Altered Bits' Tallest Handmade Book In The World Collaboration!

 Famed Alicia Caudle, from Altered Bits  has created "The Tallest Handmade Book in the World"  project which I'm so excited to participate in.

Anyone wanting to join just lets Alicia know and creates a

 6" x 4" folded artwork that Alicia can bind with a needle and thread on the fold.  Then send it to her in the mail. Full instructions are on the project link above. Once the book is complete, Alicia will have it exhibited and will  auction it off with the proceeds sent to a  non-profit charity to create "art for a cause". 

Below is my submission. My cover page was based on a scene I made for the talented Roxanne Evan Stout from River Garden Studio 's  InnerWorks altered book.  It occurred to me that the theme Earth Tones has ART at its

 core. With this in mind- I wanted my work to connect to the world around us. Layers of cloth materials and acrylic paint were used and then sandpapered to attain an earthy texture. See if you can see part of a postage Love stamp that I also attached.

The left side of the inner page was made from layers of cloth material, piece of a design imprinted paper towel, part of a postage stamp, acrylic paint, gold leafing, an attached faux leaf  and script nature writings of my own in the background.

 The right side of the inner page was created using a section from a small gift book I have with the words:

 "The best things in life are not things" ...

 One of my favorite sentiments. Gold leafing, acrylic paint, rubber stamping and a black sharpie were used.

Using acrylic paint, I created the theme of a country nature scene on the back side. It contains a postage stamp and a cut out vintage picture of a woman on a bicycle from one of my desk file folders. A tiny section of a musical score was attached as part of the ground to provide additional texture.

Thank you Alicia for all the inspiration you provide to everyone around you! I'm so grateful to be part of this project and appreciate the generosity you have in that huge heart of yours.  I hope everyone reading this post tells all of your friends and family about this project. Anyone can participate- no matter how artistic you think you are!  

 Who knows, you may just be part of:  

The Tallest Handmade Book in the World!"

Altered Bits' Mixed Media Art Zine has Arrived!

I'm thrilled to have received my copy of the new print zine titled

Altered Bits Mixed Media Art Zine  

 curated by the amazing Alicia Caudle of  Altered Bits. There are 21 talented artists whose works are included in Alica's Art Zine and I'm elated to have my work, Spellbound,  included among those selected.  This zine is a gorgeous glossy compilation of varied mixed media pieces,  assemblages, sculptures, jewelry, stories and much much more.

"Spellbound"

This is a mixed media collage created on a "16" by "20" canvas.  It's built on the foundation of many layers, textures and colors within the theme of the wonderment of ideas and thoughts- how they're formed and created within us.  The focal point - being the pair of eyes, were created from a composite of my own eyes with those on a John Derian postcard and then framed. 

They capture an idea that is so profound, so focused 

So fixed-

It's  SPELLBOUND.

       You can discover a scene from Italy adjacent to an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem atop a pocket filled with quiet thoughts-- reflections -- communicated through words.  If you look carefully, writings in Hebrew and Urdu can also be found.

 To create the ambiance of a coffee house from days gone by, where writers could play ideas off one another to hone their craft and make their magic,  I included a coaster  from the Cafe Le Victor Hugo in Paris.  As our senses are awakened from the colorful surroundings which abound, I've attached my favorite antique jeweled pen to capture the flow of these inspired thoughts.  And to give homage to intellectual societies from yesteryear's,  I've  included

 a gold encased high school honor society charm that belonged to my my mom.  

Butterflies always seem to capture our faith in freedom.  I created this one with brass decorative tacks to express the stillness of a fixed thought- yet it's equipped to take flight at a moment's notice with layered wings of violet and blue hued material.

Below is a first release stamp pressed under a glass picture frame-

  expressing thoughts through letter writing.  I'm always amazed at how we can read and understand these symbols called "words" within what we call the collective of "language" and then synthesize a meaning from them.

Music has its own powerful auditory and tactile way to communicate and connect with us -

As does poetry 

Where all of our senses seem to become heightened - transporting us to another place and time.  

How do you express your ideas and thoughts?

 Publicly? Privately? Through your art?  Writings?  Communications with others?  Find your colors, your music, what brings you peace, awe, wonder. What inspires you?
What triggers you to think?  
 Find what brings creative drama into your life,
 And once found- savor it.    
 Always know you have a voice   
  And with this voice, you can reach as far as you allow your mind to think.  


Thank you again Alicia for enabling Spellbound to be a part of your beautiful Art Zine, to be my "voice" among the works of such talented artists. 
  I will always be grateful to you! 


  

Playtime In a New Art Journal!

     The divine and talented Ms. Alicia Caudle from Altered Bits indicated in her recent post that she's been going collage crazy.  I too have been in a frenzy of activity   creating in a new art journal. (Alicia and I have started a new art collaboration together which has put us both in a buzz of energy)  Alicia though has  an even greater reason to be high in the sky happy these days since her brilliant new Print Zine titled Altered Bits Mixed Media Art Zine: Themed Notorious and Letters and Symbols has been published and is available for sale here at Amazon and here at Lulu.  I am so proud to be a contributing artist in Alicia's Zine and will write much more about it in a future post!
     I never worked in an art journal before so thought it was time to take a spin. I selected a handmade paper book

 which I thought would be great, being of a thick rough texture. But after trying out a few pages, I realized that it was difficult for many mediums to adhere to the surface.  My acrylic paints- which have been a main stay for most of my paintings-  seemed to just disappear within the paper regardless of how many layers of paint I put on.  Perhaps it was meant to be- since so determined was I to make this work- I looked around for other kinds of mediums to paint with.  I found a box of Prang Sketcho oil crayons which indicated it was for sketching and painting from the American Crayon Company,  a box of Pastello - pastel-like chalk crayons from the Dixon Ticonderga Company, Pentel Pastel Dye Sticks as well as a host of pastel and watercolor pencils.   With backgrounds of rubber stamps, stencils, my own drawings, photos and artwork printed out,  here is a sampling of some of my works in progress!

Printed from an old portrait I painted many years ago.

And below is  my personal favorite - 

A simple ink drawing.

I  will continue to work on many of these "works in progress"  - some used as backgrounds for new works of art,  others as artworks unto themselves, and still others as further playground for experimentation!
 Challenge yourself to do or create something outside your usual comfort zone - Whether in your home, at work, in a relationship
 Or in a new artistic endeavor!
ENjoy!

Special Thanks to You Alicia Caudle!

A few weeks ago, the amazing Alicia Caudle from Altered Bits' Altered Blog had a "give a way" and I was one of the incredibly lucky winners! Here are the beautiful items she sent - which included 3 large patterned pieces of material, 4 buttons, 2 vintage photographs from the 1800s, her infamous poison bottle (yes empty of course!) a beautiful tiny brass frame and my very favorite- a large frozen charlotte!

Thank you so much Alicia for this generous and creative collection of goodies!

Alicia is also one of the many artists sponsoring the One World One Heart 2011 extravaganza so check out her site here for a chance to win a super drawing - with the added gift of meeting people from all over the world!!

And to all who have been so supportive to me during this most challenging year,

Wishing you a very Happy Valentine's Day!!

Be who you want to be

Live how you love to see yourself

Become what you imagine and dream of!

New Colors In My Life and Soul

Since coming home from the hospital, I've been overwhelmed with the need to incorporate new colors into my life-in my clothes, in my home, and into my art.  It's as if  I've been draped with a rainbow of colors within me. 

Seth Apter from The Altered Page  posted about the  The Butterfly Effect 

                                            

which immediately caught my eye and heart. It's a  Project  to honor the 1.5 million children who lost their lives in the holocaust by collecting 1.5 million hand made butterflies for display.  He indicated that Trudi Sissons from TwoDressesStudio  graciously volunteered to receive the butterflies from the blogging community and forward them to the Holocaust Museum in Houston Texas, the sponsors of the project  - scheduled to open in the spring of 2013. .  You can read more about the project in Trudi's blog  here. To date, 400,000 butterflies have been received by the museum.

Below is my butterfly contribution to the project. 

The butterfly is made of book board and measures 7.5" by 8". It's covered in multi-colors of tissue paper cut in squares placed overlapping one another. Squares were outlined using acrylic paint, colored sharpies and marking pens.

   It's a butterfly filled with more colors than I previously would have made. 

      ******************

In 2009, Alicia Caudle fr0m Altered Bits sponsored a Black and White display of artwork she selected for her wonderful E-Zine which you can see here. I created the following piece for it titled Lost and Found  on pages 38 and 39.

   Below is the same piece  with a little "color make over and some embellishments." Yes, it's time for more color in my life!

                       

                                                

Be all the colors that you feel. Take in their power, their amazing sense of energy and the change that they can make in you. 

A New Work in A Series of Energy Filled Expressions!

It's a new year and I've decided to try new techniques, experiment, and make a collage from a xerox copy of my metamorphosis piece on heavy weight water color paper.   An assortment of cancelled stamps have been added, I've  painted on top of my old design with both acrylic and watercolor paints, and have added a new butterfly from Alicia Caudle's image collection which can be found in her Altered Bits Shop.   I've gone totally out of my comfort zone by adding a  pre- made face to my work.  I use to think that if I added other people's designs to my work, it's then "not authentically" mine - but I'm starting to overcome this concept.  I will continue to take some leaps outside my "style" and "color palette" in creating a few new works of art!

Follow your heart to always feel comfortable with your art, even if it's new,  and not quite feeling "you".  Change the works you are not happy with by tearing them up to make new works, paint over them, or give them away- be creative about "repurposing them".  I hope  that  no matter how foreign my new works may appear,  I will always feel my art is
     "my home".


To celebrate the launch of the magazine Cloth- Paper Scissors'  new community, the editors asked their readers to submit "New Year's Resolution" art.  I'm so happy to report that my submission of "I'M HOME"  was selected for inclusion in this challenge as seen here. Hope you can browse through the gallery site  to see all of the wonderful works of art that have been included.