BOOK ARTS , ALTERED BOOKS, AND MAIL ART My Way

Stitched faces

2012-01-29T17:28:00.000-08:00

I've ordered a new sewing machine that will have a drop feed which will allow me to do freestyle stitching. I've been fighting my way with the old machine for a long time and finally decided I wanted something more modern, with more features. So, today I did some more of the stitched faces I tried out last year. This is still with the old machine. For some reason I always made myself use a running stitch. No stopping and cutting the thread and starting somewhere else. Just one continuous line. Like a sketching exercise. But, finally after some bad stitches, I wondered why I had put that restriction on myself. Today I told myself to lighten up and just work with whatever number of lines I wanted. That was when I was about done for the day anyway, so I'm not sure what the next ones will be like. I think they will be a lot neater. for one thing, I can turn them over and stitch on the other (right) side. Anyway, here's the practice pieces I did this morning. It was so nice and warm today, I spent the afternoon gardening and bathing the dogs.

More Valentines coming in

2012-01-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

My mail has been a lot of fun this week. I love to get Valentine cards. I know, it's still January, but it's close enough. Here are new ones. The beautiful hand stitched one with beads is from Nancy Goodman in Illinois. The charming vintage romance is from Peggy Gatto. Norma Soulet from Florida sent the cute girl in the big hat holding out her heart. The one with lace at the top and the vintage card attached with red stitching is from Beth, in the Santa Cruz mountains. I love each one of them, and when they are sitting together with the others, it makes me smile every time I pass them. And everyone who sees them wants to check them all out. You gals are getting lots of compliments and praise from strangers in Stockton. Thanks so much.

Post cards in-box

2012-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent post cards I received. Deb Poole sent this sweet cloth post card for a Valentine swap. The one with the map in the background is from Jennie Hinchcliff. The adorable Valentine with kids on it is from Trina from another swap. Last, but not least, is the Year of the Dragon from Carroll Woods. I have more Valentine swaps coming in soon. I look forward to the mail delivery.

Carved rubber stamps

2012-01-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

I've been toting my carving box to the senior center again this month, and have carved a few new stamps to show you. Here they are. I'm using that carving block I inherited from Jackie. I like the material very well and must buy more. Good old Dick Blick should be able to help me out with ordering. These images will soon find their way onto post cards I expect.

Family history

2012-01-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

I posted this to my personal blog, and thought I'd share it here as well. This is a short film taken by my parents when my brother Bob and I were little kids. This is pre WWII.

And here are a couple family photos of us as kids too.

My mother was an Iowa farm girl who left the farm to go to college to become a teacher. She and my dad met when she was visiting a friend in Nevada, where my dad worked in a mine/mill. She left her career behind for marriage until we were older.

It's a great treat for me to see them so young and loving. And also great to see the animals that were cared for so tenderly until it was time to eat them. That's just the way it was.

Dad was the only one that liked the geese. While I didn't mind a little duck biting my finger, I did not like being chased or bit by a goose.

Transfers

2012-01-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

I was planning on painting this face, sort of in a Modgliani style, but instead tried a transfer highlighted with charcoal.

I tweaked it in Photoshop and framed it with Photoscape.

Catching up in the art world

2012-01-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Time has been zooming by without my posts, so let me tell you what's been happening here. Our mixed media art group met and discussed our plans for the coming year. Ideas were aplenty to get us started. We had 19 people there and it was way too crowded to do anything but talk. We also had show and tell, but with that many people, it was difficult to get around the table , and then we didn't get to see things up close or to handle things and ask more questions. Several of our regulars were not there - and if they had come we would be in danger of squishing each other around the long tables. It was a good meeting though and we got to see some of our members who we had not seen in awhile. It was wonderful to see them. We have some good things planned for the next meetings, and we'll just wait and see how the crowding goes. I think we will have to cap our membership for the time being so we can accommodate those that are already signed on. Who would have thought we'd find so many interested and interesting people to make art with.

Earlier that week a few of us went to see a demo by artist Lynn Slade, who does beautiful collage/paintings with washi paper and watercolor. Lots of layers, and interesting textures are created. She dyes her own washi so she gets beautiful subtle tones and variations. Her work can be seen at www.lsladeart.com

Yesterday Patti Wallace gave another workshop on torn paper collages, using magazine images. I'd been playing around with them for the last week and was ready to sit down and try something new with them. What I chose to do was work sort of mono chromatically. Previously I had been working with bright, intense colors. I found a picture in one of the magazines I took to tear up which inspired me to do a woodsy scene with a path running into the woods. I'll pst pics soon. The fish lady is one I did based on a charcoal study I did some months ago. I did the collage last week.

I've also been working on post cards, of course. Valentines for friends and for some swaps I signed on to do. Of course, I made them with dog themes. I was so anxious to get them out in the mail, I forgot to scan or photograph them. Today I need to work on fabric post cards for one of the groups. Next week at our mixed media group, we will be working on our own projects with the theme of love, romance and hearts. I need to figure out what to take to that meeting.

Carved stamps

2012-01-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple new stamps I carved recently. I inherited some of the speedball Speedy-Cut material from Jackie's stash. I haven't posted anything yet with what I did with the first piece, but it will show up soon. these two pieces are on rubber erasers from the Dollar Tree back to school section. I wanted something to symbolize waving in the New Year. And also, I wanted to do another of the face that I previously did on two separate erasers. I just reduced it down a bit and cut a new one.

January theme is BLUE

2012-01-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

The gallery in Lodi has a monthly theme. This month it is BLUE. Not all the artists submit works that have anything remotely like BLUE, but I thought I'd dig around my archives and see if i could adapt some digital things in blue. I have never submitted any digital works there, and it might be a good time to do it.

One of these is adapted from an old photo of the Stockton Auditorium when it was first built. With help from Photoshop and a zillion tweaks of color and filters, here is my study in blue, auditorium.

The other study in blue is tweaked from a photo of my coffee table.

Torn paper collage - portrait

2012-01-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

The other day when I sketched the gal for the painting, I did a second sketch. I thought I would paint it, but then got inspired by an email from the Lodi group to do a torn paper collage with the sketch as the base.

Here's what I did, using only fashion magazines, one Smithsonian, and a glue stick. It took a lot longer than I expected it would, but I have never worked from a sketch with torn paper. When I put it online I will see if I still like it, or if I'll see things I want to change.

Getting out the paints

2011-12-30T15:54:00.000-08:00

Hungry for the feel of a paintbrush in my hand, I dug out a pad of paper and some acrylic paints and gesso. Inspired by Modgliani portraits, I did a quick of a woman with a super long chin, one of the things he did. Just for fun. Then painted it. Ahhhhh.... it's been too long since I painted. This old orange easel is one I got from my brother long ago. It's proving to be quite handy on the porch, where paints can dry and the light is so good.

Lodi group exchange

2011-12-26T16:36:00.001-08:00

the Lodi Mixed Media group decided to have a pot luck finger food brunch and a card/gift exchange. So we each made one thing. We gave each item a sticky note number and the corresponding number went into the hat to be drawn to find out who got which gift. I got this lovely piece by Barbara Schwartz. It is drawn on denim. I love it. "Santa" is Vivian modeling a woven kimono covered ade with a Chinese newspaper. It is covered with packing tape. She made this more than a decade ago. It is an amazing piece of work.

Holiday post card swap

2011-12-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

A group of artists who originally met mostly at Art and Soul have formed a splinter group of women who live close enough to occasionally make art together. We call ourselves California Art Girls. We had a post card swap for the holidays, suggested by Beth from the Santa Cruz Mountains. I'll post a few pics tonite (Christmas Eve) and more tomorrow as time permits, between taking things in and out of the oven. The table is already set for tomorrow's dinner, so I've got things under control. Here are some of the cards.

More Christmas

2011-12-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

I got behind posting pics of Christmas post cards and other cards that have come in. Sorry, but time flew by last week with all the little life traumas caused by electronic and mechanical failures in my household. The cards are all displayed in a nice red basket, and I love to glance through them again and again. These are the last two that arrived, so I'm showing them. The folded paper tree was done by Nancy, and the hand painted trees are by Phyllis. Thanks gals. I love the cards. How many ways are there to depict a Christmas tree? About as many as there are pine needles on the tree I'd guess.

Senior Center Art Show

2011-12-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

Some of us who do art at the Senior Center on Monday mornings, shared some tables to show and sell some of our art. Here are pics of Francis and Jean, me wearing Francis' hat, and the cake walk - just one of the events planned for the day. It was a fun day. Since we were so fog bound all morning and we started at 8:30 - we didn't have as many people turn out as we had hoped. But, we had fun none the less and most of us had some sales as well.

Holiday mail flying in and out.

2011-12-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

It's such a treat this time of year to find so much incoming mail from friends and family. The cards photographed on my patio table in the sun are just a few of the lovely things I've received this week. The vertical pic shows the line up of cards I sent out this week, 65 of them. The card with Peace on Earth is the one I designed for this holiday season. The red and white stripes use the same image and stamp.

Christmas angels

2011-12-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

There was a tutorial mentioned on one of the online groups I belong to. It was how to make a christmas tree from a book. I decided to do it. But, while I was doing the folding, I thought I'd make an angel instead. Here it is.

Envelope Book - cats

2011-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is an envelope book I made for my friend Sally who is a cat lover. She has three of her own, the cutest funniest little tuxedo cats you can find. And she volunteers at a Cat Shelter every week. I've been thinking about doing a cat book for her for some time, and one day as I was thinking about recycling junk mail envelopes, I decided to construct a book for her birthday. Here are the pics.

An envelope book

2011-12-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is one of the new envelope books I just made. It was a birthday gift for my friend Pat. It is constructed of used junk mail envelopes. I had some wonderful vintage birthday post cards I tucked in, as Pat loves vintage as much as I do.

Thanksgiving cards

2011-11-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

I got these from friends Pat and Char from Folsom and in Fair Oaks. Thanks for my Thanksgiving treats, gals.

More holiday decorations

2011-11-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

Here's the latest batch of finished oraments. The little stockings are stamped and embossed, then colored with watercolor. The birds are on Watercolor paper, collaged, painted with gesso, rubbed back and stamped. I've done these before and used them for bookmarks. Guess they'll look good on the tree this year.

Rubber stamps

2011-11-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

i guess I've fallen behind in posting pics of my newer carved stamps. I tried the self portrait again. I like the first one better. Here are some others that I'll find useful. Particularly the little mail man.

rubber stamp carving

2011-11-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

I don't think I shared a little something I learned about carving rubber eraser stamps. Or the plastic type erasers. I found mine stuck to each other sometimes, and could not figure out why. I joined the Rubber Stamp Carving Consortium online and asked the question if others had experienced the same problem. Immediately several people responded with horror stories of how their had stuck to drawers, or each other. Seems some plastics and rubber can react to each other and one melts into the other. Some of my white eraser scraps stuck to the bottom of a plastic waste basket by my desk. Stuck firmly. In fact, welded themselves to it. So, the word is, plastics and rubber don't play nicely together. Be careful how you store them. I'll have to go back to the messages I got to see what storage methods people were using that didn't present any problems.

By the way my friend Roberta is starting to carve. I knew she'd have to try it sometime. Check out her work and the rest of her blog. She has long interesting posts with lots of pictures. Here's an old pic of her at the art bunglow a few years ago.

Self portraits

2011-11-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of new one's I've played with in the Adobe Photoshop Elements program. An old version. I see no reason to upgrade, there's so much that can be done with it.

Tis the season

2011-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

My goodness, here it is again. Holidays and all the associated activities. One of mine this year is to make ornaments for the tree the art center will show at the Festival of Trees at Micke Grove Park in early December. Volunteers anyone? Up went my hand. It has a mind of it's own sometimes. Here is the first batch.

Quilt show inspirations

2011-11-13T16:04:00.001-08:00

This week there was a quilt show right here in Stockton. The Tuleburg Quilt Show. You can bet I was there with some friends. We are all mixed media gals, and Sandy actually is the quilting arts diva of the Lodi Art Center. Her work took two ribbons in the show that is there now. Here are some pics. Bobbi, Sandy, and Phyllis are the friends you'll see here. The gal behind the table working is Elinor Peace Bailey of doll pattern fame. She was a kick. She was teaching people how to paint faces on fabrics. One of my favorite things was the self portrait quilt done by a group of friends. That puckered purse was done with a new product that when steamed, shrinks by about 30%. I"m going to get some of that for sure. Do you see the cats in the veggies? It was so clever we had to look twice before we noticed that they are veggies. I could not get a full pic the way it was hung. But, what I could see, I loved. I'm sure patterns for these things are available online.

Thanksgiving post cards

2011-11-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a batch of post cards with Thanksgiving as the theme. Here are some of them ready to go. I carved the give thanks stamp and used it on each one.

Collaborations - going back

2011-11-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sending collaborations back to the artists who sent them back to me. Here's the twist. They are going back to different artists. So everyone will get a little piece of art from another artist, perhaps one they don't know. Here's today's stack.

Tip of the day

2011-11-10T19:02:00.001-08:00

At our Mixed Media group in Lodi today, one of the members during show and tell, showed us her method of attaching fabric to paper. I don't know why I had not read it somewhere along the way, or seen it demonstrated. Vivian applies a light layer of liquid gel medium to the back of her fabric, then allows it to dry. Having the medium on the back makes it stiffer so it is easy to cut. Then she simply irons it onto her paper piece, book cover, page, or whatever. The glue melts enough to make the bond. What could be simpler? When I think of how many products I've tried and how confused they make me, each one needing a little different heat, or which side to use.... I often avoid making things that require using them, it's such a headache for me. But now, I am going to use a lot more fabrics on post cards. Just watch your mailboxes!!!! Thanks to Vivian and our sharing times in our group. We learn so much from each other.

We were so chatty today and had so much to share - we didn't have any time left to work. LOL

Mail art - in box

2011-11-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting for the card from Nancy. Others have said their's arrived, but mine was no where in sight, until Nov 3. Here is her Halloween card. Spooky. Thanks Nancy
The same day I received a card from Carroll Woods. I'm showing both sides cause her skeleton stamp is awesome. Thanks Carroll. Suzanne in Sac sent me a starter card for another collaboration. What fun. Thanks S. I'd better get busy I think I have half a dozen starters to add my work to before they move on.

Post cards - in the works

2011-11-03T16:39:00.001-07:00

It is November and time to start thinking of Thanksgiving. And post cards. Here are a couple things I played with today. I don't know if I'll use either of these ideas. I often try several things before the right one grabs me.

A blustery day on Cypress Ave.

2011-11-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's a Winne the Pooh kind of blustery day. Noisy with the wind chimes, wind in trees, and dry leaves blowing around. Each time I go outside I have to brush myself off. Buddy is having a very slow day, so our little walks in the garden are taking longer than usual. While I was waiting for him I picked an armload of Mexican sage for my DIL and for my own table. If it rains tomorrow as forecast, they will be leaning over with the water weight added. They are about 7 feet tall now and reaching across the paths, even though I trim them every few days. Here's a pic. oops. This post was meant for my home blog. Sorry, but maybe you like flowers too.

Catching up - In box

2011-11-01T16:28:00.003-07:00

I've been working on the receiving and database for the Small Works show in Lodi. Finished up today so have time to check the inbox. Guess what I found? Here they are. A beautiful watercolor card from Diane in Texas. Love , love, love it. Also a cool card from Beth - take a close peek. Here's a piece of tag art from my friend Sally, who loves all thing Tim Holtz. I'm particularly fond of her paper flowers and the overall look of it. It goes on my Halloween tree. I know, it was yesterday, but I didn't put it away yet. Thanks gals for these fun things. Another piece came in from Punwit, which I will alter and return for a couple rounds of collaboration. I'm showing the back and the front. Cool, huh?

catching up

2011-11-01T16:28:00.001-07:00

Bizarre Bazaar

2011-10-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Booooooo!!!! it's nearly Halloween and time for spooky things. Here are some images from Oct Bazaar magazine that I altered just for fun. The word stickers are from Martha Stewart collection from a few years ago. I hope she still makes them, they are fun to have on hand.

Change of pace, a quilt show

2011-10-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday some friends and I went to a quilt show at Murphys' Ironstone Vineyards. The setting was perfect, the weather also. And the quilt show was full of interesting works to view. Here are some pics. We had lunch at the old hotel garden in Murphy's. On the walkway into the show, there were decorated boots and shoes lining the path to show the way to go. One of my favorite quilts was this simple one with insets of chenille. Oh my it looked so soft and cosy. The purple and gold one was made for the brother of the quilter, who loved his fancy booze. The modern art piece was in honor of Dave Brubeck, and it played "Take Five" if you touched the corner.
Nice show, nice day. One can get inspiration for mixed media projects by visiting quilt shows as well as art galleries. Hmmmm..... now what shall I start on?

Oct 20 inbox

2011-10-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a two new collaboration cards that just arrived. The one with chickens is from Sally. The other one is from Joanna. Thanks gals for the new arrivals.

Joanna strikes again! Yay!!!

2011-10-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here are two new cards that just came in from Joanna. I always love her work and this time, she sent a mail art piece made from a vintage envelope. I'll show you both sides. The green piece is a collaboration return. Thanks Joanna.

In box - from Pat

2011-10-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

This little cutie is from Pat in Folsom. She used one of those vintage photos that were printed on post cards. The back has an original letter to "Mother", a Mrs Steele. Looks like it was around 1908, but i can't quite make it out. Thanks Pat, it's a little treasure.

In box - a collaborative pc came home

2011-10-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Debbie in Castro valley worked on this collaboration and now it tells a story in greens. Thanks Debbie I love it.

Carving familiar images

2011-10-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I've had a picture of my doctor as a young boy for a long time. I photographed it from a snapshot he had on the bulletin board. I thought it was endearing with his big ears sticking out and his finger in his mouth. I also had a picture of a dog my granddaughter likes. I never got around to doing anything with them, but today I thought I'd carve them so I can use them as stamps. My supplies for carving are minimal, and simple to carry, so I took them to the senior center art get together and sat and carved. And talked, and listened, and carved. A nice morning.

Mail call - In box

2011-10-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite mail art pals send post cards that came on Saturday. Here are the pics. "Free Yourself" is from Norma in Florida. Cool card, Norma. Thanks. The sketched face post card if from Roberta who sketched on her IPAD using a sketch app. The hearts were later collaged on. This is a new technique for Roberta. One I have not tried. I think she did a really good job.

Time to think Halloween

2011-10-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Life downstairs is taken over with plans for Halloween about this time every year. They go all out. This year the contraption my son Matt is making is an elaborate electric wheel chair with a crib mounted on it. He is making a platform inside where a doll will be. The head of the doll will actually be a live person (Matt) with his head protruding through a baby blanket to look like it's te doll's head. The doll hands and feet will be animated by using dowels which will protrude up from holes in the blanket. Like a puppet. Right now everyone is having fun riding in the wheel chair. It operates with a joy stick, and I'm abysmal at using joy sticks, so I kept getting stuck and can't keep it going straight - but everyone can control it. Maybe with a little practice, I'd get the hang of it. Here's an early pic. I"ll post more later.

My job is to work with the fabric for the covering and for a skirt to hide the wheels. My own work with assemblage is over - maybe permanently. I have too many fabric and paper ideas. I just want you to know the art gene was passed to two of my sons. One works with rebuilding or chopping apart various kinds of motor vehicles. And this son, constructs odd things for fun. Last year it was the electric chair. It's kind of exciting to watch this new project come to fruition.

Mail art from the past

2011-10-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

I found an old painting in the studio, while looking for something else. It was stamped and addressed but never sent. I don't' remember why. I had done a series of these to send to a small group that got into mail art. I received a hair brush, a size 10 tennis shoe, and other things. I did't send strange things just to test the postal system as some did, but instead sent pieces of my art with the addresses and stamps on the image side. Here's a little sample.

Now that I found this, I may just want to do some more of them.... LOL

Mail art - ready to go

2011-10-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

There are 37 post cards on my table, all finished, stamped and addressed. It feels good to get them on done and on their way. off they go.

Mail Call

2011-10-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

I've been getting some good cards in the mail the last few days. Some of them are birthday cards. One from Pat has this quote - "I don't drink or do drugs. At my age, I get the same effect standing up fast." LOL Another funny card, from Joanna showing bears standing in front of the front door of a house ready to ring the doorbell. The card says "This is the best thing Herb, you push this button, a bell rings, and out pops a snack." LOL again!

Among the post cards that arrived were cards from Marie in Corte Madera, Norma from Florida, Rosemary from Oakdale, Beth from Scotts Valley, Linda from El Cajon , and Roberta from Suisun. Here are pics. Some of them were collaborations, others are from individuals. I hope you enjoy them. I certainly do. Thanks gals.

Quotations

2011-10-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

I often use quotation in my mail art, altered books and collages. Sitting here this evening I opened a small book "Instant Quotation Dictionary". It's a nice size that can easily be tucked into a jacket pocket, or a purse. Good for waiting rooms.....

The quotations are arranged alphabetically by subject. The first subject is ABILITY. The second entry under that heading is this quotation. I"ll probably use it on some post cards.
"Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. " Quote is attributed to Josh Billings.

In box - anonymous

2011-10-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

Well it's always a puzzle for me to try to figure out who sends things unsigned. Perhaps I'm not meant to know, it is in the gesture of sending it that the artist experiences something meaningful. So, I probably should not question who it was. It came. I enjoy it. Whoever sent it also must have enjoyed the making and sending of it. Here is my latest mystery piece. There are some clues.... No, no. I mustn't make myself crazy trying to figure it out. Enjoy it with me.

The dark card is from Fast Eyes. Years ago she used to send the originals of her work, now she is sending printed cards of her wonderful collages. It's a way of stretching out the good art. I've always been a fan of her work so am delighted when a new one arrives.

A little help from a friend

2011-10-02T15:49:00.001-07:00

One of my highschool classmates is working with me on our 55th reunion. He's a whiz with computer and has vast numbers of photos in his files. He's uploaded to our group site the year book, and lots of other pics of the times we were in school. It makes our group site really interesting and it's there for everyone in our class to share. Some of us had lost our yearbooks over the decades, so this was one of the best things that came from making a Yahoo group for sharing. He let it leak out that he restores photos. I saw samples of his work and could not resist sending him my fav self portrait taken facing a dirty mirror. It had so much wrong with it! Spots, scratches, bad lighting, etc. My hair on the right side of pic was all but hidden behind a reflected light. I looked more blonde than silver. But, he said he'd try and this is what he came back with, after we talked about changing backgrounds. I thought I'd prefer the sky to my bathroom wall. I did not ask him to iron out my wrinkles. LOL

This is the same photo I used for my self portrait. Refer back to earlier post.

Here it is, and by the way, his name is Roy Deeds, email (with his permission) is r.deeds@comcast.net.

in box - happy day

2011-09-30T17:40:00.001-07:00

Look what came in today's mail. My first Halloween post card from Norma in Florida, complete with fabric, paper, witches and pumpkins. Thanks Norma. And then a sweet little birthday post card from Char in Fair Oaks with a fresh faced tyke in a little sparkly crown. Thanks gals.

Inbox - from Punwit

2011-09-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is another collaborative piece returned from Punwit. I already added more and it's ready to go back now. I enlarged the stamps in the corner so you can see the clever detail - a little person collaged over the stamp itself. And note the America's Wool stamps on the front. That was a treat to get. I had not seen them before. I need to go to a stamp show some day to see all the things I've missed.

A mystery post card in my in box

2011-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

This card came in a few days back, I could not tell who it was from. I had to cut and peel back a label and some tape to find it is from Beth, one of the California Art Girls. Thanks Beth. I like the addition of the colors and images on the reverse side. We thought it was lost in the mail, but here it was all the time.

Something a little different - for me

2011-09-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Now and then I get post cards from Linda Giese on which she usually incorporates her word ribbons. Awhile back I got a card from Barbara Schwartz. She had used a similar technique. this is something I've admired on other people's works but had never tried before. I've got a cold and am a bit bored, so thought I'd try something different to perk me up. I created 4 post cards with this technique. I used the backs of some post cards I ordered free (I paid only for shipping) from www.vistaprint.com

It was kind of fun to place my order, and to manipulate the fonts, the sizes, the placement, etc. The web site is pretty user friendly, although they do try to get you to order more of their products. You have a chance to review and edit your order several times - so that makes it more comfortable. They have fast delivery and I'm impressed with the quality of the products I've seen. I also got my free business cards there.

The colors I used on the post cards were Golden's Fluid acrylics applied with a grocery bag pressed down on paint smoothed out on an old sandwich bag. It picked up lovely textures.

Mixed Media Group in Sacramento

2011-09-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a long time member of the group that used to meet once a month in Sacramento, and for many years I was the online group mom. More and more of us have stopped attending regularly, and in fact only a couple people show up now, and then. So, today I posted to the group that we could change and meet a couple times a year and also have online meetings where we can share our art and our ideas. A couple of people have checked in so far today. One does not like the idea of online meetings, it doesn't work for her. But, someone else did chime in and shared what she's been up to this week. Cool. We will try to meet online today between 1 and three and see who shows up. I didn't think this up or post it until a few hours ago, so no one got much notice. But, it could be a starting point. I hate to lose track of the wonderful gals I met there. I always came away from meeting excited, invigorated, and inspired. Awesome gals, and awesome work. Many have become good friends and we meet regularly at other venues. But, there are so many others that have come such a long way in their art journey - I really want to keep up with what they are doing. And encourage them. We'll see how it goes. ** follow up** It's 3:30 now and only a few of the gals checked into the online meeting. I didn't give them any warning ahead of time, so it's encouraging to know there were that many people online at the right time by accident. I guess it's worth another try next month when people know it's coming and can upload photos of what they have been doing.

The Lodi group was based on the model of the Sac group. And it is a good solid group of like minded, fun gals who like and maybe even need a group in which they can feel at home and share and grow. It's wonderful to be among such an enthusiastic group.

Messy day

2011-09-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Mail art doesn't take a lot of space to create. Especially if you are doing them one at a time. But, I don't do it that way most times. Here is my work table this a.m. I am working with some napkins that friends Pat and Sally gave away recently and cardstock cut to size, and a stamp I carved from a big eraser. I made 9 yesterday morning, and finished off 12 this morning. as you can see there are no two alike even though I am using the same color palette and same materials. They need to be flattened out before mailing, and I need to so something on the reverse sides.

I'm having a mini art retreat here at home. We have had a change in weather with overcast and feeling like it might rain. Yesterday we had blustery breezes that took down two patio umbrellas. It's a good time to stay in and make art.

Oops

2011-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Too much going on around here. I mailed out about 50 post cards yesterday and a dozen last Saturday. I forgot to take pics or scan them. Oh well. Whoever gets them won't care. I even sent a couple to more than one person. I had been out of stamps so set things aside. Now, I'm caught up with sending. That's always a good thing.

This week at our Lodi mixed media group we will be playing with color. We are each bringing little water color student trays, the Prang ones. A brush, w/c paper and a bottle of water and container for washing our brushes. Two of our members are trained art therapists, and this time it is Marilyn who will be demonstrating and leading our group exercise. Should be a fun time, as mixing colors can be daunting for new artists. And we old ones like refresher courses - we always come away with some new insight or tip.

In my spare moments, I've been finishing up the altered book, Power and Man - and carving more stamps. I did a couple this morning when I was sitting the gallery. It's never busy in the mornings so I always have time to do something of my own. Today I got a taste of the state of the nation - or at least Lodi. I got two phone calls, both from desperate people who needed to apply for assistance or food stamps - anything. Wrong numbers of course, but we keep the appropriate number handy as this happens a lot. It's so sad. More people want assistance than want art......

Inbox - from Char

2011-09-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a cutie from Char. I'm going to add to it and return it to her. Thanks Char. I'm glad you are finding a few spare minutes for art again.

Collaboration inbox

2011-09-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

This beauty came in yesterday's mail from Maria in Fremont. She covered almost everything on both sides, leaving only the little clown face and the girls head. I wish you could hold this in your hand, as scanning cannot do it justice. Thanks Maria.

Art week in review

2011-09-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my! So much going on. Saturday the Stockton Art League had a reception for their current juried art show. I entered a mixed media piece/collage and paint - and also the Alice Meets the Internet assemblage. Alice took a second place for three dimensional works. This is such a hard category to judge. There were alabaster sculpted pieces, carved woods, steel sculptures, pottery, etc. And then there was my piece, made from a packing crate which brought my portable dvd player. And there it sat with its bright red ribbon, amongst all these other pieces. I had never shown it in Stockton before, so I was very happy to have this honor. In fact, to be selected to be in the show is pretty chancy. They had to turn away a lot of art that would have been shown had the space accommodated a larger show. Francis got an honorable mention on a mixed media piece.

Monday I spent the morning at the senior center working on my Man and Power altered book. Yesterday I spent most of the day cleaning my studio. Then someone reminded me the art center was having their monthly meeting in the evening and Suzanne was going to do a demo of paste paper techniques. Of course there is the business meeting to sit through first. I called Francis and arranged to pick her up. I called Jean, but she has a bad cold. But she asked me if knew what a special paper was that she had been reading about. Something she can use with her water media pieces. I didn't remember, so I looked it up online, found a few links and tutorials and called her back after emailing the links. I tried to respond to an email from Sam, but my computer refused to send him my answer. So, I had to remember to talk to him at the meeting. Suzanne had premixed the paints and paste and had them laid out across the table. Then she showed us several ways to apply the paint and to get interesting textures. A few people tried it and were having a great time.

Today I was back at the other senior center for art play. One of the gals finished a painting she's worked on for quite awhile. A landscape of her grandsons fav area to ski, as seen from afar with the mts in background. I worked on my book again.

Now I have to work out my demo/talk for the Lodi Art Center's next months meeting. It is so hard to show altered books as there are pages and pages to look at. And it is frustrating when there's a crowd. So, I'm trying, at the suggestion of Francis, to find a different way to show them. Maybe constructing an accordion fold screen with pages mounted on it....... Maybe for one of the books. But it would mean deconstructing the book. A more logical way would be to do a slide show/powerpoint presentation. It's not the same as holding a book though. It is much less personal. Well, I have a couple weeks to work it out.

Yesterday I got sidetracked with my old art journal. I was looking at some papers I had marbled a couple years ago with the shaving creme technique. One of them had a little face that could be seen peering out with a funny grin. I thought I'd try to carve a stamp with the image. Well, I got it carved but now it looks kind of scary instead of sweet. It looks like a Tim Burton creation. hmmmmm......I did it a few more times with dif expressions.

A new stamp

2011-09-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

I cut this stamp of my brother, since I already did one of me. The lower image is a photo I cropped out of a shot, and converted it to black and white, then in PhotoShop converted it to rubber stamp. i resized it to the size of my eraser, and printed it. I used a regular lead pencil to make lines on the parts I wanted to transfer to rubber eraser. Its a simple way to transfer the image - just place it pencil side down on eraser and rub with back of fingernail or something smooth. It transfers immediately.

One thing about making your own stamps is remembering to reverse the images to get the stamp facing the direction you want it to. It takes practice. Trial and error. Lots of them. LOL

Hand delivered mail art.

2011-09-10T12:15:00.001-07:00

This collaborative piece was hand delivered to me at the meeting in Lodi. Linda McA's signature is a zebra or zebra print. She managed to work on in. I"m showing both sides.

Lodi group meets

2011-09-10T12:09:00.001-07:00

We had a member challenge this week at the Lodi Mixed Media group. We were supplied with small canvas pieces, picked out of the free box at SCRAPS in San Francisco, and asked to use only black, white, primary colors, and one additional element. I didn't have a true blue with me, so cheated and used one of my fav Golden's liquid acrylics mixed with white gesso. I was pre-armed with a Blues Brothers image from online whicih I had printed on semi opaque sticker paper. This is how it turned out. It was the quickest way I could think to add the image. Trina gets it for her son, but I wanted to scan it for the blog first.

Carved Stamps Sept 6

2011-09-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Bobbi and I sat at the gallery this morning, and between swapping stories and chatting with other people passing through, I managed to carve this woman's head. The man's head I did late yesterday. I think I like carving heads because I find faces so difficult to draw to my satisfaction. The woman's head is based on Bruni's wife's portrait which he did back in the 1920's. I changed it to suit me, but at the same time it retains the charm of his work. The man is an unidentified man I traced from a book. You can almost see the resemblance. LOL It is very difficult for me to control expressions on my rubber stamps because you have to work so tight on small works. Between old eyes, and old hands ....... I like them anyway.

Collaborative pc returns

2011-09-06T17:01:00.001-07:00

Punwit put the finishing touches on this pc. Click on it to get a larger view and see all the little details. I get to keep this one.

New carved stamps

2011-09-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

This man's head is carved on two erasers. That's the only size surface I had handy to carve on, so decided to give it a try and see if I could line it up and get a decent image. I also played with the shading on the man's face and neck. I'm crazy about his nose. Best nose I've done so far.
The profile is based on a Charles Dana Gibson illustration. He's the one that did those beautiful Gibson Girl magazine illustrations. The original man depicted by Gibson is dashing and young. When I carved him - well he's aged a lot and looks like he's lived a lot more.

If you have time and like images of people, I recommend checking out a book of his work at the library. Or look online. The pen and ink faces are so interesting. Not only the key women in them, but all the supporting characters. I think he was brilliant.

The second one was done on a larger eraser, one from the Dollar Tree. It is much easier to carve on it, as there are no bubbles so the knife moves more smoothly. I didn't like her hair or face outline so I removed them and left only the features.

mail box - incoming

2011-09-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here are two darling cards. One is a collaboration from Rosemary. The other side of it has ironed on very fine tulle. It doesn't pick up on scanner or photo, so you'll just have to imagine it. The other one is from Lisa - I sent her one to collaborate - but it got lost. So she started from scratch. Thanks gals. These made my mail day!

Collaborative post card

2011-09-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

This card was started by Pat Henshaw, and is being routed to three other artists before it gets to it's final destination. Here it is before I send it on.

Incoming mail - oops

2011-09-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

This card came in a week or two ago and got taken right away to show friends in person. I forgot to scan it and post it here. I love how Linda Giese from San Diego does her lettering on her cards. If you look back through my blog sometime looking at post cards, you will find more of her work. Here is the latest.

Happy mail day

2011-09-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple new pcs that arrived in my mail box. The green eggs and ham was done by Sherry Feiger from Oregon. It was done in fabrics for the Doctor Seuss pc swap online with a group.

The balloon is from my friend Roberta, who has had a bad cold, and passed some time making pcs to send out. BTW she has a new piece shown in Somerset Studio's latest issue, Sept/Oct on page 95. She took part in Misty Mawn's online class which is featured in the article "Stretching Within" pages 92-99. You can see more of Roberta's work here.

stamp carving

2011-08-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Today, instead of painting with the seniors, I opted to take my rubber erasers and box cutter and made stamps instead. After the self portrait in previous post, I was just not in the mood to paint.

We had a full table of people today and we had to keep shifting to make room for others. It was a big day there because there was a pot luck lunch, honoring the woman who has been serving the food for many years. Everyone wanted to be there.

I didn't go to eat lunch with the others due to my dietary restrictions, so I came home and cooked. But then, I still felt like a little carving. Here are the ones I did today.

I have not snapped off the blades of my knives recently, but they are getting dull. I'd better do that before any more carving.

Cloth Paper Scissors reader challenge

2011-08-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

I've never been one to want to enter reader challenges, or enter things for publication, but my friend Roberta got me interested enough to enter one today. First I had to do a self portrait of "little me". Well, actually, I read later it doesn't really have to be me, just something to represent me. Hmmm... and I wasted the better part of two days trying to paint myself. Roberta mentioned this challenge to the Lodi group and a couple of the other gals are submitting what they created.

Te carved stamp was done by converting a photo of myself to a rubber stamp image in Photoshop, then printing it the size of my eraser. Then I penciled over the lines I wanted to leave for the ink and pressed it hard against the rubber eraser. It leaves the image on the eraser. Then I carved everything else away with a box cutter. I should try to use more sophisticated tools to do detail work, but the box cutter fits my hand so well, and it's what I'm used to. Show Boat was on TV and I cut away all the way through it. I don't think I even looked up once, not even to see Howard Keel. LOL Now, that is dedication to art.

Lodi Mixed Media Group and Steampunk altered book

2011-08-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

We met at the gallery on Thursday and had a very lively full group of 13 funny, talented, ladies. Between the laughing and talking, time flew by. Our show and tell time was great. Phyllis brought a box with a little story in it that she made for her granddaughter. Francis (the fearless) brought in a painting with a box attached. I did't get pics. The painting shows a couple seated in a booth with mirrors on each side, so there are reflections in both from different angles. Then on one side she had attached a box with two mirrors, one on the back and on inside right side. The left side was open and the front, so we could see the two carved people she put there, replicating the ones in her painting. Awesome, and totally unique. These are just a few of what was shared that day. Patti taught the group to make folded boxes.

I don't do folding things so I took my Steampunk altered book to work in. Little by little is getting filled up. Now it's a long read kind of book, not one you can just flip through quickly. I meant to get away from making such lengthy books, but I keep finding amazing photos to use, so it just keeps going. All science, hardware, etc are in this book. I just found a really good photo of Einstein that will go in soon, and I"m always finding pics of people with goggles, or dogs and cats with goggles. LOL So, in they go too. And if they don't have goggles, I can stamp them on, or glue on something I found in a parking lot or on the street. LOL

The Bird Book

2011-08-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

The book that inspired Jackie , and my little bird feet shown previously, is here on my desk now. I wanted to share the title and author's name so you can get it from Amazon or your fav bookstore. The title is "Little Birds" and has 26 handmade projects to sew, stitch, quilt and love. It was compiled by Susanne Woods, and is from Stash, an imprint of C & T publishing.Lafayette, CA. Copyright 2010. Here's a pic of the back cover to whet your appetite to do some of the projects. Patterns are in the back of this slick little paperback. There are two different sets of instructions for the birds feet. We tried both and don't see a lot of difference in the finished feet. But, since there are 21 artists works represented, each one has their own way of doing things. I like to loan out my books, but this one probably won't be leaving my side. When winter comes I will be cosy up here in my nest making little birdie gifts.

Collaboration returned

2011-08-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is the post card that started so modestly, and has now become a real work of art, thanks to Maria Moesch who returned it to me yesterday. I'm showing both sides.

Bird legs

2011-08-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Jackie died a couple weeks ago, and some of us went to help the family haul away the art materials and books she used to love. We sorted and tossed, and donated, and saved favorite things. Among her things was a book on making fabric birds. She had already made one and I loved it and was going to borrow the book to try it myself. Well, I have it now. I think her spirit kicked me in the butt and told me to get busy, because I just had to try to make the bird legs. I had her wire, her pliers, and her book. What was I to do?

I took her things to the studio and made a first little wire bird leg. And then wrapped it in fabric, as shown in the book. Then I did a second smaller one without wrapping it.

Yesterday I went to Modesto to have a play day with friends. And I took what I did, and the wire and pliers and fabric strips. Rosemary is always a good sport about trying anything new, so she had quickly formed a little leg, when Gin and Cat showed up. Much to my surprise Gin wanted to do one also, and it looked like she had been doing them forever. Here's a pic of Jackie's bird, and the legs we (Rosemary and Gin and I) made yesterday. Those are Rosemary's hands making her birdleg. This was fun. I'll post the name of the book later. It's down in the studio and I'm upstairs trying to take care of business. LOL btw it has the cutest owl, and other bird patterns, so I hope to make some this winter.

And now that I know how much fun it is to work with wire, I can see many ways I can use them in book altering. Hmmm.....

Collaborating with Susanne

2011-08-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to return this one to Susanne. I'm sure it will be back, but probably not right away. I think they are going on a long cruise soon. I stamped Let's do Lunch on it after I scanned it.

Outgoing Mail art.

2011-08-18T13:24:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of post cards going out in tomorrow's mail. The last card I sent to Pamela never reached her. I hope this one gets in the right mail box, or at least the neighbor who gets it, will give it to her.

In box treasure

2011-08-18T13:19:00.001-07:00

This great post card is from Norma in Florida. Reminds me of the recent visit to the Dali exhibit at the Haggin Museum. Thanks, Norma.

Saturday reception at SAL

2011-08-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Stockton Art League is having a showing of local sculptures. Among them are my friends Sam and Pepe, who collaborate - so their work carries both signatures. Jean J also collaborates with them in selecting colors... but she doesn't think that carries much weight, so she steps back and let's them have the floor. Here are a couple of the pieces they were showing.

In box - one more card

2011-08-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

This beauty is from Carroll W. in Menlo Park. we don't know each other, but I love exchanging cards with her. they are always quite elegant.

In box - collaborations

2011-08-16T20:17:00.001-07:00

Here are two collaborations from friend Joanna T. She always delights me with the things she adds.

Post cards in and out

2011-08-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

One of these is a collaboration with Punwit in NH. It's ready to go back to him now. I love this card. The other card is a fabulous fabric one from Kimberly in MN. It's one of the Dr. Seuss ones from our swap.

The puzzle

2011-08-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the collaborative puzzle the art girls in Lodi created. a few people didn't get their pieces back in time, but they can fill them in when they are in the gallery.

I just got an email from someone wanting to know which pieces I did. Can't you tell? I did the far lower left corner with the fish and Alice swimming, the Nat. Geographic gorilla next to the blank space, the gal with green face, and the piece directly below it.

I watched the Dog Whisperer when I did the green face. He was working with a gal who stars in a production of Wicked who has a little dog that stays with her in the dressing room. When they apply the makeup to her he's fine, but when they make her hands green, then they powder them and she claps them together to get rid of the excess powder, the dog starts barking and won't stop. Sometimes barks right through the show. Not to worry though. Dog Whisperer to the rescue.

More mail going out.

2011-08-11T15:11:00.001-07:00

August mail outgoing

2011-08-10T21:35:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple more from the dog series. And the fabric one is a Dr. Seuss pc swap in an online group.

Mail art, inbox

2011-08-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Look what came in my mail! Two of these are collaborations, one returned by Roberta with her fine touches. One from Punwit, with his humorous and interesting additions. The printed pc is from Fast Eyes. "I thought you said no one woud see us" is from Norma. Bobbi, click on it to see the ladies in the tub. I know you will be laughing your A__ off. Thanks all for making mail time so fun for me.

Little fisherman

2011-08-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

I started this last week at the senior center in the art group. Today I added in the shadow and tweaked it some. Mostly we visited today and looked at each other's art. One of the gals brought in some fresh veggies, so I"m going to make soup later today. It was a nice morning to be with friends.

I'm not sure what to do next on this. I need to add one more little fisherman, just not sure where to put him, or how big he will be. Hmmm.......

Still life

2011-08-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Years ago I painted still lifes almost exclusively. I finally got bored. But, now that I am painting at the senior center twice a week, I need to have something to work on - and sometimes a new fresh idea isn't springing to mind. So, I fell back on a still life this week. this is the one I started yesterday and finished today. or almost finished. I was able to use of of the stamps I carved on it, which made me happy. I had originally sketched a dish with tomatoes and celery on it. Somewhere after I started, it changed. Eggs often appear in my work. I think it needs a third egg to finish it off. Hmmmm.... This painting was done by first collaging scraps of papers on watercolor paper using liquid gel matte medium. Then I used water soluble oil pastels (several brands) scribbled on like crayons - and then used a brush dipped in the liquid gel medium brushed and scrubbed in to move it, blend it, and stabilize it. I also used white gesso and at the end a little golden liquid acrylic mixed with the gel medium as a glaze here and there.

The reason I use this kind of paint technique is because I love the freedom of scribbling with the color, and the strength of the colors. I do my outlining with a charcoal pencil and stabilize it with the gel medium. for this piece I wanted the black lines to really show up so they are heavy - a bit too heavy.

Using water soluble oil pastels allows me to carry a lot of colors, without a lot of weight. And if I decide to work with water color, I've got it covered. Same with the paper. I almost always use WC paper. It's easy to carry, it's cheap, it works for me. If I buy really expensive paper, I'm afraid to touch it. But doing art on cheap paper frees me to do whatever and if I don't like it I can throw it away.

Update aug 8th. I added one more egg to the plate at the senior painting group today and removed the earlier version here.

More dog cards

2011-07-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here are more examples of the dog series. Dog pics are from the Bad Dog book, most text is from an old chidren's book Princess Polly's Playmates, from 1911.

47 post cards ready to mail.

2011-07-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

i've been working on a series of dog post cards and they are ready to be launched. today I got them stamped and addressed so Monday they will be at the post office and on their way. For these, I put the address labels on the side with the printed images - because - they are used pcs. Already sent to someone else years ago. Messages postal marks and stamps are still on them. Great stamps sometimes. Too good to cover up - so I just jazzed them up a bit, covered the addressee and old address. I'm sure someone in the post office system will be cussing me out, but I love the way they look and after all, don't we all like to read someone else's mail? I bought these old cards on ebay and have lots more to use in the future. Whenever I get inspired again.

Puzzle time in Lodi - collaboration

2011-07-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Our Lodi group met today and we played with large puzzle pieces that Roberta picked up at the White Pines Flea Market three years ago. She was giving them away and I grabbed them for this play date. Some of the gals got an early start by taking a piece or two at our last meeting. Some of us waited until today to work on them. We didn't finish; some of us brought pieces home to finish. We'll assemble it on the 11th of August at our next meeting. Our only rule was, that we had to stay within the boundaries of the puzzle piece, except for the flat sides. We could add on there. Or we could build up. Which some of the gals did.

Back in my working days we often had puzzles in the break room and anyone who wanted to could work on them. It was always fun seeing the progress and helping. I miss that more than the work. LOL

Collaborations coming back to inbox

2011-07-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

These are some of the collaborative works that just came back in. the one with the fish on the guy's head is from Pat Schmidt. The one with the red bird is from Punwit. The witch in red is from Bobbi Gardner. And the Aristocrat is from Char. Thanks friends I love them all. It is always fun to look at all the tiny seemingly insignificant details that bring them to life. Quite often they are done on both sides, although I usually only show the fronts here.

my inbox runneth over

2011-07-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple great mail days. Here are some of my favs that popped up there. The pc is from Linda Giese. On the other side is the end of the sentence "box of insecurities". The circus tag and stash are from Meridel Abrams from a Cloth Paper Studio group swap. Thanks, gals. What a fun day this made.

Out and about

2011-07-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

Sally, Nancy and Eddie, and I went to lunch yesterday and then to our local art museum - the Haggin for a Salvador Dali exhibit. If you have a chance to see it, GO. It was an awesome experience to see his work up close and have time to digest each piece. I could get nose to the glass to look at little details. Where else could I do that?
The paintings were so varied. I loved the ones with multiple images emerging from the background. I was totally tickled with the long masterful skinny legs on a figure, where the watercolors changed hues. Some of the images were disgusting or hideous, but given what he was illustrating, they fit the text. All in all, it was so good, I'll probably go back again. I think they are having a lecture in a week or so. I'd like to get to that. Here is the brochure for the exhibit, and also one for the museum.

Fish Wife - a new painting in progress

2011-07-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

I bought a sweet little snapshot of this woman on ebay and am using it as inspiration. First I scanned and printed it on ancient graph paper ( I was out of copy paper). Then I decided to sketch her on some water color paper. Oh my. It's not her face, it's my mom's face. I did it again and the same thing happened. Apparently mom is visiting my muse right now. Hi Mom!

Next, I blocked in one copy with watercolors and left it alone for a couple weeks. When I revisited it I still did not like it, so I started to layer some pattern tissue and papers over her, took her out of the boat, stood her up and gave her a bucket. I notice the fish got a lot bigger. Hmmmm.... I did this at the senior center on Monday.

I know technically there's a lot left to do on it, but personally I like it rough like this. A little charcoal defining shape of head and apron. I'll finish off the skirt and apron next week and let her sit awhile. Maybe something will speak to me. Hmmmmm..... Roberta, are you out there? What shall I do next?

BTW my mother passed away more than 20 years ago. It's kind of nice to have her pop up in my art from time to time.

A new painting /collage started

2011-07-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

I had a magazine picture of Rudolf N. the great Russian ballet master, and I liked the pose, so started this with that as an inspiration. Here are pics as it progresses. My friend Francis gave me an old mat which I am collaging and will paint to bring the piece into one, with three levels. Here are the pics.

I started by painting the background and Rudolf in the blues and greesn against the arches. I didn't like that, so cut out two thicknesses of watercolor paper and collaged them together to give them some depth, then painted and glazed it. My thought was that it will raise him away from the background. But then what? At the last minute at the senior center yesterday, Francis took out some older mats she didn't want, and one fit my painting. But, I didn't like the color. So I went ahead and collaged it with torn papers, and sealed it with liquid gel medium and titan buff liquid acrylic paint. I'll be playing around with it some more this weekend. And then I'll return to this post to put up the finished picture. UpdatedJuly 24.

Mail art, inbox July 19

2011-07-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some things that came today. Head out for a Drive is from my pal Pat Schmidt in Folsom, The Iron Market is a collaboration with friend Linda McAllister. She really discovered mail art and altered art this year, and took to it like a duck to water. The slick post card from Jennie Hinchcliff in San Francisco is a promotional card for a bookbinding class.

Fabric post card

2011-07-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is a new one just arrived from Chris McCracken in PA. I dont' know Chris, it looks like a California Happy cow to me. Thanks, I love it.

In box brought a starter

2011-07-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

This one was sent by friend Suzanne in Sacramento.
I have ideas floating around in my head for this one. Thanks S. I love to work on your cards.

I sent off a new batch of cards today. There will be more smiling people looking at their mail tomorrow or the next day.