New Online Class

Hard to believe 2 years ago this week are arrived in Albuquerque New Mexico.  Lots has happened in 2 years- I have no regrets moving here from Minnesota.  There have been numerous health things to deal with so far things are ok...for both Ron and for me.  Then the pandemic came and well we are ll dealing with that.
My dear friend Orly Avineri has launched her first online class and I am loving it- I had the incredible experience of taking two classes from her when she taught them from her home in California- she has since moved to Salem , Oregon. The class is titled Come Outside. It is based on a deck of journaling cards she made. Each card has sparks of inspiration. The first spread I did for this class is below- it is based on the card Art and Life.
Albuquerque has been in the news- while there was damage to buildings downtown- it was not the scale of what happened in Minneapolis. What has happened was that there was a peaceful demonstration at a sculpture grouping in front of the Albuquerque art museum. The statue has been a source of pain for many here- it is of a  Spanish Conquistador portrayed as a hero. A group of armed militia showed up- one of the militia shot one of the protestors. The whole statue grouping has since been removed. This is the spread I did. Lots going on here.

 

George Floyd's Funeral Day

Feeling very emotional today-  George Floyd's funeral is today.  Another African American man killed by a policeman that had a history of trouble. This terrible killing sent shock waves through the world. The combination of this and the ongoing pandemic makes it very hard to not be pessimistic. I lived in Minneapolis for 25 years- that city has a special place in my heart.  Seeing the damage done to neighborhoods  made me so sad- I left Minneapolis 18 years ago and there were police issues then.  I saw a group of photographs posted online by David Biljan of St Paul, MN. I contacted him for permission to use some of them in my journal and collage work. He said yes and this journal spread is the first thing I have done with the photographs. I altered them and merged two side by side.
I want to be hopeful and think that maybe there can be some real change now- if there is change it will be hard with the idiot we have in the White House that incites this sort of thing-calls racists good people and has no moral compass what so ever.

ICAD 2020

I am participating in the ICAD challenge again this year. last year was my first time- you do something on an index card a day from June 1st to July 31st. When done you have 61 cards. I choose the 4 x 6 size. Tammy Garcia started this 10 years ago-https://daisyyellowart.com/icad-base
I sometimes make them daily and other times if I am fired up I may make 8 in a day- I post one a day on the ICAD group- this is a huge group- last year there were 10,000 posts- mind blowing and I can't look at everything but I like the idea of doing something on a regular basis. I met some terrific artists from the group last year. So here are my cards so far- we were to do a title card first and then a name card.

ICAD title card for 2020

We were then to do a name card as an intro to the group.

Not In Kansas Anymore

Art Every Day

Ethan's Dream

Learn To See With Your Heart

Keep Your Eye Open

June 3rd- new project

Greetings- here in Albuquerque we have had 2 evenings recently of really good rainfall- always welcome here. Good thing as we are to be in upper 90s for a few days.
I am doing the best I can like we all are during this intense time- the pandemic AND the unrest all over the country. I hope you are safe and healthy and hope you can remain that way.
I am doing the ICAD challenge again this year- This goes from June 1st to July 31st- you make something on an index card a day. I will share some of those later
I have started a new journal-I did the first page and am sharing that- it is of my wearing a mask-I altered that selfie with an app called Inkwork.
Yesterday I took a 2 hour online live class with Seth Apter. He is a terrific mixed media artist, teacher and he has a shop online where he sells products he has created.https://www.sethapter.com/
The class was Minibook Madness- it was a lot of fun.  The book I made is 2 1/2" square.  This is really abstract in nature compared to my usual narrative collage work.  I loved doing this. Thank you Seth.

This is the first page of my new journal.

Front cover of my minibook.

The first spread in the book

Second spread in the book.

Third spread in the book.

Fourth spread in the book.

Fifth spread in the book.

Sixth spread in the book.

Back cover of the book.

What Happened to May?

Well the month is about over- Time is odd during this pandemic. We try hard to go out as little as possible- We both are at high risk  late 60s and heart issues. I am very thankful for my art- I have been doing at lot lately- I made many different zines- I have been working in my journal and have made some collages.  This post I will share my journal work- I finished a journal- I started this one in November in a coffee shop with a friend.  I miss meeting up for coffee. I will share some new collage work in another post.

This spread has an illustration by an artist- I can't recall his name- this illustration is at least 20 years old. Amazing how long I hold onto things.

This spread is about the fear I feel - many of us feel about the pandemic.

Reading that the outdoor walks aren't as safe as I thought they were.

No matter how hard I try- it is impossible to erase some of the bad memories.

I so wish there was a way to escape this pandemic.

This is the last spread.

The last page.

Pink is a Color I Seldom Use

This is another zine- The day I painted papers to use in projects- one ended up to be pink and it surprised me- I liked it. So I used  it to make a zine. Unlike some of the other zines I have made of late- this one is not gel printed. I used the text once again from a 1950s art education textbook. I also used some rubber stamps designed by the artist Seth Apter. https://www.sethapter.com/

Front cover

First spread

Second Spread

Third Spread

 

Fourth Spread

Back Cover

 

Zine Fest

Wow the last day of April- seems very strange for some reason- time seems different now-and the underlying fear makes for some challenging times throughout each day.  Several of my artist friends have said they are frozen- can't go to their studios to make something- I found myself getting totally into making zines. These are made with one sheet of paper and one cut is made and they fold into a book form. I add a cover for mine.  There are many variations. Zines were popular in the late 60s and then again in the early 80s for the punk scene- then there was a rewed interest in the mid to late 90s.  I have always loved them- it's a way to make something that I can share with my friends. I have made several different ones in the last few weeks- some I made the collages and then scanned them into my zine template to print out.  One I did digital collages for but mostly they are actual cut and paste collages. This zine has 4 double page spreads. I will share them  one at a time.  Here is the first one.

Hope this finds you all safe- healthy.

This is the front cover- the background is an altered gel print.

This is the back cover of the zine.

 

First spread- gel print background and pieces, collage  and

text from an art education text from the 1950s.

Second spread-gel print background collage elements and 

text from that art education book.

Third spread- gel print background, collage elements

and found text from a magazine.

Fourth spread- gel print background, collage elements

and a vintage vocabulary card used in a school in

the 1950s.

This the the diagram for making the zines.   Why not

try one yourself?