Most of the exacto blades are rusty too (I inherited most of them from my 90+year old aunt. Goodness knows how old they are.) So, I used my small snap off box cutter and managed to cut one eraser into a stamp. Tonite I did another one. I needed a stamp of a skunk for an altered book. Here they are.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

A freebie


Here is a sweet cover from an old book I thought you might like to use.

Comments

I continue to get comments from someone or people whose comments I can't read. They are in some strange form of print. I publish all comments if I can read them. If yours doesn't show up - then it means it is not compatible with my system and I can't decipher it. I'd like to know why. If anyone knows, please tell me. Janene

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A book or a box?





One of my local mixed media groups is having a "nest" challenge this month. Another group is challenged to use something we got free from our tailgate party supply exchange a couple weeks ago. Often we bring new things into our spaces, and they just sit for a long time - so this challenge is making us look at the new stuff and trying to utilize at least one new thing. It's a good idea.

I figured everyone will probably think Bird nests! And I love working with bird themes. But, fate stepped in and now it is a Wasp nest project. While I was in the country wasps decided to build a nest right over my door under a low overhang - so I was having to duck and dive to get past them while entering and leaving my living space. I decided to take it down, and with the help of some pine fragrance air freshener, I opened the screen just enough to give it a spray and the wasps all took off. While they were gone, I used a stick and took the nest down, scooped it up in an old peanut butter jar, and patted myself on the back for taking care of this problem without asking anyone for help. I'm so brave!!! Pat, pat.

The idea of the wasp nest was born of that acitivity. I remembered a little damaged book down in the studio about bees. Old and warped and water stained, it was such a sweet thing I never could throw it away. As I was reading the little book, I read how the bees know exactly where their nests are, they go by visual landmarks. I remember this was true of the carpenter bees in the country. I had not considered this with the wasps. Sure enough when I came back upstairs there they were, only now they are agitated. Looking for their lost nest. I felt bad for them, but when it's them or me - I'm not going to spend my days ducking and diving! They will have to find a new place and move along. It's been a couple days and only a few come back now. And I give them the Pine scented spray which sends them away. I tried spraying a little clorox cleaner on the spot where the nest had been thinking the fumes would keep them away. Didn't seem to bother them, but it dripped down and bleached my door mat. Call it art!

Back to the project. Pics tell it pretty well. The nest will go into the little tin with glass top, that's what I picked up as a freebie from Bev at last meeting. this one project will cover both challenges, and I get to use and save my little damaged book. I know the book is about honey bees and I'm using a wasp nest. Artistic license. I'll post another pic when it's done.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

More on Alice meets Steampunk



I'm back to share more of this piece. What I show tonite is not the way it looks today, but how it looked last week. I've changed it a lot since then, but will shoot new pics and post them later. I held back showing pics because I was considering submitting the piece to something like Somerset Studios for possible publication. But, after reading the directions and seeing the time lags - it is possible that if they wanted it sent to them, it might be out of circulation for a prolonged period of time and I would not be able to show it in local galleries or shows during that time. I'd rather have it in a gallery than in the magazine where they make money off of of everyone else's talents. Sure, I could have my five minutes of fame but then I'd be waiting for it to be returned. It is such a dimensional piece, it is a richer experience for the viewer to see it in person. Anyhow, here's how it looked last week.

When I started this, I didn't expect it to be anything special, or probably even worth keeping, so I did a lot of things wrong. I glued things in right away, without giving a thought to painting the background on the inside. I'd used colored gesso on the outside. So, later I had to peel images and gears out, paint the background and then put the images back in. Sometimes i had to redo an image. I wanted to get rid of Howard Hughes and Janis Joplin's face - for copyright reasons - in case I wanted to publish. Those are done now, and you will see the results here soon.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Alice in Wonderland Box




Here is my new project. While cleaning the studio (yes, again) I found this interesting pressed paper packing box liner I saved from some shipping box. At first I photographed it thinking it could be useful digitally as a background - and then I kept thinking the multiple depths would make good surfaces for collage - and steampunk! Hmmm...... The wheels were turning, when I noticed a cut out of Alice on my worktable (a reject from another project.) Once she met the box, it was like she found her home. So, it is now a steampunk meets Alice in Wonderland theme on one side and Alice meets WWW-onderland (the internet) on the other side. I'm thinking of making it for my teen grandkids who like to try to figure out what the heck grandma is doing now. LOL They'll be scratching their heads for along time over this one. Janene
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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Trevor's graduation book

I posted some pics on my other blog. If you'd like to check them out, click here.