Spring photos

Today is near the end of February. We had a few very spring like days and now have a series of storms on the way. In the Valley the trees are blossoming like mad. Fruit orchards in all shades of pinks and whites. When a breeze comes along it's like a snowstorm, loosening the blossoms and setting petals to the wind. Soon these will be buffeted by the incoming storms and the peak period to photograph them will pass. These are pics I took this a.m. Blossoms on the pavements, walkways, drains near the Sr. Center where we made art. One is enhanced digitally just to remind you how much fun it is to punch up the colors in Photoshop. The pink blossoming trees are in my neighborhood. One is enhanced as well. These make good backgrounds and inspiration for paintings. Don't you love Spring?

Hollywood collage

Here's the collage I'm working on for the Lodi show post cards and program. It's in progress, not all elements are attached at this point and painting background is not done yet. I just want to see how it looks online.

New projects

I have several new things in the works. At the beach last week, our art project was to work on constructing a book with lots of vintage ephemera and papers inside a recycled book cover and spine. Most of us only collected and assembled some of the signatures that will go into the book. I plan to make two of them for special people I know.

The Lodi Community Art Center is getting in gear for the big Spring Art Show. They asked me to design the post cards, name labels, and program this year. The juried show does not have a theme and is open to artists anywhere, the registration and judging is being done online this year. I'll miss the job of taking in the art and seeing it all in person before the judging is done. But, I guess this is the way of the future.

I need to get started right away on this project. The theme for the First Night event is Old Hollywood and they want me to incorporate the essence of old Hollywood into my collage piece. Hmm......

I'm also going to do a presentation on altered books, book arts, and mail art to that group for next month's membership meeting. I asked Sally to do it with me. She has lots of fun new things to show. I need to finish some things I started so they will be ready to show also.

Then I need to think if I have anything ready to show at the Spring Art Show. Hmmmm..... or do I need to do a new piece? Large things show better there. Hmmmm........

St. Patricks Day cards

The California Art Girls enjoyed our last swap so much, we decided to have another one for St. Pat's day. The first one came in already, by the hostess of the swap. It's from Beth. She wrote a charming original limerick on the other side. Thanks Beth.

More Valentines

Oh my! More valentines in my inbox. I hate to see the holiday pass, as I have enjoyed receiving all of them. Here are the latest and probably the last for this year.

The cloth ones are from the swap online with a group that makes fabric pcs. The Yellow background one is from Joan Santoro. The tea folded one is from Sherri Feiger. Aren't they great ones? The Paris card is from Terrie Elsworth, one of the California Art Girls. Love the sparkle, the images and colors. I saved Punwits starter card for last, because you will see it again when I have added to it, and sending it back for more work. I love these as I never know what to expect, and Punwit never knows what I may do to it.

In box - Valentines

Happy days. More Valentines are showing up in my mail box. Here are some of the new ones.
The darling one on the oversized playing card is from Rosemary. Sing your Heart Song is from Michelle Attaway. Lovely, Michelle, thanks. The one I scanned inside it's vintage glassine envelope is from Pat Schmidt. Its adorable. It has an aqua ribbon woven through the front of the card. I'm glad it was in the envelope, I don't think it would have made it through the mail without damage. The 1 hour limit card is anonymous. BUT, the style is very like Emily Pruitt makes. I checked back through other cards she sent in the past, and sure enough, the handwriting matches. So, Emily, thank you for the card which always has a little story behind it. Thanks to all four of you wonderful artsy ladies. I love every card.

Mail art - post cards

I received these two cards yesterday. I'd been working for several hours at the art gallery with a bunch of other artists stuffing and stamping envelopes for the upcoming Spring show. Very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. When I picked up my mail I had the three valentines shown in previous post, and also these two winners. The tree is from Linda Giese. Very personalized and special. Thanks Linda. The collaged card is the returned collaboration from Punwit. It's such fun to see what he adds when it comes back for the second and third time. It's done now and going in my collection. Thanks again!

Post cards, more valentines

Lucky me, some more Valentines arrived in my mail box. Here are three new ones. Terri sent the sweet card with the lovers on it. Sally sent the one with the little girl holding the heart. It's so cute, but had a hard time in the mail system. The white fillagree flowers barely made it here, only about half of it is attached. I really like the shape of the card and am surprised it came through as well as it did with only a small ding on one point. I would have expected the points to be roughened up a lot more. And last but not least, from Nansha, a cupcake valentine card. She knows it is one of my fav themes, and I really like the use of the dots and the sparkly heart. Thanks girls. These will now be added to my growing Valentine collection.

Charcoal and paper

Sketching with charcoal is fun sometimes. It's often the way I start a painting. Here is a quick sketch, and a charcoal tracing that was transfered to the background with acrylic gel medium. After the transfer was made I covered it with a second coat of acrylic gel matte medium. One of these days I'll paint it.

valentines

I have my third batch of Valentines ready to go out. Here are some pics.