Finally Framed

These are a few Prints of a Santa Fe artist I met a couple of summers ago.  Her name is Barbara Bowles. I love her work, but couldn't afford her huge photos printed onto watercolor paper.  So I made do with several greeting cards and framed them in float frames.  I hung them in the bath as I have few areas of wall left in most of the rest of the house!  Besides, I love art in the bathroom!

Layer: Illustration Friday Theme for this Week

What great timing to have this word as a theme for Illustration Fridays' website this week.  After all, the collages I am currently absorbed in are all about layers.  I chose this one that I named "Orange Marmalade" particularly because of the rows of layers nested horizontally down the page.  I love the different textures of the scraps of fabric, bits of paper, and the found objects; like the recycled metallic layer from a bag of oranges.  One word for all this...Yummy!

If you'd like to see other examples from this series go here.

A Passion for Recycling and Collage

Here is my next series of postcard-sized collages.  I even incorporated the metallic foil from the bag that my oranges came in!  Most of the sewing in this series was done before the piece was cut into smaller sections.  In fact, if you follow this blog, you might recognize the several "Winter Frost" themed pieces from a previously posted piece from Illustration Friday here.  I loved the color and texture of the piece, but it had a bit too much of a "scrapbook page" look.  So I incorporated it into my newest collage and separated it into some very interesting pieces.

The following images are the finished pieces with all the stamping and embellishing added.  At this point, I added mats and frames.  Half of this collection is currently hanging in the lobby of my local bank.  I plan to push this technique a bit farther this week.  I will be making some tote bags for my Children's Church Teachers in appreciation for the time they volunteer educating the kids at our church.  I will be using recycled dog food and bird seed bags as a base and fusing an interesting collage on the side panels.  I'll keep you posted.

This is from the previous Illustration Friday projects here

Valentine Collages

I read about this technique to use up scraps of paper and cloth and bits of recycled ephemera.  I decided to jump in head first to really get my hands dirty in this fascinating genre called mixed media collage.  Wow!  I think I've opened a sort of Pandora's Box!  I am completely addicted.  In fact, just two days after finishing my "Valentines", I started a whole new series with even more recycled materials and I love it!  In fact, I've framed 7 of them and my local bank hung them in their lobby.  I believe it is time to enter the world of Etsy.

This is where I started cutting my large sheet into postcard sized collages

A close up of one of the postcards before I added embellishments

Let the sewing, stamping, and embellishing begin!

All ready to iron on the backing fabric

Examples of the finished Valentine postcards

Illustration Friday - Chicken

This piece was a project in one of my Photoshop classes held at Schoolcraft College.  It was the cover of a handmade book titled; "Bird, Feather, Nest".  This is where I started learning and loving the art of digital collage.  I shot the photos from a couple of my favorite chickens; Bella, my little black bantam, and Archie, our Rhode Island Red Rooster.

Bella

Archie

Stella Luna

Illustration Friday - Winter

The theme for Illustration Friday  this week was "Winter".  I used a photo shot in my herb garden a couple of years ago on a very frosty morning when the sun sparkled off all of the ice jewels.  It was breath taking.  Although winter in Michigan seems to be a long, drawn out endeavor, it's beauty can entice anyone to come out for a closer look.

This mixed media piece was made using an 8x12 color photo with the emulsion dampened for distressing techniques.  The different materials and mediums include; sand paper, watercolor pencils, photo pens, permanent markers, gel pens, glimmer mist, thread, sewing machine, ephemera, specialty papers, vellum, antiquing ink, and tinsel.

Creating Christmas

While enjoying a new experience for Christmas last year in Hunedoara, Romania, I learned a valuable lesson.  I thought I already knew this lesson, but apparently I did not.  You see, in Romania, few people decorate for Christmas or even have a tree.  Shelby and I truly experienced the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  There was no pressure to decorate, bake, purchase gifts, etc.  We spent time with new friends, people who had nothing, not even a home, and we caroled all night long (me on Christmas Eve, and Shelby for the rest of the week).

This year I wanted to not lose our new perspective.  God has blessed this wish.  In year's past there was stress about getting the house decorated quickly, to create and send out Christmas cards, to get presents purchased and under the tree, to bake and have the house clean so that I could "enjoy" the holiday.

I decided to lose the pressure.  I did decorate.  But I only worked on it when I wanted to and did not make it a family chore.  The wonderful result was that my family got involved because I was having fun with it and they wanted to join in.  I made Christmas Cards...as a fun craft.  There was no pressure or expectation.  They are finished and waiting for a trip to the post office.  I have made homemade gifts for some of my friends.  What I am trying to say is that this has been the least pressure-filled Christmas I have ever experienced.  I now know that you can relax and soak in the presence of our Lord and still have pretty lights to look at.

Creating Christmas....is all about attitude.

Creating the Christmas cards

I found these cute tags for 50% off and added a impromptu family photo to the back taken at Cracker Barrel with a holiday greeting and myself Photoshopped in.

My "Santa Fe Tree" in the kitchen

Shelby got into the fun by displaying her Breyer Holiday Horses

My favorite...the Nativity

Mike even helped to light his extensive collection of Firehouse villages

Our main tree in the art studio/sunroom.  You'll see a lot of red because over 25 years of marriage we've collected a lot of Fire department ornaments!

We've gotten the girls an ornament each year so that when they are on their own, they have a collection for their own tree.  Shelby wanted to display her own ornaments, as they tend to get lost amongst all the fire department ornaments on the main tree.

Shelby at work on her own creative endeavors