Pages 03/31/08

'Keyhole' another Digital Collage ATC.

Pages 03/27/08

'Believe'. An odd digital ATC made in Photoshop.

Pages 03/22/08

I'm taking an online painting/collage course with artist Karen Gartel over at Altered Diva Online Workshops. The 6 week course is called "Softly Spoken" and is supposed to help us make our own painted backgrounds and teach collage composition. I honestly took this class because I wanted to MAKE myself set some time aside and work on some pieces. Having a deadline, and knowing that I paid for the course would surely give me motivation, and it did. The course is somewhat self paced with new lessons given every Monday and a week to turn around the assignment. Karen gives written instructions as well as an instructional video - which I love. The group is able to ask questions, show progress and discuss their project. (Pictured left are my 4 pieces in progress.)
I'm a fairly intermediate painter, and I honestly didn't expect to learn a whole lot of new techniques, but I've been very pleasantly surprised. I've never used gesso on watercolor paper (and it's cool!) and I've learned and interesting way to layer multiple colors which I've never done and will definintely use in the future. All GREAT techniques. I definitely recommend the course even if you *think* you've done it all. ;-) We have 3 more weeks of the class and I'm excited to see what's next. Will keep you posted.

Pages 03/18/08

Last weekend I got a big old jar of broken jewelry at a second hand store for a deal. Score! It was perfect for a swap which was coming up. I cleaned all the pieces in my new super sonic jewelry cleaner, then broke them apart and repurposed them as charms. I got a chance to practice my wire work and making loops. (I'm getting better, but it takes alot of practice!) These will be going to a 5th Anniversary Charm Swap for the ABC (Altered Book Club) group on Yahoo Groups.

Pages 03/14/08

I got my 'Chunky Love ATC Book 'back a few days ago and it's REALLY cool. This was a swap I was in with the Altered Art Obsession Yahoo Group. I grabbed these photos of it off of one of the other participant's blogs because they were quite nice. (These are from Tejae's blog.) I'll try and take a few pics myself this weekend. I'm always so surprised at what everyone comes up with. There are so many styles and 'takes' on the subject. To see my contribution to the book please see this blog entry.

Pages 03/09/08

St Patrick's Day Matchbox Swap - This was the matchbox I made for a swap hosted on Swap-Bot. I had fun with it. I found a bunck of St. Patrick's Day swag at Michaels and made a zipper pull with a four leaf clover on it.
If you haven't made it over to Swap-Bot, I highly recommend it. The owners are making the site better and better for the user. In the past I've had trouble with not getting swaps back, but now the better swappers are making swaps JUST for people with long standing reputations. The community aspect is growing. There are alot of Matchbox Swaps, and there's a huge group of matchbox artists there. Swaps are available for almost ANYTHING, from candy swaps, to music swaps ... they have something for everyone.

Pages 03/08/08

2 Visual Journal Cards. I drew these quite awhile ago, but only just got around to painting them. The card 'Honestly' was in reaction to a friend losing a long loved dog. The dog was really old (17 years) and the last time she came over to play with our own dog she'd seriously gone downhill. Our friend was in denial that it was time she be put down. Seeing her, deaf and blind and moaning when she laid down just went right to my heart. A few weeks later he took her to the vet, and the vet told him it was time. Honestly ... it was a huge relief for me and I was glad she wasn't in pain anymore. Is that terrible? The second card is of random thoughts and doodles. Me, trying to get my act together and do some create work, but too tired to do anything.