Autumn ATC 2019 Collage Group

ATCs Collage Group Autumn 2019

ATCs Collage Group Autumn 2019

For one of my ATC groups our task was to use cursive writing and/or something old.  I did both cursive and old.  I took cursive writing off old envelopes that my friend, Connie Rose, sent me.  I also cut up a vintage handkerchief that had pansies for the something old.  I am tasking myself using things that I have rather than searching for something new.  Everything in this ATC was on hand.  They go out in today's mail.

Encaustic 04

Encaustic 04

This is the last of the encaustic that I am going to post for now.  I love how this piece has so much texture.

Encaustic 03

Encaustic 03

The sheets of paper that we printed on were ample size, 18 x 12 I think.  Near the end of the workshop we took a image mat to look for a composition we liked on our pieces.  Here is what I found for this print.

Encaustic 02

Encaustic 02

I love that each print off the steel “plate” is a surprise.  One can manipulate the waxes but the final result is always going to be the unexpected.  Maybe that is why I like the process so much.

Encaustic 01

Encaustic 01

A week ago I took an encaustic workshop with Victoria Harrison, an encaustic artist, who lives in Port Townsend, WA.  What an amazing time I had!  It was unlike any encaustic class I have taken.  We used a flat hot “plate,” to heat the colored wax and we printed right off the plate.  Encaustic is rather expensive.  I understand the box “plate” is $500.00 and the waxes are also costly.  So I will wait awhile and think about whether or not I want to take on yet another medium.  I did love it though.

Magnetic Printing

One of the workshops that I took at the SF Center for Book Arts was using magnets to create a design where each magnet could be inked a different color and then a print was either made using a spoon (rubbing) or printed on a press.  It was really fun!

Magnetic Printing with a  Spoon

Magnetic Printing Using a Press

Magnetic Printing Using a Press

San Francisco Postcards the Real No. 8

San Francisco Postcards 8

It seems after reviewing my San Francisco postcards to see if any were missing I noticed
that I had published one twice.  Number 8 in September should have been this postcard.  So I am sharing it today.  I am still in awe that all 36 postcards made it home eventually.

This is the last of the series.  So I am also showing you the clamshell box that I made to house the postcards......

Clamshell Box (closed)

Clamshell Box (open with postcards)

Clamshell Box (open)

San Francisco Postcards 36

San Francisco Postcards 36

No. 36 is the end of the series.  There is one more postcard to share tomorrow, no 8.  I will also share the clamshell box that now houses all the postcards.  I am still reeling over the fact that all postcards finally showed up.

This particular postcard kind of looks like steps to me which creates movement from the left to the right.  My eye goes from the darker paper I made on the left to the bird.  Sometimes they go from the bird first and then just to the handmade papers and back down the “steps”.

San Francisco Postcards 34

San Francisco Postcards - 34

I really like how this one turned out.  I have used stamps individually or in a row previously but never so many as a background.  I like how it looks.  San Francisco is such an international city.  I think I heard foreign tongues more than I heard English in many of the places I visited while there.

San Francisco Postcards 35

San Francisco Postcards 35

I am going out of order with no. 35 today and will catch up with no. 34 tomorrow or the next day.  I found that I had not photographed no. 34 yet.  Not sure why????

I mentioned that all but one of my 36 postcards had arrived.  No. 21 arrived today.  I wonder about such things.  I mailed each postcard as I finished them.  So 15 postcards were mailed after no. 21 and they all got here before it.  Where or where was no. 21?  I will never know.  So we can make up whatever story we like.  No. 21 had a mind of its own.  Now all 36 are housed in my clamshell box that I made in SF.  Nice to have them all together and home.

San Francisco Postcards 33

San Francisco Postcards 33

Most of the photographic images that I have used in several of the postcards from San Francisco came from a woman who follows my blog and lives in Southern California.  She had the images in an album and knew they were family but did not who the relatives were.  She did not know what to do with the album and decided to give it to me if I wanted it.  Of course I did.

San Francisco Postcards 32

San Francisco Postcards 32

Two more postcards from the SF series arrived in the mail yesterday.  Now only one is missing, no. 21.  Funny how the postal system works.  All of the postcards that have arrived so far have made it in good shape.  A few have pieces of the collage coming up.  They can be re-glued easily.  One has the added address information on the collage side.   You know when a strip of paper is added with the codes.  They all fit into the clamshell box that I made last weekend.

San Francisco Postcards 31

San Francisco Postcards 31

The Presidio in San Francisco is a gorgeous place right where the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge enters the city.  There are trees everywhere.  It use to be an army base and takes up a huge expanse of the northern part of the city.  There are hiking trails right along the water, beaches, and amazing sites of the Golden Gate.  Lucky those who were stationed there.

Two-fear Thursday

San Francisco Postcards 30

As I mentioned below I am home.  So glad I went to SF.  I would love to do it again.  I had so much fun and created so many new things in the workshops that I took.  The place I rented was fantastic and I would go back again.  I learned what it was like to live and move around in a new city.

33 of my 36 postcards have arrived.  Maybe I will have them all today.

San Francisco Postcards 29

San Francisco Postcards 29

Yesterday was a travel day and I just plain forgot to post.  It rained most of my drive in Oregon and that made it difficult because of the hydroplaning.  There was a horrible accident along I-5 and traffic was backed up for miles.  That added a bit of time on my getting home.  I miss SF but glad to be home.

San Francisco Postcards 28

San Francisco Postcards 28

This past week was fleet week in SF.  There were ships docked in the bay for the occasion.  I suppose shore leave was given to the the sailors but I only saw two in the whole of the city.  I did see a bevy of marines standing on a street corner.  Not sure what they were up to but there were a lot of them.

San Francisco Postcards 27

San Francisco Postcards 27

Two amazing days at a workshop at the SF Center for the Book Arts making clamshell boxes for books.  Totally awesome.  My SF trip is coming to an end.  Tuesday I leave for Seattle..  What a time I have had!

San Francisco Postcards 26

San Francisco Postcards 26

Yesterday might have been the best day of the whole trip to SF.  Irene and I took a class at the SF Center for Book Arts and we started making clamshell boxes for books.  OMG!  It was fantastic!  Then we went to dinner at a restaurant that got a James Beard Award for the best drinks this year.  Pretty amazing I must say.  Pretty expensive I must say.  Most adorable server though.  Then we went to a jazz club and listened to music that was not jazz.  Just plain fun day!

San Francisco Postcards 25

San Francisco Postcards 25

Drove all over SF with Irene yesterday afternoon showing her the sites.  We went to Twin Peaks.  Gorgeous view.  We went to Mission Delores Park, beautiful site.  We went to the Palace of Fine Arts. Amazing architecture remaining from the Pacific Exposition in the early 1900s.  And we went to Japantown.  Found some great papers at a Japanese paper store.  Fun day that ended at an Italian restaurant.  Good food.  Unusual atmosphere.

San Francisco Postcards 24

San Francisco Postcards 24

I can hardly wait.  Irene, my good friend from Palos Verdes, is coming for the weekend.  We are going to take a workshop Saturday and Sunday in clam shell boxes.  Stay tuned for more on that.

San Francisco Postcards 23

San Francisco Postcards 23

This is the last of the three with an military officer in it.  I like his stance, too. The stance makes a connection with the background factory images as if he is watching workers or production below.

San Francisco Postcards 22

San Francisco Postcards 22

It is funny how you notice something about a piece that you never noticed previously.  The bold lines are very close to vertical as is the man.  So, for me, movement is from the left to the right as if climbing one of the many hills here in SF.

This is a sculpture at the Legion of Honor, SF.

San Francisco Postcards 21

San Francisco Postcards 21

I created three postcards with men in desert uniform.  First, it has been very warm in SF this fall so the uniform works.  Secondly I like the stance that each of the men holds.  For me it is a relaxed form which seemed to go well with the rest of the postcard.  Kind of like an observational  posture.

San Francisco Postcards 20

San Francisco Postcards 20

I attended the Castro Street Faire yesterday.  It was very vanilla compared to the Folsom Street Fair.  It was a people watching delight.  Packed.  Intense sun.  Party.  I think that describes it pretty well.

San Francisco Postcards 19

San Francisco Postcards 19

Sometimes a postcard looks so differently when photographed as opposed to the naked eye.  I prefer this one in person.

Today I went to the Alameda Flea Market which is a huge and I mean huge flea market on an abandoned naval base airfield.  Absolutely no shade and lots of people. I found a few things in the two hours I was there.  I was having trouble with the temperature.  It seemed close to 85 degrees if not more.  Nice and cool in my apartment now.

San Francisco Postcards 18

San Francisco Postcard 18

I was sitting in a theater waiting for the play to begin when I spied a gentleman with a baseball cap.  The US flag was on his cap.  The gentleman was well into his seventies.  A stereotype crept into my head.  I had a whole narrative built around this guy.  After watching him interact with his wife my stereotype continued to grow.  My stereotype revolved around someone who was very politically different than I.  As I watched him I tried to shoot holes in my line of thinking.  It did not work.  Then I got to thinking that no matter what your political bent is you can take ownership of the flag, too.  The flag is owned by all citizens not just those on the political right.

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Postcards - 17

San Francisco Postcards - 17

Yesterday I went to the Legion of Honor to see what was housed there.  I am not much into religious art but there was one room of some of my favorite artists.  Renoir was one of the featured painters.  It is a beautiful location surrounded by a golf course and a national recreational area, Lands End.  Years ago I walked there from the Castro.  I can not believe how far it is and I know I could not do that same walk today.

San Francisco Postcards 16

San Francisco Postcards 16

This postcard is one of the most unusual that I have done.  When I was in the Shetland Islands in April I created what I call map lace.  I used that idea here.  I love how the letters are showing through the lace.  An art friend gave me some ephemera recently which included the face off the Starbuck’s sleeve.  It all seems to fit....the trolley, the face, and the photo.

Golden Gate Bridge from Marin County.....looking south.

San Francisco Postcards 15

Two-fer Wednesday....totally forgot to blog yesterday.

San Francisco Postcards 15

I found a store in the Noe Valley on 24th Street that sells chocolates.  They are wrapped in maps.  Of course I had to get a couple and am using the ephemera found.

Today I am going to go play Mah Jongg.  I discovered a meetup group who plays every Wednesday.  It was fun last week so I off again at noon today for more fun.

San Francisco Postcards 14

San Francisco Postcards 14

My SF location could not be better.  I am right on the Mission/Castro border.  Just over the hill is Noe Valley.  Transportation is easy because the J Church stops right across the street.  I am learning the transportation system daily.  It is an easy system to master and with computers you can see when the next trolley will arrive which is frequent.  I got my senior pass yesterday which makes travel even less expensive.

I had the best day yesterday and was so busy that I forgot to blog.  I decided to go to Mount Tamalpais in Marin County just north of SF.  First I stopped at the Marin Headlands which have spectacular views of the Gold Gate.  Then I drove to Stinson Beach which was gorgeous and a great little community.  Finally I drove to the top of Mount Tamalpais and the view of over half of San Francisco Bay was amazing.  I got home rather late and still managed to get my artist trading cards done and in envelopes.  I also went out to dinner and had Arabian food.  OMG!  I have dinner tonight because the portions were so large.