I am gearing up to go back to my 40 hr week desk job after a two month medical leave…I have to work at my computer for at least four hours a day to recapture my skills on the keyboard.  I am keeping busy with PT, swimming, reading and art. I am taking on a new responsibility as the blogger for Crowabout Studio B where I will announce the news about Nancy’s latest kits and magic potions. Above is a hybrid sample of Tumblefish/Crowabout Studio B of my own design called “Ima Stinker”…In a few weeks you may get it…if not, just enjoy. it’s a beautiful day in Portland and I am still at the desk typing away…I think I need a nap. Below is a mistake swap_bot skinny and a photo of the zetti triptych

The last two weeks were filled with friends and family who came out to Oregon to help me recover. I was treated royally by my sister, Sigrid, and by my childhood best friend, Lorah, who both kept me busy seeing the sights and enjoying the local hipster ‘hoods. I had very little time for my CT duties but am trying to catch up now…

Here are the latest from Crowabout Studio B

here is a submission to Tumblefish Studio’s monthly challenge on tattoo’s

my entry was an altered vintage portrait done in photoshop:

and today I made the world’s largest bookmark! 4×12 and filled with images from Crowabout Studio B!

For those of you who don’t really know me…for the last year I was suffering from a pinched nerved caused by a herniated disc at C5 in my neck. 13 days ago I underwent surgery to alleviate the burning, stabbing, electrical pain. The surgery is called ‘Micro Posterior Cervical Laminectomy’. I can report today that it was a very successful surgery! I had 5 days of excruciating post op pain which made me wonder if I had done the right thing. But today I am noticing that things are much much improved and the pain is about a 2 (compared to the 8 pre surgery) I am able to sit at the computer for about an hour now. I have cut back my pain meds by half. I have even been able to keep up on my design team duties. So in random order-here are the latest:

images from Nancy’s kit Men in Hats and some image from flickr of an old dude pulling up his horse blanket.

i think this is last weeks Crowabout with images from Nayski. Zib calls her ‘This Girl’…

This is ‘St Larry of the Hats’ I misspelled Hats…it should be ‘chapeaux’.  images are from Crowabout Studio B.

I about threw up my cottage cheese when I read in the news that Kim Jong Il said he’d created an ‘invisible phone’! I read on wikipedia he also had some other bizarre claims of fame. He’s such a little girl-I dressed him up!

This is an ATC i made for Marsha of Tumblefish Studio’s ATC swap. Mine is old skool not digital. I have yet to find out who my partner is….

The Hair Family is an online challenge thru Flickr. You download the original and then alter it somehow. This is my contribution. here is the original:

here is part of a journal page i started the other night:

and here is todays work:

weebles wobble…remember them?? the images are from Nancy Baumiller’s kit “Wild Things” found at deviantscrap.com

I am starting to get sore now-so I best finish up here…cya l8r!

From Grassy Hill a kit by Nancy’s Crowabout Studio_B at www.deviantscrap.com

I posted this to Flickr as ‘Dream It and BE FREE’ and my friend Sue (aka Zibelline) thought it said “Damn It and Be Free”…This one is for you ZiB!

here are some more pieces created with kits from Crowabout Studio B at www.deviantscrap.com

5 days till surgery…

used images from grassy hill and bit of vintage by crowabout studio B

used bit of vintage which i crop and hand colored:

Nancy Baumiller invited me to be on her design team for a new line of digital scrapbook papers and embellishments thru DeviantScrap.com. Here is a promo I made for opening day, today May 24, 2010:

It’s an honor to be among such a diverse group of talent; and all the supplies are FREE!!  Unfortunately this ‘digital’ scrapbooking looks best when done thru PhotoShop which I do not own. I  am attempting to make do with the software that came with my HP printer. Santa, if you are listening….

Below are design samples from the kits created by Nancy B, now credited as “Crowabout Studio B @ DeviantScrap.com”. I am not profitting from these collages – just doing this for a friend to help her get her bizness off the ground. Good Luck Nancy! Visit www.deviantscrap.com for more info!

created from ‘Borders&Bits’, ‘Funky People Parts’ and ‘Fab Frames’ all kits designed by Crowabout StudioB@Deviant.com

for swap_bot.com….someone will get this handmade postcard made by me and in turn I will get one made by them! I wanted to get it out of the way since I am going digital with my new venture on DeviantScrap.com…

Here are the two latest: one is for Deb’s birthday present and the other is made out of leftovers from Deb’s present…

Deb saw the ‘Be Glad’ 16×16 commision and decided she wanted HER favorite Psalm done for her birthday April 25th:

and this one is the leftovers: while making a collage for a friend, little leftover scraps and pieces kept catching my eye. The central body shape was for a jewelry spread in some fashion rag. The are always extras of everything I cut….arms, legs, flowers. She was wanting to dance I guess so I found this quote on the interwebz and learned that Mata Hari was really Dutch and not the double agent I thought she was…back ground paper Life’s Journey K&Co; distress ink, pen, TOMBO markers, black sharpie….

This is the fourth Lady-wing collage. She ended up looking like Gina Gershon but she is based on an image from a 1954 Good Housekeeping. I use vellum to trace the original dress and create  a template. The template is placed on designer card stock until the dress looks ‘right’ to me. I cut out the dress and distressed the edges with tea dye Ranger ink. The belt (or any accessory) is created the same way.

The original image is scanned and reprinted on 32 lb linen and then hand colored with pencil and pastel to create a painted look. Sometimes an arm or head will be replaced by other arms/heads (from other images) and pasted on to the body. The dress is pasted over this and sometimes more embellishment occurs with either pastel, ink or adhesive gems, or charms on the work.

When the paper doll is dressed she is placed on a complimentary background. Then the work is scanned and cropped. Sometimes text is added. This particular collage has text that translated reads: “Where is Julie? I think I found the diamond ring she lost in the pool.”

‘Constance, not unlike the California Condor had a reputation for seeking out carrion and elderly billionaires…’

This is Lady-wing collage No. 3. Her head was added at the last minute when the original image turned out looking like a snake with malignant melanoma.  It took over 24 hours to complete Constance. Her dress and sweater shrug were very complex as was her jewelry.  She was floating in space until I added the vulture for her to lean on.

I did my research. The California Condor has a bad rap (rep?) just like Constance. Please do your part to save these beautiful condors.

http://www.cacondorconservation.org/

Ladywing #2 is a 12×12 collage. Vintage image from a 1954 Good Housekeeping was scanned and then printed on linen paper, hand colored with Prang pencils and ink pen. Paper doll dresses were created from cardstock (K&Co~Que Sera Sera) and embellished with hats, and wings of my own design and construction. Pale pink & fuschia adhesives gems for earrings and necklace, ring. Sash on belted dress is mounted with pop dot for 3D illusion. Dolls placed on remains of two 12×12 sheets from the Sasha Collection.

Image was then scanned and uploaded to add text in photoshop. I played around with different effects and posted a cropped ‘watercolor” version on Flickr. This is the “text” version…

My friend, Kirsten,  was accused of being a “Decepticon” by her boyfriend, David (who will be attending the Star Trek movie with us tomorrow) when  she was being sneaky but attempting to look innocent. We tagged the header for the movie trailer voice over…”don’t be fooled, she is really a Decepticon!” on our lunch break one day. For more info on what David was alluding to see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decepticon

I love the idea that men can be hoodwinked by a pretty smile and good make-up. These two Ladywings are definitely up to no good.

The caption on the image is sort of lost to me now-but that last line is French for, “Where is Mother and Father?”

Lady-wing #1 is an 8×10 Collage~vintage image, cut and pasted paper dress/wings/bonnet all hand made by me using printed designer paper(Sasha Collection), distress ink, pastel, ink pen,
paper punched flowers, background page from Sasha Collection (Prima).

Although you may mistake her for Sarah Jessica Parker, this model is probably 75 years old by now. I found her in a 1952 Good Housekeeping magazine for a Kotex advertisement! She had a drab beige Dior gown that screamed: Dress Me Up!

She is very popular now with her new flowery dress and big wings. But she needs to see the chiropractor since the collar necklace has been around her neck for 57 years.

This image was not retouched except for eye make-up done with ink pen and distress ink on her gloves.

Number One in the Lady-wing series.

I have been working out the elements/arrangements of this painting for several weeks in my head. As you know, I have a large collection of victorian ephemera and have been gathering antique portraits for many years. I have been fascinated by medical coding and will attempt to create a vintage form of coding similar to the Victorian’s “Language of Flowers”. Here is the first rough draft of a 20×20 canvas.

here is some info for all you flower lovers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_flowers

I found honey o in another very old magazine from 1953. I will give the detail on construction later as it is too late and my neck hurts really bad. 12×12 collage done in the same way as all the other lady-wings.

Mother Electra was one of the many vintage images found in the 19th century ephemera stash. I had read an article about making *mini books* and I thought I would give it a whirl. I began by gathering images that would tell the story and then wrote the story to go with the images. I used some of the tricks from the article and added doors, pockets and sliders within the book. The interior pages were designed with a repeat leaf pattern which I embellished with gold ink. Two pages were glued together back to back  and cut into 6″ strips. I created four strips which folded in half and stapled in the center made 16 pages. I knew that a hard cover would eventually conceal pages 1 and 16 so I left those blank.  See Mother Electra’s Pride and Joy for page construction.

I was invited last week to join a weekly artist’s challenge on Flickr, hosted by Crowabout (aka Nancy Baumiller). The host sends out a collage sheet on Sundays to all members of the group by posting it on Flickr. From there it’s basically a free-for-all; you are allowed to do what ever you want with the images to create a piece of art. You must use at least 3 images to be in the running for the weekly prize. But you are encouraged to use all the images.

The challenge as I see it is to create an original work that uses the images in different and unexpected ways. I was so excited to play I made mine into a real game, based on the old game spinners of yesteryear , that I’ve noticed are finding their way back into vogue. So I put the collage sheet into the collage creator program and separated the spinner base from the other images and enlarged it. I printed the spinner base on card-stock. I then hand colored the spinner base and all the little faces. I made a real spinner out of another image (printed 5x in a row) and cut it out in the shape of a needle spinner. I poked a hole in the center of the base and attached the spinner to the base with a copper brad.

This game was then placed on top of a variety of images from the collage sheet, including the tattoo of a pretty senorita. The senorita I also enlarged and flipped and printed on card-stock. Her blouse is another image of an old box of beef bouillon cubes!

I embellished the senoritas with pencil, ink and gems.

The Crow-about Challenge was lots of fun and took me most of Sunday to complete. I guess I will go outside now and enjoy some of this summer weather!

Today was so beautiful I just had to get outside and stroll by the magic waterfall. It was so bloody hot though, I thought I was going to faint. I bought some new designer paper and before I went to bed created this collage…

A co-worker requested a Lady-wing of her youngest daughter, Jenna-Ann whose birthday was May 19th. I suspect that there is some fairy blood in her family, as her girls all love PINK!

I wanted to do a baby Lady-wing and am fortunate that  I found the right one. This is Jenna-Ann who was found under the azaleas all pink and sparkly with her pink diamond tiara and giant baby wings! 

I only had a small photo of her in a swimsuit. I made the dress out of Sasha Collection and the wings from K&Co. The original is 12×12.

Pinkie Taylor was so thrilled with Jenna-Ann she showed it to everyone at the office. Marlene, one of the follow up team, asked me if I’d make one for her grand-daughter. Here is Avery, the summertime fairy. This was a major cut and paste job-since I had two photos to work with. 

Paper used: Wild Saffron (K&Co) for dress and hat, Marah Johnson (Creative Imaginations) background, flowers from scraps of Sasha Collection. A variety of adhesive gems (Darice & Me&My Big Ideas)

12×10 collage.

Jessica came over last night for *art night*. We each worked on different projects and ate chips and salsa & ice cream from the dairy bar.

I worked on Crowabout #37. Since I wanted to be totally original with my collage I created a kalidescope effect with the floral border that came on the collage sheet. There was also a pig and a flapper gal and a bunch of bird eggs and vintage fruit crate labels. I am sort of hooked on the adhesive gems and went a little psychodelic on this one:

 I cut up all the text from the fruit labels and came up with:

Date Dribble Deluxe A Circle Of Luscious Girl Fruit

I stuck an egg on the Blue Ribbon Berry’s and put that on her tummy. I also put an egg on her head. I had a dress in the image stash (not part of the collage sheet) that I colored with pastels to match the blue sky background.

I think she is Egg-Ceptional.

Don’t you?

The only energy I have when it is 93 degrees in the shade is to go to Safeway’s Starbucks and get a caramel light frappacino. Then, of course ,  I wander the aisles in air-conditioned comfort hoping they will not notice I am pushing an empty cart.

I was exhausted after doing Crowabout #38. Nancy was sneaky and posted the collage sheet on her photostream and NOT in the Collage Play with Crowabout group on Flickr. I think only 3 of us have posted so far.

Crowabout Collage Play Week 39 featured some vintage ads and a rooster head I could not resist playing with. Here are the details on this 12×12 collage.

“The Wigwam Villages went out of business in 1939 after their award winning White Rooster “Big Daddy” collapsed under the weight of yet another insatiable female patron. The owner’s put up a sign explaining what ”happened” and why they had to close their teepees and lucrative side show entertainment featuring the 10 cent rooster rides and the Talking Tuxedos, two cats that did vaudeville schtick and who peed on command. The Most Unique Tourist Haven in America was truly an example of what my father called: High Weirdness. It has been rumoured that Big Daddy is still alive and living with Zibelline in Minnesota. The cats are still roaming about Cave City looking for handouts and clean litter boxes.”

Thanks, Nancy B for the collage sheet. *Rider* courtesy of Lunagirl Images. Cat heads are from NYPL digital image collection.

The body of the rooster is cut out of cardstock from K&Co’s fabulous dual sided Que Sera Sera collection. It was made out of  ten different pieces; four wing parts, one body part, two thighs, two legs and of course, the rooster’s head, which was enlarged and cropped from the collage sheet. Rider body was copied off of Lunagirl CD from ‘bathing beauties’ section and then hand colored to match the lady head on the collage sheet that Nancy sent.  Her bathing costume (and shoes) was created by making a vellum template of the orignal and then pasting pieces from the collage sheet onto the vellum. The patchwork was sealed with  clear tape and cut out and placed over the orignal. Hat was made from enlarged dahlia and embellished with adhesive gems. Pop dots, glue and doubled sided tape were used to put the rooster and rider together.

Columns and banner header were digitally manipulated from collage sheet. Banner was hand colored with pen and and ink to add more contrast.

Cat bodies/heads were reversed before construction. Text ‘yourself’  & ’10cents’ from collage sheet; the rest from my computer printed on yellowing design scrapbook paper and then hand colored and cut out. Arrangement was difficult as my scanner only takes an 8×11 photo.  the 12×12 background is a cardstock page by basic grey.com (wassail/olive branch)

I will do some reserach on the Wigwam Villages…I would not be surprised if a Walmart has permanently replaced this property. The term “High Weirdness” was coined by Ivan Stang, founder (publisher) of the Church of the Sub-Genius, a compendium of oddball culture of which America is famous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Stang

there is a challenge on Flickr called: The Many Faces of Mona Lisa. You can submit any kind of artwork as long as Mona Lisa is in it and it’s G-rated. ‘Mona Leasha’ is Kirsten’s idea-but I created the artwork. It is vellum on a Formica chip from Home Depot with ink and pencil. The chip is glued to a  3×5 piece of black mat board.  The dark circle around her eye is NOT an eyepatch. It is the hole cut out of the chip to hang on the display. This chip is just one of many left over from my kitchen re-model five years ago. I knew they would get used someday!

Cade, Avery & Aric had a great time on Grandpa’s boat up on Frog Lake last summer. The original photo was lacking the postcard quality background so I cut that out and superimposed them on this great shot of Mt Hood. (Frog Lake). Each child’s paper doll template contained between 8 and  12 pieces! This one took two week-ends to complete. I am going submit the before and after shot to K&Co’s editor and show her that their cardstock pads can be used more creatively than just scrapbooking!

Once I had the kid’s outfits glued into place and their skin colored in with pencil I decided on the background. The image was digitally enhanced in Photo Impression and then printed on a clear transparency. Then the transparency was placed over another *blue* sheet from the K&Co collection. Mount Hood was printed on plain paper and colored over with oil pastel and pencil. This was slipped between the transparency and the cardstock.

I rearranged the kid’s for balance, putting Avery in the center. The dragonfly hairclips were the last embellishment. Vellum, pencil  and OPI glitter top coat (Paris Couture For Sure) gave her some sparkle (since you can’t seen her fairy wings under the safety vest).

12×12 collage created with images from Nancy Baumiller’s collage sheet for week 40 Crowabout.

Before they got the gig at the Wigwam Villages, The Talking Tuxedos worked at Coney Island in 1910. They misread the ad in Variety and thought they’d be performing at  “Tuna Park”. They opened for a musical spectacle called “Cod Moments” featuring a group of identical mermaids who re-enacted the Birth of Venus in a salt water pool. The show opened and closed the same night. The Angelfish Sisters took their act to Florida to a place called Weeki Wachi. The “Safety Matches” burned out and headed to Kentucky.

8×11 collage done old school cut and paste. Kirsten is responsible for this madness that has come over me. She also suggested Mona Leasha. Vincent Van Go Go was pretty easy. Found the ‘dancers’ on a Google search for 60′s dancers. Not sure if they were costumes or the real thing-they looked kind of staged. Printed them out full size and cut off their heads (including their ears) Easy to find the Van Gogh self portraits-chose two of four-flipped one and printed, cut  & pasted. I hand colored the images for added contrast. The background and dance floor were out of the scrap pile!

I did a little research and learned of the new theory about the ‘ear’. Some French scholars are claiming that Vincent and Paul Gauguin were arguing over their favorite hooker, Rachel. Gauguin, who liked to carry a SWORD got angry at Vincent for shoving him and thus retaliated by pulling out the ‘epee’ in self defense. The ear was severed off but Vincent was so in love with Gauguin he did not file charges and instead claimed he did it to himself. He then gave the ear to Rachel for safe keeping. Gauguin split and never talked to Vincent again! It’s sound plausible-but you have to wonder why Gauguin never fessed up to it. Oh, and by the way, they were drunk. On absinthe, no doubt.

Vincent died two years later at age 37 of a self inflicted gun shot wound.

Stay tuned for KBP’s debut art work here soon….

I am hoping Santa will bring me a large format scanner so I can upload these 12×12 collages. This one is for Crowabout Collage Play week 41. I now understand how you can inadvertently ‘copy’ someone else’s idea-as I copied Zibelline’s cow head man without knowing it! Apologies, ZiB!!

It was so late when I did this-it’s sort of a blur. I did most of it in Collage Creator to save on ink and cutting.  I used 11 out of 17 images from the collage sheet: which is disappointing since the images were all really cool.

I did enjoy hand coloring the ‘eyes’ and making the film hair for the Britney WannaBe’s. The Twin’s were going to have cat heads until my computer froze up and I kept the cows as is. Wide Awake at 3 a.m. is scary. I must stop drinking the diet Dr. Pepper.

I have been complaining about the pain in my neck and just found out I will most likely need surgery. I have slacked off on doing almost everything-but can’t seem to stop submitting to Collage Play. Here is week #42. If you go to my Flickr page there is a funny little story about this piece. I am pleased it turned out-basically a pencil drawing.

found a new group on Flickr called RETRO_COLLAGE. Dang! This is what most of them look like. My first attempt.

week 43 was really hard for me…it took about five tries before i gave up and came out with this…so now everyone wants a BOOK/zine with the stories on the inside….I need a manager. i am up too late…had to wait for the frieworks to stop…

here is the collage sheet from Nancy; I used almost all the elements. I am seriously considering a small 12 page zine for my flickr crowabout friends.  maybe magcloud?

if my neck felt better I may have done this collage on paper but since I was low on ink and also feeling sort of crappy I cheated and made it in the collage creator. this is not my best and if you felt like you had a 5 inch mutant wasp biting and stinging your neck with electricity pulsing after each bite you’d do that same as i did…sort of surprised myself when I guessed “flinch” was a card card game. and for some reason cut & paste to wiki is not working….

patrick???

“it was by the shores of the Temple of the Giant Blue Baby Heads that Nayski’s great great grandfather, the illustrious Captain Isiah Nayski discovered the curative powers of the sea where the ancient Egyptian god Serapa Kitty peed magical crystals.
Thanks to Nancy B whose week 45 Crowabout  collage sheet featured a giant blue baby that few of us could translate into a proper Christmas themed collage; also thanks to ArtsyFartsyQueen for the game boards, other images various sources including the NYPL digital gallery.
For Nayski: thanks for giving me another insane idea….”

this is an afterthought. there was a hideous blue baby on this weeks collage sheet and for the life of me i could not get it to look like a human child. and i wasn’t the only one! it was a “Christmas in July” theme so I created a Christmas tree from this sheet:

i tried several variations and ended up destroying all. i was so tired and my neck was hurting so i shredded all the images and made this:

the neck thing has not let up. working part time helps but i will have to return to work soon. getting a steroid blast in C5-6-7 in the morning. hopefully this will stop the constant burning vibration in my neck and shoulder. here is the blue baby that i gave up on due to the pain in the neck (saturdays crowabout) this was photo impression work…my right shoulder was sore after this much color smudge. i was real unhappy with how it turned out-but lo and behold nayski and a few others in the group had the SAME problemo! that damn blue baby. so i took it a step further and found some great images in the interwebz…see next post. wish me luck. and jess, i’m thinking about ya and sending the love!

created for the Flickr group ‘Pointy Hats and Wings’ my witch fairy is ready to learn your fate thru her Ouija board. Ask anything! Ouija knows all. The group is a collection of some serious pointy hat artists, especially my favorite, TumbleFish, aka Marsha Jorgensen. The admin is the ever lovely and creative Nancy Baumiller who has taken many of us art witches under her wing.

I spent only a couple of hours on this peice which included cut & paste, scanning, hand coloring, scanning, photo shop and more scanning. I increased the contrast to bring out her ghastly complexion and make the Ouija float beneath her hands.

Today marked the first day of Autumn but you would never know it as it was 93 degrees here in Portland, Oregon. It is hard to wear my pointy hat when it is that hot!

the elder goth dance party takes place at a historic “mormon” establishment which has a long curse near the shores of the great salt lake. read the full history here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltair,_Utah

WINNER!!! Week 55 Collage Play with Crowabout! How exciting to have been chosen as this week’s winner! My prize was a lovely collage sheet of awesome borders from Nancy Baumiller’s Etsy shop!

Yahoo!!!!!

when Zibelline posted her last crowabout collage i commented “you know what green hearts mean…”

no she didn’t. neither did half a dozen other members. so i created this as a reply and definition of a term that has absolutely not been coined ever; until now.

green heart~adjective used to describe engaged or married gentlemen who betray or who are disloyal to their spouse. “Elsie never forgot when her husband strayed and she became the original Fat Cat Lady”

Back in high school I was in love with the fashions of Ernest Tubb & the Texas Troubadors, George Jones and Porter Wagonner. Their album covers frequently featured them wearing ‘Nudie Suits” designed by the famous Hollywood costumer: Nudie Cohn.  I remember designing my own wardrobe of western wear and trying to find vintage nudie style shirts to wear to the grateful dead or new riders of the purple sage concerts in NYC circa 1974.

The closest I got to that Dale Evans look was when I wore a silk kimono with army fatigues and Frye boots to a Jerry Garcia show in Jersey City. I carried a toy pistol that came with my authentic childhood cowgirl costume. I got my picture in the local rock rag and it wasn’t because of the toy gun…

I have not attempted the cowgirl look since then. However, vintage cowgirls, like the kind on the album cover of the Byrds “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” still intrigue me-so when this week’s crowabout challenge had a pistol packin’ mama on it-I found my way back to my roots

Yeehaw Cowgirl!!!

the talent at the st cloud post office:

The annual talent show in the St Cloud post office is not to be missed; not only does Zibelline dance with monkey’s she also arm wrestles with a contortionist named The Horned Devil. During the first match ZiB broke off one of his horns and the ensuing fracas created such drama and mayhem they were BOTH disqualified! The judge was sweet on the Spinster Twins whose talent was licking stamps and cancelling postage, but the winner was the darling Fiona McGinty -half Irish and half Swallowtail who charmed everyone when she flew around the post office singing Norwegian folk songs.

12×12 mixed media collage; digitally enhanced images from Nancy Baumiller collage sheet for week 57 crowabout. vintage images from my own collections. hand colored with pencil, pen and distress ink.

November 21st at Reedwood Friends Church. We got there early enough to find what we thought was the best table-alas we were by the exit! There was very little (if any) advertising but we still had a fun time and were amazed by the number of vendors that came to sell their wares. We were by far the most unique and quirky of the 25+ vendors. Jessica’s Star Trek ATC’s sold like hotcakes and Deb’s beaded ornaments were also very popular. I got the feeling that many of the tables around us had been doing this for years and some were quite adept at the hard sell.  I did not have a sale until 2 pm-which was sort of disappointing. Until I have done this a few more times I will not be bitter about the lack of customers-I’m just glad that I got my earrings and easels back from the church office! Apparently we left them behind in the parking lot!

as much as I would love to go to friends and family this year-I have chosen to create ART for paying customers. Here is my gift to you all: Lady GaGa as a turkey pilgrim….enjoy the holidays!

The threat of a winter storm with 6 inches of snow sleet and freezing rain turned out to be a dud. But fortunately the lack of inclement weather allowed me to take part in the Hip Happening down in the Sellwood area. Thanks to all of those brave souls who ventured out in 34 degree rain to come shop at my small booth and save the day!

blind collage is a fun thing to do when you are completely brain dead (like I am today) just throw a bunch of random images on your scanner screen face down. don’t worry about order. just start with small images and lay larger and larger on top of those till the screen is full. above is my blind collage to thank you all for coming out yesterday!

work in progress…original here;—>after scanning and photoshop, added atlantic city boardwalk and removed backround and some text which says i’m bored etc…this is a mosaic of a photo-all but the far right side of her face has been replaced with paper that was treated with ranger distress ink and pencil. magazine paper always scans with funky lines on it. this is a work in progress.

4×8 altered postcard. K&Co backgrounds, dover.com clip art. various body parts from magazines. per wikipedia: maria letiza, napolean’s mom was obsessed with cleanliness bathing 8 of 13 surviving children every week as opposed to once a month as was the custom during the 18th century.

text: a letter between me and my mother. napolean is thinking:”is it almost bath time yet?”

not all little boys are made up of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.  this is cropped portion of 8×12. from flickr collage group hosted by Nancy B. week 62.

week 64 collage play with crowabout. next week i get to play ‘admin’ and submit the collage sheet for our Flickr group! wheee! it will be a birthday sheet to celebrate the creator “Nancy B.”‘s birthday!

the watercolor pencils are so much fun…i used them to enhance the somewhat bland portraits. 8×11 pencil ink and watercolor….

can’t decide which one to use….

with unread piles of fashion mags stacked everywhere in my studio I started organizing by tearing them up systemically. First I remove the subscription cards that fall out or must be torn out of their perforation. Then I tear out ALL the perfume ads-these are the evil page and a 16th with a gummed flap sprayed with the foul combo of civet and bergamot. They are thicker pages than the magazine and are usually the first you come across when ‘thumbing’ thru the mag. They go straight into the garbage!

Next I look for the skinniest most immaciated models and cut them out for zetti collage.

Then if I need an assorted body part I go thru it again and grab those and if I see any big EYES or MOUTHS~ those get cut out too. Last but not least: Any time the text is downright obscene and is larger than a 32 pt font it gets cut out for the scrap bin for letters and verse.

Random quote author unknown: “Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget”..background K&Co card stock design enhanced by watercolor pencil. The underfed models from W, Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire. all images hand colored with pen and acrylics. glitter applied to random spots where glue did not dry correctly. piece then altered in collage creator to add painted effect. completed in two stages. art work took about 6 hours.

12×12 mixed media collage; background newsprint K&Co Life’s Journey, border cut out pieces from graphic cardstock pad K&Co “Greenhouse” by Carolyn Gavin and then embellished with PITT pen. zetti strips and doodles pen and white acrylic paint by artist, fashion models/body parts from Marie Claire, Vogue, Elle, etc. Charlotte Bronte central figure from black & white image courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Images which was then hand colored with watercolors and pen. Various litho graphics dover.com/ entire piece painted with acrylic wash. Inspiration from Flickr artist ‘artvisionary’ http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/a/artvisionary/
Detailed work is absolutely entrancing and for me a way to unwind…

I am not exactly a fan of MTV”s ‘Jersey Shore” but there is a really hilarious character named ‘Snookie” who is about 5’2 with chubby thighs and a bumpit. She is getting a lot of press due to her Jersey inbred sub-intelligence. She seems to run on feelings rather than logic-hence the comic value here with the Bronte quote.

Now about Bronte…born in 1816 the third of six children in Thorton, Yorkshire. A gifted writer she wrote under a male psuedonym in order to be published. Along with her sister, Emily, wrote poems and stories, the most famous of which, Jane Eyre, made her a celebrity in 1847 when she was at last able to reveal her true identity.  Her life mirrored much of the story in Jane Eyre of tragic love affairs, family members hooked on opiates, and the grim reality of life in the 19th century which meant your life would most likely end due to TB or something that today is completely preventable.

Single until her mid 30′s she finally wed her father’s curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. Sadly, she died while pregnant along with the couples first child in 1855 less than a year after her marriage. Researchers argue over the cause of death: Hyperemesis gravidarum (extreme morning sickness) or TB or typhoid! She was 38 years old.

Here is  a commissioned work for a client who is deeply moved by Psalm 118:24. I recall seeing some crazy pictures in our family bible as a little kid, but not like this! This photo was taken under spot lights but there is a glare from the 6 coats of varathene sealant;  it looks way better in person. 

Here is a scanned portioned:

It is a big hit with my scripture loving friends. I have an idea for a series…Psalms and Proverbs are pretty cool.

one year ago today I made a promise (a delayed new year’s resolution) that I would ‘Create ART Everyday’…I am happy to report that this piece marks 98 on Flickr and over 110 pieces in my portfolio. I think this means I AM creating a new piece every 3 days (some art takes time).

This piece was submitted to Nancy Baumiller’s Collage Play With Crowabout(see her blog here: http://crowabout.blogspot.com/) from week 68′s collage sheet. The central girl figure was originally b&w in a grainy dark early 20th century style. I worked that image with pen and watercolor pencil. Then I  added to her dress with other images from the sheet and used legs from an ad found in In Style. I cut & paste all the images  to line the border. Background sheet K&Co Life’s Journey-with additional motif’s from other K&Co scraps. (I have tons).

My favorite part is the Japanese paper lanterns (my studio is lit with these in one corner but they are white not multi-colored) I used a FISKARS 1″ circle cutter (the squeeze kind-so EZ!) on a half dozen paper scraps. I then drew the lines on them to give them the circular dimension with PITT pen.

All my images are glued down with TOMBO permanent adhesive. If any peel up due to humidity I seal the corners with some O’Glue. The final step is adding the quote.

The key in the lower right corner inspired me and thus I chose one from www.great-quotes.com about the key to Heaven. (She is not really wearing a dunce cap-but she does have doubts about herself)

Nathaniel Parker Willis’ bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Parker_Willis

I am not new to journaling or graffiti text but am challenged by the limited space on a piece-this time I practiced the set-up on a piece of vellum over the spot I want to add the quote. No matter-I still screwed it up and it took FOREVER to finish it….I am in love with my white SAKURA Gelly Roll pen but the damn thing dries out in 30 seconds. I recently bought UCHIDA Marvy Opaque DECO COLOR pens (recommended by the cashier at Art Media) but they only work on magazine glossy paper!! AARGH!

So if any of my readers know of a good white pen-please let me know

briedah@msn.com

The central part of this piece was done in the traditional cut&paste format. Then I imported to my photo/collage creator and added the zetti strips from my “You Can Play Too” and the pink circles from Nancy’s Week 47 collage sheet. I painted the background black. I tweaked the contrast and saturation only a wee bit. And now it is DONE! Total time: 14 hours!

This year has bought me much joy along with much pain from a pinched nerve in my neck (still seeking treatment). Art has given me a chance to focus on something other than the pain and also to keep me away from the cookie jar which my doctor warned will send me into full blown diabetes if I don’t quit sugar! It has worked! My numbers have all dropped and I’m feeling less *puffy*.  I still have sugar once in a while but I am conscious of the effect it has-it KNOCKS me OUT!

The other benefit from being creative is knowing I am using my talent to make others HAPPY! Sometimes I even get a few dollars for my work but it is not so much the income as the joy of being lost in my work; it is an escape from fear and anxiety that brings me the most satisfaction. Also added benefit-my home is beginning to look like an ART GALLERY!!

One more thing, joining www.Flickr.com  has introduced me to a world of new friends and incredible artists whom I’ve been reading about in Somerset Studio or Juxtapoz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtapoz) and getting feedback from them is like a drug. My view count is currently 8,394!!!

Having my own website is possible thru the kindness and generosity of my brother John (www.jebswebs.com) . Without his incredible support and phenomenal technical wizardry I would be one sad puppy (sitting on a wet newspaper). He is also my strongest booster in regards to making my ART a commercial success…I owe him a gazillion thanks and big hugs!!

Now as I did one year ago today: a snapshot of my desk currently~

where:  studio

when: Sunday Feb 28 1:30 pm                                                                                       

Listening to: “Diplomat’s Son” Vampire Weekend   

on my desk right now: tombo roller, Ranger distress ink, FISKARS circle punch, FISKARS 12″ paper trimmer,  UCHIDA, PITT, SHARPIE, SAKURA pens, Kimberly watercolor pencils, pencil carousel, electric and old skool pencil sharpener, Running Press “Friendship” mini book, cut-out parrot bird from dover book, red, white & gold GLITTEREX glitter, crystal geyser water bottle, coffee cup,  and current art work “Key To Heaven”   

mood: energetic, happy 

recent creations: key to heaven, altered magazine (W), ‘be glad

inspirations: fashion layout from W, new desk from Deb & Jeff (belonged to Lois B)

My life depends on creating art…and a sunny day!

I was deeply saddened to learn of Mark Linkous’ suicide on March 6th. His band, Sparklehorse, was one of my favorites.  I had only discovered him about two years ago while browsing the CDs in the Beaverton Library. “Dreamt For Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain” was not only filled with indie lullaby weirdness but had a fabulous album cover; a collage of a smiling baby with a giant crown surrounded by birds, bees, frogs, flowers, fruit, and stars. The artist had created a masterpiece along with the songwriter/performer. If I ever need to chill this is the music I listen to.

I created my own tribute here with a variation of the baby king-while altering a W magazine ad by ‘BULGARI” featuring the actress Julieanne Moore. The page was lacking a focal point so I constructed a baby king out of scraps from my stash and the following magazines: Eating Right, Travel & Leisure, and Vogue. Crown from freebie sheet downloaded from Flickr member ‘ArtsyFartsy Queen’, border pieces from freebie created by my Crowabout High Priestess pal, ‘Nancy Baumiller” (for valentines day?) and some various trims from my K&Co scrap pile. There is a little bit of handwritten text; rambling about my pain levels after undergoing a procedure called Radio Frequency. It is treatment for a disabling condition known as ‘cervical radiculopathy’. I was in so much pain this morning I called in ill to work (knowing that I would be unable to drive or do my job from the massive pain meds I’m on).

For info on Sparklehorse: http://www.sparklehorse.com/

I do not know why Mark Linkous chose to take his life but understand he was troubled and had a history of unbearable pain and sadness. This I can relate to. I just hope that he is now at peace in a magical calm dreamlike place that is like his music, the beautiful music that was his gift to us.

paper doll with moveable legs on back ground cardstock from Ciao Bella.  legs, face and partial arm from Vogue. body parts painted or embellished with watercolor or pen. used six images from mixiepixies rad sheet for week 70 Collage Play with Crowabout. border bevel by artist on computer. some digital paint programing including the quote from the fabulous French bon vivant and writer, Colette, who sported the en vogue pear shape at the of the turn of the century. Her scandalous bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colette
crown embellished with scraps and rhinestones by artist; coffee cup from paperscraps.
size is approximately 10×12

It has a bit of green in it but since she is a coffee drinker you can assume she is on the wagon today….Have a grand day in parade or what ever you do today-and unless you enjoy being pinched you’ll be wearin’ the green, I hope!

this is a work in progress…from flickr:

happy easter to all you egg heads….see flickr stream for story…good nite@

Made this from assorted scraps from the big fat envelope that came the other day from The Artful Dogger. “Collage Fodder Ephemera” swap on swap-bot.com was right up my alley! I had some leftover kits to share and got to swap with three partners; I hope they liked theirs!

Here is the description from flickr:

7×9 oil pastel, colored pencil, STAEDTLER pigment liner enhanced b&w Lunagirl image; vintage book page,  woven wooden paper (dress piece), and rose leaves from The Artful Dogger (swap-bot partner ‘Collage Fodder Ephemera’) rose bouquet from 80′s ‘bridal style’ coffee table book. frame Classic K designer cardstock.
painter effect added post scan in collage creator…
The image may be 100 years old but there are a great many romantics roaming this earth today. Thank You Kiera!

So I am trying my hand at portraits again; the process of ‘colorizing’ a b&w photo is good exercise if I am ever going to start painting. But that is a leap I am afraid to take. This makes me happy for now despite the condition I’m in overall. Today is going to be a GOOD day!

www.swap-bot.com

www.lunagirl.com

I was not feeling my best after doing taxes and so this turned out sort of rushed and jumbled all together. from flickr:

The Little Cuties Processional was the same day as The Tea Party so not too much effort went into getting all the cuties to show up (most of them chose to DO their taxes and cough up some dough) The baby stroller was part Naturalizer sling back and part BMW and The Old FreakShow That Lived In A Boot came because she was grounded due to the ash flying over her home town in Iceland. There was so little money left over after the tax payment all the commitee could afford for refreshments was jelly sandwiches which many shoved into their faces making quite a picture…or crowabout…
8×10 mixed media collage with images from Nancy B crowabout collage sheet(s) some dover freebies and some assorted mag clippings.
the best part I think is Bjork in a boot…

oh yeah…I have been DENIED by my insurance company an artificial disc replacement due to ‘investigational and experimental’…and the leave coordinator at work explained if I really wanted job protection during the time off for surgery I would have to return to full time duties for the next six weeks….so basically I can work until my arm goes completely numb and continue to take pain meds until I appeal the insurance denial. fun.

I want to live in a BOOT!

The first rubberstamp I ever used on a consistent basis was an image of a cheese with a slice cut out of it. I used it on my Cheese zine correspondence and on all my letters to friends and family (1990 pre Internet) .  Around that time I also purchased a set of zoo animals stamps that were unmounted cheapies. Those were the only rubberstamps in my collection until 2005 when I picked up an issue of “Rubber Stamp Madness”, a magazine that featured readers submissions of gorgeous handmade rubberstamped cards and clever little mini-artworks called ATC’s (artist trading cards).  I was impressed with the simplicity of the craft and said, “Heck, I can do THAT!”

Since that time I have aquired an immense collection of rubberstamps and the paraphenalia that accompanies ‘stamping’. I let my OCD run rampant when I discovered a little tiny shop in old downtown Beaverton called “The Peddler’s Pack” that carried every imaginable rubberstamp and all the supplies a card artist would ever need for a lifetime. Eventually, Jessica caught the stamping fever and not a weekend went by without us giving in to our rubberstamp hunger and art supply craving.

It has become a joke with us, that we simply don’t have enough and that we NEED MORE! Honestly we have run out of boxes to hold all the stamps and so I made my own store display (Ala Peddler’s Pack) on my fireplace mantle.

This is three photos merged in a triptych. Someday I will lay out the CLEAR stamps. But I have idea where to put them.

computer crashed so I was unable to add any more layers to this piece. also I am out of printer ink so I could not finish it the old skool way. And now, another wild story: Winnie fried bacon in the office microwave and stunk up the entire building several days a week. Four and a half years later, after countless complaints from the office vegans and those who claimed disability from bacon gease induced migraines, the management removed the microwave from the office. Winnie was so upset that she could no longer have bacon every morning she threw a blood clot and was forced into early retirement.

thanks mixiepixie for the images!