Musings on Collage by Laura

Baby, it's Cold Outside!

2009-01-12T19:20:00.002-05:00

Actually it's going to get worse in a couple days, but it's bad enough now. Thursday through Saturday, weather reports say we may reach 9 degrees F. I hate winter and this week... I really hate winter!

I've got to get some photos uploaded to my computer, so that I can show some pics here and spice things up a bit.

The prompt for this week is a word wanderlust. The word means the impulse to travel. It came to English from German words meaning to hike and enjoy. Think of the word and what it means to you. Do you feel it now? Have you felt it in the past? Does thinking about the word make you see a picture in your mind? Do art, journal, write prose or poetry or whatever you are inspired to do!

Alyson Stanfield had a really cool thing on her blog lately. Thought I'd share it here.

How to Have Your Best Year Ever
DECIDE to go for it. ACT on your decision. LOVE with all your heart.
STOP complaining and whining. PLAY whenever possible. SAY NO
when you need to. LEARN stuff. PRACTICE daily gratitude. MAKE
new friends. LOOK for the joy in each task. CREATE with abandon.
INSPIRE others. SEEK adventure. BE KIND to everyone. REST and
be kind to yourself. GIGGLE.

Some I'm pretty good at and some I'll work at harder!

Today's quote - "Life isn't about finding yourself; life is about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw

I'm Back from my Holiday Break!!

2009-01-06T20:10:00.003-05:00

Okay, to the 2 people that keep telling me that you're waiting for me to post - you know who you are - HERE I am!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that everybody had a terrific Christmas or whatever other holiday you might celebrate. Our Christmas was merry and we are all hopeful that 2009 will be a good one. I had family get-togethers and family get-togethers -- all fun!

I'm not a resolution person... as I said at a gathering on New Year's Day... I see them as setting yourself up to fail (I got both laughed at and scolded for that comment). BUT I do like Christine Kane's idea (I've read her blog for a couple of years now as does my friend Kerri apparently). So, I think that my word for 2009 has to be confidence. This is something I find the past year, I've really been lacking in, so maybe if I make it a word to focus on that will help!

The Ten on Tuesday list for this week is "10 Things You Want to do in 2009". Now, I don't see these as the same thing as resolutions...these strike me as specific things you want to do, not like things you want to change about yourself or something. Anyway, mine follow in no particular order:
1. My daughter has asked me to be in the delivery room with them, so I really hope to do that in 2009 (that I'll get to the hospital in time and all)!
2. It would be nice to spend a night or 2 away with my husband somewhere (we haven't done that in awhile).
3. Spend time with my grand kids - I'll have 3 for more than half the year!
4. Spend time with my 4 grown kids and families.
5. Do artwork for shows.
6. Do artwork just for fun.
7. Do some needlework again.
8. Read more fiction than I did this past year.
9. Focus on the word confidence as stated above.
Alright, I can only come up with 9, but there they are.

As a storm is headed our way, I have to choose this as the quote for tonight:
"Always maintain a kind of summer when in the middle of winter". Thoreau

Hello, Again!

2008-12-12T20:47:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been awhile!! I finally got over that horribly nasty cold and then have just been so busy with Christmas stuff. I decided that I was just going to say hello and then will "see" you all again after Christmas. Please have a great Christmas.

Taking a Minute out From Blowing my Nose

2008-12-02T20:11:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted in so long because I have an absolutely miserable cold... just thought I'd let you know. Gotta go -- I need a Puffs Plus.

A Thankful Time of Year

2008-11-24T20:36:00.003-05:00

These are a couple of pictures of parts of 2 of my collages that I had Moo cards made out of (mini business cards). They have the picture on the front and your information on the back.

For the prompt this week, of course, it has to have a Thanksgiving theme! I want you to think of something that you are thankful for, from your past or your present, and do art about that. Photos could be included in the art, if you'd like. Whatever works for what you are being thankful for.

The quote for today will be this harvest prayer that I love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Harvest Prayer(Anonymous 17th Century Sermon)
Please be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance,
And none can say why some fields blossom
While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.
Take hope that your season will come.
Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours,
Their choices in life no more easily made.
And give.
Give in any way you can.
Give in every way you can.
Give whatever you possess.
Give from your heart.
To give is to love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for the size of your harvest than for how it is shared,
And your life will have meaning
And your heart will have peace.

Ten on Tuesday

2008-11-18T19:59:00.002-05:00

This week's Ten on Tuesday list is ten things you are thankful for this year. Here's mine:
1. my 4 children and their spouses are all doing well
2. my 2 (3 3/4 year old and 3 month old) grandchildren are healthy and happy (not to mention adorable!)
3. I have another grandchild on the way!!
4. my husband's bladder cancer check-ups have been clear
5. I recently had an mri and it showed no changes
6. my husband and I just celebrated our 33rd anniversary
7. friends!
8. art making
9. Starbucks lattes and mocha's
10. having a day to just roam art supply stores, craft stores, a bookstore, and a coffee shop

Can it Possibly be Monday Already??

2008-11-17T19:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, I guess it can. I didn't post much last week because I had a cold all week. I didn't feel horrible (thankfully), but just kind of lousy.

I did manage to get my second piece done for the art show with the shrine theme. (I showed you my first piece last week - a shrine to my Grandmother) The second was a large canvas done about the Mona Lisa. I've always loved the Mona Lisa. I find looking at her very soothing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture taken before handing it in, so will post a picture after I get it back in December.

The prompt for this week is to think of a painting or style of painting that evokes a memory for you. A memory that comes to mind for me is sitting in a doctor's office with my son when he was 10 or 11. He asked "why would they have an awful painting like that on the wall?". When I looked it was a print of a Grandma Moses. I tried to explain that she was very famous and very highly thought of, but he wasn't accepting that.
So, with the prompt, take the memory and do art from that or do something in the style of the technique of the painting.

"Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours". Richard Bach

New Art and a Prompt

2008-11-10T19:15:00.002-05:00

This is a piece that I finished for a show. It had to be a shrine of some sort to someone or something meaningful in your life. This is an 8 x 10" canvas with a photo of my Grandmother that has been "painted over" (a technique taught to me by my very good friend Marilyn), the canvas is painted and has 2 small canvases attached (one is a photo of me with Grandma and the other is my four kids with Grandma). Along the edges I attached etched wood strips. No beeswax on this one! I'm working on one more for the same show that is beeswax.

Unconscious Mutterings for last week

I say ... and you think ... ?
In love :: with my husband
Be my guest :: for lunch
Number one :: numero uno
Swallowed whole :: grape
50 percent :: half
Made in :: America
Supplement :: vitamin
Right for :: all of us
Endless :: infinity
Ceramic :: tile

and for this week

I say ... and you think ... ?

Coverage :: clothing
Cynical :: my husband
Gust :: wind
Improvised :: made do
V :: Roman numeral
Guests :: party
Brutal :: war
Grant :: scholarship
Pull :: wagon
Streaming :: absolutely nothing pops into my head for this! even when I think about it

This week's prompt - Think of a favorite line from a song. Do a piece of art or write a poem and incorporate at least a few words from that line in the art.

Here's a quote that I really like. "Everything I do and say with anyone makes a difference."

Gita Bellin

10 Things You Love to Talk About

2008-11-04T21:24:00.003-05:00

That's the topic for this week's Ten on Tuesday list. Here's mine:
1. My grandchildren Lily and Zachary
2. My 4 children and their spouses
3. Art in general
4. Beeswax Collage
5. New Art Techniques that I haven't tried yet
6. Books
7. Pregnancy and childbirth
8. ER (with my daughter-in-law)
9. Restaurants
10. Movies

First November Prompt!

2008-11-03T20:49:00.003-05:00

This is a beeswax collage from awhile back.

Yes, it's the first Monday in November! Hard to believe that there are only 2 months left in 2008.

My Halloween was better than any in a long time! The day before, I got to go to my granddaughter's nursery school and see the Halloween parade. Lily was a penguin and was absolutely adorable! On Halloween she and Zach both came over and he was sooo cute as a puppy.

The prompt for this week is to take the 2 words "I am" and finish the statement with something that fits for you. There are tons of different directions you could go with this. Come up with an I am statement and then make a piece of art with the statement in.

I haven't talked about journaling in awhile. A fun technique to use in journals is tape transfers. Tape transfers can be made from newspapers, magazines, or photocopies. You lay package tape face down on whatever you want to transfer. Smooth it down well by burnishing with a bone folder (or spoon or Popsicle stick). Then soak in water a few minutes. Next rub the paper off with the pad of your thumb or other finger (like you do for gel medium transfers). That's all there is to it. Sometimes it is sticky enough to stick down like that and other times you'll need to stick it down with gel medium.

"The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the 24 hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there." Monica Baldwin

Something New

2008-10-30T21:06:00.002-04:00

This is a new list-type site I stumbled upon. I guess that I like things that make you think and this does (like the Tuesday list I do). It's called Unconscious Mutterings and you're given a list and are supposed to answer with the first thing that pops into your head...a word or phrase association thing. Cool, huh? It comes out on Sunday and you can do it any day that week. Here's my first.

Contemplate :: ponder
In the house :: at home
Classical :: music
Quest :: Don Quixote
Best friend :: understands me
1991 :: living a new place
Never will :: have another baby
Fool :: trick
Unhappy :: rarely
Best man :: wedding

Things just snapped instantly into my mind as I read each one. I think I'm going to enjoy this! Hope you do, too.

Ten on Tuesday

2008-10-28T19:29:00.003-04:00

The topic for this week is 10 Favorite Horror Movies. Now, I am not a fan at all of blood and gore horror! I've NEVER watched one of them. But, I was able to come up with a list of 10 horror movies (that I don't consider blood and gore). Yes, there are a few blood scenes, but not like chainsaw massacres or stuff like that.
1. Rosemary's Baby (Had a positively haunting effect on me when I saw it years ago as a teen!)
2. The Shining
3. The Shining remake
4. The Stand
5. Salem's Lot
6. Christine
7. Cujo
8. Pet Semetary
9. Needful Things
10. Rose Red
Now you may notice a trend here...all except the first are Stephen King! These aren't necessarily my favorite of his, but they are the first 9 to come to my mind. I watched Rose Red again a few months ago and slept for 3 nights with the light on! Don't ask me why I would subject myself to something that obviously scared me, but I did...all 6 hours (it was from tv).
My son just pointed out I left off It...which I cannot do, so
11. It.

Last Monday in October!

2008-10-27T20:39:00.002-04:00

This was my first try on a technique that my good friend Marilyn taught me. I mentioned it in an earlier post. She is a wonderful artist (and a wonderful friend). This is a really fun and relaxing technique that I know I'll be using alot more in the future. This piece is an 8 x 10" gallery canvas. The background is extremely simple and plain because I felt it went along with the image well to do it that way. I was very happy with the way this came out. It's done with acrylics and shiva paint sticks. Thanks again, Marilyn!

The prompt this week...yes, hard to believe that this is the last Monday in October...is to think of a Halloween memory. Halloween is a "holiday" that I really don't like, but it holds some memories nonetheless. When I really think about it, I feel a sense of love from past Halloweens. As a child my Grandmother always sewed my costumes and they were Great! A few I think of off the top of my head are angel, witch, native american, bride - and believe me these costumes were the real thing, not something thrown together. Later on as a mother I sewed or put together costumes for or with my kids...and that, too, was filled with love. Just a few - genie as in I Dream of Jeanie, tomato, pumpkin, bag of potatoes. So, anyway, take a little stroll down memory lane Halloween style and see what you come up with.

"Let us savor the fleeting delights of our most beautiful days". Alphonse de Lamartine

Ten on Tuesday

2008-10-21T20:15:00.002-04:00

This week's list is 10 of the best meals you've had. Here are mine.
1. Crab's legs we used to eat in Delaware when my Dad owned a weekend house there.
2. Corn chowder in a bread bowl from the D.C. Food Fest.
3. The meatballs my Grandma Holley used to make (which I wouldn't even eat now 'cause I only eat fish and not meat, but they were delicious).
4. The only time I ever remember my Grandpa making any kind of food was when he was in his 70's and cut a clipping from the newspaper of a recipe for plum tapioca. He made it and although I was very hesitant, it wasn't bad at all!
5. Not exactly a "meal", but immediately after my 3rd child was born, I was freezing and so so thirsty. They got me a heated blanket and a glass of orange juice and that oj was like heaven on earth! I remember it like yesterday even though it was 27 years ago.
6. My Dad used to make some kind of eggs where he tore pieces of cheese and tossed them in the eggs and the eggs rose up high and were delish.
7. My Mom's lasagna when I was a kid.
8. Grandma Holley's egg custard was a real comfort food for me.
9. shrimp, scallops, seafood bisque...most any seafood
10. Holiday dinners - Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, 4th of July, birthdays

MONDAY is Here Again!

2008-10-20T21:06:00.003-04:00

I'm sharing a beeswax collage here that I did a little while ago.

Friday I learned a new painting technique from a dear friend. They are called Paint-Overs and are VERY cool. When I get a chance to take a picture of mine, I'll show it to you. I just totally enjoy the technique AND the end result.

This weekend I went to the Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. Saturday I was there with two of my daughters and then one of them and I stayed at a hotel and went back the next day. It's alot of fun if you like sheep, llamas, alpacas, yarn, or any products to do with any of them, not to mention herding dogs, frisbee dogs, or fair-type food. On Sunday they have knitting book authors and you can get books autographed.

The prompt for this week is another of our one word prompts -- fatigue. What color would you paint to represent fatigue? What items or symbols would represent it for you? Usually we probably wouldn't feel like doing art if we're fatigued, but maybe it'd produce something really interesting. Give it a try sometime!

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced". Soren Kierkegaard

This Week's Ten on Tuesday

2008-10-14T15:43:00.002-04:00

The topic for this week is 10 Bands/Artists That Remind You of High School. A fun topic to think about! My list follows:
1. Iron Butterfly
2. Steppenwolf
3. The Doors
4. Simon & Garfunkel
5. The Carpenters
6. Rod Stewart
7. Paul McCartney
8. Santana
9. James Taylor
10. Carole King

Just Back From a 3 Day Weekend

2008-10-13T15:22:00.005-04:00

I hope that those of you that got a long weekend have enjoyed it. My husband couldn't get Monday, so took Friday and we went to Easton, Pa. for the weekend to visit my brother and his fiance'. I'd never been to Easton before...it has a fantastic Farmer's Market (usually with a theme apparently) and there are some great shops and galleries. All of that plus the Crayola store (every Crayola product you can think of plus some you didn't know existed!) and Crayola Interactive Center. Just in case you are ever in the area, let me recommend 2 galleries. One is Ken Jones Jr. Fine Art (no relation to me) and the other is Connexions.

The pictures at the top are gifts I took to my brother and his fiance'. The pictures aren't very good (I just remembered to take them as we were ready to leave, so kind of threw them on black and snapped the shutter), but I think you can see the quote and all if you click on them to enlarge. The bottom one is my brother's (it is me and another brother as children). It is 8 x 10 painted and collaged on stretched canvas. I did it for a friend's swap awhile back, but we copied our work and traded that, so I was able to have this for my brother. The one for Jacquie is a 5 x 5" gallery stretched canvas and is done with the pug image (a napkin), tissue papers, mulberry paper, and beeswax. The wide sides of the canvas are all collaged, too. Jacquie has a pug named Maggie and when I saw this image I immediately thought of her.

The prompt for this week is to think of a flower that reminds you of a certain person. For example, my Grandma Goodnough had peony bushes all around her driveway. Peonies always make me think of her. Grandma Holley had glads and other flowers that worked well for cutting. Uncle Stan always grew sweet peas by his vegetable garden. Any time I see any of those, I think of that person. Choose a flower and do some art. You could paint or collage images of the flower. You could do art invoked by the feeling you have looking at the flower. Or if you are a writer, write a poem.

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones, after all." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Ten Things on Tuesday for This Week

2008-10-07T21:13:00.002-04:00

This week's list question at Ten Things on Tuesday is 10 Great/Awful Things About Television Today. Here goes and whether my opinion is great or awful:
1. Talk shows during the day seem to have gotten kind of carried away, so I vote awful.
2. Infomercials I also vote Awful...especially that colon cleanse guy! If I stumble across him again, I may just scream.
3. The Closer on TNT is my absolute favorite show, so that gets a GREAT!
4. I think the idea of some shows starting in January is Great 'cause probably by then others will be in repeat, so I can watch the new ones.
5. I'm not a fan of reality shows, so I'd have to rate them awful - I know some people love them...they're just not my cup of tea.
6. CBS Monday comedy shows - Big Bang, 2 1/2 Men, Worst Week (hilarious if you like kind of slap-stick type humor and I do -- Chevy Chase and Adam Sandler are my very favorites), so I rate all three of these great.
7. ER I have mixed feelings about. My daughter-in-law got me hooked on it a few years ago when I was laid up with a broken ankle (thanks, Amy), and at that time I managed to get caught up on all of the episodes. I've really enjoyed the show, but let's face it, it isn't what it used to be. Still...I will miss it when it's gone! So, I have to rate ER great and awful.
8. New show The Mentalist followed by old show Without a Trace great.
9. I don't have DVR, but I tape everything I watch on my VCR, so never watch commercials. Otherwise I'd probably rate commercials awful.
10. I've watched some television with my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter and there are really some great shows out there these days for little kids.

A Fall Monday

2008-10-06T21:07:00.002-04:00

Not a great picture of this, but I like the quote and the photo that I took of some flowers a few years back. The papers I collaged with the photo are rice papers and paper that I stencilled and it's all collaged with beeswax (6 x 12", I think).

Our prompt for this week also involes a quote. The quote is from the movie Bull Durham - which I haven't seen - but I read the quote somewhere. The Kevin Costner character said it and it leads us to our prompt for this week.
"I don't believe in quantum physics when it comes to matters of the heart...I believe in the soul..., the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, I believe there ought to be a congressional amendment outlawing astroturf and the designated hitter, ...opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."
Now, think about it and then write a half dozen or more "things that I believe" for yourself. Then either do a couple journal pages about it OR do a piece of art including at least a couple of them or words from at least a couple of them. Have fun with it!!

Ten Things on Tuesday Post on Friday

2008-10-03T20:58:00.002-04:00

I subscribed to a blog that posts a list of their 10 "things" for that week and tells you the list, so that you can do it, too. They post on Tuesday, but I haven't had a chance to read it or think about it until today. This week's is "Ten Things That Scare You / Freak You Out". My list follows:
1. the thought of anything bad happening to my family members
2. remembering what my foot looked like when I broke my ankle in 3 places and dislocated it
3. claustrophobic conditions
4. having my feet off the end of the bed
5. heights over water
6. having my picture taken
7. snakes
8. ferrets
9. the economy
10. politics in general lately
If you want to try it, too, go ahead. Makes you think! Leave a comment or leave a link.

Art Journaling and a Quote

2008-10-03T09:16:00.002-04:00

So far it is a rainy, dreary Friday, so a good time to think about some art journaling. Another idea for you today is to decorate a couple of background pages and start a list of something. In my art journal, for example, I right now have a 4 page (both sides) running list of "Things I Love" (or have loved in the past). Don't confuse this with a list of people that I love...like my husband and kids, etc....it's sounds, activities, memories, objects, etc. I decided to do a long list, so I'm working on 150 things! The list is in no particular order and whenever something occurs to me, I jot it down. To give you an idea of the kinds of things I mean, here are some things from my list: Museums in D.C., Wolf Kahn paintings, Jane Goodall books, Sitting with Lily, Memory of reading chapter books together with Kyle, Beeswax Collaging, Spending the day with a daughter, Learning a new art technique, Johnny-Jump-Up plants. That's just a short list of random selections to give you a brief idea of what kinds of things I mean. Rest assured that everyone I hold dear has (or will) made it on my list in some way. Give it a try! It's fun!

Have a great weekend!

"There's no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world." Robert Louis Stevenson

Monday's Prompt and Some Pictures

2008-09-29T16:11:00.002-04:00

The top picture is 5 x 7", the next 4 x 4", and the bottom, I think is 8 x 10" (don't have it right here). It's impossible from the pics to tell how big the art is, so I like to give you an idea. The top and bottom are done with photographs I took.

Well, Fall is here and so far it has been very nice. Leaves are turning color and temperatures have been pleasant. I had my very first warm cider this past weekend and it was delicious!!

Our prompt for this week is one word - the word Envision. Think about the word. What does it bring to mind? Do any colors pop into your mind's eye? What thoughts or feelings does it give you? Make a piece of art or a page with this word in mind.

Last week I talked abit about art journaling. Here are a couple quick tips for getting background color on pages. Take ink pads that are getting dried up and rub them over the page. You can use 1 color or use coordinating or contrasting colors. Another background technique is watercolor paints brushed over the page.

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper".
Eden Phillpotts

A Day Late Due to Computer Glitches!

2008-09-23T08:56:00.003-04:00

My computer was giving me a hard time last night when I tried to post, so I finally had to give up and try again this morning. Maybe it was tired like I was!

For those of you that also read my daughter's blog, you already know that we have started an etsy shop. We are still in the process of loading stuff on it, but it is a work in progress. The name of it is LaurelAndDeer (just like that), and for the reason behind the name, see our Etsy profile.

Our prompt for this week, is a little different. The prompt is the word Journal. I read that the original meaning of the word was the journey you take in one day. Kind of cool! Now to use this for a prompt you can use the definition to do art or write from OR work in your art journal with the definition in mind OR if you don't already do an art journal, consider starting one. They are a great way to plan to do at least a little bit of art every day. BUT the really important thing (in my humble opinion) if you do start one, DON'T beat up on yourself if you don't work in it on a daily basis. Art Journals can be anything and everything you want them to be. You can use them as a type of diary, but include art OR as a place to try new techniques OR as a place to get thoughts and feelings out. More on Art Journals in future posts.

Quote today is from a VERY strange Kyra Sedgewick movie I saw recently (but I loved the quote) "Whenever you feel scared, that means there's opportunity."

Another Monday Rolls Around!

2008-09-15T20:27:00.003-04:00

Here's another picture from our weekend at the cabin. This is my husband standing on the dock and 2 son-in-laws and a daughter in the rowboat fishing. I'll just say that we did NOT have fish for dinner.

Two beeswax collages are next. I love beeswaxing so much that I can smell the wax and feel it on my fingers, just looking at these! The first one is done with some tissue and with papers that I handcolored plus the image. The second is napkin, tissue, 2 colors of skeleton leaves and a tin birdhouse plus the images.

If anyone out there hasn't tried working with the embossed wallpaper, you really should. It's alot of fun! It can be painted with acrylics and looks very cool (just hit the raised part with your paint and then you get the contrast). It can also be used by placing a piece of paper over it, roll a crayon sideways pressing hard, and then hit it with watery acrylic with a foam brush. The paint will resist the waxy crayon. Look at your wallpaper store or Home Depot or Lowes type store.

Prompt for the week. There have been many definitions for the term HOME ...dictionary definitions, poetic definitions, and definitions in novels. Come up with your own definition and then create artwork. If anyone wants to share their definition, I'd love to hear it!

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." from the television show The Wonder Years (I've been collecting quotes a long time!)

Trying to Catch up on Blogging

2008-09-09T19:19:00.003-04:00

The first pic is the "Paper Lily" that my 3 year old granddaughter and I and her Mom (my DIL) made for her first day of nursery school. The teacher sent a die cut and we were to decorate it to represent her. We used felt, paper, fun foam, ribbon, rickrack, letter beads, and glitter glue. It's even cuter than this in person!

The second pic is my grandson Zachary (Lily's little brother) 3 weeks ago when he was less than 24 hours old.

The third pic is from a few weeks ago when 2 of my daughters and I went to Bennington, Vermont to Robert Frost's home. I'd been to Bennington, but not to Frost's home or the cemetery, so we did both of those. This is Dyani and Jennet standing in front of the entrance. Unfortunately, my daughter Alissa wasn't able to go with us. Dyani and Jennet complained at the time that I was taking their picture with them looking into the sun, so that's why they're probably squinting.

I haven't bought a Somerset magazine in awhile ...they are SO expensive and frankly alot of them seem to be the same thing over and over, BUT I recently did buy the Holidays and Celebrations issue. I enjoyed looking through it this weekend at the cabin and made a list of things I'm interested in trying. Alot of the things could be done for a different holiday than they suggest, so that's nice. For example, I hate Halloween, yes, I am totally a Halloween Grinch, but something they have done for Halloween could be done for Christmas or Easter with different images.

This is one of my favorite quotes and one I've used in artwork. "Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees."
Victor Hugo

"On Golden Pond"

2008-09-08T18:41:00.003-04:00

Actually the name of this is Sunset on Pleasant Lake, but as soon as we arrived my husband said, "Doesn't this remind you of the dock and lake in On Golden Pond?". And it did! That is one of my all-time favorite movies!! Two of my daughters and husbands and my husband and I rented a cabin for the weekend. A great cabin -- bathroom, 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, glassed in breakfast nook, screened and glassed porch, and wrap around deck. The last 2 falls we're rented rustic cabins and that was fun, too, but electricity sure is terrific! My son and wife and the 2 grand kids surprised us by visiting one evening, so that was nice, too. My other daughter and family weren't there.

Anyway, these are two shots I took of Friday night's sunset.

My daughter said that the art show Friday Night "THREE" went well (as part of Albany's First Friday art event). There were lots of people. She said people were hoping to speak with the artists and I was really sorry to have to miss it!

Today's prompt is one word. I think it's kind of a cool sounding word... fiduciary. As an adjective it means - relating to the holding of something in trust for another. As a noun it means - someone who stands in a special relation of trust, confidence, or responsibility in certain obligations to others. Think about the word, the sound of the word (you can also look it up), and the meanings. Now make art!!

"We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us - how we take it, what we do with it - and that is what really counts in the end." Joseph Newton

a PIC and a PROMPT

2008-09-01T22:19:00.002-04:00

This is an 8 x 10" beeswax collage that I did with a photo I took in my old (as in overgrown and unruly herb garden) and some tissue papers and papers I painted with the credit card smoosh paint ant drag it technique. Can you believe that spellcheck doesn't recognize smoosh???

I'm feeling the need to have a photography session. I haven't gone out taking photos in a few months and it's definitely about time to get out one of my film (yes, Virginia, film does still exist!) cameras and go on a photo taking spree. For the decade of the 90's, photography was my main art form and if I don't do it every so often, I really miss it!

This week's prompt --- Every night for a week write down 3 things that you are grateful for from that day. They don't have to be big things, gratitude for small things is great, too! At the end of the week, make art or write either about the gratitude or the feelings of gratitude.
♥ an aside♥ If you want to continue writing down 3 things you feel gratitude for past a week, great! It gives you a terrific perspective on life. I tried one time to do it for a year...didn't make it, but it was a valuable exercise!

Just read this quote recently. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." James Dean

Quick Post Before the Holiday Weekend

2008-08-28T18:30:00.002-04:00

One of my blog-land friends is having a giveaway, so check out Shari's blog.

Hope you're about to have a pleasant three day weekend for Labor Day Weekend. I am. Saturday to Sunday we're cat-sitting for one of my daughter's three cats. Saturday I'm having lunch with a very good friend. Sunday we're going to my son's house for a cook-out with him and his wife and the two grand-kids (3 years and 2 weeks). I did a project with the 3 year old today (I had a black circle that I had cut "snowflake style". She glued different colors of tissue paper on the back to show through the holes in the front. It came out beautifully!). Can't wait to teach her beeswax collage and art journaling in the years to come!

"We shall never have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is." Arnold Bennett

This Week's Prompt

2008-08-25T20:20:00.002-04:00

Three more collages. The first two are photos I took and I think the third is a Dover image. The second is a photo from the campground we go to in Wells, N.Y. (Where we were this past weekend and believe it or not.....NO RAIN!!!!!)

I have spent virtually the whole day putting hardware and labels on collages for the show next week. I am vowing right here and now not to let collages pile up again without putting that stuff on them when I do them. It would be so much easier to put it on 2 or 3 at a time than spending the whole day doing it. This is NOT the fun part of art work. Oh, well. I'm almost done.

The prompt for this week goes along with the quote for today. I read an interesting novel while camping and the quote is from there, so thought I'd pair it with a prompt. -- Think of or write down your name. Your first name. Now think of what the name says to you. What does it say about you? Do you think that you'd be the same person you are now if you had a different name? Now either do art or write about your name.

"There are cultures in which it is believed that a name contains all a person's mystical power. That a name should be known only to God and to the person who holds it and to a very few privileged others." from the novel The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Pretend it's Monday and not Tuesday A.M.

2008-08-19T08:42:00.001-04:00

Monday got away from me and here it is Tuesday morning. My only excuse was I spent a few hours visiting my terrific grandchildren - 3 1/2 years and 3 1/2 days - and totally lost track of what day it was!

Two of these beeswax collages have real dried flowers incorporated into them. It makes for kind of a neat little touch. The third one has tiny seashells.

The prompt for this week (remember we're *pretending* it's Monday!), is as follows...

Think of something that you've had occur in your life once and only once. Now make art or write about that or from that feeling or however you want to use the memory. It could, of course, be a happy occurrence or a not so happy one.

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Picasso

My 50th POST!

2008-08-13T20:39:00.003-04:00

These are some more recent collages. The top one is tiny 2 x 2 3/4". Next is 3 x 5" and then 6 x 8". The bottom one is one of my photos and one of my favorite lines of poetry (by Mary Oliver). I've been collaging alot this week, too. I want to be ready for the 3 artist show the beginning of September!

Well, my beeswax is melted again, so will just end with a quote for now.

"There is no human being who does not carry a treasure in his soul, a moment of insight, a memory of love, a dream of excellence, a call to worship." Rabbi Abraham Herchel

Rainy Days and Mondays

2008-08-11T19:07:00.002-04:00

The first picture is one I took when we were at Lake Ontario (my trip with my daughter to the Renaissance Festival). The other three are 3 of my watercolors from the 4 week watercolor class I just finished. The colors are actually less muted than this.

I taught two 45 minute workshops yesterday and had a great time. This particular art organization really values their artist teachers. They pay very well and support the artists and the arts in any way they can. I was interviewed by the local newspaper (not the big time, but it's a start) when I was done teaching and am quoted in tonight's paper (The Leader Herald).

I've been asked to teach a 6 week series of Beeswax Collage in Albany through the Women's Building on Central Avenue. If we get enough sign-ups it will be held for 6 evenings starting in September. I've done a 6 week series of classes before and it's fun!

This week's prompt - Think of a place in your life that was special. Make art about that place, with a picture of that place, or just with the feeling that thinking about the place evokes. Have fun with it!!

"...if you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living." Joseph Campbell

More Beeswax and Being Brave

2008-08-06T23:01:00.002-04:00

A few more collages ranging from 2 3/4" square (hand with bird) to 6 x 8" (the girl).

You may notice a new badge along the blog right hand side "One Thing Be Brave". If you click on it it'll take you to what it's all about. It's based on Eleanor Roosevelt having said "Do one thing every day that scares you." I'm not trying for EVERY day, but just more often to try and conquer fears. I've just completed one thing that had me scared to death - my watercolor class! I was really scared of taking that 'cause I've never been a painter. Well, I actually enjoyed it and have 3 completed. I'm hoping to get some photos done tomorrow and then will post them.

I'm working on collages for the show I'm in the first Friday in September. Three local women artists showing at the women's building in Albany as part of the Albany First Friday art event. Unfortunately, I won't be there 'cause that was the weekend my oldest daughter was able to get a cabin for the weekend and we'll be there (why is everything all at once!!).

Right now my piece and Dyani's are at the Greene County Show in Windham. That will be going on until September 20th.

Today's quote HAS to be the aforementioned one - "Do one thing every day that scares you." Eleanor Roosevelt

Oh yeah, YESTERDAY was Monday!

2008-08-05T10:00:00.002-04:00

After a very busy weekend, I TOTALLY lost track of the day of the week, until my daughter asked me this morning where was yesterday's prompt! I guess, after spending the whole day Saturday in the Renaissance, I forgot about blogs and such! Anyway, the festival was lots of fun (professional actors in period costume that walk around the grounds performing and also have staged performances, artisans, games, man powered rides, and food galore) and Sunday was, too. Sunday we went to a State Park to see Lake Ontario...nothing short of amazing...I'd never seen one of the Great Lakes before...it's like going to the ocean...waves and everything!! Then we visited Lake Oneida. Very pretty and very large. We had lunch at a restaurant in a place called Sylvan Beach and the restaurant was basically right on the beach. You could eat and look at the water. Just lovely!

The prompt for this week is a single word - Pandemonium. Your art/writing could be your reaction to the word OR could be a representation of the word OR you could turn it around and do the opposite of the word.

"One reason people often hold back is a fear of making mistakes. But the idea of "mistakes" is almost not valid: A mistake is an unforeseen opportunity. It is a way to generate previously unimagined ideas and to find and create new possibilities." Deborah Putnoi

Some Mini Collages Again

2008-07-31T22:20:00.002-04:00

Some more beeswax embellished canvases. The bird ones are 2 3/4 by 1 3/4". The girl is 3 by 5".

I have to report in on my watercolor paint class. I have really started liked it! I've discovered that I Really enjoy a wet on wet technique. Next week I'll take a photo of one and post it.

Seems like I'm always on the run this summer when I'm posting...when I even have a chance to post. Tomorrow I'm going away for the weekend again to a Renaissance Faire with my middle daughter and her family. Cool, huh? Should be interesting!

Have a good weekend!!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in awhile, you could miss it." from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Award, Camping Report, and early Prompt

2008-07-27T19:37:00.002-04:00

As I reported in my last post, Kerri gave me an award. Looks pretty sharp, huh??
I'm supposed to 1-post a link to her blog
2-put the logo on my blog
3-nominate 7 others and post links.
Well, Kerri's would have been one of my 7, as would Marilyn's and Dyani's. But they've already been named. My daughter Alissa has a very cool knitting and occasional recipe blog, but didn't want to go through the award procedure, so I won't name her.
These are some of my other favorite blogs to visit. They are either people that I "know" from yahoo groups or just have stumbled on their blogs and now visit regularly.
Mary, Aimee, Bernie (has done miraculous things for dogs and cats), Judy, Cynthia (I used to participate in a monthly creativity book discussion via conference call with her), Shari,
and Lelainia. Enjoy visiting them!

Camping was very nice! I came home in one piece (yahoo, yahoo) and it actually didn't rain until Saturday evening. We got a tremendous thunder and lightning storm about 9 p.m. (which is a little scary when you're in the woods), but all day was beautiful. We sat in the car, figuring that was the safest place.

This week's prompt a touch early 'cause I'll be out of town tomorrow. What would you tell your younger self? If you could go back to an earlier age that you were and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?? Write about it or make art about it.

"Every second is of infinite value." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

YAY!! I won an award!

2008-07-24T22:01:00.002-04:00

Don't have time to really post as we're going tent camping* this weekend and I still have stuff to do, but.....My friend Kerri has given me the Brillante Weblog Award!! Talk about excitement!! Talk about honor!! I will do the linking and all when we get back, but I just couldn't wait to at least announce it. Thanks, Kerri!

*Of course, the weather forecast is rain the whole weekend! Nothing like tent camping in the rain...believe me, I know from experience...lots of experience. Everyone that is familiar with our track record of weather for camping trips always says "Don't plan any outdoor activities for this weekend - Laura's going camping". This is also our first camping trip since I fell coming out of our tent (had gone in to get my art supplies 'cause it had stopped raining for awhile) and dislocated my ankle and broke it in 3 places totally shattering 1 bone. Well, 2 surgeries later, plus a metal plate and screws and pins that were in and then started coming out so were removed (deep breath), I'm ready to go camping again. Hope for at least a little sunshine!

Collages, a Prompt, & Magic Erasers

2008-07-21T20:35:00.004-04:00

These are three more small collages that I've done recently. Today I got quite abit done, so now have more photos to take!

I can't believe that it's Monday again already! Time just goes so fast and summer really flies by!

When I explained doing gel medium transfers, I mentioned that I had heard that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers worked well for helping get the white fuzzies off. Can't remember if I ever reported back that I had tried it or not. Well, I did and it worked very well! I got most of it off and then dampened the Magic Eraser and did some more and it really cleaned it up nicely.

This week's prompt - This is fun! I did it in a journal once and came out with a very cool page. Cut out the letters in your first name - each letter from a different color paper. Cut each letter into 3 pieces. Now glue down on a piece of black paper in an interesting scattered way.

"Any fool can marvel at the bizarre. Only the wise can marvel at the ordinary." unknown

Gorgeous Greene County!

2008-07-17T21:53:00.002-04:00

This is the piece that I made and that was accepted for the Beautiful Greene show. It's a 4 x 12 x 1 3/8" canvas and is collage embellished when done with melted beeswax. The location is the photograph is shot from the Catskill Point Flagpole in Catskill, NY. It's a lovely little park on the Hudson River and you'd never guess from this shot that only a stone's throw away are gigantic oil tanks!

I'm taking a 4 week twice a week class in watercolors. After the second class, I have actually completed a simple 5 x 7" landscape, but I don't really think I am a painter. I just hope to get a little knowledge of how the paints work and using the brush and all and probably won't use it for much except my art journal. I am totally outside my comfort zone and, I guess, it's never a bad thing to venture there.

My Moo cards arrived and are in the mail to the swap coordinator. They are very cool and I'm anxious to get the return cards and see what they're like!

I can't believe it's Friday already! This summer is just speeding by...but then don't they all!!

Have a good weekend and "see" you next week.

"You're never too old to do goofy stuff." Ward Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver

Prompt Day and More

2008-07-14T18:40:00.003-04:00

The first photo is a 5 x 7" collage (beeswax embellished) I did recently. The other two photos are Artist Trading Cards. I talked last week about doing art with junk mail. These weren't exactly junk mail, but they were postcards from art exhibits that I added bits and pieces to and made ATCs.

I had a fun weekend. Saturday a friend and I went to Sharon Springs. She had danced there professionally as a teenager in the 1970's as a summer job. She showed me the old resort she had danced in (no longer in operation) and showed me alot of other parts of the village. We walked down to see a mineral spring (very smelly) and went to a very neat shop. From my friend and from the shopkeeper, I heard alot of stories about concentration camp survivors coming there for the mineral spring treatments. It was really fascinating!

Sunday I got together with some art friends for an art project. That was alot of fun!

The prompt for this week is to think of a label that has been applied to you at some point during your life. For example, maybe you were always considered the sensitive one in your family. Whatever the label write or do art from that point of view or with that label in mind.

"Oh, nobody understands anything. We're all just here, blinking in the light like kittens. The older I get, the more I see that nothing makes sense but to try to learn true compassion."

Elizabeth Berg the novel The Year of Pleasures

Late Breaking News.....

2008-07-12T20:50:00.002-04:00

I just found out that a piece I entered in a juried show in Greene County was accepted into the show!! I'm very happy. This was a really neat concept - They selected 6 specific spots in Greene County. You made art from any one of those spots. One of my daughters lives in Greene County (see Lavabo in Aquam in my links), so we drove around and took photographs at 4 of the spots. We each did art work for 1 spot (coincidentally different ones) and submitted it. She'll probably talk about hers on her blog, so I don't want to here. Mine is a beeswax collage done with a photocopy of a photo I shot at the spot in Catskill. It's a riverview and I ended up really being happy with my photo. The collage I had a really hard time getting started on...in fact it was about 48 hours from the deadline of emailing a photo of the finished piece and I was still saying "I'm just not entering." Well, happily, that is all behind me (thanks to my daughter "talking me down off the art ledge" so to speak) and I've been accepted into the show. So, until the next show I'm calm and collected. ha, ha Oh, yeah, this show will be August 2nd - Sept 20 at the Greene County Arts Council gallery in Windham. They have 2 galleries - one in Catskill and one in Windham - Some counties apparently actually value the arts. I don't think my county has even heard of the arts. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but you get what I'm saying.

ALSO, just found out that I'll be in a show with 2 other artists in Albany as part of the First Friday Art Night in September. So, that'll be very cool, too.

Shank Button Book

2008-07-10T18:56:00.002-04:00

These pictures show a recycled book binding. I really enjoy doing these. I've only done a few so far, but have gathered shank buttons to make a couple more. First you gut a hardcover book taking out the text block (and keeping it for other projects!). Then you put together signatures of whatever types of paper you want your book made from (this one is handmade-type papers and napkin covered papers). Prepare the spine (this one is done with hand-dyed muslin, cardboard, glue whereas sometimes I use book cloth). Put eyelets through the spine, punch holes in your signatures with the awl, and start binding. You will be stitching in a shank button on the spine as you stitch. You'll need the same number of buttons across as signatures and the same number of buttons down as holes in the signatures. That's a general idea of the process for these type books. I really liked the cover on this book (an old Wordsworth book) and was even able to salvage the inside cover papers.

Next time I'll show you some collages and/or the atcs I talked about last time.

Today I taught a workshop at my library to 6th and 7th graders - Artist Trading Cards. I haven't taught a kid's workshop in a couple years and I really enjoyed it. It was reported to me later that they were all saying it was awesome when they got upstairs, so that made me feel good. That can be a tough age to please! At the end of the class we had a trading session and I gave each of them one card that I brought that I had made and they were really thrilled with that, too.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." Douglas Adams

Time for a Prompt!

2008-07-07T18:35:00.002-04:00

Here's hoping everyone had a fun three day weekend! It was hot today, but I didn't have to go out, so just kept the house sealed up tight...it never got bad in here. I opened the door once and this heat wave pushed against me, so I closed it and left it closed!

I got a bunch of collages done over Saturday and Sunday. Of course, since I wasn't going out I didn't take pictures yet (I usually take my pictures in the backyard...I find the natural light works best). When I do, I'll show you some. I have this very high-tech studio system for taking my pics -- go in the backyard, drape a black t-shirt over the back of a lawn chair and another black t-shirt over the lawn chair seat, stand the collage up on the chair seat, and sit on the ground. Professional, huh??! ha, ha

Today's prompt is as follows----Make something using some junk mail. It could be an Artist Trading Card, a greeting card, a journal page, or whatever you come up with. I made a few ATCs with this technique and it was really fun. I'll post a pic next time I post. Have fun with it!

Today's quote - one of my favorite poets - "When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms...
I don't want to end up simply having
visited this world." Mary Oliver

2008-07-03T19:28:00.002-04:00

Hi, everyone! Happy 3rd of July!!
These pics are a couple I did awhile back. The first is a 4" canvasboard and the second is a 10" stretched canvas. Both are beeswax.

Yesterday I made a run to Albany to the art store to get some more canvases. I need to get an order ready to go out to Dick Blick, but I wanted a certain size that I didn't have and didn't want to wait.

I've been trying to come up with a piece for a show that I wanted to enter and am totally drawing a blank on inspiration!! I've done other art -- so it's not a block, but this has to be a specific topic...on that I'm blocked apparently. Well, I'll either get an inspiration this weekend and produce the art or...well, or I won't. I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

I just joined a MOO card swap on-line and am really looking forward to it. The person (Lelainia Lloyd)that recently wrote an article for Somerset Studio about MOO cards is doing the swap. COOL, huh??

Have a great long weekend! Hope you'll be spending some time with family as I am.

Happy Independence Day!!

"Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all the differences confusing and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives." Susan Scarf Merrill

Happy Monday and It's Prompt Day!!

2008-06-30T21:31:00.002-04:00

The top two photos are of some antique store finds (from a trip to Hudson), finds in a shop in Schenectady (CatBird Shop) and a couple things from Bennington. The next is a 6" square Affirmation Collage I did awhile back.

Had a great day today trying out a fun new art technique with a great friend. We did rubbings of embossed wallpaper (I NEVER remember the name of the wallpaper - it starts with an A). Then we painted over the rubbing. It was very cool!!

The prompt for this week is another single word one - the word Bodacious. Isn't that a neat word?? Just the sound of it! Use it as a prompt by being bodacious or by reacting to the word.

Today's quote is one I just came across recently and just love. Short and to the point.
"If there is no wind - row." Latin Proverb

Art Journal Pages and Thoughts

2008-06-26T19:07:00.002-04:00

These are a couple more art journal pages.
Every now and then (well, truth be told, it's more often than that), I go through a real period of doubting myself and any talent whatsoever. I feel like one reason that I get that doubt so strongly is that I am basically completely self-taught. Most things that I know about art (or craft) I have learned from a book or a magazine or by trial and error. I don't know why I feel that that makes me less worthy of the artist title, but I realize that I do feel that way. Anybody else have any thoughts on this subject???

"Female friendships that work are relationships in which women help each other belong to themselves." Louise Berkinow

Art News and Pics and a Prompt

2008-06-23T20:03:00.004-04:00

The collages are both mini 2 3/4" square collages and are done with beeswax.

My Art News is that I'll be selling some art items at Silver Birch Trading Post in Albany! It is located just up from the Spectrum Movie Theater on Delaware Avenue. It's a nice little shop that has local artist's products and fair trade products.

This week's prompt is a single word. As usual it can be used for poetry or art. The word is emerging. React to it as you will. You can respond to it as you emerging or a part of you emerging or as something else emerging.

I have gotten some terrific swaps from the prompt challenge of 2 weeks ago - the found poetry on a background of art. Thank you to the participants and there's no deadline...if anyone else wants to participate, feel free anytime.

Today's quote is from Emily Dickinson...not one of my favorite poets, but I like some of her stuff. "The landscape listens and we hear it call our own name."

I'm Back!!

2008-06-20T21:40:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm back from the poetry/art workshops conference. It was really great!! Lots of listening to writers read poetry and lots of writing poetry. As any of you that like poetry know, it can be very emotional - both writing it and listening to it. So, there were more than a couple tears shed, too.
I took a doll-making workshop that ran 2 workshop periods (so 3 hours/day). The head and hands were sculpted from polymer clay and then they're mounted on wire/styrofoam and then dressed in kind of flowing robes. It's quite an undertaking and I discovered (before the end of the first 3 hour stint) that I quite simply hate sculpting polymer clay! I did continue for 3 days or put another way - 9 hours that I'll never get back - but that's a touch dramatic. LOL It is done except for the clothes, which I can complete at home.
Also took a workshop of doing collage and then having that lead to writing from the chosen images. That was a good one.
The pictures posted above are 4 x 5" and 2 3/4" square respectively and are beeswax collage.
I'll be back Monday with a new prompt. Have a good weekend!
Today's quote is one reason I won't give up my film cameras, even though I also enjoy my digital camera.
"Grace wanted to slit open the envelope now. There was always an excitement with a newly developed roll of film, an opening a gift expectancy, a hurry-to-the-mailbox-even-though-it's-always-bills rush that digital photography, for all its conveniences, could never duplicate." from Just One Look by Harlan Coben

Art Journal and A Week Off

2008-06-14T20:22:00.003-04:00

Some more art journal pages to share with you.
I won't be posting for about a week because I'm attending a Women's Writing Conference every day in Saratoga. I'll be going to lots of poetry workshops and a few art workshops. Lots of fun!!

A little More on Gel Transfers

2008-06-11T21:26:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to say that my post on gel transfers is not the Be All and End All on gel medium transfers, but it is a good start for someone. It is a good way to try them and you should get consistent results. After that...Experiment. You never know what may work!

More Beeswax and Gel Medium Transfers

2008-06-11T18:17:00.003-04:00

Both of these are more gel medium transfers embellished with beeswax and are 4" square. The first one has a keyhole pushed right into the canvas. I've been asked by a reader of this blog to explain how I do gel medium transfers (thanks for the question, Evelyn!). So, my process is as follows:
First of all, as an adhesive or covering or whatever, I use any of the different brands of mediums ... Golden, Liquitex, have tried a few Dick Blick. For transfers, however, I only use Golden's. It gives me consistently good results that I can rely on.
I have done gel transfers to stretched canvasses, unstretched canvas, paper, large plastic buttons, and fabric (off the top of my head). Using the exact same process with Elmer's clear caulk, I have done transfers on metal and wood. I have the best consistent results for any of the listed transfers with laser photocopies. I watch for sales at The UPS Store or other copy centers and make my copies then. Make sure to get your photocopies on just regular copy paper, not photo paper or anything special.The image will transfer backwards, if you don't want that to happen, you'll have to reverse the image while photocopying. Whatever you transfer to, will show through light parts of the image. That's why I often use script paper - I love that showing through the image!
Okay, that's all background, now the actual process:
Cut or tear your image out from the photocopy sheet. Apply (I use a 1" foam brush) a thin coat of gel medium to the front of the image. I then apply another thin coat going the other direction on the front (just to make sure that the image is well covered). Carefully flip it over face down on to the surface you want your transfer on. The important thing is you don't want any gel medium to get on the back of the image. Go over the whole back, rubbing gently with your finger or a bone folder or a spoon to ensure good contact is made between the image front and your receiving surface. If any gel medium squirts out clean it up carefully (I use a baby wipe). Since gel medium is an adhesive, if any gets on the back of the photocopy, it will glue it down. Now let it sit. I leave it overnight or at least a few hours.
Wet the back of the photocopy with water all over (not alot of water especially if you have paper as your background). Then start rubbing the photocopy with your index finger. The photocopy paper will start disintegrating and coming off. Your image transfer is underneath. Keep repeating the process (wet and rub). Let it dry and you'll see more fuzz. Wet and rub some more. I have found that rubbing it with a product called JudiKins Microglaze helps get rid of the fuzzies abit quicker (don't do this until you have most of the fuzzies off already). I recently read to rub the transfer image with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get rid of the residual fuzzies, but I have not tried it yet. Some transfers seem to have more fuzzies than others, for some reason. Maybe it depends on the paper used in the copy center. ♥Sidenote: Spellcheck does NOT like my use of the word(?) fuzzies, but you'll know what they are when you see them!♥
That's it...it is really quite easy! And fun! And has many uses! If there are any questions, just email me.
Today's quote. Reading this, "threw me right back into tenth grade" to the little hot dog/hamburger place we used to go to across from my high school for lunch and to the school cafeteria before that. I can still picture the soup that he refers to!!
"Straightening up, he was struck with a humid waft of boiled hot dogs and some kind of furry bean-based soup that threw him right back into tenth grade." from Samaritan by Richard Price.

More on Yesterday's Prompt

2008-06-10T16:53:00.003-04:00

I've discovered that page 3 may be a problem in some books...they start counting before the book actually begins well, the story anyway. So, feel free to take a few liberties, if needed. Go to the first page of the story and consider that page one and then count on from there. None of this is a test -- just fun!!

Monday's Prompt/Swap +

2008-06-09T19:25:00.003-04:00

First is a 4 x 5" beeswax collage. This one is quite plain - an image gel transferred over tiny script paper, the doily type decorations at the bottom, and some blue and purple angelina waxed in. I love this image...such a peaceful scene. The sides of the canvas are painted a purplish blue.

These are two very heartfelt journal pages. Please feel free to click on them to enlarge - I wouldn't put them here if I didn't feel up to sharing them. These were done on the 11th anniversary of my Dad's death. The left hand side is kind of a letter to him. The right hand side is a poem that I wrote soon after his death.

This week's prompt.......drum roll, please.......
This is a little different and I hope that someone participates as I'm setting it up as kind of a simple swap challenge. It will be a FOUND POEM. Now don't let that scare you off -- this is a kind of poem that practically writes itself. CHOOSE a book (It can be an old one that you'll tear pages out of OR one that you type or print sentences from.) TURN to pages 3, 18, and 24. NOW choose 3 sentences from each of those pages and just decide what order the 9 sentences will go in -- there's your found poem. It may or may not make sense, I'm seen them come out both ways. Sometimes the specific sentence is specified, too, as in "go down to the 14th line on page 3", but I'm freeing it up a bit more for you.
NOW, glue or write your poem on something and it'll be ♥♥ ART ON ART ♥♥!! Your poem could be put on a photograph you've taken, some background technique you've done, or just draw/paint/or whatever around it. PLEASE don't spend alot of time on this. I'd rather have you do it. The swap part comes in that if you send it to me, I'll send one to you. I'm visualizing doing this on 4 x 6" or 5 x 7" heavy cardstock or such. It could even just be done on a postcard, whatever size that is. If there are any questions about the process, leave a comment or email me at lgj302 at gmail dot com.

"That was the great thing about being alive. Today might not be so good, but tomorrow you got another chance to get it right." from Absolute Power by David Baldacci

More Journal Pages and Angels

2008-06-04T17:29:00.002-04:00

These are two more pages in that same art journal. I included a few pages of drafting vellum into my signatures as a semi-transparent look at done pages and you can see one of those vellum pages here.
Then there are three more of my angel collages done with Heather Cockrell's beautiful pictures. These also are done with gel medium transfers and then are embellished with a little melted beeswax at the end. These are 3 x 3" stretched canvases.

"She and Franny have often spoken of men and of how their chromosome structure, x and y, must account for so very much of the differences between the genders. You breakup with a guy and you spend days listening to 'Claire de Lune' over and over and drinking white wine and sleeping until 11 in the mirning. In the same situation, a guy gets his car detailed.

There's only 1 thing, Franny never fails to remind her. Guys wrote those songs...I've got sunshine on a cloudy day...Look at me; I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree...Oh, my love, my darling, I hunger for your touch...Maria, I've just met a girl named Maria and suddenly that name will never be the same to me....Those were written by men. If they can do that, they cannot really be eight-celled organisms." from Twelve Times Blessed by Jacqueline Mitchard

Angels, Art journals, and a Prompt! Oh, my...

2008-06-02T20:02:00.002-04:00

First are a couple pics of one of my art journals. I made and bound the journal. It is made from two 8 x 10" canvasboards. It is made with several signatures of different types of paper to give different experiences as I work through the journal. I actually keep a couple different types of journals at the same time. This one is a sort of diary and I also sometimes address "issues" in my life here. A different one is where I try different fun and/or new art techniques. That one also has kind of "running lists" in it like right now I'm working on a list of "150 Things I Love".
The first pic is the cover of my journal and the second is my very first page. As you can see some paint or ink that I used elsewhere in the book made a big green blob. Things like that don't bother me at all, as they are just part of the process.

The angel statue images are done with gel medium transfers. First, though, I want to credit the photographer for the simply wonderful images!! Heather Cockrell took these photos and some others that you'll see and they are just beautiful. I did gel medium transfers with photocopies of the images and then did the 4 x 4" collages. They've lastly been embellished with a thin touch of beeswax and buffed.

This week's prompt is to think of a happy memory from childhood and write about it OR make art about it OR make art from the feeling that the memory evokes in you. The first memory that pops into my head is dancing with my Daddy by standing on his shoes, so that's what I'll use when I do it. BE CREATIVE!!

"You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours.When you truly possess all you have been and done, which may take some time, you are fierce with reality."
Florida Scott-Maxwell

New Pictures & Happy Friday

2008-05-30T18:28:00.003-04:00

These are two more of the Affirmation Collages (part collage and part paint) (6 x 6" and 8 x 10")and a beeswax collage (4 x 5"). I wish you could see the shine on the beeswax!

I took a bunch more pictures today of the mini collages I've been doing plus some of my art journal pages. I also took a couple of some items I've purchased recently or at least fairly recently at antique stores. These are things that I plan to incorporate in some way into art projects. So...I'll have plenty to show you for awhile!!

Please have a great weekend!

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." Eddie Cantor

Mini Collage Mania

2008-05-28T17:35:00.003-04:00

The title refers to the fact that I seem to be on a small collage kick of late!! I've made 15 in the past couple of days...some beeswax collages and some collages embellished with just a touch of beeswax. I don't think (unless memory fails me...which it sometimes does ) that I've explained what the difference is. To me a beeswax collage is done entirely with beeswax, as the adhesive and the covering. All of the papers, fabrics, additions are added with beeswax and then covered with beeswax (for the most part). When I say embellished with beeswax, I mean just a touch of beeswax has been added to the top of the collage for a special effect. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I'll try to take some pictures of my past 2 days work to show you. For today I'll show a couple others I've done recently. Well, actually I already showed them 'cause apparently they went to the top of the post! Ah, well...whatever.

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."

Madelyn L'Engle

Prompt # 6

2008-05-26T21:00:00.002-04:00

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend! We went to my oldest daughter and son-in-law's house on Saturday for a cook-out and today the 2 of us cooked out (Brats for my husband and Portabellas for me since I don't eat meat). Nice peaceful weekend.
Last week my youngest daughter and I brought my Mom home from her rehab at the nursing home. She's doing well.

Our prompt for this week is to think of someone from our past (or present) and do artwork in a color that represents them to you. One of my Grandmothers very often wrote with peacock blue ink. Whenever I see that color, I think of her, so I'd do art with that color predominating if I wanted it to represent her. See what you can come up with!

"I like the space between, the space between dreaming and wakefulness. Between imagination and reality. Between no and yes. Between is and is not. That's where the interesting stuff is." from In the Night Room by Peter Straub

Prompt #5 and a Couple Pics

2008-05-19T18:59:00.002-04:00

"Fly" and "Follow Your Dreams" are 4" and 3" respectively and are for an on-line swap I'm participating in. They are both beeswax collages. That reminds me - note to self - get more beeswax! I melt it in a Melting Pot and smooth with a Clover craft iron. It goes a long way, but I'm down to a smallish chunk, so tomorrow need to stock up hopefully.

This week's prompt is one word REVERENCE. See where thinking about it takes you.

"Art is neither a profession nor a hobby. Art is a way of life." Frederick Franck

Window on Collage

2008-05-18T20:44:00.003-04:00

These three photos are of a collage called "Innocence". It is made up of 2 canvases (6" x 8"). The front one has a window looking to the other canvas and the back one has the collage. The two canvases are hooked together by shell buttons that are nailed into the canvases and then laced together by waxed linen thread. The back of each canvas is lined with hand-dyed fabric covering mat board.

Well, I think that the Birthday celebrations are done for another year - kind of sad to see them go - they were great while they lasted!! ;-) Yesterday I had breakfast with a good friend. Lots of fun! Today was cake with 4 friends...very yummy cake! Now I have to get used to saying 54 for my age instead of 53. I'll get used to it about next May.

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." John Barrymore

Mini Beeswax Collages

2008-05-14T15:10:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a bunch of little beeswax collages the past couple days. They're really fun...partly because they're quick to finish and I think partly because they're small and to the point. Beeswax is one of my very favorite mediums...the smell of it heating...the brushing on with a paintbrush... smoothing it with an iron...and buffing with a soft cloth for a shine. The small ones I've been doing are from 2 3/4" square to 4" square. When I was in the Artist Co-Op I sold a bunch of these on little wooden easels. I'll share a few with you today and more another day.

These 3 are all 2 3/4" square.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Beeswax Collage and A Prompt

2008-05-12T19:29:00.002-04:00

This is a beeswax collage that I did that I titled Parisian Girls. Ive always liked this image of the two young girls. They're definitely sisters and just look so sweet with their armloads of flowers.

The prompt for this week follows. Think of a dream that you remembered when you woke up. Now do art or write based on that dream. It could be an image from the dream or the mood or feeling that the dream left you with. (If by any chance you haven't remembered a dream in a long time, then do the activity based on a daydream!).

"Every passing moment is a chance to turn it all around." quote from the movie Vanilla Sky which I thought was a very strange movie, but I loved this line!

Collage

2008-05-08T19:24:00.002-04:00

I realized last year while writing an artist statement, that collage to me is both a representation and an interpretation of life. Collage is a layering of things and so are our lives. Collage is a layering of papers, fabric, beeswax...whatever our supplies may be. It's also a layering of colors + textures built up. Our lives are a layering of family, job, things we enjoy doing, plus things like memories and responsibilities.

Busy week and weekend with my birthday and Mother's Day both on Sunday. Be back next week with a prompt. Have a good weekend!

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." Philo

Exciting News!!

2008-05-06T20:59:00.002-04:00

More info on this later, but I'm VERY excited today because I just found out that I'll be showing art work at a cafe/coffee shop in the Albany area! There are so many people on the list that want to show there that it won't be until next Spring, but I'm on the list. The hard part is done - seeing if they want to show your work. Even though I've been in shows and last year was a member of an artist's co-op and sold alot of work, it's still very hard to put myself out there and see if someone new likes my work. One of my daughters (my self-proclaimed "biggest fan") has been telling me for several months to go to this place and see about getting on the artist list. I finally got up the courage and the woman really liked my collages. WaHoo!!

"We need experiences larger than our problems. We need to see we're wearing the ruby slippers all the time." Richard Bartlett

Prompt #3 and a Quote

2008-05-05T08:39:00.002-04:00

This week's prompt is a word that I picked up from a great novel I read a few years back - A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. It's historical fiction - which is NOT a genre that I usually enjoy - but I did and I strongly recommend it. The prompt is the word threnody. It means a song of lamentation or a funeral dirge. I wrote it down at the time thinking it would be great to work into artwork and/or a poem. Now I thought I'd share it with you. CREATE.

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." Naturalist John Burroughs

The Merry Month of May

2008-05-02T17:45:00.002-04:00

I've always loved May - and I'm SURE that the fact that my birthday is Mother's Day has NOTHING to do with it -- well, maybe a little to do with it. ;-) May just always seems so full of promise.

We got my Mom all settled in to the nursing home yesterday. She'll only be there for a few weeks of rehab after the surgery. She's doing amazingly well. So today I had an all art day! I worked on some beeswax collage and also did some more Affirmation Collages (mentioned in an earlier post). They are such fun!

While gathering photos for the collages, I came across photos of my Mom and both my Grandmothers. They reminded me of the quote I'll use for today. I'm also reminded of this when I think of my 3 daughters ...and yes, my son.

"Sons branch out, but one woman leads to another." Margaret Atwood

This Week's Prompt

2008-04-29T09:28:00.002-04:00

I'm posting this now rather than yesterday 'cause my 80 year old Mom had surgery yesterday and I was at the hospital for 10+ hours. Playing a little "catch-up" this morning. She's doing well.

The prompt for this week is as follows: Think of something that you still own from childhood or from your teenage days. You can get it out and look at it. (If you don't have anything then dredge up a memory!) Now do art or write from that object. The art/writing can
be based on the object itself or on the feeling that the object creates within you. Just go with it.

"An unused memory gets lost, ceases to exist, dissolves into nothing - an alarming thought. Consequently, the faculty to preserve, to remember, must be developed." Author Christa Wolf

Belated Thank You

2008-04-27T21:17:00.003-04:00

I totally forgot that I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has made a comment! I really appreciate each and every one.

I'm showing a couple pictures of my beeswax collage soul chairs while I'm posting my thanks. It's hard to really get a good shot of them, but they have quotes, a few images, and paint and then are coated with some beeswax. They are about 6" tall.

How Was Your Weekend??

2008-04-27T20:00:00.002-04:00

Mine was great! On Friday I got together with a very good friend. We talked and had lunch and then shopped abit for art supplies. A nice day!
Saturday and Sunday I went to art/writing all day workshops. It was all based on the idea of reverse kindergarten - learning to color outside the lines. We did paper dolls, totem poles about us, collages, masks, and writing. Very cool and very free and creative! It was a very supportive group of about 25 women and was held at a place over by Saratoga Lake. A nice experience.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso

Beeswax Collage and a Poem

2008-04-25T17:27:00.002-04:00

This is a collage that I did that is embellished with beeswax. The collage is made up of tissue papers, transparencies, collage images, angelina fibers, and handmade papers on a stretched canvas. The beeswax is applied and smoothed with an iron. Beeswax is a fantastic medium!
I have taught several workshops in this and most people really enjoy working with it. Plus there's a bonus...it smells good!!

This is something that I plan to use in artwork soon and will share as my ending quote. I love the rhythm of it and the images it evokes. I'm off to a weekend of art and poetry writing this weekend!
"Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
Tomorrow be today." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Spring Nesting

2008-04-23T18:08:00.004-04:00

These are pictures of one of the birdhouses that I decorate. They are decorated with papers, paint, quotes, bird collage pics, and then beeswax. You can't really see the beeswax here, but it adds a nice touch! This is a large one (9" tall). I also do small ones and even smaller ones that are windchimes. They are fun to do and were very popular last year when I was a member of an artist co-op.

"Sometimes you look into a mirror and can't remember what age you are. Somehow you expect to see a 12 year old or an 18 year old looking back at you."
from the novel Intimacy by Hanif Kurelshi

First Prompt and a Quote

2008-04-21T10:02:00.003-04:00

The Very First Prompt on my blog is "What Remains". Take these two words and use them as a jumping off point to start something...anything. You could use the mood they evoke in you to do artwork...you could use the concept as a technique by applying and removing paint, mediums, whatever...you could write from the two words...write a poem or other words that come to you when thinking of what remains and then use them in artwork...do a photoshop piece. Anything you'd like. And if you do and would like us to know, just leave a comment.

Now a quote and I'm going to go work in my art journal.

"My creed for art is that it should enrich the soul. It should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise...a part of yourself you never knew existed." jazz pianist Bill Evans

Suddenly Clicked Re. the Photos!

2008-04-18T20:09:00.002-04:00

Not to let on that I'm a little slow on this stuff or anything, but it suddenly clicked as to why the post looked different here than in preview. Duh!...this area is wider than the blog, whereas the preview area shows it like it is in the blog. Okay -- I'll get this eventually!

May I suggest that you go read a few poems? It's National Poetry Month!! Look up a favorite childhood poem....find a couple favorites from another point in your life....and read a few that you've never seen before.

2008-04-18T17:44:00.003-04:00

The first picture is one of my paint and texture collages. It's done with paint, different mediums, cheesecloth, and lacy paper. I've really been into doing these lately.

I hope these photos show stuff okay. I know quite abit and do quite well with film photography, but digital photography???well, not so much and digital photography and computers...forget it, I know practically nothing.
These are 2 of my Affirmation Collages. The first one is the one I'm keeping (and is my Mom's head). Okay, now I'm confused. Here the 2 photos are left and right, but when I go to preview they aren't next to each other. At any rate the one with yellow shoes mentioned is my Mom! I'll have to show it to her and see what she thinks! The affirmations in my collage all have personal meaning to me (for ex. the yellow shoes one - just before doing the collage one of my daughters and I were shopping and looking at Converse One Star sneakers. I liked a pair, but thought I might be too old for them. Well, thanks to her I bought a pair!).

"We are but birds of passage and must build our nests out of what materials we can find." Lady Wilson 1889

Thank You and Info on Prompts

2008-04-17T19:39:00.003-04:00

First I want to say thanks to everyone that left comments and/or e-mailed me! I really appreciate it and it makes me feel that yes, indeed "someone" is out there.
On Monday I will start posting prompts. I plan to post one every Monday. Sometimes they will be 1 word, sometimes a phrase, and sometimes a question.

Tomorrow I'm getting my digital camera back and plan to post some photos then. I've been working on some collages and beeswax collages. Lately I've worked on Affirmation Collages for a swap that my friend Marilyn (In My Room in my sidebar links) is hosting. They were patterned after a Kelly Rae article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors and were really GREAT fun!! Mine is a combo of painting and collage. I enjoyed it so much that I'm doing another swap with an art friend in Arizona plus I made one to keep. Mine to keep is done with my Mom's head and then has a painted dress and body.

"We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here." Susan Taylor

Quotes and more

2008-04-15T20:44:00.002-04:00

I love quotes and lines from books, poems, and songs! In fact, I've so far collected an entire notebook of them. Alot of art that I've done has had quotes incorporated into it. There's just something about coming across words that express something that you've thought or felt, but couldn't put into words. I always hope when I use one in art that it'll touch someone else the way it touched me. Anyway, I'll be using quotes here, too.

Just in case anyone isn't familiar with these, I wanted to mention Blogarithm and Bloglines. Blogarithm sends you an e-mail to let you know that blogs you read have updated and Bloglines updates automatically everytime one of the blogs you read posts and you go to it whenever you want. Very cool way to read your regular blogs!

"Isn't that just how it happens. A person need only walk over your threshold and your life can become forever changed, lived under a different sky." from the novel These Granite Islands by Sarah Stonich.

First Post

2008-04-13T10:57:00.004-04:00

This is the start of my new blog! I'm really excited about this and have some ideas that I want to try... like a prompt each week that could be used for either art or writing (OR to write a poem and then use it in a piece of art!) AND maybe some art swaps/challenges AND an occasional drawing for a small piece of art AND who knows what else will come to mind! Hopefully, as I get going on this, someone somewhere will read it. Very soon I want to figure out how to put pictures on.
For those of you that may not know me, I'm in my early 50's, have 4 grown children, 1 granddaughter, and another grandchild on the way. I'm a self-taught mixed-media collage artist and also do beeswax collage, art journaling, book arts, and assorted other art activities.
I'm really looking forward to this new adventure!