A collage afternoon.

I had a very pleasant afternoon with 3 other collage artists.  This is a small collage group I am part of- The group's name is: People Who Cut Shit Up.  Suzanne Sbarge hosted this at her home. I have loved her work for years and was so excited to get to know her and collage with her. https://www.suzannesbarge.com/  I had been working on a self challenge of making 5" x 7" collages using 5 elements or less.  I had composed some of these before this get together. I changed up some of the compositions and then glued them down. I have yet to title these. This set are all collaged on monoprints

Solstice!

Once again time just zipped by. While I don't do much of the holiday stuff- the frenetic energy is all around it seems. I am nit much for the holidays really-  for many it is the emotional crescendo of the year. And while the end of the year is a closure of sorts I find it a great time to sit a bit and see where I am now- think about where I want to go with my art. Time to feel the gratitude I have in making the friends and finding like minded people in the art groups I am a part of. I have much to be thankful for. Ron and I have been here in Albuquerque for a year and a half now and so many good things have happened and there have been many challenges.
I am taking a class- a short online one with Fonda Haight Clark. https://www.fondaclarkhaight.com/.  The class is titled Dream on and I am find the exercises to be meaningful and like all of her classes- I think about things from a new perspective- see my life with a new set of lenses.
I wish you all a wonderful new year- may it be filled with love- good health and art!
The images are of some of the spreads I have made- the first though is my Solstice card.

This spread is about naming the things I do not want to carry into the new year.  I love the word anodyne. It means pain killer. That is what some of the things are. So while I am not much for new years resolutions this looking at things has more meaning to me.

One of the exciting things that happened this year is that Zach Collins https://www.zachcollinsart.com/ and Jennifer DeSantis https://www.facebook.com/LadyJennd/ and me...have started a new collage group here in Albuquerque.  Scissors and Glue ABQ.

I designed the little  title piece for our FaceBook group. We are meeting once a month and we have a collage prompt challenge each month.

Back to the Journal

I can hardly believe it is Thanksgiving this week- Part of that is about me now living in the SW. Yesterday we walked along the Rio Grande with a T-shirt and lite cotton shirt over it and jeans- where we use to live they have snow and cold temps. I am loving it here for that reason and many others.
The medical challenges here have been in the forefront. Things are getting better for both of us but some things are slow.
I have been taking and still am- a terrific class, Mixed Media Journaling. Sketchbook Skool is where the class is- their online classes are terrific and so well done- terrific videos and  not only for the techniques but you get to see and listen to each artist talk about their work and their creative process.https://sketchbookskool.com/about 
I am very much a visual journaler- it is how I process things.  I had stopped for a while but this class got me right back into it. I made 3 journals and picked one of them for this class.

The covers for these are very heavy watercolor paper that I painted and stenciled. They are

5 3/4" by 7" closed. The pages are also a watercolor paper but much thinner than the cover.

This is the first spread- the spread is 11" long and 7" tall.  There are many techniques here- collage, paint and stenciling.

This is the second spread- same measurement. The split down the center is because the two sides open up  to a fold out which is the next spread. Same techniques here but I also used some texture rubber stamps. The background colors were from a piece of deli paper I had painted.

This is the fold out- so it is 22 inches long. I titled this one.

Thought Stream

I painted the background and added layers of collage

A fun day yesterday

Yesterday I spent the day with a wonderful group of women.  This group is a book arts group that meets once a month usually. Yesterday was eco-dying paper.  I had wanted to do this for so long. Carrol Brundige Moxham and Annie Hooten were terrific teachers. I won't get into the process here- but if you google eco dying there are many videos out there.

Here are several sheets on the drying rack made by  the group. The photos

below are some of my pieces.

Can you Believe it? Another post so soon!

This is the second accordion book I made for the class I am taking.  Like usual I don't do so well with following the "directions" for the lesson. The artist doing this part of the class is Anne Marie Grgich. https://annegrgich.com/https/youtube/kwvkdwdmcr8. Her work is amazing- dense and rich with imagery- lots of layering. Anne is featured in the newest issue of Raw Vision magazine.  I don't always like to do lots of layering. This book has a bit more than some I have done. I find the accordion book structure to be so wonderful to work with- I do love folded book structures and hope to explore other folded books soon. Thanks for taking the time to look at my work.

For this book I painted the background and added some rubber stamping.

The small collages I mounted on the accordion are made from scraps and I used collage elments from a calendar I make using the past months- often I used shape punches to use that part of the collage I wanted. I like to work in a series and I did 12 of these small collages - they are 3 inches by 4 inches.

This is a detail of the left side of the book.

This is a detail of the right side of the book.

This is the backside of the book. I did try more layering here.

The small red grid scraps weaving through the back are from an EKG printout

of mine. Thought it was a good use for it- My heart helps support the composition.

Detail of the left side of the book.

Detail of the right side of the book.

Hopefully Back On Track

I have not posted since early August.  I have struggled with posting- like does it matter-? are people interested? I have had friends ask me to get over on Instagram. I did start posting there.  You can find me there at terrygarrett763     In some ways that is the easiest but I find that adding text images and comments is cumbersome. I did FINALLY change out the look of this blog- it has been years.  Hope you find it easy to read.
Fall is here in New Mexico- cooler temps in fact we have had some down right cold weather for here- a couple of nights in the teens. The cottonwood trees along the Rio Grande are turning yellow and the cranes have returned.
I have been taking more online classes. Sometimes they are hard for me to keep up with as we have been dealing with some health issues here- so there have been a lot of appointments.  But I do find time to be in the studio.  Making art grounds me- it helps me cope with stress and it feeds my soul.
One of the online classes I am taking is called 2019 Year of the Collage.  It is a year long class and I have enjoyed the three teachers for this class- very different approaches to collage- the lessons have stretched me in good ways and I have met some wonderful people in the class.
I will share the first of two Accordion books I have made for this class.

This is the inside of the first one- it is 35" long and 6" tall

This is a close up of the left side of the book.

This is a close up of the right half of the book.

This is the back side of the accordion book.

This is the detail of the left half of the backside.

This is the detail of the right half of the backside.

More 4 x 6 cards.

The ICAD Challenge I was in ended July 31st. 61 one cards made!  Here are some more I
 haven't shared.

Many Found Eugene to Be A Stuffed Shirt

Edwin Made Sure We Had Fun Everyday

On Raven Watching

The Neighbors Got Color TV

His Heart Was Laid Bare

A New Book

My main form of art expression is through collage. I use it for my collage series I do for art journaling and in this case for an artist book. I am very fortunate to have 2 amazing book arts groups here in Albuquerque where I live. One of the groups deals with a theme or topic and we make our books using that-  the book forms people choose are all their own choice. The last theme was mapping a favorite theme of mine. I wish I could show you all the groups works- truly amazing. My book is called Life States. This format is a triptych- I have lived in 3 states Iowa, Minnesota and now New Mexico. One panel for each state- within the triptych are 2 small books attached. This is loosely based on a book form of Roxanne Evans Stout's. This was hard to photograph but you can get an idea.

Front Cover

The triptych before the small books were sewn in.

Iowa side with the back cover showing.

The inside of one of the small books.

View of the smallest attached book.

A really bad photo of the book standing up.

Later July and HOT

We have been really hot the past couple of weeks- So physical activity happens in the morning.  I am winding down my participation in ICAD. So will share some more cards- I have made 51 cards so far. I have found working in a 4" x 6" size to be a lot of fun.  I have some new art journaling spread but that will be for another time.

Walter Never Seemed to Fit in Anywhere.

Out For Coffee

It's For You

Neighborhood Watch

One Year Ago

Well long time since a post. One year ago today the moving trucks with our possessions arrive at our new home in Albuquerque. What a year it has been!
The health update is OK- Ron's eyes are healed and he has the new lenses in his frames and can see clear finally! This aging thing is not easy we both have more doctor appointments than we would like but over all we are OK.
My art news is good- I entered some work in a call for entries at ReMarque Print Workshop here in Albuquerque. https://www.remarqueprintshop.com/   The show is titled Unexpected Narratives and will open  in Mid-July. I just completed and artist's book called Life States.  This was the outcome of a three month exploration to the theme of mapping for my Book Arts Study group- I will post pictures of that next post. I also have been working on an altered passport project with my art pals.  I am also participating in the I.C.A.D. ( index card a day) challenge. you do an index card either 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 everyday.  There are daily themes if you want to use thoses there are weekly themes or you just do what you want.  The challenge being doing one everyday for 2 months- June & July so I will have 61 cards at the end of it.  It's a very large group and we share on a private FaceBook group. As of today I have 22 cards as it is the 22nd of June.  I will share five of the cards here. Most have a Gelli printed background. More to come soon.