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First to arrive was a small deco that I had originally made as part of a Yahoo group back in July 2007.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.

Observations

In January I "finished" a painting called Observations. At the time, I was drawn to the simplicity of the piece and the bits of hidden text showing through. I think I was experiencing a phase, where I was exploring the beauty of backgrounds. And in this case, I was focusing on the idea of observing the layers that are inherent in life. The fact that what we see on the surface does not tell the whole story. Even then, however, I was not happy with this piece. I knew that it was incomplete and that I would come back to it at some point in the future. Well, the future is now. This past month I looked at the painting with fresh eyes and have added more layers and a central foreground figure...the tree. At this point, I still see this as a work in progress that I will continue to develop. And I think this makes sense, since what we observe changes as we change over time. I will post the results sometime soon. Here is the before...



And here is the after, with detail shots...





I have also continued to work on a number of collaborative projects, including one with Roxanne at River Garden Studio. Here are some glimpses at my most recent page. You can click on the details to see even more details.




And...here is a peek at a piece I will be finishing any minute now. Expect a posting of the complete piece later this week.

Collaborative glimpses and ations

So far 2008 has been all about collaboration. I have been busy working on a number of collaborative projects that I have recently started and have plans to embark on additional ones later in the year. To me these projects bring about a sense of excitation...there is always anticipation when waiting to receive the most recent work that your partner has completed and to see how the project has evolved...there is constant creation going on as the project changes and evolves with each mailing...there is hesitation when working on someone else's artwork, not always being sure if they will appreciate your addition...there is motivation to do your best work since you are contributing to your partner's vision...there is constant visual stimulation to be had in being able to repeatedly see and touch another artist's creations...and there are always high expectations regarding the outcome of the project and the completed piece.

So now for the presentation. Here are a few glimpses of some of the work I have recently completed in several different collaborative projects. As always, click to enlarge.













Here are some glimpses of the amazing pages started or added to by Sarah in my nature journal:

Season's Greetings

As winter has turned into spring, my thoughts have now turned to autumn. Roxanne Stout and I have begun a collaborative project, creating decos that honor the fall. A deco is basically a small, handbound book or journal. Our plan is to trade our decos back and forth, each working on a single page at a time. When autumn arrives, our books will be complete. Here is a small preview of pages I have worked on in both books.



I have also been working on another collaborative project, my nature journal with Sarah Whitmire. Click here for previous details and see below for a peek at my newest page.



Also, a big thank you goes out to Nancy at Something Two Crow About for giving me the Arte y Pico award. Much appreciation Nancy. Check out her amazing journal pages on her blog...they are overflowing with color and are sure to make your day! As part of this award, I am suppose to pass it on to five inspiring sites. Having already done this recently, today I offer the idea of going to my blog roll and visiting 5 sites that you haven't been to yet. In my mind, every blog on this list deserves this award!

Mail Call: in and out box

I recently received a wonderful, small (2 1/2 x 3 inches) deco from a swap sponsored by a Yahoo group. The theme was Old Text and it was created by Kirsten in January 2007. Thanks to all those who added pages -- Linda, Carol, Jan P, Pam, Wendy, Jan M & Thia.













Here is a sampling of the pages, each of which includes a piece of text that was provided to the participants by Kirsten and which arrived with the deco.



Kathy McCreedy from Love Letters and I are trading scraps and other supplies so we can each incorporate the other's style into a few pieces of our own. I received an envelope from her earlier this week generously stuffed with treasures -- decorated tyvek, moleskine journals, gouache, altered book pages, vintage journal sheets, hand drawn calligraphy, decorated watercolor pages, and so much more. Talk about abundance! Here is a shot of just some of what came. Stop by her blog to see more of her art.


This is the cover of a deco that I just completed for one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. The theme is Altered Pages. I designed the cover,
made the binding and included five inner pages lined with text to be altered. The deco will make its rounds among five different artists, each of whom will complete a single page. I will post the pages when the deco returns, although that will probably take close to a year. The text on the cover reads: Master the lesson -- Take pride in your art. Have faith in your art. Keep your pencil sharp.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Mail Call: autumn colours

In October of 2006 I made this Autumn Colours Deco and sent it into the world for others to complete the pages as part of a Yahoo art group. 15 months later it came back to me, ironically on a 60+ degree New York City day in January that felt much more like autumn than winter.



The book was filled with handmade pages depicting the vivid colors of autumn -- rich rusts, oranges, browns, golds, greens, and yellows -- and was completed by artists in the United States, West Indies, France,and Norway. This mosaic image includes details from the pages. Thanks go out to Melody, Linda, Mishko, Jenny, Camille, Virginie, Karoline, and Pat for their creative work.

Mail Call: asian tag deco

I received a beautiful tag deco with an Asian theme from Livia Hajovsky, who made the deco for me in a Yahoo group swap and completed the cover page, as can be seen in the image below. Thanks also to Susan, Sari, Eva, and Patois, who also contributed pages.

Chinese Deco

I like to include text in my artwork. Partly because of the message that it conveys but more often because I think it adds a strong graphic element to the work. This is especially true of Chinese and Japanese characters. This is a deco I made for a Yahoo group swap.

Natural History Museum

Here is a page for a Natural History Museum deco that I recently completed for a yahoo swap.

A Few Recent Pieces

Thought it would be a good start to post a few pictures of some of the things I have recently made. The following are a number of Decos I created for Yahoo Groups...

Although I love earthy, sepia colors -- reminds me of aged, antique paper -- I also love bright, jewel-toned colors too as can be seen from the following few images...