Spatter Dash

Roughcast 2

















Roughcast 3
















Click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Both pieces sold. Thank You!

Roughcast Revisited

Those who have followed my blog for awhile might have noticed that I tend to work on multiple projects at the same time. Many projects. Too many projects? I find that I work best when I have more then one piece at a time going. Moving back and forth between pieces keeps my creative juices flowing. The downside is that sometimes projects end up incomplete and unfinished. I have recently revisited a piece that I have not worked on since the end of 2007. It was meant to be a mixed media book called Roughcast. Some of you may remember some of the pages that I posted on this blog in 2007. I had big plans for this book, expecting to create additional pages and having dreamed up a complicated binding technique that never came to life. I recently decided to simplify things, forego the book structure completely, and keep the pages as individual pieces. And now, Roughcast is complete.

ROUGHCAST 1
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ROUGHCAST 4





The flip-side of every page is made from altered paper, each of which is numbered.



The pieces measure 9 1/4" x 4 1/4" each. Several have fold outs attached. Ingredients include a wide variety of materials such as watercolor paper, altered paper, handmade paper, bookboard, photographs, found ephemera, acrylic paint, wax pastels, rub on letters, image transfers, varnish, found metal objects, leaf, pigment ink, dye ink, colored pencil, masking tape, brads, linen thread, gesso, etc. Click images to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Viewer's Choice

Do You See What I See?


Artist David Castle is currently hosting quite an interesting project called Views from Elsewhere on his blog. In lieu of going on a vacation, he is bringing the vacation home. He has asked artists to send him a photograph of the view from their studio window or door. I love seeing studio spaces and think it is equally interesting to see just what is in the "viewfinder" of artists outside their working space. I imagine that the "window out" actually provides a "window in" to the artist's identity. David has spotlighted my window in a recent blog post. Click here for a birds eye view and see below for one more shot. And while you are on his blog and/or his website, take a look around to see his unique and beautiful abstract watercolors, often inspired by nature.

Natural Evolution

Disintegration, my winter project, is evolving...in several ways. First, nature - my collaborator - is working overtime through natural evolution. Here, you can see the effects of a snowstorm.


Second, my project is evolving through inspiration. Jeanne (AKA, femminismo) from One Day at a Time put two and two together from my cryptic description in my original post, and has begun her own version of Disintegration. I knew paper came from trees but I never knew it grew on them! Click on her link above to see what I mean.

And if anybody else wants to join in and create their own version, post your Day One photo on your blog and leave a comment below. If at least several people are interested...maybe we can coordinate and all have a reveal of the final outcome on our blogs on the same day come springtime (or autumn, for those artists from across the globe). Any takers?

Door Number One

What is behind the Red Door?

A Visit to AC

In response to my previous posting, somebody left an anonymous comment asking me to post a photo of Alpha Centauri, a piece from my Star series that I added directly to Etsy without posting on my blog.


This is the only piece of the series which was made completely with found objects, including the piece of plastic it was created on. And the only one that includes both metal and rubber found objects as well. Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It appears to be a single star when seen from Earth. However, it is actually a triple star and this is represented in the piece by the use of the three found, circular objects.

Thank you for all your positive feedback to this series. Turns out it is as much fun to actually use found objects in my art as it is to simply just look at them!


Vega - upper right hand corner of this mosaic - is still available in Etsy.

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Here Comes the Sun

Sixth and final piece in my Star Series and what better way to end with but the Sun! The Sun is the largest object in the Solar System. In fact, its interior could hold over 1.3 million Earths. It is at the center point of the Solar System and the Earth, the other planets, and all asteroids, comets, and meteroids orbit the Sun. And of course, the energy from the Sun supports all life on Earth.





Ingredients: watercolor paper, cardstock, acrylic paint, metallic dye, found metal objects, wire, eyelets, brad. 6" x 4 1/2". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy, where you will also find Alpha Centauri, the fifth piece in this series.

Both pieces sold. Thank you!

------------------

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

George Harrison

What Happens in Vega...

Vega...the fourth piece in my star series. Vega is the brilliant luminary of the exquisite constellation Lyra, the Lyre or harp of antiquity. It is the fifth brightest star in the sky and one of the closer stars to the Earth. It is often referred to as the most important star in the sky following the Sun. My interpretation uses found metal objects and silver metallic acrylic as symbols of Vega's luminosity.




Ingredients: watercolor paper, cardstock, acrylic paint, pigment ink, dye ink, dry transfer, found metal objects, wire, eyelets. 6" x 4 1/2". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sold. Thank you!

A guerilla what???

Grrl from grrl + dog is sponsoring a Global Guerilla (K)nit Up. And I have joined the brigade. What is this you might ask? Well, these photos, borrowed from grrl's blog, tell the story...





The challenge as hosted by grrl: Create a piece of guerilla knit/crochet/weave and attach it somewhere in the public arena. Take a photo as evidence of guerilla action. Post it on your blog by February 23, 2009. grrl will link back to all participants from her blog. I do not knit. I do not crochet. I do not sew. I do not weave. But I couldn't let this challenge pass me by.

To learn more about this project and to get details on how to sign up for the guerilla brigade, click here.

Sirius Business

Third piece in my Star Series, this is entitled "Sirius." The brightest star in the sky, Sirius is 26 times more luminous than the sun. It comes from the Greek word meaning scorching or searing. Once again, a series of found metal objects are used on this piece. The background color of this piece is a subtle, soft, pale green.




Ingredients: watercolor paper, cardstock, acrylic paint, calligraphy ink, dry transfer, found metal objects, wire, eyelets. 6" x 4 1/2". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sold. Thank you!

"Works" in Progress

In the works...






I just decided to work on a project I have thought about for several years. Winter was the right time to begin. This project is called Disintegration and is inspired by the natural evolution of time. My collaborator is nature. These images are "before" shots. The "after" shots will be posted in the spring.


Inner Works...




I am about to begin a new collaboration with five amazing artists. We will be participating in an altered book exchange, with each artist choosing their own theme. I have selected Distressed Elements and am in the process of starting my book for the first exchange later this month. Although I will be posting updates on The Altered Page, our group has created a public blog to share our progress as well. Visit and bookmark Inner Works.



The other five artists behind Inner Works and their blogs are:

Supria Karmakar - Encaustic Musings and our wonderful host!
Jill Zaheer - Jazworks
Rita Vindedzis - Rita Vindedzis
Roxanne Evans-Stout - River Garden Studio
Veronica Funk - Simple Pleasures

Seek and You Shall Find

New York Street Art

On the journey of life, I have always felt that it is important to be open and to be aware. Signs, signals, and directions are everywhere to be found. All you have to do is open your eyes. And when you do, there is no telling what you might find!


Street finds: rusty objects that were just waiting to be picked up


Rusty paint can cover found on the streets of New Hampshire


Rusty wire spool found by a construction site in New York City


Wheel of fortune: rust and patina found on the streets of New York


Objet d'arte, nearly four feet long, from trash to treasure

Detail...does it get any better than this?


I found what I was looking for when I opened my eyes!

Ingredients: paper, acrylic paint, dye ink, text. 5 1/4" x 2 1/2" end-to-end. click to enlarge.

Published in Artful Blogging Autumn 2008 and available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

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