Little Scraps of Magic

Stencils and Ink and Stamps, Oh My!

 
Just messing around here; not one thought in my mind about where this page would go. It's art on a whim. I just felt like playing, and playing I did.

I started with a couple of colors of Ranger's Adirondack Spray Inks...butterscotch and plum, I think! I placed a stencil on the page and sprayed some plum. I blotted with paper towels.

I shifted the stencil and sprayed some butterscotch. More blotting.

I spritzed some water, tilted the book, and let her drip. More blotting.

Repeated the above until I sort of liked it.

Then, I grabbed several stamps and some stazon ink and added the border on the left.

And, then I was stuck.

I played around with various images, but none of them grabbed me, until I realized I liked the shilouette left over after I'd cut out an image.

I held the scrap piece in place and dabbed on some black paint.

I let it all dry a few hours and then journaled to my heart's content.

I only wish now that my journaling pen had a stronger/wider point to it. The journaling done in black seems to get lost on the page.

In other news, my dh has a herniated disk in his neck. Since it's pressing on some nerves, a neurosurgeon will operate next Wednesday, June 2. If all goes well, he'll go home the next day, but I need to take several days off work to be around. There will therapy, a neck brace, etc. etc. etc. Gonna be a bit of a long haul, but the strength in his left arm has really deteriorated, so it needs to be done. I thought I was juggling quite enough balls, thanks, but I guess not! We are blessed in that the chief of neurosurgery is doing the operation, so Phil's in good hands.

I

Ghosts and Grub!

 
Friday night found my two teaching partners, myself, and 6 of our lovely sixth grade girls chowing down on pizza in Old Town, Alexandria...yummy! Lots of fun, lots of good stories, and of course, lots of good food!

From there we walked a block and joined up with the "Ghost Tour." Alexandria harkens back to colonial days, and funky old buildings of various shapes and sizes mix in with newly created homes and offices, all of couse, in the same style. Pickle factories, taverns, ice factories, mounting steps (A proper woman did NOT show her ankles!) all abound, along with cobblestone and brick streets and sidewalks. Suitably gross stories, along with ghost stories were narrated by a young man in colonial dress carrying the requisite latern. By the time we heades back, nightfall had descended and the girls were suitably nervous and frightened! The tour had ended in a local graveyard.(Do you know the difference between a cemetary and a graveyard? I didn't before this tour!)This happened to be our contribution to the school's spring auction, and we ended up with a truly delightful group of girls.

I had done the background and angel images a few weeks back, and then left it sit since I had no idea where it was headed and didn't want to force it. Layers of papers, ins, and paints along with two angel images printed on transparencies. I had photographed the angels in yet another cemetary a few years back.

Add some stamping and some journaling, and I've created a lovely memory of a lovely evening!

Here's to the rest of the weekend...enjoy the time!

Packing Up a Life

I have to tell you, packing up a life absolutely stinks. Big time.

We spent Saturday at my dad's home. Hedges were cut and the grass mowed.

8 boxes of Goodwill items packed up, most of them delivered. I don't even want to know how many more there'll be.

2 large trash bags filled.

2 boxes of things coming home with me...simple things, like a coffee cup I remember mom using. An old pie tin to hang on a kitchen wall. Nothing huge, nothing valuable, unless of course you count the value of the memories.

It was hard work, but not all bad. Meals were shared with my sister and brother. Laughter rang out many a time.

But still it was hard. The home we shared is beginning to look more like a house. We're slowly stripping it of its personality. So it goes.

So, I collect bits and pieces of memories, and I honor my dad when and where I can.

I'm part of a photography yahoo group. Differnet themes get posted, and you sign up for the ones that appeal. We recently shot our "intention" words.

At first, I chose "stillness" since I seem to be seeking it. But as the deadline appeared, I dithered, not sure it was "the word."

In the end, I chose "Taste." As in tasting life, all that it has to offer! All the my dad taught me to appreciate.

Our wonderful and beyond creative leader, Catherine Anderson, posted pictures of the covers over here.  She always finds the neatest way to bind our photos together.

The front of my page looks like this:

 
A good deal of the photo ending up getting cropped out, but my idea was to show some of life's gifts to be tasted....a new baby, brightly covered silverware that makes me smile, Broadway Shows, a trip to the Outer Banks, sea turtles, and so much more. Precious wonderful life!

And the back of my page looks lie this:

 

Oh, dad, I love you so much. I wish I could "fix" you or at least understand what causes you to do what you do. There's just no making sense of it.

But, I promise you this.

I'll taste every single bit of life that I can!

Looking Through Windows, Part 2...aka Art & Soul, Day 4, Part 2!

 
"We all have a vision - a reason for pressing the shutter, - the trick is in identifying it." - David DuChemin

In some senses, this class started off slowly, but, oh, did I ever learn. Sometimes, to get what you want, you need to work through the boring.

The rule of thirds.

Compostion.

Filling the frame.

Leading lines.

And so on, and so on.

Not an action packed beginning. Instead, a more introspective one.

We listened.

We looked at our photos.

We analyzed.

As the saying goes, "Lather, rinse, repeat."

We slowed down, way down, from the frantic pace that Art & Soul so often becomes.

I loved it.

 
We spread out the photos we'd brought to class, and we tried to figure out our voice....why we shot what we did. What captured our imagination? Did we see themes?

Among so many other things, I saw "stillness."

"Quiet."

"Nature."

I seem to want to capture in my photos what my life is often not.

That maybe if I can capture stillness and quiet, it will stick.

 
After our photo shoot  and lunch, L.K. demonstrated ways to alter our photos the old fashioned way, "by hand."

Let me tell you...it takes practice!

I love it though; it's almost as if we entered into the photos, got lost in them. The outside world disappeared, and other than sharing supplies with a lovely woman across from me, I pretty much forgot there were 20 others in the room!

I'm taking away a great deal from this class, one of which is to start printing off some photos, and taking notes, creating a "morgue" as L.K calls it.

And, you can bet, more of my work will show up in my journals. The photos need to get off my computer and into my art.

It's been a long week, and a particulary long day. Sometimes, people just don't listen to what you are trying to say. Words are heard, but that's about it, and it plain wore me out. I'll leave it at that!

Looking Through Windows, Part 1 (AKA Art & Soul, Day 4)

 
"I want you to learn to see," she said. "I want you to learn to see." L.K.'s class captured my imagination. I really, really, do beieve that little scraps of magic exist everywhere. And, I also believe that we waltz right by most of them.

 
After a few hours of theory and instruction, L.K. sent us out to play...to look...to SEE. Having trudged through this building many a time, I didn't have high hopes to begin with, but the slowing down, the looking, the seeing literally opened my eyes. It didn't take long for the lines, the angles, and most of all the windows to beckon. I'm on the inside looking out here, and I am loving it! Lines and patterns everywhere!

 
On the outside looking in. I'm actually on a second floor balcony here. The sky, tarp, and buildings are behind me, but relfected in the glass. Magic.

 
On the inside looking out, and the two worlds seem to meld. It's difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends.

 
Outside looking in again. I spent a great deal of time popping in and out, crouching, stretching, etc. much to the amusement of the high school dance team eating lunch on the blacony. once again, I love the intermingling of the two worlds. The girders are acutally on the inside, but everything else is behind me.

 
Not looking through a window this time! I love the shot though...this tapr roof has such gorgeous lines. You can see the Coloseum across the way. I meant to get over there to shoot as well, but ended up quite happily occupied in the convention center itself.

I need to remember to look up and to look down, to crouch, to stretch, to maybe even lie down on the floor. I need to remember to SEE.

Thanks, L.K.!

Art and Soul, Day 3

 
Saturday brought a fun little "junk" book with Gaye Medbury, called "Stitched and Tied, Too." We used all sorts of things...tags, vintage scraps, envelopes, and even a little cloth bag! Gaye pushed our creativity a bit...we began with plain white paper for our covers. We arted up that paper in various ways - paint, ink, stamps, collage, etc. The point? You don't need fancy paper to create something 'Oh so cool!"

 
These are two of Gaye's samples; my own book has been constructed but not yet decorated. You'll see it sometime soon. These are mostly vintage in appearance; mine is a bit more funky and colorful? (Not surprised, are you?)

 
The spines of these little sweeties are constructed from some stury cloth, which we stamped and stenciled. The cloth hides the foundation for a concertina accordian spine.

 
The differently sized "pages" of this book delight me; I have always loved things peeking over and from behind; it whets the curioustiy.

 
The books are so tactile...napkins, metal, paper, etc. A surprise of some sort awaits you each time you turn the page!

 
Gaye's aura attracts all sorts of goodies when she haunts estate sales and yard sales. She shared some of her own images as well as providing a little goodie bag. Beads and baubles were available to use...what a wonderful and generous teacher!  See the little blue squares? Microfiche!

I'm going to go work on my book a bit...day 4's adventures coming to a place near you very soon!