Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Befores.........

Disintegration Collaboration - The Reveal. May 1. More then 120 artists. Bundles of bundles. You've seen the befores. Now see the afters. Come to The Altered Page for the list of links. And then stay tuned for Part 2. Coming August 1.


Just a few of the bundles...before:





Friday, April 24, 2009

See the Sea


One more round in the Inner Works collaboration completed. I just sent off Rita's book to Veronica. And just received Roxanne's book from Jill.

Rita's theme for her altered book is Gifts from the Sea, already beautifully interpreted by Rita and by Jill.

I tried to capture the colors of the sea and sky...



The feel of the sand...



The hues of the beach reflected in the moon...



The sense of being lost in thought when surrounded by the ocean...



And the gift of the never ending inspiration that the sea provides...



Gifts from the sea...Rita...a gift from me!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Earth Day 2009


Earth Day is held every year on April 22 to celebrate the modern environmental movement which began in 1970. Earth Day is a worldwide event that supports ongoing environmental education, action and change. The activities on Earth Day provide people with the opportunity to address their local environmental problems. The artwork in this post is older (2007 and 2008) but I thought very apropos to the message of the day.





Ingredients: watercolor paper, altered paper, acrylic paint, watercolor ink, indian ink, dye ink, metallic marker, colored pencil, rub on letters. approximately 7 3/4" x 7". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.





Ingredients: watercolor paper, book board, acrylic paint, wax pastels, rub on letters. approximately 9 3/4" x 9". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Questions & Answers


Thanks to everybody who participated in my recent poll and responded to my post Who Are You?. In that post I wondered out loud just who was reading our art blogs. Wondered if we were a community unto ourselves...writers and readers one in the same. Or if non-bloggers actually read our blogs as well? I think this question touched a chord because it elicited 78 comments...even more than I received for my last giveaway!


The results of the poll remain on my sidebar. The findings are clear. After 236 responses, 80% of those who answered either have a blog or website or both. 20% do not. This outcome seemed pretty obvious to most people who spoke to this issue in their comment.




I found it interesting that many who left comments focused on the issue of comments rather than on the issue of readership. Although not universally true, it seems that most bloggers are inspired by and love to get comments. No surprise there. This seems to be connected to the desire to create and maintain a community of art bloggers.

Other interesting findings gleaned from the post's comments:



1. Most people list time constraints as the biggest obstacle to leaving comments.



2. Many noted that non-artists, family members, and personal friends tended to not leave comments but to email instead.



3. Of those commentors who spoke to the issue, an equal number preferred to read posts and not comment as preferred to read posts and leave comments.




4. A number of people wrote that they tended not to leave comments even though they love to get comments on their own blogs.




5. Many people noted that the use of RSS Feed Readers lessened their likelihood of leaving comments. On the flip side, use of these Feed Readers gave them the ability to follow many more blogs as a result.


Anymore thoughts?

Friday, April 17, 2009

Plaster Blaster


One of the best things about working with Bridgette and Jen on our collaboration is the fact that their incredible talent and creativity is pushing me in new and exciting directions. My last post highlighted my first contribution to Jen's metal pages. First time using metal as a substrate. In this post you can see my first page in Bridgette's book. First time working on plaster pages.

Bridgette's book pages are fantastic to work with. Strong but pliable. Textured and absorbent. Her theme is trees. And here is my page:



The plaster pages lend themselves to layers and texture:





And of course...there has to be some trees:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Heavy Metal

Working on my collaborative project with Bridgette and Jen has been such a pleasure. And a challenge. Click on the links above to see the beginnings of their books. And click here to go to a previous post with photographs of the start of my book.

Each of our three structures is so different. Bridgette's plaster pages. Jen's metal plates. And my vintage-page book. And each of our themes are different too. Bridgette's Book of Trees. Jen's Shine. And my Contexture.

The images below show my first go round on Jen's metal pages. Never worked on metal before and this project has got me hooked. Thanks Jen! Click the images to enlarge.

FRONTSIDE





BACKSIDE



Monday, April 13, 2009

The Art of the Woman




Details from three collages completed many years ago, all highlighting women.

Two exhibits are running in New York right now that focus on The Art of the Woman:


The first, at Sothebys is aptly entitled Women. This special exhibition highlights art depicting the women from the collection of Steven and Alexandra Cohen. Photography was not allowed but click here to see the varied work in this exhibition by such artists as Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Rauschenberg, and Richter.




The Museum of Modern Art currently has a fascinating show entitled The Printed Picture. This wonderful exhibition highlights the changing technology of picture making from the Renaissance to the present. Ink printing, photography, book printing, and digital printing are all explored. It is much more exciting then it sounds here! For each form of printing process, three types of examples are presented: ephemera, museum collection art, and - my favorite - details from the artwork enlarged 50 times. What does this have to do with The Art of the Woman you might ask? See the details below...and click on the details to see details of the details!





And to leave you with a video once again...

Friday, April 10, 2009

If that day comes...


If that day comes...I will surrender.
At risk. At peace. Return to sender.

Alight. Alive. In flight. On fire.
One step removed. No. One step higher.

As clouds pass through the space between.
I walk along. Sight unseen.

In time. In step. True simplicity.
The art of synchronicity.

Step lively. Watch the closing door.
Bottled notes upon the shore.
Cutting close right to the core.
When that day comes...I'll ask for more.







Ingredients: watercolor paper, acrylic paint, calligraphy ink, dye ink, marker, dry transfer, rub on letters. approximately 4 1/4" x 3 1/2". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sold. Thank you!