The quote inspired the drawing of the man. Colored pencil over an acrylic wash. I liked the design of the postage stamp and thought it's color and pattern complimented my layout.
The theme for the December Sketchbook Challenge is "Trashed, ruined and decay". Not a real strong tie to the theme for me other than the stamps I saved from being trashed.
Christmas this year was “Dog Christmas” which Mark & I celebrated at Mom’s house. Pictured are our 4 boston terriers plus all of the granddogs. Ruby & Simon, my Mom’s dogs, aren’t included in the picture (we had overstayed our welcome with them).
Waiting to open Christmas Presents…
…is it time yet?
I designed this cardboard church along with others for the 2006 Holiday issue of Stampington Inspirations. As a little Christmas gift I am including the pattern below (This was not included in the magazine).
Above are the patterns for the cardboard Church. You are welcome to copy and print them. They should be printed full size on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. If this doesn't work for you just send me a message and I will be happy to email you this pattern in PDF format. The circular hole on the back side is for a light to fit through if you wish.
To see my three page article, the 2006 holiday issue of Stampington Inspirations is available here.
This is the gourd doll that I made for Art Doll Quarterly's Call for Creativity. Gordon even landed himself a full page photo stylist spread in the magazine! I always like to try challenges that help to get me out of my box. I don't understand why artists would want to limit themselves to a specific medium. I am routinely told "Oh, I couldn't make that, I am a ______ artist". I have found that techniques or compositions that are learned in other mediums often lead to new ideas in your primary medium. Not that I think everyone should try making a gourd doll, but I encourage you, when the opportunity arises to try a medium that takes you out of your comfort zone.
Behind the pages look -
I often do a lot of research to develop my ideas for a piece of art. I like to record this process in my art journal. Click on pictures for larger view.
All of the writing on the left side of the page and above the transparency on the right side are taken from various web sites on the internet. From the transparency on down I am starting to develop my own ideas. The transparency is the actual pattern that I created for the etched brass cartouche of the map.
Further working out my idea for the symbolism that this map incorporates.
Since it is the holiday season I thought it would be a good time to present this assemblage to give warning "Be careful of accepting gifts with strings attached". I'm really not that cynical but I do have quite the wandering imagination of "what ifs".
This is going to be Fritz’s first Christmas. I think that this is the smallest Charlie Brown tree we have had yet. It has been put up on the table to prevent ornament theft by the bostons. Fritz weighs under 8 lbs to give to an idea of the scale. I hope you are enjoying your holiday preparations.
Christmas music is playing and we are busy getting ready for Christmas here. Edna is off traveling around the show circuit with her sisters. Frankie, Fritz and Gertie are spending some time at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Pictured: Rufus, Frankie, Fritz, Spanky, Gertie and Ziggy. Hopefully we will be able to get a picture of the whole gang for Christmas. We hope that you are enjoying your day!
