IG Love: Michelle Geller

Instagram has become a source of inspiration and a place of exploration for me. I am constantly discovering artists who are new to me and whose work speaks to me. Wanting to share my finds with those of you who already are on IG and the many who may not be on the platform, I have decided to share my "finds" on my blog in sporadic posts entitled IG Love.

IG LOVE 1: Michelle Geller

@holddear

"I made this journal to document a trip that I knew would be very special - my daughter and I went on a week long road trip that started in Twain Harte, California where she had worked during the summer for the U.S. Forestry Service (she's a botanist) and would end with several days in Joshua Tree.

We traveled through the Yosemite Valley and along Highway 395 which was a part of the state I knew well from many camping trips my family had gone on when I was a little girl.

Our plan was to do a lot of hiking, camping and exploring so I needed this journal to be connected to the earth.

I tea- and rusted-stained vintage ephemera using a technique I learned from Orly Avineri to make the pages.

I the bound the pages using found leather and string into old German book covers.

This journal is very fragile and vulnerable and every time I touch it, I risk damaging it...just like the spectacular places my daughter and I visited on our trip.

It is also soothing and comfortable to hold...just like the memories my daughter and I created on our trip and the tender childhood memories that my heart carries."

Thanks Michelle for allowing me to share!

The Week Links: 126

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 126...

1. This video of Japanese craftsmen making handmade paper is mesmerizing and very meditative.

2. And speaking of meditative and mesmerizing, watch this video of the making of Vertical Emptiness, Onishi Yasuaki's 2013 installation at the Kyoto Center. You will not believe what it is made of.

3. And speaking of unexpected materials, carved stone suspended on burlap from Eduardo Terranova. 

4. Rae Missigman shares her journal pages, her "timer technique" and a video of her process in this guest post on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog.

5. The African Bricks: I find these colorful, mosaic artworks by Charis Tsevis very compelling.

6. Have always loved the collages and combines from Robert Rauschenberg but also excited to have come across an artwork from him that is unexpected...

...and a fascinating article about Rauschenberg, an artist who worked to "crack the secret language of junk."

7. Flashback link 2015: Venice on My Mind. The making of a journal page...

The Making Of...

Archivo Storico

Cyber Monday Sale

As a thank you to all my wonderful peeps out there (i.e., you), I am celebrating Cyber Monday - November 28 - by offering you a 25% discount on all my products - stamps, stencils, paint, dies, embossing folders, DVDs, books, and more. 

Just head to my online shop at my website sethapter.com and use code CYBER25 for the discount. Now, for the fine print: the code is good only on 11/28/16 from the hours of 12:00am EST to 11:59pm EST. Discount is not valid on original art or shipping. Once an item is sold out, code will no longer be valid for that item.

Time After Time

Happy to be featured today on the Spellbinders blog sharing Time After Time, a new artwork highlighting the use of layers in mixed media art. Head over to this post to see more pics, read the list of supplies used, and follow along with a step-by-step tutorial.

Embrace Mistakes

Creativity is stifled when a person approaches any creative endeavor with a fear of doing something wrong. Options are removed and possibilities are taken away. There have been times when I have felt too intimidated by the fear of ruining a piece of art to allow myself to move on, though I knew the artwork was incomplete. This fear can sometimes hold me back from pushing my creative boundaries and stepping outside my comfort zone, which in turn can keep me from taking my art to the next level... Art is all about risk. Creativity should not be bound. Once you embrace mistakes, the door swings open and the possibilities are endless.

Excerpt from my The Creative Pulse column in March/April 2015 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors and one of ten tips for finding inspiration recently featured on the Artist's Network website.

Read more, along with other tips from Roxanne Evans Stout, Dina Wakley, Crystal Neubauer, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and many other artists here.

The Week Links: 125

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 125...

1. Would love to be able to see Pat Steir's waterfall paintings at Dominique Levy in London. And speaking of Pat Steir, read her interview with William J. Simmons in Interview Magazine from earlier this year.

2. Would also love to see the Roots Project from Jose Parla at YoungArts in Miami Beach. And speaking of Jose Parla, see my pics from his exhibition in 2011 at Bryce Wolfowitz Gallery in NYC.

3. A stunning piece from Jenny Marples. Love those rusty drips.

4. Mesmerized by this piece from Kim Henkel. I want to walk inside it.

4. Leaf love - prints from Leslie Marsh.

5. Loving the Six Month project from Deena Feigelson Margolis.

6. Loving the handmade felt work from Sharron Parker.

7. Flashback link 2009: Billboard - an old favorite.

Bittersweet Autumn

Donald Kaufman Color, makers of interior wall paint, choose a Color of the Month every month. Their color for November is Bittersweet Autumn.

Their description: Pigments responsible for autumn's violets, reds and golds reside in in foliage throughout the year. They reveal themselves as the diminishing sun of autumn weakens summer's green chlorophyll, and light shines through creating more luminosity.

Excited to be right on trend with my Mahogany paint, a cool dark red-brown,  that I released in September as part of a four-paint set with PaperArtsy. 

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And speaking of on trend...the following is an excerpt from an interview featured on My Domaine with Cristina Frederick, Anthropologie's customer styling director:

Q: What color will dominate home decor this winter?

A: Midnight blue is my timeless neutral of choice this season...

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Thrilled to find this post from Trena Brannon, showing how she was able to create a full color wheel from this set of colors given that the set includes a yellow, a red and a blue. Thanks Trena!