When You Follow Your Dreams...

Dreams - Digital Collage

Against all odds, have you ever followed a Dream? Have you, like the girl in the image, allowed yourself to drift into the night? Did you find a special place to rest and rejuvenate your creativity?

I am a new member of the Gecko Galz Design Team. Each month I will be issued a challenge. On the second day of the month, I will post my image using Gecko Galz products. And what's more, Gecko Galz have kindly allowed a Free Digi Stamp to accompany my post.

Please visit my Blog on February second. The topic, in the month of Romance, will be Hearts & Kisses.

This image is my Gecko Galz Avatar. The dreaming girl is from the Gecko Golden Splendour Collection. Part of the background is from their High Society Paper Pack. The Moon and clouds are from my own collection.

Will you follow your dreams and let creativity take you to your own place among the stars?

Have You Discovered Your Universe?

THE LETTER  Digital Collage

What warms your heart on a blustery wet weekend? 

The weather here in the Eastern part of the US certainly is reminding us that a seasonal change has taken place. The leaves are slowly adding vivid hues of gold and orange to their pallet. The constant rain of the last several days has added a bone chilling dampness that is difficult to shake off.

This feeling of restlessness and foreboding was just what I needed for our next Lunagirl Moonbeam Challenge: Gothic. The selection of images available are bewitching...dark, moody, and brooding. It was hard to choose, but I decided on a lovely woman wrapped in a cloak clutching letters close to her heart.

Instantly I was transported back to "The Dark Arches" of Granary Wharf in Leeds, England when eclectic shops and restaurants were part of the underground life in the Victorian tunnels beneath the Leeds railway station.

In a small shop window I saw a magnificent black hooded cloak...with a story even more fantastic. A man had it made to order for his wife as a surprise gift. The lining was a deep violet satin embossed with roses, her favourite flower. Near the hem of the lining was hand embroidery intertwining their initials caressing a single rose. The cloak fastened with an antique silver rose clasp and a single silver rose bead graced the tassel. The ardent gent was going to bring his wife down to the Arches later than evening and casually stroll past the window, knowing her heart would do back flips when she saw it. His plan was to get her to try it on and then say..."It's yours!” She was his universe.

I often wonder about the couple and their life after the cloak. Seeing the Lunagirl image made all the romance of their story warm my heart.

The collage used several Lunagirl images: the woman, the background, and the letter I added to the papers in her hands. The remaining images are from my conventional and digital collection.

What does warm your heart? Is it a letter, a gift, a kind word, or knowing that you are the Universe in someone's life?

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?

Dreamers...What Makes Your Life Sweet?

Life Is The Flower - Digital Collage

Has anyone ever called you a Dreamer and do you wear the badge with honour? Are you proud that others recognise the dreamer quality in you?

I, too, have been "accused". I suppose I will always have the soul of a romantic and a dreamer. And that pleases me.

As a member of the Lunagirl Moonbeam Design Team. Our latest challenge is to explore the world of "Honeybees". And what a wonderful challenge for this time of year! As I sit looking out of my window at the snow that fell overnight,  I long for warm Spring sunshine and earthy scented breezes.

It's been quite a while since I worked digitally, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to take a dip back into the digital pool. And I was so glad I did. I forgot how much I do enjoy it!

I started gathering my collage ephemera with a quote from Victor Hugo. I believe Life is like a flower...each petal, each day, opening to something new...sometimes joyous...sometimes not...but nonetheless an adventure. And isn't love...in all her aspects...the sweetness, the honey, in your life?

Hugo's quote made me think of the beautiful Waterhouse painting "The Soul of the Rose" and the poem of inspiration by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  In my collection is the Lunagirl  Pre-Raphaelite Art CD. And there she was...encouraged by my Muse...I was ready to begin.

I incorporated into the design the Waterhouse woman, Lunagirl flowers from the Busy Bees Collage sheet and art, guaranteeing the honey to be pure, from the Honeybee Tag Set. I finished the piece with other scraps I have in a collection of my own digital ephemera, including a romantic morning Moon.

So, fellow Dreamers...what brings sweetness to your life? And who...or what...is the honeybee?

Where Do Your Possibilities Dwell?

I Dwell In Possibility - Collage

In my studio, above one of my favourite camel bags, is a wall quote: "Dwell In Possibilities" paraphrased from the poem written by Emily Dickinson.

When inspiration is sometimes lost, I like to sit and let Emily's poem envelop me, like a quilt of ideas and images. And before I know it, I too am dreaming in a house of my choosing where the roof is as limitless as the night sky.

For Emily, poetry as opposed to prose allowed her the power and freedom of self-expression she was seeking.  And without the magic of poetry, her Muse, would her visitors be able to open the doors and windows of their soul?

The substrate for the collage is a canvas panel. A photo of Emily, floral art paper, magazine paper, vintage advertisements, and handmade paper form the grid. Washi tape and acrylic paint pushed through  hand cut stencils finish the collage.

Each of us in the Arts has a unique vision and purpose. Whether we build our house of paper and ink, or of paint and canvas, or movement, or melody, or words...aren't we extending an invitation to share in our endless passionate journey?

Where do your possibilities dwell?

Do What You Like. Like What You Do!

Home For Christmas - Collage

There is a saying that the secret of life is doing what you like.

I was invited to show with The Urban Individualists Group at the Artworks Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. The theme “Do what you like. Like what you do.” is Chris Ludke's inspiration. The photo below, from the exhibit, shows two of Chris' en plein air paintings.

Paintings by Chris Ludke

I selected Home For Christmas for a variety of reasons. I enjoyed working on this collage. Everything just seemed to fall into place. Again, Muse or Synchronicity... The canvas was just the right size. A piece of junk mail provided the night sky. The postage stamps and an envelope dated 1935 were just what I was looking for. The letter is from Chris. And as much as I value email for speed and an immediate response, I still love getting real letters in the mail.

Do you do what you like and follow your passion? And by doing what you like, does it bring you happiness and a sense of freedom? As Artists do we have the luxury of doing what we like and creating our own happiness? I think every Artist answers these questions just by creating.