Letter 'h', Piccy Comp and Collage Exchange

My latest ALaW letter is a nice little chubby lower case 'h', created by 'cloning' the paint on the box into the required shape.

I am also part of a facebook monthly photo 'competition'. This month's theme is 'abstract' - right up my alley.

I entered my lovely photo of the squashed tin can, plus these two -

...a lovely soggy phone book which has been out in the rain for months,

...plus a cross section of a slice of tree fern which has lost all its 'innards'. Interesting!!!

Oh yes, and my collages arrived safely in NZ at the home of Dale Copeland, and a big THANK YOU to my lovely new friends from countries far and wide who have complimented me on my drawings/collages. I have found some brilliant artists through this blogging network. More on that when I have time.

Collage Exhibition and Exchange

Through my new blogging network, I have found a 'Collage Exhibition and Exchange' run by Dale Copeland in NZ. This is the 12th year for the exchange!! The idea is to produce 13 X A4 sized collages, send them to Dale where she will exhibit one and swap the others around between all participants. I love the idea... a way to own other artists' work [from all over the world] by swapping.
Once again, I have used my life drawings. I love having a way to 'exhibit' and share the best of my life drawings.
Here are a few of the collages I sent to NZ.

ALaW update

The last 3 weeks of letters for the 'A Letter A Week' challenge blogsite are as follows...

WHAT A FIND !!

WOW

THE BEST FIND EVER

...found last night on the road in front of my daughter's apartment in Brisbane.

Another finished project - a Fabric Book in a Box

As I mentioned weeks ago, I have been consolidating some of my life drawings into books. The first one to be finished is a fabric book, ready for the 'challenge' at the ATASDA meeting in Brisbane on Saturday.

For the challenge, we were given a cardboard box to do anything with - I chose to merely cover it and use it to store my book.

The fabric is teadyed cotton. The feature on the top is beach driftwood with beach weathered glass. I made it up as I went along [can't you tell?].

I've used the same fabric to cover the book and simple 'Japanese stab' binding for the spine. The brass booby bit in the top right corner is a cufflink I found at a local 'car boot' sale.

The pages are scraps from life drawings I did on calico many years ago. Some of the calico has been deliberately stained with mould [easy to do here in the rainy Maleny summer].

I have also used shellac, acrylic paints and a variety of marking pens.

Some of the pages are randomly stiffened with glue.

..and here I've played with T shirt transferring film ironed onto calico.

Pojagi scarf

I have managed one small art project this week - I have made another 'pojagi' scarf - this one in soft Japanese Spring colours for Soeda san. She gave me lots of lovely kimono 'bits' and treated me to a Spring themed 'English' afternoon tea  when I was in Japan last year.

Left Brain Stuff

I have spent the last week researching and writing. My friend Christine and I are hoping to go to China later in the year to set up an artist exchange programme between artists in our local region and Chinese artists. I need to find the regions, the artists, the logistics of travel and accommodation, and the money. I am applying to a couple of Government agencies for financial support and I have written heaps of emails for logistical support. Google Earth is a fabulous tool for visual people- this is where I found the 798 Art Zone in Beijing and the Yuzi Sculpture Park in Guilin which are both HUGE artist communities. We also hope to visit the 'village' near Xiamen which houses over 1000 'workshops' producing rip off paintings for sale to the West. I am imagining a sort of Kuta beach style set up with 'artists' sitting in front of a big canvas, brush in one hand, scrunched up photo of a masterpiece in the other. Maybe I'm entirely wrong - maybe they sit at a conveyor belt in a factory. Either way, it will be an experience to see. Anyone been there or have contacts with artists in China???

This is by Christine's favourite artist - Chen Qing Qing,

and this is by one of my favourites, Qin Feng.

ALaW

aaagh - It is March already. That means Autumn here in Australia which is wonderful. Cooler weather. I love the autumn here - like Spring down south. We don't get much of the colour changes as we are sub tropical where I live but there are a few maples around which are spectacular for a week or so.

This is my latest effort for the ALaW project. The letter 'D'.

...select, clone, stretch, add shadow

LATEST ART PROJECT

I am still playing with the book idea - for me it is a good way to experiment and to extend ideas but mostly a way to consoliadte 'stuff' that I have lying around.

I have hundreds of rather nice life drawings. What to do with them? Leave them in the cupboards for the silverfish and cockroaches? I can't bear to cut up the good ones, but I am happily using the mediochre ones for collaged book pages.

Yes, I am using tea bags, tea, mould and rust dyed fabrics, and various inks, paints, pencils and waxes.

Lots more work to be done on the images before they become a book.

I am also playing with scanned and printed images - this one has been printed onto T shirt transfer paper then ironed onto calico.

Rain, rats and a mouse

Yes, we have had lots of rain this past week. I love it!

Water and fine silt washed onto the concrete of my carport. I guess that a few worms were also washed down my driveway.

I swept a few months accumulation of gum tree leaves from my deck and found this lovely natural stencil print.

...and this morning I went to empty my 'recyclabes' bag which I had left outside - I think I have rats!!

The highlight of my week technologically speaking, has been the purchase of a CORDLESS MOUSE. I love it - it's one of those situations where I should have done it years ago but I was stubbornly sticking to my 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?' rule.

Hello Friends!!

Hi to all my lovely friends whom I have just added to my automatic email list, and thanks for verifying the email. If you scroll down from here and then go to 'older posts', you will see what I have been up to [creatively] over the past couple of months. The blogs go from newest to oldest - yeah, a bit confusing, I know.  Do you remember me when I looked like this? I am scanning old slides - this one was taken in 1980 - 30 years ago!!

I belong to a blog group called ALaW [ A Letter a Week] where 20 people from all over world make/draw/create a letter of the alphabet every week then post the results on the blog site. Maybe we will have an exhibition when the alphabets are complete. It gives us a creative goal every week and it's great fun to share with people we don't know. I have taken photos of an old green wooden box then used minimal photoshopping to create letters.

 

This is my letter for the coming week.

POJAGI SCARVES

I have been making lovely pojagi scarves for a few months. Pojagi is a  traditional Korean translucent 'patchwork' technique, using old and recycled fabrics. I am using beautiful silk kimono scraps brought back from Japan last year. Many have found homes back in Japan with new friends, I have given some to friends in Australia, and I have sold some through local galleries.

I love making them. The fabrics are oozing with history - patched, hand stitched and mended wabi sabi elements; stamps and labels indicating names of makers and regions; dyed, faded and stained areas all telling tales of their makers and wearers.

The reds are especially gorgeous - such a rich and vibrant colour . The red silks were used mainly as linings in wedding kimonos -a teasing, seductive glimpse revealed only when the bride moved.

...still playing with teabags

I am totally transfixed by these ephemeral and esoteric little 'spirits'.

I am still playing and have no clue to the 'practicality' of this play but I think that is the idea!! I am usually so 'result' driven and must have an end product in mind. It will be wonderful to follow the path on this journey, trusting in the process, as our dear Jill Jordan used to say.

TEABAGS to DIE FOR

I first came across  lovely silky pyramid teabags in Japan last year but have since found them in Australia. In fact, my sister found them in her local supermarket and bought me a packet for Christmas - for the bags of course, not the tea! I love them. With pearls stitched to the corners, they fall like a cat falls on its feet.

ANOTHER FINISHED PROJECT

I am starting to really love my 'down time'. It has taken a month, but I am really in to it now. I have just finished a work which I started in a Glen Skein workshop in 2007. I have called it 'Time Peace'. It started out as an homage to the important women in my life, but has evolved to be a literal and figurative reference to time - past, present and future, especially the desire to 'live in the moment' with love.

        tiny books       crystal ball     antique watch parts

The fabulous array of old watch parts were sent to me by friends Carla and Richard who are keen Clock club members. They found a big box of old stuff at an antique clock market and thought of me. Lovely friends!!

I have even included secret compartments - what fun.