Pilgrim Progress

As March zips along, the pages of Pilgrim are filling up. I don't really consider any page to be finished--there always seems to be room for improvement.

Sometimes what I journal relates to the photography on the page and the story that goes with it, and other times it's completely unrelated.

This page is sparse compared to most.

Here is how a page looks before I have fun with color and paint.

I love reading about Peace Pilgrim. Her story is so inspiring. I seem to have a peace theme going on these few pages.

I Miss Mail Art!

I recently had the opportunity to look through my rather sizable collection of mail art, in search of a few pieces to use in a current project. It's been a while since I was an active participant in the mail art community and seeing all that postal goodness again really made me miss the good old days.

The days when the most fabulous, fun, creative, odd, and intriguing items would randomly show up from parts unknown.

The days when the simple act of opening the mailbox was the highlight of my day. Nowadays--not so much.
 

This piece made me smile. I created a series of postcards called "operation lost and found" and asked artists to send me items that they found wherever they happened to be. I guess it's not surprising that years later I would name my blog Lost and Found.

So what prompted this little trip down memory lane?  The new class that I'm taking called "Thinking Inside the Box." We are examining the box as an art form and building our own boxes from the ground up as part of the process! I've never built anything before in my life, so this has been a totally new experience for me. Our first project is a box with a hinged lid.

I'm not sure if I should feel extreme pride or embarrassment posting this photo of my little pine box in progress. I have a whole new appreciation for woodworkers and I'm beginning to understand why people feel so attached to the pitiful birdhouses, shelves, and benches they made in high school wood shop.

I'm planning to fashion my box after the fluxus fluxkits of George Maciunas and fill it inside and out with mail art from my collection. This week we're going to start building our second box which will be a glass-fronted shadow box similar to those of Joseph Cornell. For the next few weeks I'll probably be working on both projects simultaneously. Maybe after that I can find the time to work on a little mail art.

Featured Artist of the Month

I'd like to give a big thank you to Billie, the creative force over at Billie's Craft Room for inviting me to be the Featured Artist of the Month for March. Head on over to Billie's blog and plan to stay awhile--it's chock full of information and inspiration covering a wide range of topics and includes loads of tutorials, links, and reviews.

Happy reading and happy March! Thanks Billie!

The Sketchbook Challenge - Two Done and Ten to Go

The Sketchbook Challenge has now completed its second month and I've been working in my altered book, Pilgrim, pretty steadily. This page was inspired by the paint we used to paint a hallway. The color was called serenity and prompted some thought on the topic.

Spring must be in the air--my color palette is shifting in anticipation of warmer, brighter days. This spread was done over several weeks and the hearts refer to valentine's day which fell in there somewhere. The paper collage in the middle was sent to me by my friend, Deborah. The colors went perfectly with the rest of the page and I want to include items in the journal that help chronicle the year and having meaning to me.

I've been playing around with gouache more and totally loving it!

This was the last page I did with the February theme of opposites in mind--circles and squares, horizontal and vertical lines, and complimentary (opposite) colors on the color wheel. I might go back and do a bit of journaling in some of the squares.

As you can see on the right, I figured out how to link to my Flickr Photostream.  Now I can post to the group site and be eligible for the awesome monthly prize drawing. The theme for March is "spilling over" and I'm really looking forward to exploring that one. I've remained dedicated to Pilgrim for two months now and am really having fun with this year-long challenge and the sharing taking place on The Sketchbook Challenge blog and Flickr group. Take a peak and join in if you feel inclined. There's still a full ten months left to the year.

Finishing Up the Post Cards--Or Not

Remember these paper/fabric collage post cards I made recently? I decided to spend a little time this weekend finishing them up--in an effort to reduce the number of unfinished projects hanging around. I thought I would just sew them onto some watercolor paper and be done with it. Of course, it wasn't quite that easy.

Starting with the card in the lower right corner and working backwards:

1. First I fused the card to watercolor paper and used a zig zag stitch around the card twice. Yuck...HATE IT!

2. I changed the stitch and liked it only slightly better but hated the way it looked on the reverse side of the post card.

3. I changed the stitch again and sewed around the card first before fusing it to the watercolor paper leaving a small white border. I liked this a little better but thought it would be more interesting if the stitch attached the post card to the background.

4. I stitched this card to a gold wallpaper sample and was just about to trim it out and then attach it to watercolor paper...

...when I remembered some black mattes that I found ridiculously cheap at the close-out store about six months ago. So ridiculous in fact that I bought up every package they had. There were a few other colors, but black is classic, right?

I took the cards where I didn't like the stitching I had done and put them behind the black mattes.  Problem solved! Now I can call them mixed media collage ready for framing.

The Sketchbook Challenge - Opposites

This is my second page for The Sketchbook Challenge February theme of OPPOSITES. It includes horizontal and vertical lines that highlight words with opposite meanings. It also utilizes positive and negative space.

I couldn't help throwing in one of my favorite pairs of opposites.

I finally uploaded some photos to my Flickr account. Now I just have to figure out how to link to that from here. You van visit The Sketchbook Challenge group pool here.

A Little of This and a Bit of That

I spent the week hopping around from project to project and working on a little of this and a bit of that. Here are a few more pages from Pilgrim, the altered book that I'm working in for The Sketchbook Challenge.

I recently went to see the musical, South Pacific, and couldn't help but feel the irony in going during what feels like one of the longest winters in history. This tied right in with the February theme of Opposites.

It also tied into the Illustration Friday theme of SWEATER, so I was able to achieve a trifecta of journaling! I used gouache on this page and really like how it looks--not quite like acrylic paint and not quite like watercolor. It's opaque and translucent at the same time. I think I'll have to play around with it a bit more.

I couldn't stop myself from making another batch of hearts from felt and sweaters. Sometimes my fingers just itch to sew. I think this has become a warm up exercise to other sewing projects.

I started making mini monsters from the same materials.

 You gotta love a monster!

I also decided to experiment with paper and fabric collage post cards inspired by an article in the last issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Just before Christmas, I splurged and bought myself a free motion attachment for my sewing machine, something I've been wanting for years. I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but I just love what it adds to a collage like this.

I also love the way a project like this uses up some of the small bits of paper and fabric that have been hanging around. I just can't let either of those things go to waste. These aren't finished yet. I plan to use a zig zag stitch to attach them to watercolor paper.

And last but not least, I started a new class this week! Here are a few supplies I needed to buy. I'll give you a hint about the class...power tools will be involved! Stay tuned to find out more.

IF - Sweater

When you live in Ohio you wear a lot of sweaters. A lot of sweaters.

The Sketchbook Challenge - One Done and Eleven To Go

The Sketchbook Challenge has completed its first month and the second is now underway.  This feels like a good time to pause and contemplate my progress so far and give you a glimpse of how Pilgrim is taking shape.

The point of the challenge is to encourage the habit of keeping a sketchbook and using it for experimentation and practice. One advantage to a long, cold winter is spending plenty of time indoors playing around in a sketchbook.

The Dalai Lama in stitches.

I don't think a single day has gone by since the first of the year that I haven't opened up Pilgrim and added to her in some way. That's kind of big for me since I've never been a faithful journaler. I'm normally semi-sporadic at best.

Now I look forward to the time I spend noodling, doodling, and filling pages with color and text. The process is slower and more deliberate than what I'm used to. In the past, I've used a lot more paint and collage in journals and altered books. Flinging paint and gobs of matte medium is my usual technique. But since it's hard to work messy on a daily basis, I've had to change things up a bit.

Spraying rather than painting on pigment ink is just one way I've experimented with new techniques in Pilgrim. I've also played around with writing with ink and a dip pen, stamping, and stitching.

There are a few aspects to The Sketchbook Challenge where I don't feel I've been very successful. I didn't do much with the January theme of HIGHLY PRIZED. This page is probably the only one done specifically for the theme.

I also haven't posted any photos to The Sketchbook Challenge Flickr pool--although I DID finally set up a Flickr account. So, I missed out on the chance to win fabulous prizes in January.

The theme for February is OPPOSITES and this page is going to be about serenity and chaos. (For the record--I prefer serenity.)

Here you can see the altered pages next to the ones I haven't touched yet. I love the way they ripple and wave and seem so much more alive with color and art added to them.

So...one done and eleven to go. I hope I can keep up and have a completely filled book by the end of 2011. You can join The Sketchbook Challenge at any time--just grab a book and get started. Happy sketching!