The Altered Page

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Secret Sunday 9

Do you want to know a secret?

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals.

I also reuse exhausted paper dryer sheets in my art. I drench the sheets in a pot of coffee and then let them dry to give them a nice aged effect. They smell good too…if you like coffee!
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Carmen Nessman
Blog: Writing from Life

Upcycled EVERYTHING!!!! Reduce, reuse, recycle

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Ro Bruhn
Blog: Ro Bruhn
Etsy: Ro Bruhn

I visit car spare parts shops for lots of my 'found objects' for jewellery. I also work close to an airport and there are stores that sell fabulous washers for aircraft that get incorporated into my work.

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Andrea Dixon
Etsy: Studio 6 or 7
Blog: Studio 6 or 7
Twitter: Studio 6 or 7

I'm a very messy person, though I try too hard not to be! However, this works to my advantage when I'm painting because I really like to make visual textures in the backgrounds of my paintings and I always forget to prepare tools ahead of time to do this. So I usually end up grabbing whatever is laying closest to me. I have turned out some really neat textures with this 'method', if you want to call it that.

I've used string to paint stems, the edge of an antique book to create stripes, the knobby head of a miniature Buddha statue to create raindrops. The only downside is that not every object can be recovered after using it to paint with but I'm not usually paying attention to this when I'm in the moment....
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Carol@Swallowcliffs
Blog: Swallowcliff's Art

I find that if I see something that catches my interest I should take it home because eventually, I find a place for it in my art. I have people ask me, “how do you come up with your ideas?” Most of the time it is because I have this “something” stored away that would work perfectly just here, in a piece I am creating. It’s not so much getting something specifically for the art as it is knowing that you have something that will fit the art.

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Judy Wise
Blog: Judy Wise

mmm, art secret. Pulling local event notices off telephone poles provides lots of fun and collage materials. Just make sure the event has passed.

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Lynn Cohen
Blog: Lynn - Getting my Feet Wet

Repurposed dryer sheets. I dye them in acrylic paints and water, soak over night, dry, then use in my art work. Examples include as backgrounds in a journal page, on art pieces mixed with dyed paper towels then sewn to canvas, and rolled up as dreadlocks in the 3D "Simply Dreadful" art quilt wall hanging.

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LaWendula
Blog: Woven Letters

When I started working with blank books and paper (I was still living in Berlin at this time), I did something I call Culture Recycling. I was looking for all kinds of flyers, event cards, free zines in Berlin and I filled my books with collages of this material.

Quite clumsy, when I look on it now, but it was great fun to do that. There was only one rule: It has to be free, found somewhere in the city.
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Elizabeth
Blog: Altered Book Lover

I like to walk along the old, no longer used, railroad tracks in our town for really great metal that has aged to perfection.

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Nancy Baumiller
New Blog: CROWABOUT
Old Blog: The Fortune Teller
Etsy: Crowabout

No secret here! Let me just say that there is an over abundance of paper, cardboard or what not that comes through each of our homes....that we can reuse and recycle and make something really wonderful from it all!!
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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Studio Envy

I always find it fascinating to learn more about the artists that I admire and to see what goes into the creation of their art. The creative process, use of supplies and techniques, and source of inspiration is quite intriguing to me. And for me, the artist studio - the place the magic happens - is a wonderland and a feast.

I have recently purchased two books that I highly recommend, both of which open a window into the studio spaces of some amazing artists. Turning the pages in these books is almost like having a personal invitation into their inner sanctums.

Art Making & Studio Spaces: Unleash Your Inner Artist: An Intimate Look at 31 Creative Work Spaces

Art Making & Studio Spaces by Lynne Perrella

Inside the Painter's Studio by Joe Fig

And speaking of studios...this theme brings me back to one of my survey questions from the 3rd edition of The Pulse in 2008:

Where does the magic happen? Tell us about the studio, room, corner, desk, table, floor, or wall where you make art and show us one photograph which somehow captures your creative space or a work in progress.

You can visit/revisit the responses of over 95 artists by clicking the following links:

Studio Shots 1
Studio Shots 2
Studio Shots 3
Studio Shots 4

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Moments...

Ingredients: vintage dictionary pages, book board, original photograph transparency, acrylic paint, shimmering watercolors, calligraphy ink, dye ink, gel pen, leafing pen, dry transfer, rubon letters, vintage stamp. approximately 7 1/2" x 5 1/8".

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Secret Sunday 8

Do you want to know a secret?

Over 150 (!) artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. And the first continues right now!

Join the The Altered Page every Sunday for "Secret Sunday." Here the secrets of all your favorite artists will be revealed. It could be a technique, a product, a secret source, a little-known website, a hidden shop, an inspiration, just about anything! If you missed any, no worries. You can find links to all the secrets on the sidebar of my blog.

Today's secret.......Inspiration!
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Joanna Olson
Blog: Joanna's Blog
Website: Joanna Olson

Not really a secret but the source of inspiration that I get is from the feeling of being blessed by the generosity of friends and acquaintances who have thought of me by "gifting" me with art tools and materials.

An elderly gentleman who was a constant coffee partner at the local café was alerted by someone in his building that the family of an elderly woman who was being placed in a chronic care facility was cleaning out her apartment and literally throwing away her art supplies. Hundreds of dollars of untouched and still wrapped Arches watercolor paper ended up in the trash. He rescued these and gave them to me only vaguely aware of their value. A neighbor who is a jewellery appraiser was moving and gave me his jewellers bench. A friend and coworker of my husbands who re-builds airplanes had bought out the contents of his neighbors garage. Knowing I would have loved to own a rolling mill, he searched through the contents of his acquisitions and quietly left one in my garage as a surprise. The cousin of a friend recently passed away from cancer and although I barely knew her, she bequeathed to me all her art supplies and how she loved her
art supplies! I will never need to buy brushes again.

I can go into my studio now and feel the freedom to experiment with the abundance of materials I have to work with. To be freed of the reluctance to try and fail and waste is a gift. It has humbled me and at the same time given me confidence...and I will remember the power behind these gifts and try to do the same...
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Terry Rafferty
Blog: Terry Rafferty

My idea board which changes constantly, but always has things from my family and friends to remind me how good life is.

The poem by e.e. cummings was embroidered for me almost 40 years ago by my sister and has hung in every home I've had. (and the gorgeous girl is my daughter.)
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Rosie Kearton
Blog: Ruminations, Rambles, Reflexions

RUST and the discovery of the old and abandoned Brick Works on the north coast of Anglesey in the UK – the place is only really known to locals and as a natural site for inspiration it is truly wonderful.

Rust itself as so many possibilities for photographs and for using as a drawing material. Found rust objects are great for art works.
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Jean Zoss
Blog: Bluebirds Living in the Meadow
Etsy: Bluebird Meadow

I have always had a large piece of old coffee table glass covering my desk area. Rather than use an inspiration board, I have always slid cards and bits under the desk glass.

My latest glass collection is of my own images, created over the last year, for the various art challenges on-line. Because my desk is in front of a 6 ft. window, the reflection of the sky and apple tree outside create an interesting effect.
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Lisa Renner
Website: Lisa Renner

Where I live, we have a wonderful little downtown square: quaint, and filled with antique shops, boutiques, small restaurants, etc. I enjoy walking around the square and going into the shops, possibly finding just the right little "rusty spring", fabric remnant, or vintage book, that might inspire a new project or workshop.
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Judith Stadler
Blog: ARTISTICANEUM

For inspiration and ideas: Never leave the house without a camera and keep your eye peeled for "treasure."

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Peggy Pirro
Website: Out of Hand Art

I don’t know if this is so much a secret as it is something we (or at least I) sometimes forget: to get out of our studios and out of our heads and spend time with other artists on a regular basis. There is something so energizing and rejuvenating about being among other creative people, and I believe our art suffers if we’re so busy or shy or focused on our own stuff that we don't open the door to other people and their amazing, inspiring, and so-different-from-our-own creative works.

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Paula Bogdan
Blog: Little Scraps of Magic

Go look at some kids’ art! It vibrates with energy and color. Kids don’t know all the “art rules” so they pretty much cheerfully break them all and the result is wonderful! I’m lucky enough to teach in a K-8 school, and I’ve been known to wander the halls and just look at what’s up on the walls…and take pics for later inspiration.

I’ve never met a piece of a child’s art that doesn’t fail to inspire and just make me smile!
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Terry Berg
Blog: artwhispers

Inspiration by walking the nearby beach on Puget Sound in Seattle, listening to the waves, fresh air, collecting beach glass, rusty metal, papers, etc.

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Debra Eck
Website: Debra Eck
Blog: Dryadart's Weblog

When I'm stuck in the studio and often times just to get warmed up I make one of these, how apt, an altered page... they work like little meditations, its just me and the page and no intention, talking to each other.

I find them addictive and very relaxing, and other people seem to enjoy the end result which is a plus!!
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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Be...

Be...yourself

Ingredients: vintage dictionary pages, book board, original photograph transparency, acrylic paint, shimmering watercolors, calligraphy ink, dye ink, gel pen, leafing pen, dry transfer, rubon letters, vintage stamp. approximately 7 1/2" x 5 1/8".

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sold. Thank you!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Secret Sunday 7

Do you want to know a secret?

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Sarah Fishburn
Website: Sarah Fishburn
Etsy: Sarah Fishburn: Designs & Ragtags
Blog: Ragtags Studio Central
Lulu: Cartwright and Fishburn

Shhhhh...

I know way too many people who aren't making art because they have to, or even want to, for its own sake. They aren't attempting to say something important, necessary, heartbreaking, or funny. They don't even simply want to make the world a more beautiful place. Rather, they are so teeth-clenchingly determined to get something PUBLISHED that the true nature and meaning of Art, and why we as artists are compelled to make it, becomes lost...

Don't misunderstand, I believe in artists' work being discovered, being seen, being appreciated, even being copied (by someone who is trying to learn process and technique - it's an age old teaching method employed by masters from time immemorial), and certainly to those ends, being published. But I think we do ourselves a disservice if we let that end guide our artistic visions, choices, and finally, the art we make.
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Rhomany
Website: Rhomany's Realm
Ning: Willowing and Artist Friends
Etsy: Rhomany's Realm
You Tube: Rhomany's Realm

No one has to see your art journal. Ever.

Remembering this will help you to free yourself from trying to be like others, from trying to be perfect and from feeling that you can't just be yourself in your art journal. By all means share if you really want to. Just don't ever think that you have to, because there is nothing wrong in keeping something for yourself.
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Jacquelyn Berl
Blog: Ascender Rises Above
Linked In: Jacquelyn Berl
Squidoo: Ascender Rises Above
Art Bistro: Ascender Rises Above
Facebook Fan Page: Asender Rises Above
General Facebook account: search "Ascender Rises Above"
Twitter: Ascender Rises

Do bad art on purpose; place pen/pastel/paint to paper and just mix
colors around. Have no idea in mind when you do this. Stand back and
see what has popped out and use it to continue the image. Do negative
art to get it out of your system. When you don't you will find it
surfacing in a fine art piece. Don't criticize it, don't share it.
Keep an eye and see where it progresses as you go through your days.
You will find it bringing you answers to questions.
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Patti Sandham
Blog: Jazzgoil Ink

My fearlessness to experiment and play especially in my journals. Once I get motivated and jazzed up from working in my journals anything that comes to hand can get painted or collaged upon. This is how the Jelliglian came into being.

And notice his rich colours, it is obviously in breeding season! LOL! I experimented with using a paper towel for a background texture and “saw” the creature appear before my eyes and just accentuated it so everyone else would see what I “saw”. This is not my usual colour palette or type of image that I am drawn to, but I just went with it and I am happy with the results.
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Marion Bockelmann
Blog: Bockel 24
Flickr: Bockel 24
You Tube: Bockel 24

I think art should contain some secrets itself to be interesting.

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Jennifer Lorton
Website: Jennifer Lorton
Blog: Jennifer Lorton

For me, the biggest secret is the willingness to do something scary - Make the call to that gallery, submit a photo to a juried show, contact a publisher, write to that person that you admire, etc., you'll be amazed what can happen. The second part of this is not to allow rejection to derail you, just keep doing scary stuff and see all that you will accomplish.

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Kelly Kilmer
Blog: Kelly Kilmer

Don't give up. Push yourself. Keep an art journal. Play in it. Play more. Work hard. Learn everything there is to know about your subject. Just when you think you've learned it all, you'll discover something new. Ask yourself "what if?". Learn the rules and then learn how to break them. Give yourself permission. Don't EVER compare your work to anyone else's. Make work that looks like you made it. It's okay to copy to learn, but at some point you need to start making art that looks like you made it and art that you are most happiest with.

Make art for you, not to sell or to profit from but for you. If you make art from the heart, it will shine in its honesty and trueness. If someone asks why you made something or what you're going to do with it, or if you're going to sell it, move on. Stay true to yourself and do what you love.
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Jude Berman
Blog: Jude's Art Blog
Website: Jude Berman

I've noticed that most artists follow one of two processes. Either they observe the world around, select something of beauty or of interest, and attempt to enhance or reproduce it. Or they have an inner vision and try to replicate that, often with the use of symbols. I find it more satisfying to do neither of these. My secret, it there is one, is simply to be alert in the moment and watch as the art in essence creates itself.

As in the case of this detail from a watercolor, where I discovered the face already there, hidden in a larger swatch of color that had been applied at "random" to the page, just waiting for a small "touch up."
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Friday, January 1, 2010

As Night Falls...

As we leave 2009 and the first decade of the 21st century and enter into 2010, I want to take this special moment to thank everybody who has visited The Altered Page this past year. Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for leaving comments and sending emails. Thank you for participating in my online projects. And even thank you for lurking. I appreciate each and every one of you!

In deciding what to post tonight, I looked back on my New Year's post from one year ago. It still seems so applicable and is one of my most favorite posts. So...I am taking the liberty of posting it again this year.

As night falls on 2009...