Painting, Cutting and Pasting

The holidays and family events preoccupied me, so that I had been away from art for nearly 2 months. When January arrived, so did my need to create and keep my sanity.

I randomly painted watercolor paper and magazine pages. Some I will keep as art, while others will be collaged into something else. Here are some of the original papers:

I also experimented with making my own hand drawn stamps and handmade stencils. I really enjoyed using my glazing medium, which works well on the magazine pages. I made collagraphs and did rubbings on some, as seen in the photo directly above this.

I cut some of these and then collaged the bits and scraps onto them. Sometimes I made more marks. Here are some of my favorite bookmarks and gift tags:

SO MUCH FUN!

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.
Albert Einstein

I've been thinking about goals recently. I have a Facebook page, this blog, and a Twitter account. I think I'm just flailing in all 3, randomly posting with no clear goal in mind.

Do you have  specific goal in mind for your blog? Do you have a vision or purpose, or do you just post whatever you feel like? Are your posts designed to create a brand, an image, or a feeling?

Your comments are always welcome.

In 1988, Mary Randolph Carter published a sweet book entitled American Family Style. I've lost count of how many times I've read it. One of the photos showed a cute pumpkin pie with a handmade turkey on it. I tried it this Thanksgiving and here's my version. My daughter pronounced it "the cutest damn pie on the planet."

ACEO

Life has been jerking my chain recently. I needed to balance with some art, so I did this little ACEO. I basically just went for the colors. The two amorphous shapes, torn from a magazine, reminded me of two people (or at least the energy of two people.) I decided to let those people have a relationship, and I connected them with the white energy dots. As I looked at them, the song "Me and Mrs. Jones" started running through my mind, so I entitled the piece "We Got a Thing Going On." I greatly enjoyed this brief time of self-healing.

Sometimes you just have to miss it

I'm working on a bridal veil. I'm stitching a rope of tiny pearls to its edge. There's a stitch between every 2 little pearls..stitch, stitch, hundreds of stitches. It becomes a meditation, the repetition of a mantra. The edge gently undulates, as the tulle and pearls are married. I'm dying to finish it; it's a labor of love.  There's a remnant of vintage lace, waiting for me to cut it and applique motifs onto the train.

This morning I went shopping and walking with my husband. (We will be married 38 years tomorrow.) Last night I went with my daughter to feed the kitties at a cat rescue shelter. So many kitties, abused and abandoned but now in a better place, a no-kill place, a warm friendly place where they are safe and fed. My daughter is going through a divorce and well, she just needs her mama.

The veil is calling to me. For that matter, papers and a glue stick are also calling to me. But, there has to be a balance. I can't perpetually sit at my table stitching. There are other living beings, needing some of my energy.

So, sometimes you just have to miss it..miss the veil..miss the glue and colors....so as not to miss the rest of life.

Shaman Stones

I've been drawing these for years. I had a pile of them, and have discovered that I've sold all but these 3. So, now I get to walk along the sand of the Chesapeake bay and pick up more smooth beach stones. Then, I let them tell me what image they'd like on their faces......

                                                                    

Patterns

It's bitter outside this morning. The temperature dropped 40 degrees overnight, and the wind is wicked. The birds continue to sing as though it's spring. They are either acting as if, or perhaps they know something that we don't.

Despite the fact that winter has repeatedly teased us with false hope, there is still beauty to be seen. I really like the shadows co-created by the bare trees and the rising sun and thrown across the yard:

I experimented a little with my Picasa program, and discovered that they offer a lot of artistic options: (You might want to enlarge the first one to see the whole effect.)

I'm glad I was able to capture these before the trees leaf out.