Thursday, December 29, 2011

Art Journal Page

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.

"And in that line was a whiskered old man, with a linen cap and a crooked nose, who waited...to share his part in the secret of Heaven; that each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one." Mitch Albom
The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

December Sketchbook Challenge

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.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize is my title for this art journal page. I worked the design by drawing the image of a trophy over the face of my daughter Brook. I painted around the trophy with gesso trying to maintain a balance between the trophy standing out without covering the image of my daughter entirely. To further support the theme, I inserted a blue ribbon into a slit that I cut in the page. The writing chronicles some of the recent wins showing dogs that my daughter has accomplished.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Boston Terrier plus 1 Bulldog - Merry Christmas!

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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).

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Waiting to open Christmas Presents…

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…is it time yet?

Monday, December 26, 2011

Crow Picture & Quote


"The way a crow shook down on me, the dust of snow from a hemlock tree. Has given my heart a change of mood and saved some part of a day I had rued." Robert Frost
A picture that I took of a crow a couple of years ago.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Merry Christmas – A Gift for You

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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.

I hope that you have a joyous holiday season!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gourdon the Gourd Doll

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.

Doesn't Gourdon look happy? I shaped his teeth with a dremel (kind of felt like a dentist).


To see my gourd doll and read the article you can find Art Doll Quarterly, Autumn 2007 here.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

More Maps of Possibilities - Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking

Behind the pages look -
This is the bottom view of the Map of Self Discovery, a map that is included in Jill K. Berry's book Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking. I thought you might like to see this view of the nesting cone maps, as they were not included. They are compass roses etched in three different medals.

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.

Sometime in the future I will feature this map on this blog as I think it is one of the most symbolic and important pieces of art that I have created so far.

For now it is available to see in Jill's book Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking along with my condensed thought out explanation of the map.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Assemblage - Gift That Comes With Strings Attached.

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".

The most challenging part of creating this assemblage was attaching the strings to the hands as it was glued shut from the backside. I was able to salvage the porcelain hands from a broken figurine.

Fritz is Wondering “Where are all of the Christmas Presents?

 

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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.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Boston Terrier Countdown to Christmas

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!

Good dogs...here's your cookies!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Golden Eagle Silhouette


“The day is done, and the darkness, Falls from the wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward, From an eagle in his flight” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


A picture of a Golden Eagle taken by my husband Mark this Fall.