The Gift of Art

Hmm... what to give a young girl we've never met before?  A collage pack, of course!  Instinct had to guide me here as I searched through my papers and images, so I was happy to see her birthday cake was covered in animals and her Mom say her favorite color was green (I chose a card made of green handmade paper for her.)  Turns out, as her Mom also told me, that she loves all things artsy and crafty, so yay!  

A Science Center meet up set up by a homeschooler I know turned into a birthday party since the gal knew everyone else going, if you were curious at to how we ended up at a birthday party for someone we didn't know.  In any case, I thought I should explain myself. ;)

I hope your Independence Day was great and that you enjoy your weekend!

Assemblage Art

Here she is! This is the shrine mentioned in this post. Collage and Assemblage Art go hand-in-hand when I picture pieces that I'll make, though that is not the case with everyone. Almost all forms of Mixed Media Art and Altered Art appeal to me, however they go together. Because I got to use these "smalls" (term I picked up from "American Pickers"; LOVE that show!!) and their quantity outweighed the collage elements, I am categorizing this as Assemblage Art. In truth, these forms all flow together for me. Over at Craftcast, I listened to a great podcast featuring assemblage artist Keith Lo Bue. He got to see an installation by Joseph Cornell, a pioneer in the form. I really related to how inspired he got by found objects, antiques, etc.

My apologies for the craptacular framing of these pictures. When I got a chance to take some pictures in good light, it was also during my afternoon fog and after a while, I lost patience. I've been trying to get to know my camera better so I can take better pictures, but I can't help longing for an uber digital camera ... a gal can dream. ;)

Quick run down of how this went together: started with a cigar box and removed the lid and inside paper. Added a layer of white gesso on the outside, thicker in some places than others, letting some of the paper show through. Glued a torn piece of sheet music to the inside of the box. Painted the inside with heavy bodied acrylic and the outside with water soluble oil pastels (blended with a damp brush). The inner frame, I cut foam board to size and coated with matte medium, and let it dry (helps prevent warping) then covered with rice paper, painted with the same blue water soluble oil pastels and damp brush, sponged/streaked dye based ink (Ranger Rainbow ink) over that because the effect just wasn't as nice on the rice paper; then glued together with tacky glue. Used an antique gold Shiva paint stik around the edges of the box and the frame. Glued most objects in with E6000, but used tacky glue on the magic wand (stick and wooden star ["Distress" inked and added a layer of Shiva antique gold] ... I knew that tiny stick would come in handy). Blocks were sanded and inked. Paper behind the dolly is from a 1910? pharmacy booklet. For the bunting at the top, I drew triangles on sheet music and cut out, poked holes with a needle tool and threaded a string from a tea bag.

Making the inner frame was a new technique for me. So, a few days went by between the familiar painting and gluing stage and the final stage of the frame. I was most intimidated by covering the foam board with rice paper because I imaged it a more precise process than it actually was. It was also incredibly satisfying ... how can I describe the feeling of tacky glue grabbing the rice paper and becoming one? Hmmm... you'll just have to try it yourself. I'm sure you'll be glad you did. :)

Let me know what you think of the shrine- I'd love some feedback!!

Also, if you aren't already officially following the blog, please click the "Follow" button to the right. If you don't already have a Google account, you'll need to create one, but it is quick and painless. Any (valid) email address will do.

Have a great weekend!!

Baby Collage card

oh dear, I feel like Indiana Jones being chased by that big rolling rock again.   Am catching up on sleep, laundry, email, event posts, group moderation and now blogging. So, I thought I'd post a project I did at the beginning of March for a friend's baby shower. This was for Rachel Benbow/Baraka, a friend I met in the Pittsburgh belly dance community who now lives in Greece. And her husband Cristos Demetrius. She moved from Pittsburgh to NY, NY and has been living out of the country for a few years now. I tell her her life sounds like a movie script and that her journal is rich! :) I love hearing of her adventures. This latest one, Motherhood, is sure to be the greatest yet!   

So, the green, linen textured card base is from an enormous scrap booking pack I got at Big Lots.  I inked the edges with copper ink. The base papers I believe are from K & Company. The first layer I simply cut a little smaller than the card. The second layer is torn and the edges inked with copper ink (mosaic collection ...  the petal inks you can get at Michael's. ). The stamp I got on Ebay and is from Stampington (Baby buttons collage). I stamped it on card stock and antiqued it with sepia ink (used a cosmetic sponge and ink pad), then cut it out along the border. The baby fairy post is from Art Chix (www.artchix.com) and antiqued with the little brown ink pad in Memory Makers distressing kit. I liked it better than the sad baby on the stamp.  the tag at the top is from JoAnn's.  I have a journaling stamp (the kind where you can rotate the letters to say what you want. fairly wide, very useful. got it at Michael's). the red fiber tied to the tag is from a big basket I got for christmas one year... Sam's sells these types of baskets, but I'm not positive that it came from there.  I used a glue specifically made for metal (got it at Michael's ... I've spent a lot of time there. :) ) to attach the three spiral paper clips, which I got at the local grocery store's office supply isle.  

It was very fun and therapeutic to make this. I hope to work on a "rag doll" organic cotton bunny tonight for Angelo's Easter basket. Many of the same pattern pieces I made for the pirate.  I've got to make something... I'm dying to! :)

Hopes and Dreams

Hola!

I'll fill out my profile shortly, but I thought I'd introduce myself. I started belly dancing in 1993 and practicing yoga shortly after. I got my Masters in Occupational Therapy and my specialty was in pediatrics, though I've also worked in Rehab and in Nursing homes. I quit my full time OT job when symptoms from Hashimoto's disease rendered me poorly functional. I went professional as a belly dancer since it gave me energy rather than draining it. My husband I were married in 2000. We were lucky enough to get two lab-shepard-husky-rotti mix pups about 4 1/2 years ago when my sister's dog had puppies (that's Dana in the picture.) The showed us how to love unconditionally and prepped us for the biggest job we'd ever know: parenting! We were blessed with a beautiful boy, Angelo (also in the picture), in 2007. When one of our dogs, Tara, was killed when a mountain lion came up on our porch, we were devastated, completely traumatized. We experienced our greatest joy and our deepest pain all within 9 months! I got my Reiki II attunement shortly after she died. It was absolutely necessary for healing not only myself, but the whole family. I got my Reiki I for the dogs and baby in the first place. I'll never stop missing her, but we have "settled" into a new normal. I teach a couple bellydance classes a week and perform. I'll be going to at least one workshop a month until June and then am sponsoring one myself!! (will post more on that later...)

I'd been thinking for some time that I should start a blog for several reasons: I wanted to share certain experiences that might help other people (especially pregnancy, vegetarianism, belly dance, natural parenting, yoga, Reiki) to share my development in the mixed media/collage/shrine arts (because all humans are artists and should be encouraged to be artistic), keep people posted on my belly dance happenings and my thoughts on belly dance topics, to share my efforts to live green and inspire others to be environmentally friendly... I'm sure I will have more things to discuss here, but that's a start.  I have to say that there was "universal intervention" in getting me to finally get this started. I'd thought about it for a while and was also meant to search the web for Moms who did arts/crafts so I could get ideas for how they fit all that in. Then I got my most recent issue of Mothering magazine featuring 5 crafty Moms who have multiple kids, cook from scratch, sew for the home and family, craft, and blog all about it. some even home school their kids and managed to write books!  That was the inspiration I needed! So here we are!

some links to check out:

My websites: www.TribalBellyDance.net and www.EarthMovement.org

Mothering Magazine: www.mothering.com

Yoga Journal: www.yogajournal.com

more later...