a serving of poetry

Today, before throwing away a Better Homes & Gardens magazine, I decided to skim through and snip out words to which I was drawn. I placed them in a small bowl so I could carry them into my studio. I think it looks like a delicious serving of Words! I challenged myself to create a poem, using only these words. (I made sure I snipped the little words too--prepositions, "a" and "the", etc.)
Then I spread out all the words, and began formulating a bit of a poem....
and here is the final poem. (The word on the left that got cut off is "Tomorrow.") I pasted it into my art journal, and now I have a great little entry for a snowy wintry day!

stencils and masks and fun, oh my!

It amazes me what things can inspire us. I've had a dry spell for awhile, with family situations and with our new cottage. But I've been aching to create lately, and stencils and masks have turned me back on! I needed to come up with an idea for our Creative Spirits group that meets soon, so I began leafing through Collage Lab, by Bee Shay, and spotted a section on masks and stencils. I've been curious about them since taking Michelle Ward's class last summer when we used them with spray paints. Then I began thinking about what could be used as a stencil/mask, and decided to leaf through some magazines in search of good silhouettes.

One of the magazines was the Fall issue of Vogue, which is jam packed with all kinds of artsy inspiration. I began cutting out figures of the models in various--sometimes comical--poses. I'm just beginning, but I will soon have a great stash of stencils/masks I can use in my art! Here's the first one I cut out.
I traced her onto a manilla file folder, then cut her out, using a craft knife. So I have both a stencil and a mask.
Here's a sample of using the stencil, with just some scrapbook papers I had handy. I added a few collage elements, and she's all done!
Here's another sample, again using scrapbook papers, this time using the silhouette as a stencil. I added a lacey skirt and some shading, and another quick fix for my creative need.
And another collage, cut out of some collaged paper I had made, glued onto an envelope I received from an artist friend at Christmas. And this is all, just using papers. Imagine what I can do with paint! Simple, yet effective. I think my dry spell has been healed!

Four Little Angels

Just completed these mixed media angels. I saw something similar in Somerset Studios, by artist Lainie Taylor, and thought I'd try my hand. Details: faces from a cabinet card I collected, feet and hangers are beaded, ribbon tied in bow behind their wings, and a thiner ribbon for their waist, fabric for the "apron" , trims on hems of dresses, dresses made of hand-painted papers, and wings from wrapping papers or specialty papers.
It was a lot of fun collecting the materials for these ladies. I wanted bold, contrasting colors.
I sketched a pattern onto watercolor paper, and cut out sections for head, dress, arms, and wings. Then I glued various papers, fabrics, etc. onto the paper.
They're a little too heavy/big for the Christmas tree, but I have them hanging from a shelf.
This was my first one, and I hand beaded the hem here. These were so much fun! Like paper dolls times 100!

Today's Work: Hope 1 and Hope 2

This is done on a clayboard. I masked off the area of the plant that I wanted to save, and then texturized the rest of the board, with wood icing and molding paste. When dry, I used 4 colors of color washes, using fluid acrylics and smooshed it into all the crevices. When that was dry, I brayered regular acrylics across the whole thing, using 3 colors. Then I peeled off the tape to reveal the plant underneath.

It says to me: amidst turmoil and uncertainty, hope is pure and relentless.

This piece I owe to 2 people: April, who showed us how to use regular Rit dye to "explode" color onto watercolor paper a while back. And to my nephew Ryan, who posted this Emily Dickinson quote on Facebook earlier today. It seems I was saving this paper just for this specific quote.

I've always been a fan of Emily Dickinson, and the sun seems to be emerging from the storm on this page.

It felt really good to work in the studio today; I had been away far too long.

Nature at Sister Bay

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Queen Olivia, a crone of her own

Just completed this styrofoam head today. I had no idea what her name was until just now when I looked at her. She looks like royalty, ready for her afternoon tea. Her woodland crown lets you know that she is down-to-earth, She seems quite sassy to me; a crone of her own.
The head was painted, and then I carved words and doodles into her neck and painted those with a wood stain; it looks like they are carved into wood. I made the flowers in her head from tissue paper. Her crown is a twig wreath, adorned with painted leaves, silver balls, and silver sequins.
I "made up" her face with actual makeup, to see how it would look; then I painted over with fluid acrylics so it would stay. The false eyelashes I picked up at an after Halloween sale last year for 10 cents. (I just knew they'd come in handy for SOMEthing!) I really enjoy creating these heads for some reason.

Creative Spirits' Art Retreat

Our Creative Spirits' Art Group met recently to work on styrofoam heads and/or masks. Here, in various stages of completion, is our work. This one is my head. I applied modeling paste to her neck, and then etched in words. I used some wood stain that Carolyn had brought, to color in the words, and then painted the whole head. The words look like wood burning--an unexpected joy! I'm still working on her crown, and will post another photo when she's finished.
Mary is painting a mask and is going to mount it inside this wood frame that is actually a drawer. She collaged text inside the drawer. I can't wait to see this completed--very dramatic!
And here is Carolyn's head--doesn't he have a lot of character? I think he's going to take her in a new direction.
And here is Gai's adorable woodland nymph. She was the only one to complete her project, as she had done some work ahead of time. She purposely left the face rather plain, to draw attention elsewhere. What a charming personality she has.

It was another fun day at The Center. I just love absorbing the creative energy that results when we're all creating together!