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!

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.

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….

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.

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”

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

I was never able to commit to a journal page ala Teesha Moore (see links) as my neck would spasm and tingle after five minutes of any handwriting. But after my first acupuncture treatment I created this monstrousity! it is all about phobias and some of my own fears, which are so absurb it’s funny!

the images are mostly from Artsyfartsy Queen, some Nancy Baumiller’s crowabout collage sheets and the mouths are from the lovely scarlett lipped KBP when we shopped at Momoberry in LA and she was looking delightfuly ghoulish while holding a Hello Kitty Koromi doll. K does not have teeth like that-i just got the spray can out and ‘enhanced’ her grin. apologies K, if you ever see this!

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 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!