Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - India Yellow

Another in the quilt series, this time in yellows.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - Malaysia Green

Another from the quilt series, this one in greens, using the Smilebox website templates.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - China Blue

I'm working on a series of collages: Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make. They're quite small, 8" x 8", in a quilt layout. Each quilt section depicts some aspect from my mother's life. I found this website, Smilebox, that lets you incorporate your own images into templates, so I'm trying it out.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Passion

When asked to create a piece of art on a particular emotion, in this case passion, I started with a colour theme. Colours that immediately came to mind were red, maroon, purple and black. Yes, I realize that's a bit dark, but besides the warm and fuzzy feelings, for me passion also contains some risque, spur-of-the-moment elements. Once I assembled my tubes of paint, I searched through magazines for images that either contributed to the colour or images theme. These images were torn and placed on my background paper. Once happy with the layout, I started adding acrylic paint, both to unify the images and to further enhance the colour theme. I like to use a large flathead paintbrush and a stencil brush to get the initial colours down. At the end, to finetune things, I use various smaller brushes as well as scraps of diecut papers as stencils to add extra spot colours.

I'm on A Bit of A Roll

Basket of Lemons on a farm in Sorrento, Italy


Backyard fern


Pomegranates and squash in a market in Barcelona, Spain


Local intertidal algae

I'm feeling the need to finish everything before the Nick Bantock workshop at the end of the month. I've admired his books ever since Griffin and Sabin and am looking forward to learning some new techniques.

New Art, New Shows

Thought I'd do some smaller pieces for the 2 shows in August. I've been working away, experimenting some more with the traditional collage and paint backgrounds with laser overprints of digital collages. The first show is at the Granville Island Hotel during the island's "Made in B.C." weekend so I've used some local nature images. The "Blue Parrot Art Show and Sale runs Sunday and Monday, Autust 5 and 6, from 10 am to 5 pm both days. The Granville Island Hotel is located at 1252 Johnston Street on Granville Island in Vancouver. The second is a 2-man show in a private garden at 2836 West 19th Avenue in Vancouver on Sunday August 19th from 11 to 6. Again, I'm keep with the natural theme.


Backyard swordfern


Mediterranean shell and starfish

The more quick sale items will include cards, both the ones with the magnet embellishment and the ones with the 1-inch button pins. For those into 1-inch buttons, I'll also have the Asian ones with the Japanese paper backgrounds with your choice of Chinese calligraphy characters, and the minimalist ones with the abstract backgrounds and 2-word sayings.

Completing the Academy of Hue

Finally finished all the pieces in the series. Then I had to frame them. Since I had inherited 7 frames, I created the pieces to fit. But I got carried away and created 11, so I had to find another 4 frames that would sortof match. Good thing I got the 7 for free, because the 4 I got to match cost a fortune. But, I'm pleased with how they turned out.



Because the series is for an artists open house event in April, Artists In Our Midst, I'm also creating smaller priced items based on the works from this series. So, I've made cards using the images. To add something a little different, I've also created 1-inch buttons that match and are attached to the cards.

Digital Art Studio

I got a great book for Christmas from my husband, Digital Art Studio by Karin Schminke, Dorothy Simpson Krause and Bonny Pierce Lhotka. It discusses everything I've been trying to do with regards to combining digital and traditional materials and techniques with great step-by-step instructions and photo examples.

Up until now, I've been outputting to my Ricoh Aficio and Xerox Tektronik laser printers but am limited to maximum sizes of 11" by 17". I also have an HP Designjet inkjet plotter that allows up to 24" wide, but I hadn't attempted using it, until this book came along. I've been patiently waiting for my order of some of the needed materials from Daniel Smith in Seattle because I couldn't find InkAid or large sheets of polyester film locally. This weekend I'm hoping to attempt some larger test prints with the Designjet.

Other books I'm wanting to read now are Digital Photo Art by Theresa Airey, Digital Photo Artist by Tony Worobjec and Ray Spence, and Mastering Digital Printing by Harald Johnson.

The Academy of Hue

I'll be participating in Artist In Our Midst again in the spring, so I'm trying to get a head start on producing some new work.

I inherited 7 beautiful square frames - black, gold and silver - from an artist who was downsizing from a large studio to a home studio. So, I've come up with a series based on the 3 primary colours, 3 secondary colours, and white. The imagery is based on various departments of a university: theology, fine arts, psychology, linguistics, economics, biology and history.

I also inherited a set of black mattes that contain a number of windows: 3 have 6 and 3 have 12. These are from another artist who was cleaning out her storage cupboards. In keeping with the university theme, the 3 with 6 I'm using for the laboratories. The 3 with 12, I'm using for the libraries.

Detail from The Zoology Laboratory and The Botany Laboratory

New ATCs

New ATCs from a "leaf" swap.
Think I'll try applying this technique to some larger works

More Artists Trading Cards

I'm on a roll.

Artists Trading Cards

I've become addicted to making these 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 art pieces. It's a chance for me to get right into that paint and glue. As the name implies, these mini artworks are to be traded and not sold.



I had never made them before but signed up to participate in an ATC swap earlier this year through an internet art group I'm a member of. Each participant received the same packet of materials and were to create and send in 3 ATCs, for which each participant would received 3 ATCs back. The 3 I received were all so different, even though we all started with the same materials.



But, of course I made 4 and kept one for myself as a souvenier.



So, the group has another ATC swap and this time there are no restrictions. So I've tried some new techniques, incorporating some of my laser transfers onto collaged and painted card. Can't wait to see what I get in return.

The Mind Is A Mansion

This is page 7 from The Mind Is A Mansion, an altered board book. The original book came with the holes. Background consists of washes of acrylic paint. The black and white text and image are transfers. Image is a black and white laser output of a traditional (non digital) collage onto release paper. Mirror image text is also a laser output to release paper. The transfer itself is accomplished using gel medium.

text for The Mind Is A Mansion:

The mind is a mansion that contains many rooms
Each a compilation described by our thoughts, dreams, emotions, ecstasies,
angers and secrets of our deepest selves.
There is so much that remains unseen
until we unlock the door and look inside.
There are infinite questions to be asked.
Much of the mind is cloaked in mystery
The more we look inside each room
the more we realize
that while these paradoxes and enigmas
are infinitely questioned,
they are forever never answered.

Shadows of Mortality

This is Sorrow, a digital collage that is part of a 12-piece series called Shadows of Mortality. The entire series was also produced as a limited edition artist book by the same name as this series includes a lot of text. All the words on each of the pieces relate to the titles, in the case of Sorrow, words include melancholy, heartache, anguish, regret, pain and unhappiness. Other titles in the series include Contrition, Uninvited, Despair, Abandoned and Solitude.

Sorrow is on display during Matters of the Heart at the Unitarian Church at Oak and 49th until March 5.

Intro to the book:

All humans share a common bond - mortality.
It is the realization of our fragility
that sets us apart from other living things.
And each day,
shadows of our mortality test this fragility.

Some people are haunted by their shadows,
allowing the shadows to consume and darken their lives,
spreading their shadows and engulfing all in their path.
Others, accept their shadows,
but must re-confront them with every new step.
Others still, embrace their shadows,
celebrating the strengths and triumphs that evolve,
using their shadows as a palette for creative expression.
I welcome you to take a walk among some of my shadows.
I trust you will recognize some.
And for those that you do identify with,
rest assured that you are not alone.
I welcome you to take a walk among some of my shadows.
I trust you will recognize some.
And for those that you do identify with,
rest assured that you are not alone.