1001 Traveling Journal

I have contributed to the 1001 Traveling Journal project through my friend Brian Kasstle.  You can link to this project at http://1001journals.com/ .  Brian started two traveling journals numbered 5386 and 5387.  The two journal pages below are in journal #5387.  Mailing them off to Brian after a two week turn around provided a feeling of accomplishment.

The process I followed was to create a gel skin of the stencil that I purchased from Artistcellar. I first scanned the stencil and then made the skin. After attaching the skin to the journal, I then collaged everything that you see. I had found a photo of a girl that I especially liked many weeks ago. So she started the vignette that is on the right side above. Inside the envelope is a letter. Just in case you can not read the vignette when you click on the picture I will include it here...

Ysabel lifted the fold of the curtain inside the confessional. She felt the crispness of the paper tucked inside the hem. She let out a breath. For days she had been coming to the church hoping that something would be there. Carefully and quietly she opened the folded note and began to read……

Inside the envelope the letter reads.....

lundi, 20 juillet 1942

Ysabel,

You know with the receipt of this letter that I have had to disappear.

Remember I told you that I may not come home for a long time. That

time has come. I am safe, but I cannot contact you and you must do as

we have always planned. Take the postcard, you know the one, and go

to Paris. I know you remember the location as we talked about it every

night for weeks. The postcard will gain you entrance. Do not lose the

postcard, my dear. Soixante-sept is your lucky number. Be safe.

Gros bisous,

Maman

The second collaged journal spread came to me after watching a documentary on Halston and finding a photo in an old National Geographic magazine of King Kong.  It is entitled New York Life.  The photos of the men on the left are of Keith Harin, Andy Warhol, and Halston.

Donnie series VIII - Hankie Found!

D.J. has not been found, but evidence has surfaced.  Hopefully Miss Watson is still alive!

Honeybee

Honeybee2

Honeybee

I am posting Honeybee for two reasons.  First, I created the piece to showcase the plight of the honeybee.  I found a website, one of many,  that is well worth venturing to that provides information on how one can help save the honeybee.  The site has an amazing animation that is well worth checking out.... http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/ . 

Second, you will notice differences in the two scans above.  The first is the original piece of art and the second is after removing some graininess in PhotoShop.  I printed the second one on semi-gloss photo paper to create a postcard.  I really like how the second one turned out.  But a problem occured.  The ink smears on the semi-gloss.  Even after drying overnight smearing still is a problem.  Now I have to find a solution to keep that from happening.  Does anyone have any advice?

Rousseau and Storm

Henri Rousseau - Surprise

Storm

In Jane Davies Color class we were tasked to created an abstract landscape evoking climate or temperature. Our choices were tropical, humid heat; dry desert heat; cold winter night; a chilly autumn day; or warmth of a fire on a cold rainy day.  I chose tropical, humid heat and Henri Rousseau's piece Surprise was my inspiration.  I created the piece using handmade papers that have been accumulating for months.  The papers are made on deli paper and left over acrylic paint.  I simply use up the paint from my palette and brush it on the deli paper.  I then tore pieces of it to collage Storm. 



Irene's California Sunset

 

Irene's California Sunset

In my Jane Davies color class we were tasked with creating an abstract landscape using cool colors.  My friend Irene who lives in southern California had posted the sunset picture above (left) to her blog.... http://www.irenerafael.blogspot.com/ .  Generous Irene gave me the go ahead to create an abstract out of her photograph.  Class members critiqued the piece and suggested that I tone down the yellow a bit.  I did with a Prussian Blue Faber-Castell colored pencil. 

Turn Your Back on Me

I am taking a Jane Davies Color class.  We are in our final week and one of our last projects is to create an abstract landscape using warm colors.  This was a complicated piece for me. It seems that I am incoporating what I have learned from Jane's Text and Image and Color classes into this landscape. In the collage process I used newspaper, self-made papers (mostly from deli paper), acrylic paint, magazine pieces, pan pastels, and watercolors. This image is what I would expect to find in Kenya or in South Africa.  I particularly like how there is a triangle formed by the elephant/butterfly, the tree, and the dragonfly.  I am warmed by the colors. To me they really represent the heat of Africa.

Annie Oakley Superstar

Annie Oakley Superstar

I had hoped that Annie Oakley would have been able to make a debut in the Donnie Series.  However, she did not pass through Dodge City until about fifteen years after the bank robbery.  So historically she just did not fit.  I had wanted her to save Belle, but that is not to be.  Instead another female historical figure will play that role.  Stay tuned.....

Donnie Series VII - Hang 'em High or Flea Bit Hotel

Hot weather can make tempers flare.  Dodge City is hot and D.J. Tibbits remains on the run.



Donnie Series - VI - Willa Worries!

Chalkley Beeson, owner of the Long Branch Saloon, had sent Willa back to her room in the hotel in hopes of settling her down.  Willa's emotions turned to worries!

Treasure Hunt - Seth's Search for the Gold

Seth Apter, one of the mixed-media world's best art promoters and artist extraordinaire, is holding a treasure hunt once again for mixed-media artists.  Visit his site for the regulations on finding the buried treasure  http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/ .

While visiting Seth's blog world, please take note of his recent book and two DVDs.  I recently ordered the DVDs and was not disappointed.  Seth's calm easy to watch mixed media instruction will provide you with a process to create your own mixed-media works.  To preview his two DVDs you can link to his blog or http://www.createmixedmedia.com/uncategorized/video-tutorial-previews-easy-mixed-media-with-seth-apter .

Seth's book, The Pulse of Mixed Media, will take you on a journey into the mixed-media art world of 100 artists.  Seth interviewed many of the artists about their passion for art.  Through his questioning, you will get an incite into the unique perspectives that these artists have toward their work and art in general.

Artjuvenation is still an infant in the blog world, but I wanted to participate in Seth's treasure hunt. My entry into Buried Treasure is not so deep. Yesterday's blog entry, Rosita Tells All! represents the essence of my present work, the Donnie Series and thus my entry. The evolving Donnie Series, a historical fiction and fantasy account into the life of a wild west outlaw has just begun. It is taking on a life of its own, one in which this blogger is truly enjoying.

Donnie Series - V - Rosita Tells All!

Several people have asked about Rosita.  Remember her in the photo with Donnie who was smoking the cigarette?  Well, she is fed up with Donnie as you can read here!  Storyboarding this card would place it after Donnie II.

Donnie Series - IV - Shep speaks!

The posse arrives at the McPherson place.  Shep, the guard dog, is a bit shy.  Ma McPherson is not much help.  Everyone is exhausted.

Donnie Series - III

Belle has disappeared.  D.J. is a suspect.  Miss Watson is still a hostage.  Willa is unreconcilable.  Where's the posse?

Donnie Series - Part II

The Donnie Series continues with the addition of a new character, Wyatt Earp.  Wyatt is a member of the Dodge City Peace Committee formed to bring law and order to the town.  The bank has been robbed and Wyatt Earp suspects a particular outlaw as being the bank robber although he keeps that to himself for the time being.  Mrs. Watson, remember her as the school marm, has come to town in search of her niece.  That was wrong timing for Mrs. Watson!

Faded Past

Faded Past

I have been working on compositions where the colors are analogous.  This collage mostly does that with a hint of a complimentary color.  The theme of this piece, Faded Past, perhaps, is a reunion of WWI army buddies sometime in the 1940's.  I really like how the background shows through the gel skin photo.  The bottom right circle was actually part of the background but it seems to push forward into the foreground in the composition.

Self-Portraits - Winter 2012

During January and February I took a Jane Davies self-portrait class.  During this six week period I created numerous pieces. Although many of the self-portraits are not an exact self-replication, they each are me in some way and yet they each have their own personality. 

I think Abraham appears to look like Abraham Lincoln.  This piece is a compilation of seven separate self-portraits.  Abraham became a postcard and eventually has ended up on Seth Apter's 2012 inspiration board.  Even though Abraham is very serious like the President, he is smiling on the inside and happy to be in NYC.  This piece represents me as I relate to Abe's commitment to the rights of others.

Abraham - self portrait

Daydream of Years Gone By reflects on looking back at my youth.  I was thinking about retirement and also how much the old body has changed.  Perhaps the dessert should have been discarded as there is evidence of other desserts on the present body!  Over time appearances change. :-)  or :-(

Daydream of Years Gone By - self portrait

This is a compilation of four self-portraits using a variety of mediums.

self portrait

The Doorway is a sketch of a door in San Francisco.  In this Jane Davies exercise we included text with image.  The fish has no particular significance other than I liked it and remember many San Francisco fish dinners during my childhood.

The Doorway - sketchbook self portrait

Say Cheese was created to honor my friend, Bob, who died of liver cancer in January.  Bob endured thirteen months of tests and operations. He was an elementary teacher who retired to Arizona.  The crow's name is Prometheus and represents the death.  I included a personal message about Bob on a postcard version of this piece.  The postcard was mailed across the country to an artist friend.  Somehow I felt that by mailing the postcard I was honoring Bob and sending the message to him.

The head is a self-portrait, however, and not a representation of Bob.  Only the symbolism in the piece is Bob's story.

Say Cheese self portrait

Urban Cowboy does not have a story.  From the neck down the body belongs to Jon Hamm.  I think this self-portrait looks like LBJ.  I liked the President's commitment to the rights of others as well.

Urban Cowboy - self portrait

Paris Remembered is meaningful as this is where I met my significant other twenty years ago.  Who would have thought that a week in Paris would turn into a life-time commitment?  I believe that the body that I collaged is Brad Pitt's!

Paris Remembered - self portrait

James is my way of honoring James Bond.  The body is actually Daniel Craig's from the swimming trunks down! Remember the scene in Casino Royale.

James - self portrait

In many of Jane Davies classes we do blind contours.  This piece is one of those.  I found an ad in a magazine and thought it would make a good frame for my self-portrait.

blind contour self portrait