How Funky is My Chicken?

Easter came and went.  The kids are older, well into High School.  The Easter Bunny's excitement at our house has devolved as this burnt out working rabbit's effort at "doing her best" has really, sadly, dwindled to the point where she doesn't even use Easter grass anymore, and the baskets were too hard to locate in the garage so oversized Tupperware made do.  And there weren't even jellybeans. Weren't.  Even.  Jellybeans.  Pretty lame.

The Easter Bunny, rather, spent some post-Easter energy doing a little Spring cleaning and purging, and came to the realization that she is in fact, an Easter Squirrel.  No, a Year-Round Squirrel. Tucked behind packages of expired microwave popcorn and a bag of fossilized miniature marshmallows were these two little rubber chicks, meant to be included in the baskets...er, bowls...this year (or possibly Easter 2009).

They were deflated, misshapen and could no longer stand on their own, but trash? No.  I diverted them into my squirreled stash of mark-making tools and objects, things I use to add texture to wet paint, gesso, or gelli prints.

ICAD was the perfect opportunity to experiment with them right away.  First I used them with Distress Inks to make this:

I just pounced those little fuzzy chicken heads right onto the ink pads and onto my card.

Pretty cool!  Then I thought, what if I could be more purposeful with shading and make a face?

I used three shades of Distress Ink:  Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Gathered Twigs.

Even though I tried to expand the illusion of the "canvas", I think using a larger format would be more successful.  I used pencil and black pen to define the features.


My Cocoa Daisy kit arrived the other day, and I was super excited because I purchased the Project Art add-on this month starring Dina Wakely's new line of acrylic paints and BLACK GESSO!!
I could not wait to (literally) get my fingers into their creaminess, grabbed an index card and smooshed and smoothed those vibrant colors all over it.  I used a chicken to stipple on some black gesso to add contrast, and wiped a tree trunk on with the left over I'd squeezed onto my work surface.

A few nearby additions including cuttings from a plastic tray insert from a box of Christmas cookies or chocolate, a worry doll and some dictionary page and my latest, most favoritest little piece of art was born!

Yes, I do love my alone time.  Especially when I'm feeling creative and go get lost in my art supplies.

How 'bout you?  What do you like to do with your alone time?

Thanks for stopping by!!
Have a great day!!

Index Card A Day

Through the magical clickity-click of the World Wide Web maze I came across Tammy Garcia's blog, Daisy Yellow just in time to join in with her 61 day challenge, Index-Card-a-Day, or ICAD, which started on June 1st.  The idea is just to make a daily habit of creating.   The only criteria is that you use index cards, and as index cards are pretty much considered disposable, you should feel free to make art without any stress or worry, no thought or goal of perfection, no pressure to even produce every day if you don't want to, and no pressure to catch up if you skip a day or join in late.   Feel free to join in now if you'd like!  It's very laid back.  The only criteria is that you use index cards.

There are prompts, themes, quotes to jump start your creativity if you want, but they are completely optional.  See?  No stress!  Use a pencil, use a ballpoint pen, use some crayons, or your finest oil paints if you'd like.


Here are a few I've created so far.

Totally mindless, carefree fun--if you want it to be.
Or, if you are feeling more deep and philosophical, that's awesome, too!


If you play and want to share, be sure to join the Daisy Yellow Flickr group!


Have a great day!

Visiting the Norton Simon Museum

Last weekend we went to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA.  It was our first time to visit, but I feel like I kinda grew up with Norton due to the Cezanne poster that has hung for decades in various spots in my parents' house(s).

  

Current location: Mom and Dad's bedroom.
Photo credit: Thanks, Mom!

I hadn't given that poster a thought in a long while until we came across the original painting in one of the galleries.  It surely made me smile. :)

Paul Cezanne, Tulips in a Vase

It was exciting to see Degas and his many sculptures and paintings, including "Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen" and "Dancers in the Rotunda at the Paris Opera", as Jillian had studied him for a biographical report in her Freshman Art Class.

Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen
Photo credit:  Jillian Flaherty via Instagram

"Dancers in the Rotunda at the Paris Opera"
Apologies for the blurry photo.  By the time I noticed her and got out
the camera, she was on the move!

Jeremy was not enthused by the visit.  He was a bit miffed that he had been dragged out of his self-proclaimed "nerd cave" of a room, forced to put on *gasp* pants, when it was a 3-day weekend and he'd yet to have a pajama day.  I tried to pull him out of the funk by pointing out a few paintings and then bringing up Nina Katchadourian's hilarious airplane bathroom photos:  "Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style" on my iPhone.  He was not amused.

www.ninakatchadourian.com

www.ninakatchadourian.com

(Funny, we were checking out the ranch house at William S. Hart Park yesterday, and as we walked back to the car he said, "Wow!  That place was, like, 100 years old!"  Jillian and I chimed in that some of the paintings we were looking at last weekend were from the 15th Century, and the Buddhist sculptures were  circa 150 - 350 A.D.  He was blown away!  It still surprises me the things that will go over his head unless they are pointed out specifically to him, and that they must be pointed out in a specific manner in order for him to truly register them.)  

I was, however, amused in the Flemish Style, and the paintings and pieces that spoke to me this first visit were all about bringing me joy, making me smile.

I love this 14th sculpture trio from the Pisan School.  The full cheeks of the bagpipe playing angel seem whimsically fun, being crafted in an era that I think of as so dark and serious.

And, how about these two portraits?  They are so fresh, real and unstuffy!  The first, a selfie by Maurice-Quentin de la Tour:  I love the twinkle in his laughing eyes that speaks even more than the slight smile on his lips.  The second, by Guillaume Voiriot, so seemingly candid as if this unnamed man was casually reading, heard his name called and looked up just as a photo was taken of him.  Knowing how long it actually took to capture this image in pastel--it's fantastic!

Maurice-Quentin de La Tour

Guillaume Voiriot

I love how a museum can "show" you different things depending on your mood and who you are with.  If you ever think, "Oh, I've already been to that one," I say, "Ah, but not today!" and I urge you to visit again and see how your perspective is different based on so many varying factors: the weather, your company or your solitude, current affairs, what you did yesterday, what you have scheduled in the upcoming week.  All of it, all of it will play a part in your experience.

I sure am looking forward to going back!
Plus, we found an excellent little Italian restaurant where we had lunch.  It was the smell that drew us inside.  :)

Wishing you a joy-filled day!

Poet in the Rye

I'd forgotten about redacted poetry, but was recently reintroduced to the idea when reading about Austin Kleon, author of Newspaper Blackout.  Here are a couple of his examples.

All the poems I've seen or attempted to do myself have this similar blocked out look, so I was completely blown away when Jillian shared this school assignment with me:

                                            Frightened

                                            Alone

                                            Exited

                                            Troubled

                                            I'm not trying to contribute

                                            Something valuable to the world

                                            But to have a passion

It is absolutely beautiful!!  The poem, the art, the poem as art, the whole of it.  Love!

I love that it is on an actual book page and not a photocopied piece of paper.  She said her teacher walked around the room with a copy of Catcher in the Rye, the book they'd been studying, tearing pages out as she went along, randomly giving one to each student.

Jill says she was pretty lucky to get the page she did to be able to pull this poem out of the text.

You and I know she would have come up with something remarkable even if she had been given an empty cereal box.

I can't wait till the is project is returned to her so I can display it our home.  I love it!!!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!!

Sweet 17 Mini

Hello, friends!  As I am still in disbelief that I have a 17 year old kid, and I had a bunch of pictures from her birthday that I still wanted to scrap, AND I had some of that Twirly Girly paper yet to use, I decided to craft up a little mini book/accordion display to further commemorate the milestone and maybe even slap myself back into reality, come to terms with the fact that:  Your baby girl ain't no baby no more, Lisa! 

I started out with 4 manila tags and randomly scraped gesso on each side of them.  Once dry, I applied various colors of mist to each in a random-ish way, encouraging drips and drying each color before adding the next.

Using a bit of masking tape to position 2 tags side by side while keeping a millimeter or two between them, I used my sewing machine to zigzag-stitch the tags together.  I added on a third tag, and then the fourth, creating an easy free-standing accordion which could also be folded into a small book.

  

Embellishing was easy-peasy with a couple of circle punches and a piece of gold striped vellum from My Mind's Eye and the word sticker sheet that coordinates with the Chickaniddy papers.

What wasn't so easy for me was figuring out how I wanted the pictures to look.  I tried full color, muted color, and sepia toned, and finally committed to black and white.  Jillian had just purchased a couple KAISERfusion alcohol markers, and still not satisfied with the look of the pix, I decided to try the pink one out on a photo.  I love how it turned out!

Matthew, my silly nephew, making goofy faces and photobombing his grandpa.  :)
"Ha-ha, kid, now you're on my blog!" 

As on the layout poster earlier, I think the papers needed a little something, and the sparkle from a clear Gelly Roll pen was just that thing.

Because the mini has an accordion fold it can open like a book in both directions.  I made a little strap   to go around it and hold it closed with a loop and toggle when not out on display.  The toggle was made with a small piece of a paper straw.  I threaded some baker's twine through, then crimped the each end of the straw around the twine.  A few pounces on the table to flatten the end and that straw is attached quite securely in place.

I held the toggle on the edge of the folded book, wrapped the twine around and tied a loop for it to slide through and secure the book closed.  A generous dab of glue on the back of the knot keeps the contraption attached to the front cover.   Pretty clever, eh?  I admit I am pretty proud of myself. ;)

Thank you for coming by to check out this little mini!
Have a great day!

Auction Update: #bringbackourgirls

I want to thank everyone for the great success we had at our auction last week!  Thank you to Jessica for putting it together, to all the artists for the love-made and varied pieces that were donated, and to all those who bid and those who won, those who did not win but donated anyway. And a very personal thank you to my friend Tiffany, the new owner of my piece, "Illumination"; and to John, the owner of "Little Reminder".

Also, a special thank you to you, Mrs. Doer, for supporting me, spreading the word, and making me feel validated as an artist. :)  I was surprised to find it had been Tiffany who won, and even more so that you were the competing bidder!  I love you!

Our goal was to raise $1000 for the cause, and I am so proud to say we were able to raise over $3600!

Girl Rising has requested that the funds be donated through their crowd-funding effort at
catapult.org, supporting girls' education.

At the time of this post, the kidnapped students have not been found.  The US, along with France and Britain have sent some troops to aid in the search.  There are mixed reports of not enough being done, and of closing in on their location.

It is unthinkable that terrorism exists in this world in the form of Boko Haram and the Taliban.  I know that there are quieter, less overt acts of oppression and denials of freedom occurring both worldwide and close to home.  I make art to express my emotions.  I appreciate Jessica giving me a way to move my emotion into action, further than just applying raw paint to canvas.

Sweet Seventeen

We celebrated Jillian's 17th birthday last month!  When I received this adorable Chickaniddy "Twirly Girly" paper from Craft Envy, I knew I'd just found the perfect palette for the pix of her birthday lunch.

A single squirt of Heidi Swapp Color Shine in the center of plain white card stock made for an easy start to layering up the cute cut-apart sheets that are part of the collection.

Color Shine is my scrapbooking equivalent of Frank's Red Hot:
"I put that $%&*# on everything!"

Those paper party straws are all over Pinterest, and I couldn't wait to use one on a layout.  A little baker's twine, banner stickers, and paper scraps made for an easy and festive embellishment. 

I wanted to journal but didn't want it completely hidden on a tucked away tag, or to overpower the layout composition with a bunch of heavy text.  Using a clear glitter pen allows the journaling to be read as if it were light pencil at one angle, and turn into a subtle, shimmery highlight when tilted away.  Exactly the look I was going for!

I doodled a vine of flowers mimicking the floral clusters on the paper to tie that subtle shimmer to the other side of the page.

That clear glitter pen was addictingly smooth.   I randomly traced other elements on the papers
and outlined hearts, frames, and flowers.  

We had a lovely time celebrating this milestone with Jill.  I'm making a mini album with some of the other photos from her day, and I will share it with you soon!  :)

Thank you for stopping by!