Witchy Women

This is a photo of my "Weird Wonderful Window" I made in Michael DeMeng's workshop at The Artists' Nook in Fort Collins! It was such fun and such a different technique, painting on glass! As usual, I learned so much from this workshop and the next one, "Stories from the Discarded", I have no excuse but to produce more and more art! Michael is a fantastic instructor and I never leave one of his classes without feeling like my head is about to burst with all the information. I loved my "window". TeJae Floyd took this photo and sent to me, what a dear! I have known TeJae's name from a Yahoo Group, "Altered Art Obsession", and have several of her works from different swaps in that group. I have also visited her blog on numerous occasions, but had never met her before. What fun to put a face with a name! Of course, I never remember to bring a camera or get around to photographing many of my things. I vow to try to do better in the future!!! However, I do have to say, don't you love my "Witchy Women"?

Altered Multi Media Portraits

This was my first attempt at "altered portraits" from Karen Michel's class last Saturday at The Artists Nook in Fort Collins. It started with a magazine advertisement collaged over other decorative papers, mostly text. I then painted the "portrait" using the original lights and darks in the photo. It started out as a bad dream after eating too much Thai food, but by continuing to follow Karen's instructions, it turned out to be something I like. It was harder than it looked, but a very interesting way to use all those faces I am drawn to in advertisements, but not really for the picture itself but for the architecture of the faces. This technique uses the basic structure of the face to build on in which ever way you wish, realistic, dramatic, artistic, painterly, wild, surrealistic, well we could go on. . . Wonder if you could do it in pointilism? That would be a challenge! This is scanned in and the painting is too big for my scanner. I'll post the full size painting when I get a bit of time to take some photos.

Calendargirlz journal entry

Here are two of my journal entries in the calendar RR with the Calendargirlz. I am addicted to birds and bird pictures lately. It all started several years ago when I started feeding the birds. It is so interesting to watch them every day. Hear them scold you when you haven't gotten around to feeding them when they think they should be fed. I wonder if it is the freedom birds represent, the beauty and gracefulness. Who knows? I just love birds, even the Starling, which in Africa is an absolutely spectacular bird. But then they call them "Superb Starlings" there. No wonder, they are superb! Now I will have to search for an image of the superb starling!

Collage Exercises

Well, I haven't figured out how to post in reverse order, obviously. Anyway, the following entries are all collage exercises from Kelly Kilmer's workshops. The cover is last.

Don't you just love this image in this "repeating circles" collage exercise

More pages from Taped Journal

One of the collage exercises

Journal from class with Kelly Kilmer

I took several workshops with Kelly Kilmer at the Artists' Nook in Fort Collins Recently. Really a jam packed weekend. Here are some samples of what I did in the workshops. This is the cover for what Kelly calls her "Taped Journal". I painted the paper to make the background, added the collage elements and then lace packing tape and clear packing tape over all. It makes a smashing journal cover, sturdy, shiny and fun!

Tribute to Mother

Mother's Day is just around the corner and this is my tribute to my Mother. She remains with me, 30 years after her passing. I still feel her pride in my accomplishments, her empathy when I am sad, her joy in my happiness. She was a woman of many facets who struggled, against many odds, to give her children the tools to live full lives. This is a page in an altered calendar journal round robin with a fabulous group of women.

Virgin Entry

I can't believe it, I am joining the ranks of the bloggers! And it is only May 2007! This will be a very difficult thing for me to do, for many reasons. . . not the least of which is that I never finish anything, well almost anything. So, thanks to my blog fairy, Lynn, I now have no excuse but to reach out to the blogger world with the journey of my soul. Now that sounds a bit deep and trite at the same time, but as truthful as any statement can be. Some people bloom earlier than others. I am coming into full bloom and the road has been paved with artistic explorations. So here we go . . . Let's fly away!