Priorities

Today is day number two of mid 50 degrees.  Everyone knows that this is heaven in Michigan in March for all who live here.  So far no problem, right?  Wrong!

I sit here looking longingly out the window as the warm sun beckons while piles of data, copies of tax forms, college financial aid reports, and fafsa notifications taunt me.  Why can't it ever be raining when I am at deadline?

Ok, maybe I am being a bit dramatic (it runs in the family).  My taxes are finished.  The FAFSA report has been completed for both Lauren and Shelby.  I even completed the required PROFILE Report that U of M requires for students applying for financial aid.  Here is my real rant: How is it that U of M requires an additional financial report that takes 2 days to research, find and retrieve all necessary documentation including the last TWO years of tax returns, AND charges me $25.00 to do all this?!  Why isn't the government FAFSA Report good enough for them?  Oh yeah, that's right, they're U of M...

Ranting is now finished.   As am I!  The only thing left to do is to sign all the copies of the tax returns; Lauren's and ours and get them over to the college either by snail mail or by foot; meaning Lauren of course!

Now I can go see the surprises spring always brings...

My friend, Carl

As I was checking over a recent post of a Santa Fe artist I admired, it occurred to me to check online to see if the website of a very dear artist friend of mine was up and running yet.  To my delight it is!  Carl Schuman and I have been friends since he was my manager at the Dick Blick Art Store in Dearborn, Michigan about 22 years ago plus or minus.  He has been living his dream for quite a while out in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I have been out there numerous times to visit and soak in the wonder of the place; hiking, 4 wheeling, hearing God...

I own a few of his pieces.  The way he describes his visions of each is amazing to me.  It seems to be a spiritual process that is like a cup running over, never emptying of ideas and inspiration.  If you'd like to see more of his work go here.

What I love most about this piece is how each part moves independently from the others causing the light and mood to continually evolve.

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