Ever Hopeful...

PARIS SEWED UP - Digital Collage

Ah...Paris in the Springtime. And Spring is such a dreamy season. It is when we finally are able to shake off this icy Winter weather. It won't be long before the season of warm sweet breezes caresses us. I am ever hopeful.

The next challenge for the Lunagirl Moonbeam Design Team is "Sewing".  I do appreciate the talent of anyone who can sew. Although my Mom is an excellent seamstress, it was a skill I never mastered.

When looking through the beautiful Lunagirl images, the woman with the wistful smile appealed to me.  When I think about sewing, this is how I feel. As I hope for Spring, I am ever hopeful that someday I will go beyond my very skillful button replacement sewing and hem stitching upping. So when I think of sewing my thoughts run to Fashion and Fashion comes home to Paris.

I wanted the woman to take center stage in the work. From my own digital ephemera collection I started the piece with a postcard of the Eiffel Tower with postage stamp. I added pattern paper complete with directions. And a dream isn't a dream unless you have a limitless sky surrounding you. I finished the collage with the joyfully optimistic yellow roses...perhaps a symbol of her future in Fashion Design!

I guess my sewing dreams, like thoughts of Spring, will continue. Is there a skill you are ever hopefully wanting to master?

Where Will Your "World Tour" Take You?

A Nile Journey - Digital Collage

Although February is so cold and blustery here in the Eastern United States, there is a convivial, scarlet heart that beats the rhythm of love in this dead of Winter month.

With this in mind, Lunagirl Moonbeam's next challenge is...RED. Looking through her incredible collection of images my eye kept coming back to a woman pensively looking over her shoulder. What could she be looking for...or thinking about?

I then spotted the beautiful frame in Lunagirl's collection. It was just what I was looking for...gold, crimson, and beautiful.

As I travelled to the world of the "Lady in Red" the collage quickly fell into place. I could imagine her "World Tour", when  voyaging was a real adventure. With her felucca sailing away, there she is, having her photo taken as she disembarked on the banks of the Nile. And the memento of the occasion, safely enclosed in the frame, is her gift to her beloved.

From my own digital ephemera collection I started the piece with a nebula background...a fitting base for the star-crossed lovers. I added the postcard and stamp, because a "World Tour" just isn't the same without correspondence to mark the journey. I finished the piece with a romantic full red rose.

Today - February 5th, fellow Collage Artists, is the anniversary of the birth of Dada. In 1916 the Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich opened to a standing room only crowd. Do you think the Cabaret Voltaire would be our Lady's next port of call?

As we all take our own "World Tour", where will it lead you and who will join you on your voyage?

Old Time is still a-flying...

CREATE - Mail Art

I love Pre-Raphaelite Art. I love the compositions rich with detail, colour, and realism. I love the poetic line and form. I love their intertwining romance and rebellion. After all, what is Art without rebellion?

My second envelope for the Mail Art swap drew from the poem 'To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time" by Robert Herrick and painting "Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May" by John William Waterhouse.

I see the leaves whisking past my studio window on this blustery day. And Time is flying. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2014, I have to ask...where did this year go?

The substrate is a craft envelope. In addition to the woman from the Waterhouse painting I added art and handmade paper, and joss paper. I finished the envelope by adding rubber stamped and stencilled acrylic metallic paint. It was then sent on its way...

So...gather your rosebuds today. And share them with the people you cherish in your life.

Summer Is Just A Sigh Away...

"Four Seasons Suite - Summer" 5" x 7" COLLAGE

The collage is an homage to one of the best times of the year and is part of the "Four Seasons Suite" I have been working on.

I used a 5" x 7" canvas substrate. The handmade papers were altered using acrylic paint, alcohol, water, Ranger inks, and Perfect Pearls Mist. Tea dyed gauze crosses the canvas at the woman's eye level. Mulberry paper completes the top portion of the design.

I am crazy about Victoriana. The images from Dover books. In my opinion they have the best selection of all.

To quote Henry James: "Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

And Summer will be here before we know it!

Earth Day...Forever Free

Forever Free

As it is Earth Day I thought I would post a collage with a nature theme. As the saying goes..."Earth without Art is Just "Eh". The Arts are what stirs our souls, makes us who we are, encourages us to follow our own Muse.

I started the piece with sewing pattern paper. I love the translucence and texture. It has a feeling of something not yet finished...the anticipation of what will be created.

The Substrate is canvas. Using the Tao format I felt would lend itself nicely to a visual breaking free.  The collage incorporates vintage ephemera, flower petals, handmade paper, sewing pattern paper, found objects, art paper, inks, dyes, and gauze.

And what better way to celebrate Earth Day? Collage is the ultimate in recycling And I think the Muse would approve...especially on Earth Day!

ATC – Gather Ye Rosebuds…

Gather Ye Rosebuds

The concept for this Artist Trading Cards is a poem by Robert Herrick. It deals with the fleeting time we have on this earth and reads:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

The painting on the card is one of my favourites by John William Waterhouse. I love the intense colours and the style of composition resurrected by the Pre-Raphaelites. Using this inspiration and influences from the Impressionists, a Waterhouse painting is a joy to behold.

The poem and the painting have inspired me. Not to sound maudlin, but I feel so often we take each day as if we will live forever. Instead a healthier outlook would be to embrace the latin phrase, Carpe diem..seize the day..make each day extraordinary.

The ATC includes the use of art papers, pressed rose petals, glass bead and matte mediums. It is the first in a series.