A Little Mixed Media

Just having a little fun!

New Territory

Sorry for the long blog absence, but I was away for a few days. My husband and I and our younger son and his wife went on a trip to South Carolina to visit my older son and his wife. They have only lived there a little over a month and so this is the first time we've been to that area. The first day, we went to Hunting Island which is a nature preserve. I understand the several movies with jungle scenes have been filmed there. It was wonderfully lush and green and the closest thing to a jungle that I've ever been in. We walked through sprinkling rain to a beautiful lighthouse that was completed in the 1880's.

One day we sent the guys off to fish and the girls and I went to Hilton Head to an art show. There were lots of very talented exhibitors and I met a mosaic artist whose work I have admired for years. Steve Terlizzese calls himself the Mosaic Guy and lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's strange that I had to go to South Carolina to meet an artist from my home state.
On the long ride home, I played in my sketchbook. This is a mixed media collage using some of the materials that I picked up along the way.


I have managed to make a little jewelry since I've been home, but I keep wanting to do something a little different. I think I will start on a painting for my hubby since his birthday is next week.

Something Different

This is a waterfall coming out of our hillside. We don't always have a waterfall, but when you get over 6 inches of rain in 3 days this is what happens. Wouldn't it be cool to have a waterfall like that year round? Even though we didn't see the sun for almost 6 days, I am thankful that now we won't have to be so careful with our well water this year. We have had so much drought that many people locally had their wells go dry.

Rainy days make good creative days.

Sometimes I want to branch out and do something a little different. I had bought these shadow box frames a couple of years ago and hadn't really come up with a use for them until now. I was inspired by the shadow box creations of Stephanie Rubiano on her site: So I Gathered. The first one is my mom when she was little. I am not implying that she was a "smarty pants" but it just seemed to go with the school theme.

The next one is some long forgotten ancestor whose photo I found in my aunts photo collection. I have no idea who she was, but I hope that her expression was only temporary and not how she looked all of the time.

Thank You Cloth Paper Scissors and Thank You Dad!

Well....I didn't want to say anything prematurely, but...I got something published! A couple of months ago, Cloth Paper Scissors magazine sent out an email call for works that were Mother's Day or Father's day related. I had this altered tie that I did as a tribute to my dad and so I emailed them the picture. They emailed back and asked me to mail them the original and...the rest is history. I just got my issue today in the mail and I was so excited to see that I got an entire page! I thought I would be just included in a group on a page.

This was the first time that I ever submitted something and was not very confident that they would be interested. That just goes to show you... you never know. Give it a try! Take a step of faith. It could be you next time.

So...run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore and get the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine.

Gifts and Play Days

Some days I love my mailbox...the days when it is not all bills and junk mail. I love it when I pull surprise packages out with beautiful necklaces like the one that Steph (vladthebat) sent to me. She makes such wonderfully smooth and colorful polymer clay beads. Check out her blog. There is always something interesting.


Another thing that is exciting to me is to get to spend the day creating with another artist. On Wednesday, I went to Silo Studio to hang out with my friend Shawn and let our imaginations have a play day. We had no agenda other than to have fun and create. The weather threatened to cancel our plans, but I was determined to go. What's a little sleet and snow, when there is creating to be done.
It took a little while to figure out what we wanted to do, but we ended up with two projects each that took shape by the end of the afternoon. Here are photos of mine:

This is a very large belt buckle. I will have to find a belt to go with it.

This is an art doll made of a vintage metal jello mold, wooden spindles, old license plate number, wooden doll coat hanger, paint brush, beads, and a dog head picture. The dog head was inspired by the fact that we were surrounded by dogs in the studio. Two were so small, you could hold them in your two hands, and one was gigantic. Shawn has three of her own dogs and is a dog foster parent, so there are usually extras there. There are always plenty of wagging tails around.
Here are Shawn's pictures that she just emailed to me:

The buckles are made with metal buckle blanks, paper, beads, a vintage earring, and resin.

Birthdays

Finally...a chance to do a little mixed media collage...not tile and grout, or metal and beads. It's nice to have a change now and then.
Love and happy birthday wishes to my sister Emily, my son Zach, my nephew Samuel, and my friend Susan. I hope you have a blessed day.

A Little R and R

Hi everyone! I was away from my computer for a few days. (That felt really strange.) I'm back, trying to get back in the swing of things. We went to the Tennessee River to spend time with my mom, brother, his kids, and our son and DIL. The weather was great until just as we were getting ready to leave and then it turned ominous.
Here are some collages that my niece and nephew made one night. Aunt Sherry always has some art activity up her sleeve.I think they turned out great. Their mom does a lot of arts and crafts with them, so they are pretty creative.

Here are a couple of pieces of jewelry that I finished last week and a weird little mermaid.



Outside, right next to my deck, is the goose family feasting on clover, while the dogs are ignoring them just a few feet away.

Friends, Joy, Life

New Collage

Travel

This is a dangly that I just finished. The image is a transparency over a page from a hundred and twenty year old book, sewn over a map of Mexico, on a watercolored and stamped background.

New basket for Etsy

I just finished a new piece to add to my etsy shop. Actually I added 3 pieces but if you want to see the others you will have to visit my shop.
This piece is a hanging basket/pouch made of heavy roofing felt, that has been painted, stamped, collaged, and embellished. The pouch measures 7" x 8 1/2 inches, excluding the handle, which is made of recycled copper electrical wire. The pouch is collaged with old dress patterns, a 1967 newspaper, and an old ledger. The photo on the front is a digital collage that I created from a vintage photo. Sewn across the top, are 5 vintage buttons, and the sides are crocheted together with fluffy yarn. The quote is from Picasso, "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." You can hang this from a wall or doorknob and store things in it. I use mine to put my bills in and another for paintbrushes and pencils.
I am trying extra hard, to put up things for sale because I want to earn some extra money for our travel for our older son's wedding coming up. The wedding will be on the beach in Florida. We are so excited for them. I can hardly wait and I feel their anticipation deeply.