Sunday, March 28, 2010

Mail Me Something


















Art House Co-Op is an online community of artists whose goal is creating art and sharing it with each other. The site is filled with inspiration, artist portfolios, and plenty of collaborative projects. When I saw the Mail Me Something project I knew I had to participate. The project is free to participate and the guidelines are simple: mail something to Art House Co-op that is no larger than 4 inches by 6 inches. The mail art will be displayed in the gallery and favorites will be posted online. I decided to doodle up a post card and send it off. There's still two days left to sign up if you want to participate. Check it out and happy mail art!

Friday, March 26, 2010

IF - Rescue


















Step back. Have a good laugh. Do it again tomorrow and the day after that.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

IF - Expired


















This sobering quote by Joseph Jefferson certainly makes one stop and pause. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and pay my rent.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Good Advice - Round 2





















Here are a few more postcards from the Good Advice series. This one is my favorite of the bunch and definitely something we need to remember every day. I count all of you who are reading this among my blessings!




















Figure out what's important to you and then stick up for it. If you have any doubt that one person can make a difference...well, just kick those thoughts to the curb right now.




















Don't forget the world doesn't revolve around you. There are a lot of other people out there too.

OK. I'll stop now. At least until the next round is ready to go.

Friday, March 12, 2010

IF - Subterranean




















Here is a subterranean view of one of my favorite things--trees! I love everything about their scratchy, craggy, leafy, lumpy, twisty personalities. I love them from their tippy top branches to their gnarly roots and everything in between. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, tall ones. I love them all. I'm a tree lover.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Sometimes You Just Need A Kick In The Pants

Have you ever had an idea that's been rattling around in your brain for so long that you start to think you've already done it? Except, of course, you've only done it in your head? And then you see a piece of art that someone else has created and it jump starts the idea out of your head and propels it into something tangible? Well, that's what happened to me this week.

I've been collecting rejectamenta for years. Random, little bits and pieces of life that end up on the sidewalk, in hallways, stairwells, and parking lots. It's hard for me to pass over a handwritten note, bus ticket, or parking pass that I come across during the course of my day.


My friends and family bring me finds that they think I'll like. I've used rejectamenta in collage, mail art, journals and altered books. I even created an entire journal devoted to rejectamenta.


I've got loads of stuff!

There's just something that fascinates me about using what most people consider trash to create something that can be viewed as art. This concept was the inspiration for the name of my blog and the banner art I created above.

Every piece is fascinating to me in its entirety. For that reason I haven't had the courage to break the stuff down into smaller fragments--although that's the idea that's been in my head for a long time. I've been thinking about creating large collages of rejectamenta and then randomly cutting them up into multiple smaller collages. I've been thinking about it for so long but never convinced myself to actually do it.

Until this week when I opened the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors and saw the stunning "Graffiti Wall" collaboration created by Seth Apter and knew that I had to finally bring this idea to life. Seth did with handmade papers what I wanted to do with rejectamenta. And he did it beautifully! You can read about Seth's project and see the Cloth, Paper, Scissors article here.

I already knew about this particular collaboration because The Altered Page is one of my favorite blogs. I admire Seth's creative use of found objects in his artwork and his amazing generosity in sharing and showcasing the inspirational work of other artists. Although I had already seen the results of the graffiti wall project online, something about seeing it in print caused me to fly (yes, fly!) down to my studio and start slapping glue and paper together.

It was just the kick in the pants that I needed!!!


For an entire week I've been joyfully gluing and cutting up my beloved rejectamenta. The results are exactly what I imagined they would be--only better.


I'm so happy with the totally random compositions and find the fragments of rejectamenta just as intriguing as the whole. Maybe more so. I don't know yet what I'll do with these mini collages. Maybe I'll follow Seth's lead and make my own brick wall. Or maybe I'll come up with another idea, or ten, or a hundred. But for now it just feels good to have made the transition from idea to art.


Thank you Seth, for giving me the kick in the pants that I needed to finally bring an idea to fruition. And thank you to all the blog artists who generously share the ideas, projects, and finished results that inspire the rest of us to roll up our sleeves, get our hand dirty or sticky, and just make stuff. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.