New Work: Temple

Temple, 17.5 x 11 inches, mixed media

ingredients: vintage book cover, monotype, vintage maps and engineering drawings, other vintage ephemera, metallic ink, found objects, brads, brass wire, acrylic paint, artist pens, feathers

So will I build my altar in the fields,
And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,
And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields
Shall be the incense I will yield to thee.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 "Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life."                                                                                                                              - Hermann Hesse

Progressing... a Few Quick Glimpses

Coming along slowly with the new piece I first showed you in this post. It's been quite a while since I completed something; as some of you may know, I've been busy studying business things. More about that later. (You can read a bit about it here and here.)

Most of the basic components are glued down, and I have added some stitching; I think it will be finished in the next day or so. In the meantime, I just wanted to share a few more details before you see the whole piece. (Is that an oxymoron?) Anyway, without further blah-blah-blah:

I kind of enjoy using the hammer and awl to make holes for the stitching.  My dogs, however, do not enjoy the noise - I suppose it sounds like thunder or fireworks to them - and when I start, they quickly find another place to hang out.

My son-in-law gave me these old engineering drawings, which I have since found out are done on silked vellum. We knew they were vellum, but when I tore a piece of it to use in a collage, I saw tiny threads, and realized it was woven. Later I heard, just by chance, that in the past very very thin sheets of silk would be somehow laminated onto vellum to make it more durable. It's a strange material to work with, as it doesn't behave like either paper or fabric, and seems to stretch when wet (or has glue on it), and is very hard to glue down flat.

Here, tree roots have been stitched with embroidery floss - a mix of two different blues. Hopefully, it will all come together soon, and I will share it with you here!


Happy Monday, everyone!

Re-Vision

I don't usually do collages that don't contain some of my own drawing or monotype work, but I thought I'd give it a try.  Why I thought that, I don't really know, since I'm generally quite terrible at this type of work.  In my last post, I included a collage I had made by combining different papers.  In keeping with the theme of clouds and rain, my intention was for the piece to express that mood, so I wanted to do something a bit simpler, softer, and more monochromatic than my usual riot of intense color and contrast.  (Okay, stop laughing; it is too possible!) The result was less than satisfactory; in fact, it was boring.

As I sat looking at this piece and pondering what might be done to improve its awfulness, I though perhaps I had been over-confident; maybe I should have started small.  "Go big or go home" is not always a sound philosophy.  So, I began cutting it into smaller pieces, which seemed at once to be an obvious improvement.  I worked on each one individually, while still keeping them similar enough to work as a series.

Symphony of the Rain (Overture)  4.75" x 5.75"

Symphony of the Rain (First Movement)  6.25" x 6"

Symphony of the Rain (Second Movement)  5" x 5"

Symphony of the Rain (Third Movement)  6" x 4.75"

Ingredients (all 4 pieces):  vintage ephemera, decorative papers, magazine cut-outs.

What do you think?  Better, or not?  Any and all advice would be helpful!

The Time of Gray

It's the time when all you see is gray...

It weighs down the sky...

wrapping hills and trees in delicate layers of gray tissue.

And then it begins....

Symphony of the Rain

ingredients: vintage type paper, vintage piano book page, magazine cut-outs, various decorative papers

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I'm back from my trip, and I did have fun in spite of the record-breaking heat in DC.  I thought I'd share a bit about it, while trying not to bore you with too many "tourist photos".  The best thing about my vacation, of course, was getting to spend time with my son, Colin, and his girlfriend, Lindsey.

Here we are at the Potomac River in Old Alexandria.

Old Alexandria is touristy, but very cute, with lots of cool shops and restaurants.  If you're into old buildings that are beautifully restored (which I am), this is a great place to see them.

The Vietnam War Memorial.  I wanted to get the reflection of the wreath in the foreground, with the Washington Monument in the back.  With a little help from Photoshop, it's not too bad.

Part of the World War II Memorial, which was huge and beautiful.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History was so cool, I couldn't resist including a couple of photos from inside.

The obligatory bones of extinct animals: this one's a giant sloth.  It was REALLY giant, so if it was coming after you, you'd be REALLY glad that sloths are so slow.

A beautiful old totem pole guards the stairwell.

The Smithsonian Museum of American Art and Portraiture had an exhibit of presidents' portraits...

as well as the winners of the National Portrait Contest.  Here, two girls talk to a sculpture of an old naked guy called, "The sad thing is that I'm so darn happy."  (Well, maybe they weren't actually talking to him, but it looks pretty funny.)

One of my favorite things was the Eastern Market.  There were vendors selling everything from produce to antiques to handmade jewelry.

 We ate two whole pints of these blueberries before we got back on the Metro- yum!

But my favorite booth at the market was the one that sold - incredibly- VINTAGE MAPS!  Can you believe it?  An entire booth that sold vintage maps, prints, stereoscope pictures and lantern slides!  Needless to say, I was a bit excited.  I was determined, however, to show some self-restraint.  I did buy some very nice prints from a 1904 Encyclopedia Britannica, including this:

 Obviously, rock hound that I am, I could not pass this one up!

This one, along with the minerals, will no doubt find places in frames and on my wall.  I don't think I'd dream of cutting them up.

I like the bright colors and designs on this one.

I think this might be my favorite.  It's from an 1889 encyclopedia.

When I got home, I was shocked to realize that I had only bought 3 maps.  What?!!  What was I thinking?  This self-restraint thing has gone entirely too far!  Now I'll have to go back... just to get more maps, of course!

If you haven't entered yet, it's not too late to get in the drawing for my give away.  Just leave a comment on the post previous to this one; entries are open until 4:00 pm Sunday, August 1.