On the Way to Brooklyn

I actually sent my book off this week ahead of schedule....so unlike me. For a last minute, fly by the seat of my pants person, this was quite a feat. They have even extended the deadline because of all the extreme winter weather. So I'm really actually very punctual. But not so at posting the photos, so there will be a few more to come in future posts.

Post card

Bold and Bright

Testing some colors
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To learn more about art journaling, check out this page
daisyyellow.squarespace.com/abstract/art-journaling-101.html

It's all in the details...

A Feather in Your Cap

Alphabet Soup

These are small vignettes of some of my artwork in the sketchbook. Most are pages rendered in acrylic paint with a lot of surface texture.  I scratched, sanded, stitched and collaged to create the layers.  On some pages I used stencils or drawing pens. I wanted  to include some of the ones using non traditional materials like the raw silk fabric and feather in the one above or the netting in Trapped below.

Trapped

A  Sincere Thank You

Mores pages........the deadline is approaching

My book is filling up and I have two weeks before I send it off.

The first page 

A watercolor of a favorite place in my garden. Every summer I plant handfuls of Cosmos seeds and enjoy cutting the flowers to bring inside.

National Collage Society 2010 Exhibit

My mixed media assemblage, "Incubation", was accepted in this years juried show. Click on this link to view the full exhibit        http://www.nationalcollage.com/2010exhibit1.html

This piece began as a child's toy tool box I found on ebay. I altered the surfaces with milk paint, beeswax, crackle medium and collage papers. The wooden game parts, buttons and key are vintage found objects. I have collaged my original drawings, photographs and journal pages to make up the background.

This view shows the box closed and a drawing in pencil on the front.

This is a close-up of the shelf that swings out. I made the small egg from polymer clay and painted it.

The little nest is made from thread, straw and lichens, these eggs are blown glass beads

Another polymer clay egg

A detail of the crackle paste and beeswax

More Pages.....

Mushroom Spore Prints

When I tried making these prints I was totally amazed at how easy it was. The secret is to use the freshest mushroom caps possible, these were only a few hours old. I collected them in my backyard. Cut off the stem as close as possible without destroying the gills. I used plain computer paper for some and onion skin typing paper for others.  I experimented with tissue paper also, but it was very thin and soaked up too much moisture. The caps are placed gill surface down and covered with a bowl or plastic container for a few hours. If after this time you notice the spore sprint showing white spores, it can quickly be moved to a black piece of paper. The longer they are left under the bowl the darker the print. The last one was left overnight and it has a beautiful rich velvety brown color. I'm hooked and can't wait to make more. I'd like to get a print on tissue to use in my encaustic work. When the wax is applied the tissue disappears and all that is left is the print. A spray fixative has to be applied to the finished prints before using them. I will photograph some of the ones I made on the black mat board and post next time.