The wind continues-and so does artmaking.

 Amazing how the wind just keeps on- my Midwest and Eastern friends dealt with snow this past week. We have dear friends visiting from Minneapolis.  What a joy to have actual time with friends without masks- we are all vaccinated and past the 2 week mark so it is nice. Of course we still wear the masks in public.

I have mentioned the collage planner that the artist Margarete Miller created- it is set up for doing one collage in it a week with prompts.  I have really enjoyed the challenge of this. This time I included the prompt list for each one on the same space. The number is the week- so this first one I am showing is 14- meaning the 14th week of the year. If I keep with this I will have 52 collages in this planner at the end of the year.

This last one is digital- sometimes I get an idea and digital is the best way to make it happen.  I will say the generally I prefer to do analog collage- as in real cut and paste.

Springtime In New Mexico

 I don't think I will ever get use to the wind in the spring time here. Wind gusts of 40 to 50mph are not uncommon.  Living in the dessert adds an issue to the wind- all that small particulate matter ( dust and sand) becomes airborn so sometimes this results in air quality warnings... But it is still beautiful.  My poor Minnesota friends dealt with  a few inches of snow earlier this week....I will take the wind.

We have been vaccinated and are 2 weeks out from it so feeling a bit better.  In fact this past Saturday, the 10th- I took an in-person class at Remarque Print Workshop. There were 5 students- all vaccinated and there was  plenty of room to spread out. Jessica Krichels taught the class- it was called Improvisational Printmaking.   Great fun.  The pieces below are from the class.  It was so nice to be with other artists creating!

The other news I have is that my work was accepted into a gallery here!  Michael Lakoff, the owner is himself an artist. The name of the gallery is The Ricochet Gallery. Albuquerque peeps the is  just outside Old Town on 1102  Mountain Rd.  He opened the gallery in March and it has done very well-I love the variety of work there.  There is a possibility of having a show there next year. And I have 2 pieces in a show right now at The Remarque Print Workshop.  The show is New Mexico Printmaking Invitational. It is a wonderful show- so much diversity here in New Mexico.

I have not titled these pieces yet.

Of course I had to collage on this one.

 

 

Circles of Memories

New Month New Header

 April in New Mexico is wonderful despite the wind. The trees are in bloom and I am seeing more green in the Bosque. We have taken a few hikes and that always feels good.  The landscape here never ceases to amaze me in it's variety and beauty.

This new header is a fold out journal spread I just did. I wanted to change out the lettering for the header as well but can't seem to figure that out. I tend to just let things like blog design just stay as they are for years.  

I recently made a fold out shrine.  I have always loved the idea of shrines- to honor something or someone in a contained space.  I am in an art group that has the members teach something to the group. I taught a collaged meander book- I have no photos of that yet.  One member taught a cardboard shrine lesson.  It inspired me and I ended up making my own way of doing one. I will share that here. During this Covid nightmare we are all in- I was thinking of how thankful I am having my husband Ron.  We have shared so much and supported each other through many challenges. The picture of us in the pop-up is from our wedding several years ago.

Front of Shrine

Back of Shrine

Inside of Shrine

Finished Front of Shrine

Finished Inside of Shrine with Ribbon hold the pop up in place

Inside of shrine showing the pull-down pop-up

Close up pf the pop-up

Another view of the inside of the shrine