Heart Upon Sleeve

February's theme is 'hearts' of course.  I chose this line from Othello as my prompt....  "But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am."
The bird Shakespeare referred to is a Jackdaw, an annoying species of black bird.   Here it looms larger than life, ready and no doubt eager to take a peck at the heart in question.
Love is in the air.....

Prediction

Our theme this month was 'Predictions' and my thoughts turned to the little slips of paper in fortune cookies.   For years I have collected these whenever we get together with friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I have a whole jar full.   As I went through them, this one stood out, and the photo of 'Frank' seemed to connect with it.  He looks like the patient type.  The photo is from my extensive collection of 'lost people' that end up in a shoebox at some antique store for $2.
Here's hoping that Frank is rewarded for his 'everlasting patience.'

Play Art

Creativity is about play and a willingness to go with your intuition. If you know what you are going to do, why do it? --Frank Gehrey

People tend to forget that play is serious --David Hockney

Today I'm revisiting one of my favorite themes:

Play..... get some.

Time

With the old year drawing to a close and 2010 approaching, I chose the prompt for this visual journal entry: time.

Again, the composition expands from an existing image, in this case the photograph of a colorful bird's head.

Henry David Thoreau's words are at the top: "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

A quote from Omar Khayyam seemed to be the appropriate text: "The bird of time has but a little way to fly.... and the bird is on the wing!"

Harvest Moon

October arrives bringing the inevitability of autumn. Seeds ripen, fall to the Earth, and begin the long sleep of hope. The wheel of the year turns as the harvest moon rises again.

This digital collage was created with photoshop using antique photo and post card images. It seemed appropriate for the season.

The Best Way to Travel

The theme for this month's ATC exchange was 'travel'. This song from my youth kept playing in my head as I was contemplating what to do with the theme, so I took it for a gift and played along.

The Best Way to Travel

And you can fly

High as a kite if you want to

Faster than light if you want to

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

It's all a dream

Light passing by on the screen

And there's you and I on the beam

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

We ride the waves

Distance is gone, will we find out?

How life began, will be find out?

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

The Moody Blues

Samuel was Answered

For me it always starts with one item. In this case it was the photograph of a young man. I only imagine his name was Samuel... there was no inscription on the back.

The rest took on a life of it's own as I tried to work intuitively on the piece.

A recent class at Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin with artist Michael deMeng inspired me to try some new approaches in assemblage. He taught us many things about using non-traditional materials and painting techniques to create various effects. Apparently that creative energy followed me home. I do hope it sticks around awhile.

My brother-in-law and husband recently gifted me with an old typewriter, knowing that I would disassemble it for my artwork. The old Underwood was rusted and damaged beyond use and I was told that the auctioneer actually paid them $1 to take it away. What luck!
As I was cutting strips of old newspaper clippings to adhere to the surface, the name 'Samuel' and the words 'was answered' seemed to jump out at me. When you allow yourself to work from pure intuition, little 'gifts' are often presented. In this case, it was the title of the work.



The back ends of the old Underwood keys have such interesting hook shapes!

I must say that during the 2 days it took me to completely disassemble the old typewriter, I gained profound respect for the complex mechanics of the thing.

A work of art in itself.

Home Shelters the Dreamer

I readily admit to being somewhat of a hermit, especially during the summer months. I am content to work in my studio, putter around in the gardens, sit on the deck and watch Nature's big show and enjoy the unstructured time at home.

This illustration was made with that theme in mind.

Into the Garden

We have had a nice steady rain over night and throughout the day today. The garden is happy.

Several years ago I decided to transform the vegetable garden to a flower garden. This evolved after my "Earth Mother" phase in which I grew and canned everything. These days I am just as happy to support the Farmer's Market, but there are still a few tomato plants, green peppers and basil among the many flowers.

My Grandpa, who inspired my love of gardening, was always digging, planting and harvesting. In the spring there would be hundreds of tulips and in the fall, the entire yard was bordered by chrysanthemums of every imaginable variety. There were grafted fruit trees with 4 different kinds of pears on the same tree, roses and flowering shrubs galore. Grape vines grew on the fence around the garden and in the fall he made the best wine ever. He worked in the garden right up until the day he died and was always looking ahead to the next season.

I have kept his tree spade and most of his garden books, and all that he taught me over the years. And sometimes when I am out in my own garden I feel that he is still watching and guiding me with his gentle spirit.

Color Play

One of the things I like about playing with images in photoshop is the ability to alter colors and textures. The above example started out as a random collection of post card stamps and writings scanned into the program and arranged in layers. The posterize filter was used, colors were altered, and various brushes were used as stamps to create additional texture. You can see the original image below for comparison.

I like the way this turned out and may use it as a backing on some of my ATCs.

She Required No One's Permission to Fly

Don't you just love her attitude?

I have used this lady's photograph in several other mixed media pieces and never tire of her commanding pose. This time she has become larger than life... most likely a result of the science fiction movies I have been watching.

The background is composed from two different vintage post cards and the moths are from an antique nature guide.

Beverly Complete

The altered photograph from this piece was posted several days ago. I just couldn't leave it alone and felt she needed a more complete setting. The background is fabric collage and mixed media assemblage. Beverly's new look was stitched onto the background. Beaded fringe was added at the bottom.

Beverly in Springtime

Beverly just loves springtime!
I know this is her name because it is written carefully on the front and back of the original photograph posted below. Actually the script on the front reads "Love Bevy." Additional information on the back states that she is from Pennsylvania.
Today she has a new ensemble to wear as she greets the coming season.

A friend generously gave me a whole stack of vintage photos to play with and sweet Beverly was among them.

Playing With Fire

Last summer we made our annual trip to the big flea market and antique show in Oronoco, Minnesota. There I found a wonderful old catalog full of images of men's and women's clothing, household items and, yes, heating stoves. Somehow the menswear models and the stoves got together and before I could stop the inevitable, they were playing with fire. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Continental Breakfast

Playing with words again, and the images they sometimes evoke. Continental breakfast with a side of ocean. Enjoy!

Flying Carpet

A trip to one of our local thrift shops yielded some vintage magazines, from which the main image of this collage was taken. The others came from an old geography book, and a book on fishing.
It's the family vacation of my dreams.

People of the Flood

Last summer we witnessed first hand, the devastation of floods here in Iowa. The history of people's lives was swept away in the waters that came over the land. This collage was inspired by the countless stories of loss and the troubles that are still ongoing.