Post 100

What a year this has been and it is not over!  Being my first year of retirement I had a plan, I had been warned.  I did, art!  Everyday with the exception of an October vacation I have done something that had to do with art.  This blog has been a way to showcase and now I am posting my 100th post for the year which began June 27.  Right now I am averaging a post every three to four days.  Who would have thought?

This post is honoring a group of students who I visited at an Everett, Washington school.  We did an art project and they wrote me letters thanking me for coming to their classroom.  I love those letters!  So I decided that I would write back to each student personally.   I embarked on creating 26 original postcards which I will send them this week.  I am almost done with them.  All I have remaining to do is write the messages.  Here is an example of one of the postcards.

The background idea came from an article by Jenny Cochran Lee in the magazine Cloth Paper Scissors.  When I first saw the article I thought what a wonderful way of using up scraps from papers that I had made over the last few years.  The painted deli papers are stitched together; cut into postcard size;  and embellished (in this case with the salmon, map circles, and torn napkin).   It is a totally fun project that I recommend.

Barn #5

Last week my significant other and I went on a trip to the Skagit Valley to see the tulip fields and to photograph barns.  The barn in this piece was pretty magnificent and I may return to take another photo of it as on that day there was a white paneled van to the right and in front of the barn.  Thus the cropping of the photo was necessary.  Some years there are fields of tulips right up to a great barn (not this year), but since the fields rotate every seven years...nitrogen depletion and restoration.....I took the liberty of adding tulips to the front of this barn.

An art friend, Ingrid, who lives in Sweden and I are doing a barn journal collaboration.  So this piece is dedicated to her.  If Ingrid looks very close the map squares she will find that they are of a country near and dear to her heart!  Happy spring to Ingrid and everyone else.

Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle

Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.  Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.

Chief Seattle

Emmanating Georgia Workshop

Vegetable Surfing

Yesterday seven eager art journalers came to my house for an experience with Georgia O'Keeffe.  We created two projects keeping Georgia close to our artistic sides of our brains.  The first project is similar to the sample above, Vegetable Surfing.  We created backgrounds with enlarged fruits and vegetables somewhat representational with a bit of artistic license.  Our medium of choice was Portfolio Pastels.  Then we collaged disparate objects over our creations.

The second project was more landscape in nature with collaged ephemera over our acrylic backgrounds.  The class photos may be viewed in the linked album below.


https://plus.google.com/photos/106404291205708776350/albums/5866491910955532097?banner=pwa

Beloved Boeing

Beloved Boeing

I have a love for historical fiction, but the only history in this piece is the photographs.  The account below is totally fictionalized based on an idea that popped in my head as I looked at the photo of the dog.  It just evolved from there.

Beloved Boeing

Makes Last Flight

  Prince Rupert, May 1947

                Boeing, the “Air Mail Dog” made his last flight over Prince Rupert on Monday.  According to Alexander McCandish, Boeing, the trusted canine friend of the Canada Post aviator never missed a mail delivery flight in fifteen years.  Mr. McCandish reported that his faithful dog was his alarm clock making sure he was awake to deliver the mail to the outer islands near Prince Rupert.  Alex and Boeing flew in a biplane through most weather except on strong windy days.  Mr. McCandish said, “Boeing always knew when we were near each landing strip as he would start to bark incessantly.  He was befriended by everyone along our route.”  Recently Boeing’s picture appeared in most major Canadian newspapers in an article about how he successfully saved the day racing across the tarmac in pursuit of a letter that was caught by the wind.  Somehow Boeing knew the mail must go through!

Red Barn #4

Red Barn #4

 

Red Barn #4 finally came together this morning.  There was something not right about the composition and I sat there and sat there looking at it.  Finally I pulled out Ingrid's last letter to me and voila.  I had thought about stitchery and there it was on a homemade envelope which housed the ATC she had sent me this month.  I tore off a portion of the envelope and added a stamp.  One more thing....some writing seemed to be needed, hence, Lars has a secret.

 

I made the piece into a postcard and since I always like to put something on the back of the card,  Henrietta is now more prominent.  The reason for Henrietta in the first place is because our friend, Ulla from Finland told us about "rent-a-chicken" in her home town.  It seems that one can just rent chickens by the season.  There is nothing like fresh eggs.  I wonder if they rent chickens in Sweden, too.  Thanks for the barn photo, the stitchery, and the stamp, Ingrid.

Traveling Journal - MAM

Traveling Journal - April

In December and January I took a Mary Ann Moss class, Trip to Venice.  In the class we created journals for any trip that we wished but followed MAM as she explored Venice.  Once the class was complete Susie LaFond, a participant and mixed media artist, sent an email asking for interested folks who would like to contribute to seven journals, one to be created by each of seven participants.  I jumped at the chance and here I am in my second month.  (Guess who forgot to photograph my first Seattle journal, me. I was sent an emailed photo of what I created though.  I will look for that photo later.) It was my journal so it will return to me in late October or early November.

Our task was to create a journal spread of our home town.  Living so close to Seattle I decided to adopt and so here is what I came up with.  I used many of the same photos in the first one but this has a totally different feel to it.  Five more journals to go and I will get to see all of the treasures in my very own completed traveling journal.  Minnesota, Washington (two people), California, Hawaii, Texas and Ohio are represented in the journals.  What a fun collaboration!

Fish Salesman

Fish Salesman

This one came together in the last few days.  It seems the Crazy Guys just want to hog art mail postcards now!  Who knows where the idea of a "fish salesman" came from, but here it is!

Harriet # 1 and # 2

Harriet # 2

 

Harriet # 1

 

For one of my April ATCs I decided to use a photo that I purchased at the Long Beach Flea Market last October. One night during dinner conversation with my partner the topic turned to how these old photos are all of dead people and strangers.  Now they have a sort of rebirth through collage.  It would be wonderful to know their real story.  However, they now can have a new story that each viewer conjures for himself/herself.  I did these collages back-to-back on the 3.5 x 2.5 inch ATC card.