Sometimes Life is Hard

It has been a long time since I posted last.  Much has happened- it has been hard for me to get in the studio some times.  Last month my brother was diagnosed with lung cancer- he had one lobe removed- I flew out to be with him for the surgery and for a few days afterwards.  Nothing like a wake-up call to be living the life you want now cause all we have is this moment right now.
I am very behind on several art collaborations but I am making progress.  Here is a set I completed with Scott Hall and Carol White.  The first panel Scott did the top and Carol did the middle and I finished it with the bottom.  The next one Carol did the top- I did the middle and Scott did the bottom.  The last one in this series had me on top and Scott in the middle and Carol did the bottom.

Exquisite corpse

I was recently invited to do another collaboration.  Scott Hatt started his version of The Exquisite Corpse.  This can be done with writing as well as by visual art.  Here is a definition.

 Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original French term cadavre exquis) or rotating corpse, is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. "The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun," as in “The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge”) or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

For Scott's version we each made a set of 3 collage starts.  The background is 8 inches wide by 9 inches tall- we each did a third.  This set is done with Scott Hatt, Tony Melser and myself.

In this one Scott did the top third, Tony did the middle and I finished it yesterday with the bottom.

For this one- Tony did the top portion and Scott had completed the bottom and yesterday I finished with the middle section.

In this final one Tony did the bottom and Scott did the middle and I did the top section.

Long Distance Journal Prompts

When I was in California in February we had an art  journaling session at Irene Rafael's home.  We decided to continue our spreads by taking turns giving prompts.  Prompts are things like add text or paint over an area you don't like or add so many pieces of ephemera.  So the following pictures are the different stages of my journal spread in this process.  I have loved this process.

My First Half Collaboration

Can you believe it 2 posts in a row?!  This set was so fun and it was my first time doing halves- Allan Bealy is a terrific artist and I always enjoy working with him.

I did the left side and Allen did the right side.

I collaged the left side and Allan the right side.

Hum- I seem to like the left side as I did that side and Allan the right.

Well I am left-handed- I did the left and Allan the right here.

Some variety!  I did the top half on this one and Allan the bottom

I did the top here and Allan the bottom

I did the top again and Allan the bottom.

I added the card box and Allan did the rest.

Allan did the top on this one and I did the bottom.

More Collaborations

I have been doing a lot of collaborations with other artists.  This set was done with Scott Hatt.  Scott is a terrific artist from South Bend, Indiana.  These were halves.  We each did a set using just have the 5" x 7" and then mailed them and we finished each others.

On the one below I did the top half and Scott did the bottom.

On this one I did the top and Scott did the bottom half.

I did the bottom half here and Scott did the upper half.

I did the bottom half and Scott finished the top half.

I did the left half and Scott the right.

Scott did the bottom half and I finished the top.

I did the bottom half here and Scott did the top.

Catching Up

These are some Artist Trading Cards that I made last week.  I have been doing a lot of collaborations lately and forgot to make my March cards for my group.  The top six are for March and the theme choices were Brown and/or things with wings.  The next 7 are for April and I picked the theme choice of the color green.  I do love to make these- the small 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" size is a fun challenge.

April Already!

I am amazed how fast time seems to go.  But then again the winter this year up here in Northern Minnesota seems to never end.
This is a journal spread from a couple of days ago.  I am really enjoying developing layers in my work.
I have been busy with some more art collaborations.  I will be sharing some of those soon.  I so enjoy these exchanges- connecting with artists is so very exciting.