Friday, October 13, 2017

New Book Collaboration

I recently did an accordion book collaboration with Nancy Gene Armstrong, a terrific artist in Louisiana. I saw her work on Facebook and was so drawn to it. Her collages are very narrative- each one seems a story and that is how I often like to work as well.  https://www.facebook.com/nancygene.armstrong  The first book is mine and I will show my starts and then show her finish.  Then the next book will be hers- I will show her start and then how I finished it. I love the challenge of a collaboration like this-

My start  for inside of my book

Nancy's finish for the inside of my book. She
told me the bright colored background I had painted
was a challenge for her as she never uses bright color. As you can see she did just fine!

The finished book  inside standing up.

My start for the backside of my book

Nancy's finish for the backside of my book.

The finished backside of the book standing up.


Now for Nancy's book. She uses amazing old papers for her backgrounds. Old letters, ledger pages
and pieces of old book pages with that amazing "patina" of age.

Nancy's start for the inside of her accordion book.

My finish for Nancy's book inside.

 The inside of Nancy's book standing up.

Nancy's start of the backside of her book.

My finish for the backside of Nancy's book.

The backside of Nancy's book standing up.




Sunday, October 1, 2017

Is it really October?

It has been so long since I have posted- done really know where to start.  It has been a bit crazy- Ron's recovery from his heart surgery has been amazing. We had our house on the market but recently took it off for now as we do not want to move in the winter.  I also have been dealing with some family things that are very unpleasant.  Much of my work has been in my journal.  I will share a few spreads.  I also recently started a book collaboration and will share that. I think I will just start with September.




September 1 at 6:16pm ·

I took time to journal today- I grabbed my big journal and chose a fold out spread- large for me- this is 12 x 25. I needed to process some thoughts- feelings. I have house on the brain- having the house on the market and not much action- sort of in a limbo state- then I realized I have NOTHING to complain about. My heart goes out to those thousands that have lost everything in Texas. and around the world- the flooding in other parts of the world is horrific. So much devastation. This on top of the daily horrors coming out of Washington makes it hard not to lose hope. Hope for our country hope for all those in dire need. Courage is like love, it must have hope for nourishment. Rumi

I have been dealing with some major  stuff. Mostly . I am pretty much over it and tired of the ongoing drama. So I saw this quote and it was perfect for where my head is right now. Ron's support and my family of choice has really helped.

I am learning
to love the
sound of
my feet
walking
away from
things not
meant for me. A.G.
The spread is a fold out in my small journal the fold out here is 7 x 17. I had to write a lot to process this all- I learned from Juliana Coles about writing and then covering it up sometimes completely.


September 26 at 4:03pm
 I love this French proverb: Gratitude is the Heart's memory. That's the title for this spread. I used walking legs the other day in a spread I posted here- these are different ones- in this spread I walk forward.  This quote I found to be so meaningful.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home and a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie



I am doing an accordion book collaboration with Nancy Armstrong- a wonderful artist from Louisiana.  I have posted book collaborations before - I make 2 books- I start both sides of one and send that along with a blank book for  Nancy in this case.  She finishes mine and starts hers and mails both back to me I keep mine and finishes hers and sent it to her- so we each have a book.