Happy Grid

I recently took a collage design class with Claudine Hellmuth and the grid was part of our homework one week. I was making all my collages digitially and had this template from Ali Edwards on hand. I had also just purchased a starfish element and this thought came to mind. I hope the birthday girl likes it!

Downs and Ups

Yesterday, I finally went to the dentist. The first time in 2 years! Terrible I know. I'm not afraid of the dentist, don't mind going but somehow our travel got in the way and well, you know how it is. Some things don't get the priority they should.  Most all was fine except a crown I thought might be loose was not. However, the crown next to it has decay underneath and I'm going back in Thurs to see if it can be dealt with or do I need a ...root canal. I'm praying for my teeth.

I was still pretty much ok with this but today, that tooth did not feel good. Never a bit of an obvious issue til today! It felt as if there were an infection in my jaw.  I was on antibiotics in less than an hour of my call to the dentist. That is a wonderful turn around time for the pharmacy at Target to fill a prescription and me taking the first pills.  So the down stuff worked out pretty darn good I'd say.

Now the ups. I've been taking Claudine Hellmuth's Collage Class at Big Picture Classes, and today finally got around to doing vignettes, the subject of lesson 3. I got behind with two lessons but was ok since the lessons are up on line - forEVAH.  Well as long as BPC is in existence which is a good enough guarantee for me.

Here's what I did. Yes, my funny bone was itchy today! I like humor in art and if I call it art, it's art. Right?? This one is "Venus on the Cabbage Leaf", an icon with a smile.

Now we have "Jack in the Beanstalk's Wife Maude" . The collage was going to be about Jack, but somehow Maude seemed to have her own thoughts on that.  I told Maude to get a realtor but she's still hoping in Jack's vines.

Are you having fun today? I hope so!

The Art of Collage

Randel Plowman is having his collage workshop down in Kentucky. Yet again I missed this one but maybe you can go. Let me know if you do and what you think. I am marking my calendar for next year as I really would like to try this class.

Transfer Technique

This is a long overdue answer to how my gel transfer images turned out. I was using ink jet copies, which I knew wouldn't work as well as inkjet, but hey...use what you have and see. DH has an inkjet so I got him to make some copies for me for another time.

You see Flopsy and Mopsy in two photos. If I had rubbed more, I would have rubbed us away. I think...and better collage-artists than I please chime in...I think there is a line between no longer wet-wet, and bone hard dry? Am I correct in thinking that one should wet/rewet and rub the paper off somewhere in the middle ground?


These are now put aside to use some later day or maybe not. Time will tell. But I get the gist of the process which was the point.

Learn and Make

Ginny of SmallStudio asked where my creations were from the collage class with Claudine Hellmuth. Well one or two are shown in the photo taken at the class. These are obviously in process. As the day wore on, I had bits of ink and gel on my hands despite a lot of washing and didn't want to handle the Iphone any more as I worked. A lot of the transfer bits weren't dry by the time I left, so they are still undone. Hopefully today they'll be uncovered.

I made two tags, which was a nice size to work with but I wouldn't bother to make tags again as I don't use them. One is for dh's birthday tomorrow so don't TELL. I liked this gesso technique. Cover with a thick layer of gesso, make it rough looking and scratch out a message. When it's dry, cover with a wash of color, and then wipe the color off to show the scratched bits. The green was the cover, and then I added bits of purple for 'the king's birthday'. It's subtle...


Here is that yellow tag from the first picture and two other bits. I like that 'contact paper' transfer but funnily enough Claudine said that Contact brand doesn't work as they have changed the formula. Hint...Target has their own brand which does work!

I may go back to that brown one on the right and do more with it or just leave it as an example of technique. I don't care for it but that's ok. I'm anxious to see the two white gel transfers uncovered. They are surely dry by now! They we'll see where that one goes.

As you see I am truly in collage kindergarten but I'm having fun, and that's the whole point for me. I now see how some things work and what I would do differently and how some technique appeals to me and others don't. I think for artwork, I can modify the saying I try to live The joy is in the journey. to The joy is in the process. Works for me!

Santa Came Early

Well, he actually arrived at the end of November and I considered this my first Christmas present. Thank you thank you thank you dear Cathy!! I bet you thought I'd never blog about this, did ya?




The collage of Patsy was a gift I won from dear Cathy of Big Cat's Emporium and more recently TinnieGirl. Patsy needed an adjective to describe her, and my choice of Pensive won out. Yeah me! Patsy flew all the way from Victoria Australia to land on my dining room table.



In January my wall of art will finally be installed (dh doesn't know about this yet...and Patsy will have a place of honor) Again, thank you so much Cathy and I hope 2009 will bring you much success with your adventures in tin land. Check out TinnieGirl at Etsy to actually purchase some lovely things. You go girlfriend!

Amazing Free Images

Yep, I know that sounds like a porn site. No no no...

It's the Library of Congress flickr site with mucho vintage images in the public domain.

Collectors of ephemera and collagers...here is a motherload. Why did I forget about this one?!?!

First seen via Justin's blog.

On my Desk....September 17

Today the desk is actually cleaner than last night's photo shows. The Halloween ATCs are mailed, the surplus ones are filed, and lots of bits are put away. However, you should have seen that desk Tuesday a.m. It was a disaster zone, or more aptly put, a desk in the middle of creativity.

If that were all the desk held...creative projects...it might be ok but it is the 'stuff' that goes in this room and has to be put away somewhere, and I am still learning where that somewhere should be. Where DOES one put all the bits that are already cut up and/or how do these get sorted?? Obviously (well so it seems to me), not in individual drawers as I don't have the time nor space to have that many one inch deep drawers. I DO have a ream of large mailing envelopes that I got thru freecycle so if I could ever 'get round to it" I guess I could use those envelopes to sort cut up bits...

Other paper artists...what do you do??

On my Desk...September 3

Not so much today. Well, that means it looks like it looked Monday night. For all my good intentions, birthday afternoon had me reeeeally sick.

(Thank you all for the birthday wishes!)

I am so unused to barfing that I was shocked. Suddenly sitting at the computer, I felt terribly hot and dizzy...burning up in fact...but thought ok, the room gets really hot in the afternoon. I went downstairs, turned on the a/c and nearly passed out. So here I am, throwing up/and lying on the kitchen floor and bless the dear cat, he decides to walk round the kitchen and do some sympathy barfing. I didn't have the energy to crawl over to the phone, and get my husband out of his office. (Does this mean I should start carrying my cell on my hip? I think not...)

I put it down to some shrimp I ate for lunch that my head told me were probably a bit past their time, though they tasted great. (Listen to your head Maureen!!!) Add a good tasting sample of cheesecake for a Saturday party/dinner, and oh my. After my stomach emptied, and my temperature dropped, I was mostly comatose all afternoon and evening. One step above napping but not totally present. Dormant, even tho I had dvds of MI-5 series 4 and 5 to watch!!!

One good thing...I had had a 3pm haircut appointment that was canceled cause the stylist was ill. Had it not been canceled, I would have been driving there when my stomach called it quits. Better the compost bin than the inside of my car....

And finally...on the desk... to be finished, are a couple of art bits to get into the mail this week. I'm more in the mood to clean up and clean out but they should be a priority. I've lost the enthusiasm for that collage but maybe it will come back.

More desks? and less sickness? Check the "On my desk" button which will take you to Kirsty's list of players. Or just jump to Kootoyoo .

Collage Workshop

Collage Workshop Photo 9
Originally uploaded by R. Plowman

Wouldn't you love to do this?? Randel Plowman has a website, A Collage a Day, and a studio to die for ...well live for! (I'm trying to avoid that DIE phrase.) When you look at his site, you'll note his technique of one 4"x4" collage a day. That seems very doable, rather like the Julia Cameron concepts of just do 3 morning pages, and the rest will start to fall into place.

I also like the idea of doing a 5 min collage with a group -your materials are out and a guided theme/or method it looks like.

I'm going to have to check out this class for next year. I see a road trip ahead!

On my desk...May 28

Yikes, I'm not sure there will be anything new on my desk today as I got the postcards for a swap finally done, and sent out. I wanted to seal the inkjet printing and am flumoxed as to what to use. Modgepodge for paper(which I doubted but bought on the clerk's advice...)made one run, as I thought it would. I bit the bullet and used some old aerosole clear lacquer which worked but of course smelled to high heaven. I would do this outside but it was starting to rain. To quote Gilda Radner's Roseanna Dandanna, It's always somthing. ANY suggestions as to what to use to coat ink jet prints is appreciated.



And as I put most of the stuff away, I am probably going to do some 'word cutting' for collages. I love doing this and used to journal with random phrases.

So I will add the pic of the postcards that were sent. Each had more stuff on the mailing side but the addresses are there so... you don't get to see that side.



What is NOT on my desk but is now on my mind is a swap I signed up for - a journal exchange, and the topics are really quite good, don't you think?? You must mail the Journal to your partner on July 1. This will take some dedication for me. (I think it will be the green journal or the black one that will be for the project.)

Here are the themes (there are 31 in total)

* write a letter to yourself in the future
* find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief biography about them
* Fill and entire page in your journal with small circles. Colour them in
* create instructions for a simple everyday task (e.g. washing up, making a cup of tea)
* Write a letter to somebody you admire
* Glue a photo of yourself as a child into your journal. Write about what you think you were doing that day
* Make a list of everything you would buy with a million pound (2 million dollars)
* write an entry in code
* find a photo, alter it in anyway you wish
* illustrate your grocery list
* make a map of everywhere you went in one day
* cut out all media for one day, write about the effects (try to do this on a non work day, but if you work everyday you may continue to use the essential things - not swapbot!)
* go for a walk, draw/list all the things you see
* Physically alter a page (i.e. cut holes in it, pour tea on it, burn it, fold it etc)
* glue an envie into your journal. For one week collect items you find in the street and put in the envie. Please don't put dangerous or really dirty items in.
* Draw or list all the things in your purse/bag (the bag you carry all your belongings around in i.e. money, phone, lipgloss, hairbrush, diary. Not the one your money and cards go in)
* Write your own definition of one of the following concepts - sitting, waiting, sleeping or eating
* write an entry in your journal in really LARGE letters (free choice what you actually write)
* Write down a secret. Cut it up and glue back randomly. You could cut the letters from differant newspapers and magazines if you wished
* create a character based on somebody you know. Write a list of personality traits
* Create an image using dots
* list 10 of your habits (or all of them if you have less than 10)
* list 10 things you would like to do every day
* list your 10 most important things. Not including animals or people
* make a list of everything you buy in the next week
* write in your journal using a differant medium (i.e. brush & ink, charcoal, old typewriter, crayons, markers) (again free choice what you write about)
* Draw the individual items of your favourite outfit
* Find a piece of poetry you respond to. Rewrite it and glue it in your journal
* record all the sounds you hear in one hour
* write about your relationship with a household appliance (i.e. washer, dishwasher, kettle)
* cut a random shape out of layers of a magazine. Make a collage of the results.

Feel free to join...Journal Swap-Theme a Day. Final date to sign up is May 31st.

Other desks to spy on are at this girl's blog...have a peep.