january 2007

1. Untitled, 2. why can't you write?, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. paper quilt project (almost done), 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. sign the yearbooks, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. Untitled, 16. every girl, 17. her new dress, 18. Untitled, 19. Untitled, 20. dressmaker's mannequin, 21. dressmaker's mannequin, 22. Untitled, 23. Untitled, 24. Untitled, 25. Untitled, 26. dressmaker's mannequins, 27. Untitled, 28. go, 29. charming glory, 30. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.


time to write an essay...

my new etsy shop

one of the things i've been meaning to do is start up an etsy shop. i was going to try and make a website with a paypal cart, but i am too lazy and have no patience in trying to design a beautiful + functional website.

my etsy shop is here. i have three pieces up for sale. this is actually my first attempt at selling my collages. i've never sold any before, all of them have been traded away through swaps or they are ones that i have made in my journal.

the paper quilt project

my part of the quilt in the paper quilt project. it feels almost done. i actually did the collage right after the packet of paper came because i was excited to start and i didn't want to worry about it too much. i mean, i didn't want to stress about getting it right. right now i am satisfied with where the collage is at, but i know it's not done yet. it needs words, i think it needs my handwriting.


the remaining papers. some of the other papers have been cut up into such small pieces i couldn't find them, plus they have been used for other collages i have been making.

dawbis has already lined up artists for February and March! for more updates go to the paper quilt project

coffee filters

today i was at a meeting. there was a big bottle of cranberry juice. i spilled a bit on the table and mopped it up with a coffee filter. i liked the delicate look it had on the filter. it was a dreamy ballerina pink. i liked this so i kept soaking it in the cup for more color. the coffee filter gives a pretty, delicate effect to the collage. the scan doesn't capture it well at all but there are two more layers underneath the coffee filter. a text page and tissue paper with red dots i use quite a bit in my journals.

inspiration/art everyday in feburary

the creative act starts in feburary and is simply make a piece of art everyday for a month, then post it up on your blog, flickr and comment on the blog.

inspiration from my flickr contacts:
one is from citrusfaire
two is from queenthings
three is from kala art
four is from supercapacity
five is from cat sidh
six is from queen of tarts

collage crazy

i have been flipping through my art journal and looking at pages that don't feel complete or that don't satisfy me. i decided to revisit those pages by adding more elements, here are a few...more have been posted in my flickr.

exhibition opportunity

Sixth Street Gallery
105 W Sixth Street
Vancouver, WA 98660 (map)

Call for entries!

Cut & Paste is a show celebrating art forms that are often dismissed because of their craft element or that are unfamiliar to the general public. Cut & Paste is open to artist trading cards (ATCs), artist cards – editions and originals (ACEOs), mail art, zines with a strong art or design focus, collages, assemblage, Cornell boxes, altered books, journals, handmade books, book arts, and any other two- or three-dimensional art form that is true to the spirit of “cut and paste”.

Entry deadline February 11, 2007

For more details and an entry form, email sam.ssg@gmail.com, visit our website, or send an SASE to the gallery address.

Sixth Street Gallery
105 W Sixth Street, Vancouver, WA 98660
360-693-7340
www.sixthstreetgallery.com

i found this entry by chance, when searching for addresses on postcardx.net

afternoon

i bought ephemera and collage sheets from various websites. the slide mounts are for my altered book cover and the postage stamps are just there because i love to use them in my collages!

it's still a little bit weird to be back in school after such a long relaxing, art filled break. it's not so bad though because my classes are pretty interesting. i'm taking political science, sociology, art history and english. school does kind of 'socialize' me because i don't mind being by myself.

trash is treasure

i love paper junk. dress patterns nobody uses anymore. the inter department envelopes with names scribbled across it. brochures from stores. daily calendars and furniture catalogs. it's so fun to rip and cut and paste things that are ordinary into my journal. to play with colors and composition. i like journaling because there is no right or wrong, i like how raw it is and it doesn't need to be a finished piece. it's just exploring and fun to do.

blooming

my little journal is almost complete and it is bulging from all the pages of collage! i also got a bunch of mail yesterday & today - beautiful atcs from atcards traders as well as returns from an asian flavour swap. it's always satisfying to recieve returns from a swap since it takes a bit of patience for a swap to be complete. i also got collage sheets and ephemera i ordered. and least exciting but necessary was recieving my sociology textbook.

things to work on

1. my altered book has been sadly neglected lately. it is going to be a big project and will take me while to complete it. i am going to try and work on it at least once a week.

2. get back to sending RAKs (random acts of kindness) to people in my yahoogroups and at postcardx. if any of you want to get a little piece of art from me (a tag, 4 x 4 collage, atc) you can send me your address at seasecrets at gmail dot com...it's more than likely that you'll get a little something in the mail. just not right away. i will probably send out a few things a month.

3. balance school and my creative projects. i also write poetry besides doing altered art. i think sometimes my writing gets neglected. other times my art gets neglected. it's really tricky trying to figure it all out.

4. start an etsy shop. i want to try to sell some of the things i make. i am not sure what i'm going to sell yet though.

no mail??

i swear mail can be the highlight of my day sometimes. i get home from school around 2:30 and there's no mail yet...

another morning/another collage

dawn/dawbis who is a wonderful artist, and the creator of open yours too has started a new project called the paper quilt project. it's a collaborative collage quilt that lets 12 artists participate each month. even if i don't get the chance to participate, i can't wait to see how each quilt will turn out to be!

quick collage/off to school

the yellow toca park tag thingy was lying on the sidewalk, and of course i had to pick it up. i used to dislike yellow, but now i find that i like the color more and more. it's almost time for school and i have to wash the dishes. yay.

dressmaker's mannequin atcs and art journal entries

today's collage


yesterday's collage


yesterday, i also made atcs with torso tags, the template is at Go Make Something, butterfly wings and colored with silky crayons. i liked how these turned out like paper art dolls, though i don't have any women's faces that were small enough to fit..

mail and books

i'm hosting my first swap at the atcards forums (i'm tealights there) and theme is image transfers. and while sign ups are closed i've been getting amazing cards in the mail from the participants. it is great fun as the host to see all the cards and well, get first pick at the cards...i also think it would be great to create a gallery of all the cards in the swap, so i plan on doing that soon.

school is starting up again, so i've ordered almost all of my textbooks online to ease the pain of textbook costs. i am not exactly enthused about going back to school, but i guess i don't mind because i had a nice long break.

day 9

my internet is being a pain in the ass. it keeps dropping my connection every five seconds. great.

ten two studios design team page

my work is up on the ten two studios design team page...a long with a photo of me wearing my audrey hepburn shirt but you can't see her face..check it out & admire everybody's beautiful work.

day 8

day 7

day 6 / work in progress

today's art journal entry

i've been working on several things lately, this seems to work well enough for me, because i can't seem to work on one project or piece at a time.

first, i've been slowly altering a book and trying to "find" a story in a the collages i've been making. it's definitely about correspondence & travel and bits of fashion are added in as well. here are some pages i've done.







it's going to take awhile for me to complete this book, but i will keep blogging about my progress.

here's the almost done shrine:

it's a fashion themed shrine, with a dress pattern backround, women cut from a vintage magazine and buttons, a belt buckle and a clothespin glued on. this is my first shrine, but it's not complete yet. i need to add something, maybe a word or two and then it will feel complete.

day 5/recycle

i joined a recycle swap on the atcards forums and the rule was to use only recycled materials. since i already use a lot of ephemera and recycled materials, i wanted to challenge myself a bit and use things i wouldn't normally use in my atcs.




these two cards are made out of:
1. manilla envelope - i like the interesting look people's handwriting brings to the card
2. manilla folder
3. address label
4. lined paper
5. stamps



these cards are made out of:
1. brown sugar label - my mom buys brown sugar from chinatown and yesterday morning she was opening a new one
2. white rabbit candy wrappers - one of my favorite candies, very milky and sweet, like a taffy.
3. red envelope
4. gold candy wrapper - from a symphony bar, which is my favorite chocolate bar
5. milky candy box - i cut out the cute little girl's face and split her eyes from her smile.

day 4

i had fun using shades of yellow. i've been working on a lot on atcs lately, but i've also started altering two tins to make into shrines.

day 3

morning collage

i was thinking about how my journaling had fallen to the wayside of my art work. but that art journaling was how i started making collages. i was also inspired by keri smith's morning collages which was art journaling just to get the mind thinking and moving. so i've decided to take part in this type of experiment. i want to pick out the scraps on my desk and make a messy collage out of it or rummage through the recycling bag and pick out junk. the collages i make may be wild and messy and even outright ugly, but hopefully it will get me to open my journal again. i don't want to think too hard, just act intuitively and rip out scraps and look at all the colors coming together.

here's one i did yesterday:


& this morning:

the very hungry caterpillar

it was a few days before christmas. i was browsing through books at goodwill. i was looking for another children's board book to alter and i found eric carle's classic book the very hungry caterpillar. the pages were slightly altered already - by a child who had managed to scrape off bits of the illustrations. i flipped through the book and liked the smaller pages in the middle. the book was 89 cents, a good price.



as you can see i've covered everything with paper i remember using as a child when i was first learning to write. i have a ton of that paper and i love the wide spaces and the faded colors. i've altered books before, but most of them have no set theme, so this time i want to try and stick to one. i want this one to be about correspondence and drinking tea.

i hadn't read the very hungry caterpillar in a long time. i had forgotten how voracious the caterpillar's appetite was.