Tag Archives: art

ArtSoMoFo October 2008

These are my first couple arts for this year’s challenge of making some art everyday for the month of October. These are just some quick examples I was doing for students in class as I showed them how to use Photoshop. But I pretty much make art everyday at school, so I might as well show it off here too.

artsomofo2008_03

artsomofo2008_02

artsomofo2008_01

Although the above were made at school as examples… this one was made at home. The girl in the center is from a photo shoot I did in the early 90’s when I was actually still developing my own film and printing my own photos. The other images are from a great photo sharing flickr group that posts images to be used in collage.

artsomofo2008_04

The Start of October’s BJP page

The beginning of October’s Beaded Journal Project page. This has pieces from 5 different fabrics pieced together and using some cool decorative stitches on my machine. I like the eyelash type stitch that I did on the edge of the glow-in-the-dark eye fabric, which will also be the backing for this one. (Click to see a larger view, or make it a favorite at Flickr.) This is also my art for the day for ArtSoMoFo. I need to post my other work from this month so far as well. Now to select some beads and begin that phase.

Perhaps my art twin?

I apparently have found my art twin. Over the years when I was primarily working with collage on glass, and showing… I always wondered if someone else was doing the same type of thing. I had seen painting on glass… but never collage. So today this guy, Mike, from France posts a comment on my blog and it seems that around the SAME YEARS as me, he was also doing collage on glass.

Then as I look to his bio I see that he is born in a year and date very close to me. So we are both 40 something geminis (me: 05/25/67 him: 05/27/65) He also does performance and installation arts, both types that I admire and he writes quite a bit. He is very diverse in his creations as I have been… we just went off in different directions.

So anyways, for the time being I will think of him as my art twin… and I will continue to keep an eye on his work. You should check it out as well!

Beaded Journal Project September 2008

Sept2008

So this is the first of my 12 alter/door style journal pages. I am still up in the air as to how I am going to finish/back them. If I will do the sculptural approach in which case I will need to do more work on this one.

So I am a teacher, a middle school art teacher. September always means fresh starts, new kids, new lessons. I like endings, but more I like fresh starts. that is why September is one of my favorite months EVER. perhaps this was wired into me at an early age, since we moved every 2-3 years and I had to start over, make new friends. I always thought I would reinvent myself and start over. becoming the me that for some reason I had not been in the place before. We always moved in the summer with September being that moment of the fresh beginning…

This piece is 11″W x 8″H at the peaks. It is made from a ‘novelty’ fabric (one with the teachers, combined with a separate one of the flowers and edged with a third of the measuringtape. I included the tape because I have been working hard and lost 13 pounds over the summer. Plus it looks like a school type thing.

The ‘crazy’ art teacher has red hair (like me) and I added a fuzzy yarn to give it dimension. She also wears funky shoes, apron and glasses…like me too now (the glasses are new)

Sept2008DT

Now to go figure out October’s page….

PS I would LOVE to hear feedback, as I am pretty much new to the beading thing…

Carving out your Space

collage desk

I remember when I lived in a tiny studio apt and I made all my art sitting on my bed/couch because I didn’t have a table or even enough room on the floor. All my supplies were in bags and shoe boxes. I am glad for real tables now. But it was still a fun time of art making. When I was finally able to afford a one bedroom apt, I kept the same bed/couch in order to sleep in the living room and made the bedroom my art studio. This allowed me to work much larger.

I was reminded of these small work spaces where I made it work, despite it all, when I read today’s episode of The Pulse. Artist Kelly Kilmer, talked about working on the floor and shared a pictures of baggies filled with supplies. It almost makes me nostalgic for the past.

Usually, I am envious of the art studios I see when people share pictures of their spaces. Wood floors, super organized shelves and drawers, clean walls with good lighting. But when I think of the spaces I used to have and the space I have now I need to consider myself fortunate.

If you would like to see the studios of some great artists then check out the Pulse!

Medium Well: Checking in on the Pulse

Seth at The Altered Page continues his mass undertaking of sharing the thoughts of over 80 artists, on such topics of favorite art media, favorite links, and methods for getting into the mood for creating. Medium Well is a series of 4 posts on the question, “If you could work in one medium or format that you haven’t yet tried, tell us what it would be and why.”

 


Courtney making a stain glass state ornament, originally uploaded by justgrimes. Flickr licensed under the Creative Commons.

For many years I have wanted to create art in the medium of Stained Glass. My glass window collage series was aiming to have the transparency and feeling of stained glass. Many of the pieces look wonderful with light shinning behind them. I like the compartmentalized look of stained glass and have even tried to translate that idea into fabric.

What medium would you experiment with, if you had unlimited time and resources? What fears are holding you back?

What If?

CQR_sept, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy.

Crazy Quilts Revisited a new challenge started by Jude Hill at Spirit Cloth asks us to as “What if?”

So my first What if? Crazy Quilt piece came from:
What if I pieced together fabrics that are really different in texture? This has fun fur, Corduroy, silk, linen, taffeta, felt, and tulle combined. Then I asked, What if I made pockets in the tulle and sewed in beads? Only one pocket is filled so far, because this is still a work in progress. Finally I decided, What if I added a cut out window in the middle? Which is a new technique for me.

SO I will start by saying I don’t like it. It is all scraps so I haven’t lost anything by trying. It was hard to sew through the layers since I started with the thickest stuff towards the middle and used felt as a backing. I am not sure if this block will go any further. Or I might have to ask, What if I kept working on something I didn’t like and finished it anyways?

BJP prototype

BJP_prototype with pages side by side and open, originally uploaded by Charger’s Mommy. Check out my flickr for more views of this project.

This is what I whipped up today to be my prototype for my bead journal project. I was having a hard time trying to explain what I wanted to do. Plus I thought I better make one to see if it really worked the way I wanted it to.

So These are some fabric and paper collages that have been sewn and embellished with ribbons and beads. They are cut in an alter book type shape. They have a layer of cardstock on the inside for support. They have 2 old paint brushes that slide into the back to support the book so it can stand. (will have to come up with a slightly better way to get them into the pages, as I just cut a hole in the fabic and shoved them in. the Ribbons are sewn to the back in such a way as to allow the different ‘chapters’ to be tied to each other. Another set of ribbons hold the front doors closed. in the final pages these will be little metal bead clasp things I found that have the letter S on them.

Since these are prototypes the edges are unfinished. and the outsides are fairly plain.

These are made from scraps in my studio.

In other news… my favorite online fabric store is now selling fabric for my favorite TV show.

Playing Favorites: Picture Perfect

Seth at The Altered Page will be going LIVE with his next round of questions with The PULSE this coming Monday. As he prepares for a month of Q & A with 80-plus artists (and counting) I am taking a walk down memory lane. Next on the list is Picture Perfect.

I have been taking photos since my early days as a kid travelling though Europe. Dad was a dark room enthusiast and shared his passion. Before college I often found his passion to be a burden, when he forced us to stand in front of every statue, windmill and geyser in the world!

 

(Photo by my dad of the Family at Yellowstone park circa 1970’s)

But then I took photography, learned darkroom processing and the joys of taking pictures. Later I finally got my hands on a digital camera so the cost and time of taking/ processing pictures went down dramatically. I love taking pictures… admittedly most of them of my dog or my art.

Ever since I bought my first digital camera, I have taken many opportunities to go on Photo Walks. Sometimes by myself, but more often with my dog and occassionally with friends. I prefer to look at things close to the ground, often setting my camera on the ground to take the shot. I love to look for patterns and textures.

Up Close and Personal This one recieved an award at EBSQ

06242005_sewer 

This photo has not been altered nor cropped.