December 2022 ATC - School Photo Series - 06

 Twofer Saturday.....Happy New Year

I was given a bunch of Citrasolv papers from a friend recently.  The first one I took out of the ziplock bag had a face appearing on the paper.  I had to use it in the School Photo Series.....it is as if this guy is a peeping Tom!

December 2022 ATC - School Photo Series - 05

 

The black and white strips on this ATC were created by taking a word from a magazine and cutting so that the word was an abstract strip.

December 2022 ATCs - School Photo Series - 04

 Twofer Friday....

Funny how pieces of ephemera end up creating a collage.  I am thinking I will use more of the enlarged letter with a phrase like Born in Paris above.

December 2022 ATC - School Days Series - 02

 

I was given a box of school photos a few years back.  One never knows when something will become useful.  I am trying to use what I have rather than purchasing more.  I am not sure how many ATCs will be in this series.

December 2022 ATC - School Days series - 01

Twofer Thursday......

 I noticed that I must have missed a few days in 2022 and I would not make 365 posts by Saturday, December 31.  So I am playing catch-up.  This is the first ATC in the School Days Series.

December 2022 ATC - Eve

This ATC was started last May when I did the online workshop with the Everett Public Library for World Collage Day.  It has been sitting around until yesterday when it came together as you see.

Iris, Queen of the Crows

 Well, I am in charge of activities for the NW Collage Society and I am working on the next activity.  I got this idea for a trifold with a slit so that a collage could be mailed and I have been working on the interior over the last few weeks.  I would work on it and then put it down as I did not know where it was going.  I decided to print one of my portraits, this one is of Iris, to add to the background.  You might know Iris from the documentary on her or from an ad.  She is 101 and still going strong.  I have no idea whether Iris favors crows or not but I do and so I made her the Queen of the Crows.

Safety Pin Collage - 07

Twofer Tuesday…..

 This is the last of the safety pin collages.  Today will be a creating day because I do not think I have anything remaining to photograph or scan.  Best get busy! :-)

Safety Pin Collage - 06

 This photo reminds me of one taken of me years ago when I was on leave from the army.  It is part of my life that I do not think much about.

Safety Pin Collage - 05

Two-fer Sunday…..yesterday got away from me.  I am catching up today.

 Merry Christmas to each of you.  I did this digital card as soon as I saw this image of a ghost town. Check out the window by enlarging the image.

Safety Pin Collage - 04

 I especially like how this one turned out.  There are legs showing under the safety pin banner.  It is of a woman.  Why are this woman and this man having their photo taken?  Is she older or the same age as the man?  What is her story and why is she hidden?

Safety Pin Collage - 03

 The background paper to the right of the stitching are homemade.  I sanded a magazine paper over a stencil and then rubbed transparent ink into the sanded paper.  I love this technique.  Caution: If you try doing this make sure to wipe the sanded paper with a wipe or wet cloth.  Lots of ink dust will be removed.

Safety Pin Collage - 02

 

I like that the “banner” hanging from the safety pin moves around.  It lifts and changes position each time one turns the page of the book that it is in.

Safety Pin Collage - 01

New series for an ATC sized book.  This time there is fabric on each collage with a safety pinned strip attached.  The photo is out of focus from the scan.  Sorry.

 

December Postcard 03

 

When I lived in Japan I saw t-shirts that had English on them and they did not provide a message.  It was just English words.  I rented a typical Japanese home with tatami mats. So heavy furniture was out.  I found these L shaped cushioned “chairs” that provided a cushion and a backrest.  I had to have them covered because on them it said, “Nude Man.”  Why am I telling this story?  The words in the postcard above reminded me of that experience living overseas.

December Postcard 02

 I have a pile of ephemera on a cart next to my chair and this postcard just came together without much elapsed time.

December 2022 - ATC

 

One might think that the text was glued on to the collage at the end.  No.  I tore a hole in the paper and glued it over the text.

December Postcard - Jumble

I am calling it a postcard jumble because it has so much stuff that does not seem to make sense.

 

ATC Book no. 17

The look…..serious or stern?

front cover

back cover

 

ATC Book no. 16

I drew this portrait using an old postage stamp I have.

front cover

back cover

 

ATC Book No. 15

 To me this woman looks to be a character in a children’s book.  There is a warmth about her and she looks to be someone who is quite knowledgeable about life, someone you could trust.

front cover

back cover

An ATC Book No. 14

 I finally have scanned the covers of the last four ATC books that I have made.  This is no. 13.

front cover

back cover

Postcard - 04

 

Do you know Iris?  She is a New York icon who is in her 90s and lives in NYC.  She models and is known for your large glasses and her style and jewelry.   The background was created during a prompt game experience in October.

You're Laughing At Me - Postcard

 

I did a postcard similar to this one a few weeks back.  They had been in my pile of work on but got separated.  Probably there was a reason to set it aside.  Who remembers?  Not me.  It just all works for me times two…….  https://artjuvenation.blogspot.com/2022/11/ready-for-anything.html   ……link to the other postcard.

December 2022 Postcard - 01

 Two-fer Saturday….forgot to post yesterday

This postcard was fun to make as it all happened in about an hour’s time.  Sometimes I start a piece and it sits for awhile.  I call that percolating.  Not this one.

Yet Another ATC - 07

 This is the last of the series.  I had promised to share the cover for this book but I will have to do that on another day.  Oops!  I also did not post on Friday, another oops!  I was exhausted from doctor appointments and trying to figure out tech issues.  Sometimes we just have days like that.

Yet Another ATC - 06

 I think of the mafia when I look at this photo.  It must be the suit he is wearing. :-)

Yet Another ATC- 05

 I always love a pop of red.

Yet Another ATC - 04

 I especially like how this one turned out.  Again the background substrate is show through the washi tape.

Yet AnotherATC - 03

 I got a surprise on this one.  The background paper was a piece of magazine script.  Adding the washi tape with the carp over that background paper allowed the script to “shine” through.

Yet Another ATC - 02

 I used washi tape in each of the collages in this series.  The pointed leaves seems to provide movement of the eyes upward.  Thoughts?

Yet Another ATC - 01

 I have started filling another ATC sized book.  Working on them is pretty contagious.  I finished the cover for the book yesterday.  I will show it at the end of this series of seven.

Prompt Game Postcard - 03

 Could this be Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne?  This postcard is part digital and part collage with found ephemera during the prompt game.

Prompt Game Postcards - 01 and 02

 In October and November the NW Collage Society played the prompt game.  If you have never played this game before it is where an artistic prompt is given out and each player adds that to their substrate.  For instance, a prompt could be add something that has line quality.  You continue until you feel you should stop.  You can add middle ground and foreground if you like.  Here are two examples I did in this game.

Another ATC Book - 07

This is the last collage in this ATC book.  I will share the covers when I bind the books.  I really like the vertical lines and the interruption by the photograph.

 

Another ATC Book - 06

It looks so relaxing to be sitting on a porch just watching your world go by.  I love that photographs captured a moment in time.  It never can be exactly the same again but one has it captured on film.

 

Another ATC Book - 05

There is something about vintage photographs.  It is fun to are up a narrative about others that one never met and perhaps have passed on.

 

Another ATC Book - 04

 The paper on the right was made by sanding a piece of magazine paper over a stencil.

Another ATC Book - 03

I seem to remember a sweater like that when I was his age.  I just love black and white photos added to the other collaged ephemera.

 

Another ATC Book Collage - 02

 I love it when something is repurposed from the original intention.  In this case I am referring to the text and that it becomes a graphic item for the collage.  The specific writing does not necessarily have meaning like it did in the story it came from.  Adding the little dot paper over part of the text changed that particular line totally. 

Another ATC Book Collage - 01

 

I stabbed my left index finger creating the holes for this collage.  Luckily no blood got on the piece.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! :-)

ATC - November 2022

 The text paper is fairly old and brittle.  I sewed and folded it and some of it started to pull apart giving it a deconstructed look in a way.  It looks very 3D when it is out of the plastic sleeve that houses it.  I like how the red mesh and the bottle cap image draw the eye from top to bottom.

ATC— November 2022

 I have had this ATC around for awhile waiting for the final touch.  I needed one more thing but I was not sure of what that one thing would be.  Today sitting in my chair I noticed some 3M sticky post-its which  I auditioned and that was it.  Done!

ATC Book - 07

This is the final collage of this ATC book.  Now I am on my way to filling yet another one.  Some of the ones that I have finished will be gifts and ten of them will be housed in a sculptural box for my entry in the summer show for the Puget Sound Book Arts Guild.