A New Kind of Collaboration

I recently took an online collage class with Randel Plowman. One of the last assignments was to do a collaged accordion book.  I posted mine on September 5th  I thought that the accordion book would be a great form for collaboration. So  I decided to do just that and this first one is with Jani Collins, a wonderful artist living in Ohio. I made the accordion books.  One for me and one for her- On the inside we each get 2  spreads to collage.  So in the photo- 1 & 2 = 1 spread  3 & 4 = the second spread and so on.  The back side we both will work on. So the photographs below are my pieces in my book-  I actually just received Jani's book today but haven't photographed it yet.  I am finding this book format to be very fun for a collaboration.

   This is the cover of my book

 These are my 2 spreads together.

 Here's another view of my 2 spreads.

This is the back I started and Jani will finish it.

Real Studio Photos

I am participating in Seth Apter's blog project of having artist show what their studio tables really look like.  Not the pretty cleaned up ones that people often show. http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/
I reach a certain point where I just have totally put everything in order- then do it all again.

Cyanotype Collages

One assignment for the collage class was to use solar or sun paper- you lay things on the paper go into the sun for a few minute then put it in a tray of water- The paper I had was at least 15 years old but it worked somewhat- Then I remembered I had some real cyanotypes.  These are made by coating nice paper with a chemical solution- then expose it to strong light. I made several years ago and put them away in a box- so it was great to use them finally.

September So Soon!

 A Book and a Journal Spread

I made this accordion book for my collage class with Randel Plowman.  I made mine a bit different than the assignment (I always have had trouble following directions) I did a cover called a wrapped board cover- it's a non adhesive cover where you essentially wrap a board with the paper. The first and last panels of the accordion slip into a slot that is created when the board is wrapped. The accordion is 22 1/1 inches long. I chose to do a continuous collage.

This journal spread felt good to do- I have been thinking how we all have this need to define things.  When sometimes it is best to just feel things and leave it at that.

Another collage assignment

I am taking Randel Plowman's online The Art of Collage Class.  This assignment was to make collages using one of the theme choices he provided. I chose the theme of Home.  These collages have some person connection to my ideas about home- some relate to home from growing up and others more current.  The first one has a background of buttons I made.  I poured buttons on my scanner and then altered them.  The next one with the yellow porch is a photograph of mine that I also altered. The titles are below each collage and my friend Tom LaBadia has a way of coming up with the best titles.  Thank you Tom.  These collages are 6 X 7 1/2.

                                                                    My Heart is Not at Home

                                                                     Forward Thinking

                                                                       Let's Try Magic

                                                                    Open Heart

                                                              Comfortably Numb

August Already

I am amazed at how quickly time passes.  I can really tell the summer is moving as it gets darker much earlier now.
This is a journal spread I completed a couple of days ago.  There is something about working in my journal that is so comforting.  It's where I can express my feeling and try new things.  The skull in the lower left is an image I was drawn to- and yes while we associate a skull or skeletons with death I feel it does represent other kinds of death- like the end of a bad habit or a way of thinking.  I tried out doing some transfers on this spread- the black & white drawings of face parts were transferred to the blank spread and then I painted over.  Like most of my journal spreads I had no real idea in starting out and that is why I love journaling.  I just jump in and start painting.

Taking ANother Class

This suite of little collages I made this afternoon as an assignment for an online class I am taking from Randel Plowman. http://acollageaday.blogspot.com/ I enjoyed his first class so much I decided to take his second one. It's always fun to get assignments that push me to do something I may not do on my own. The other nice thing is meeting the other people in the class and like his first one- people from all over the world really. These are 5 inch square collages- they were to be color collages- I did the 3 primary and the 3 secondary colors.