week 18 for 365/2 (part 2)

April 28 - May 4

#121 - this week's Documented Life had a much easier theme for me than last week's drawing....use a quote!  As you know, I love using quotes.  And this week has been a gorgeous sunny, warm week so it's only logical that I'm drawn to these yellows and this song.  It's been swirling around in my head but I actually had to look up the lyrics since I wasn't 100%....  the sun is a stamp I made with craft foam.

#122 - a little art journal play.....layers of painter tape, paint, remove tape & reapply, different color of paint, repeat; finish with a layer of titan buff.  Think I'll try it again with different masks than tape....

#123 - outgoing mail art....I was falling behind in my correspondence, so made a big batch of postcards.  If you've been waiting to hear from me, you'll get something this week!

#124 - worked some more on the WIP canvas.  Remember last week I'd added a gear stencil and didn't like it?  This week was about fixing that and seeing what else develops.

I think it's lost some of its richness of color so I need to work on restoring that and as well as calming down the background - I just want bits of all that pattern to peek through.

Hope you have a very creative week this week.  If spring has sprung in your area, make some art to celebrate it - that's what I'm going to do!  :)

365 in 2013: #144 - 153

Most of my collages this week are double duty pieces so far.  My mail art "respond" pile is getting a little out of control, so some of my collages are going in the mail.  My restraint journal (thanks to Hanna for the idea) inspiration pieces were REALLY piled up so I had a marathon morning of making lots of simple collages - some of which I really liked.  I keep reminding myself that collage doesn't necessarily mean that every square inch of the substrate is covered......

#144 - So Much Better

Did you ever read the Griffin and Sabine books?  Remember the story was told in a series of correspondence? I came across 2 of the books at a yard sale and picked them up with the intention of using them as collage fodder. I'd forgotten how beautiful the books are!  Lots of images and words and envelopes and a treasure trove of fun stuff that you'll be seeing show up in my pieces.  #145 and 147 are using pieces from the books.

#145 - Handmade Postcards

#146 - Harold Hummingbird

#147 - Griffin & Sabine

#148 - restraint journal page (inspiration photos from online)

#149 - restraint journal

 #150 - restraint journal

 #151 - restraint journal

#152 - restraint journal - art image from a home decor magazine room, tissue paper, washi

#153 - restraint journal;  Donna Downey painting for inspiration

Still not caught up, but I'm working on it.......How's your 365 project shaping up?

some mail art

Dan's gone this weekend (to the Indy 500) and I'm home alone for a long weekend.  Yahoo - no-guilt art time!  A couple first priorities are catching up on some major stacks of mail art (thanks for being patient everyone), catching up on my 365 collages (there will likely be some overlap), and working on the next couple MMSA themes.  Whew - that'll be lots of glue and paint slinging goin' on......

I have received and sent some great cards in April and May ....

Outgoing for Hanna's swap

A stack of outgoing - did you get one?  If not, you're on the list! :)

Received such a delightful pile but I doubled up in the photos so it wouldn't take as much space - and I've likely missed some, but this is a good representation of all the mailbox goodness I've received.  If you'd like to see some of this amazing art in your mailbox, join a swap or two (MMSA is a great place to start) or just mail to me and I'll always mail back (maybe not the next day, but soon!).

 From Lorinda, Currie and Judith

 From Asluld, Jeanne and Bonnie Jeanne

From Andria, Emily, and Bonnie Jeanne

 From:  Candace, Julie, Sophie, and Hanna

 From Madelene, Natasha and Leslie

From Brooke, Karen M and Nancy

From Robyn and Honi and the beautiful envelope that it arrived in (those are real ferns!)

Some of these are from swaps, some of them are from ongoing mail buddies and a few are new people who found my name/address on MMSA or somewhere.  MMSA has a tab where you can enter your name and address so you can receive something other than bills in your mailbox.  Join in!

mail art and still painting

I received such a bounty of postcards this month - partly thanks to the fun swaps at MMSA and partly just folks staying in touch.

Here's all the mail that's been making me and my mail box so happy (I think I've got it all here).  So tonight I sat down and spent time writing back to all these wonderful ladies.  Sometimes people don't include their address which makes me sad that I can't send them something in return, but everyone else will hopefully get something in the next week or so.......

I thought I'd try working in a series so made a group that are similar in style - actually took the idea from the painting I did last week with dark leaves.....

Then I decided to try the "paint one big piece and cut it up" method of postcard making.  This is the cardboard from the side of a case of pepsi.  I painted, stenciled and stamped away, then cut it up into p/c sized pieces and ended up with 5 postcards!  I may add a little stitching or something, but this was a really fun exercise.  I know I've seen many of you use this technique and now I understand why! :)

So I had plenty of postcards made to return one to everyone and a few left over for the next batch.  Yahoo!

Next up, a quick update on my revised Joy painting which became collaged with maps and tissue paper layers....here's where it stands now:

Painted a layer of bright colors...........

Love the way the texture is showing up............

My next layer of gesso to push back some of that bright color......now where?  Will have to see .....

Hope my friends back east are lucky enough to escape the worst of the recent snow storms.  I can't believe the weather is still so nasty back there.  Whenever I think of complaining about the rain, I realize how much worse it could be (SNOW!) and just shut right up.  I'll take my rain any day!

MMSA

Mail Me Some Art - if you haven't found this site yet, it's time.  Click the link and explore the wide world of mail art.  It's the best kind of participative art:  it's quick, easy, no-pressure art; it goes out into the world and brightens someone's day; it makes you smile when you check the mail; it can be as elaborate or as simple as you like; it connects you with other mail artists all over the world.  Many of us use bits and pieces from other projects so there's virtually no cost - how can you beat that????

Karen, the tireless, spirited, totally supportive hostess of MMSA continues to come up with creative themes to pique your interest and creativity each week.  Pick and choose the topics or timeframe that suit you.  Make one postcard per theme or make a half dozen.  You get back as many as you send to Karen.  I love that she posts a month's worth of themes at a time so it's easy to plan ahead.....

Green theme - due 3/18

Here are the 4 cards I'm sending for the green theme....

Jean's Collage Sheet - due 3/25
This is a challenging way to make mail art.....someone (in this case Jean) submits a 8x10 sheet of scanned or photo items and we're to create collages using ONLY images from the collage sheet (made bigger or smaller if you want). It can be embellished with mark making, but no more images.  I find these challenging, but that's sort of the fun of it too.

I'd love you to join in and discover the pleasure of mail art!  Visit the site to see the other themes for March.

collages and mail art

I was so busy with Dan's book, my other art endeavors took a bit of a back seat.  But, the incoming mail didn't falter!  And I did get a couple of collages (using my motif of the month, hearts) and mail art collages made.....so here goes:

Collage #29, Purple Love:

Collage #30:  Crossed Hearts

Mail art out that I'm also claiming as 365 collages:

#31:  a postcard from a provided collage sheet for a MMSA swap.

#31 is the bottom collage - using just one element from the collage sheet enlarged and reduced for graphic effect.

I also sent out 3 cards for the AIB (Artists in Blogland) swap - all versions of this style:

Then, on the receiving side, my mail box is very happy - cards have been coming in from Shannon's international swap:

From Lena in Germany

From Zafaran in India - the leaves and bird wings are highlighted with a sparkle pen

From Karen - a mail art buddy....getting cards from blogging buddies is bound to happen every now and then as we all love to join in swaps.  Love her touch of whimsy....she makes me smile.

This beauty from Jean in Hawaii.

AND, the riches haven't ended.....I received these two from the MMSA blue theme:

From Amy (using a sun print of the leaves)

From Ellen ( a very time consuming mosaic)

I'm thinking I missed posting a few.....I'm sorry.  My piles got mixed up.  Know that each and every postcard is MUCH appreciated.  I even have Dan trained to say - anything cool in the mail today?