Never having been in New Mexico before, there were certain things I expected to see. And certain things that never entered my mind. One of the later was happening upon an amazing store, Shibui, specializing in Japanese furniture, antiques, and so much more. I felt like a kid in a candy store but I limited my purchases to the following: part of a Japanese weaving loom, housed in the most beautiful sleeve, and 4 bundles of vintage Japanese paper. Click images to enlarge.
Right before I left for my trip, I received a surprise package in the mail from Lynne Hoppe, of Heart and Life fame. I call her "The Bone Whisperer" and if you look through her blog you will know why. She sent me a wonderful gift, which I thought was such a great preview of things to come in New Mexico. Thanks Lynne!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Black & White & Red All Over
I found New Mexico to be at once both colorful and stark. There is so much color to be found in the artwork throughout the towns of Santa Fe and Taos, in the Santa Fe sky at sunrise and sunset, in the muted, washed-out adobe walls, and in the bright saturated hues of shutters, doors, and lights on the homes. In contrast, there is so much stark landscape outside the towns. Pale grasses, dry desert, rocky mountains, and piƱon-juniper covered hillsides. I wanted both of these diverse feelings to be evident in my travel journal. The colorful side is reflected in my visual journal. The more austere side is reflected in a second journal. Black and white pages. A hint of red, to capture the energy and life still obvious amidst the starkness. Text capturing the memories of an inspiring adventure. Pages are a work in progress. Click to enlarge.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Jump Start Journaling
I have been wanting to start a daily visual journal for a while now but have not seemed to be able to find the time. To remedy this, I am about to begin several group projects/workshops, all of which I will be posting about soon. In the mean time, I thought my recent vacation would be a good time to jump start my journaling. So, one part of my travel journal is my first official visual journal, documenting my experiences in New Mexico in a nonrepresentational fashion. I handbound sheets of cold-press watercolor paper, covering each spread with different color acrylic washes. I plan to attach the pages to an altered book cover when complete. The book is approximately 4 1/4" x 6". Below are images of 4 pages/2 spreads. Click to enlarge.
Labels:
altered art,
journal page,
mixed media,
travel,
travel journal
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Travel Journal Preview
If you have been reading my blog for a while now, you should know that I often post glimpses of projects before they are complete. Interesting? Frustrating? Either way, today I present a peek into my travel journal from New Mexico, a work in progress that I started in Santa Fe. The structure of this journal is new for me and there will be several parts to the final project. So no telling exactly when it will be completed. But when it is, photos will be posted. As always, click on images to see enlarged details.
Labels:
altered art,
books,
journal page,
mixed media,
travel journal
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
State of Happiness
Time for travel. I will be heading to New Mexico and will not be posting during the time I am away. I am looking forward to some rest, relaxation, and of course creative adventure. I will be meeting a number of artists and bloggers along the way and look forward to sharing the experience when I return. I will be back to posting sometime during the week of October 20, with a renewed spirit and a lot of photographs!
My zine from the recent artist survey from The Pulse will be ready to ship when I return. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, see the previous post for details. Please contact me by email and I will reply with payment information. Paypal and personal checks are accepted.
I want to thank Terry Rafferty, a seriously talented oil painter, who gave me the Brillante Weblog Award and Marilyn Gallas from Studio 274, a wonderful mixed media and journal artist, who passed on to me the One Sweet Blog Award. Thank you both! Visit their blogs for a visual fix.
I also want to thank everybody who generously offered to help Anonymous replenish her art supply after a fire. Unfortunately, I have yet to be contacted. Last call! Anonymous...if you are reading this, please email.
See you soon!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Zine This!
I am happy to announce that the print version of the recent artist survey from The Pulse is available for purchase. Given the huge amount of information that was collected, I think the survey lends itself very well to a book format.
Here are the specifics. 94 artists answer 7 questions and reveal their creative hearts and minds. 1 of these 7 questions was not posted on my blog and is available only in the zine. The zine is coil bound and 144 pages (72 back and front)! Because of its length, I was not able to include the photographs associated with the online version. This zine is text only and old school. Art is limited to both sides of the front and back covers. Think of it as a companion to the blog posts and a convenient way to have all the information in one easy to read spot!
Price before shipping is $10.00. Total cost to the US and Canada is $13.00. International shipping is high for this weight and total cost ends up being $19.00. You can pay via Pay Pal or personal check. The zine will not be ready to ship until October 20th but feel free to reserve your copy now. To do so, please contact me by email (see link in the upper right corner of my blog) to order and I will send you all the info you need to make your purchase. You will receive payment instructions via email and you are welcome to forward your payment anytime between now and October 20th and beyond.
Thank you for being part of The Pulse!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Inbox/Outbox - Part One
The post office has been very good to me during the run of The Pulse. I received several unexpected packages.
First to arrive was a small deco that I had originally made as part of a Yahoo group back in July 2007. I am no longer a member of the group and had not still expected that it would come back to me. It was a nice surprise to find it in my mailbox. The theme was Foreign Text and below are some detail shots of the pages. Thanks to Jessica, Jan, Raquel, Kathleen, and Pat for doing such a great job on their pages.
Next to arrive was a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) sent by Julie from The Land of Lost Luggage. This mail art arrived in my mailbox totally unexpectedly.
Julie sent me these two beautiful pieces to thank me for effort that went into The Pulse. Thanks Julie! Your thoughtfulness is appreciated so very much.
I continue to be focused on a number of ongoing collaborations and am playing "catch-up" now that I have more time. I am working on a Nature Journal with Sarah Whitmire and this has evolved into one of my favorite projects yet. Here are just a few glimpses of pages I have worked on. I will post the completed journals when we are through.
First to arrive was a small deco that I had originally made as part of a Yahoo group back in July 2007. I am no longer a member of the group and had not still expected that it would come back to me. It was a nice surprise to find it in my mailbox. The theme was Foreign Text and below are some detail shots of the pages. Thanks to Jessica, Jan, Raquel, Kathleen, and Pat for doing such a great job on their pages.
Next to arrive was a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) sent by Julie from The Land of Lost Luggage. This mail art arrived in my mailbox totally unexpectedly.
Julie sent me these two beautiful pieces to thank me for effort that went into The Pulse. Thanks Julie! Your thoughtfulness is appreciated so very much.
I continue to be focused on a number of ongoing collaborations and am playing "catch-up" now that I have more time. I am working on a Nature Journal with Sarah Whitmire and this has evolved into one of my favorite projects yet. Here are just a few glimpses of pages I have worked on. I will post the completed journals when we are through.
Labels:
collaboration,
decos,
mail call,
mixed media,
nature journal,
on the web,
thanks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)