Yesterday I attended "Collage for a Cause" hosted by artist Judith Hendler. She has held several classes to create art collages that will be exhibited and sold, with profits going to Orange County Build Futures, an organization that provides services to homeless 18-24 year olds in Orange County. Yesterday she reached her goal of 200 collages. The sale is upcoming. Here is the piece I created. It's great fun and nice to be contributing to a great cause.

You can't see it in the photograph, but the 'bud" is not glued down, creating interest. I wanted to add text but didn't get around to it.

sunflowers and roses

Playing in PSE ... collage created in Picasa ... 

Same collage ... with watercolor filter in PSE ... a subtle difference

This time with the exclusion blend mode. Pretty cool, eh?

And finally... a pretty scrapbook page. This is a fun way to spend time!

Collage for a Cause

The Huntington Beach Art Center sponsored a collage class where you make 2 collages, one to be donated to raise money for Build Futures organization. 

I haven't worked in collage for a while and enjoyed it. Here are my two pieces.

Wildflowers (donated)

Nature Matters

Poor photos (glare and bad angle) ... but you get the picture. It was a fun way to spend a summer afternoon.

Joy

This got cut up ...

and became this ...

with the aid of markers and paint pens ... a page in my new book.

Gelli plate prints art book #1

Here is the book I made from gelli prints. The cover is a manila envelope which I collaged with some of the prints. There are 4 signatures and 12 folios in a variety of sizes to create 48 surfaces to play with.

I think this will be fun to paint, collage, and doodle in.

painted papers

Spent the day playing with the gelli print plate. So much fun. Such possibilities. I've scanned them so I get multiple use from each.

Small random collages

These are 4x4 collages - random papers and images. Taking a collage class with Jacki Long. Loving playing with papers and images.

Beauty

Dreams

Figuratively speaking

Hooligans

Nine

Simply

Fingers

Thursdays in May

Inspiration

Yesterday, I tried to channel two artists that I admire, Jane Davies and Odile Nicolette. I believe it's OK to copy; it's a way to learn. As long as it becomes mine. 

This has many layers: tissue, paint, gesso, scratchings, more paint, more scratchings, collage. Heavily textured. Love it. Here's a link to the inspiration piece. Thank you, Jane, for being such an inspiration to me.

This also has many layers: collage and tissue, paint, gesso, scratchings, more paint, more scratchings, collage, more paint. I love the "crinkled" papers that add texture to the piece.

Paint and collage

A series of landscape "warm ups"

all 4 x 4

"938-940"
5.5 x 6.5

and look what happens when you do multiple exposure

 with a little boost (in Picasa)!!

I'm really having a fun time being on vacation!

Playing with magazines and glue stick

Spending my weekend "cutting and pasting", otherwise known as collage (smile) ...

L: "My Way" 7.5x9.2
R: "Escape into the blue" approx 8x8

Top left: "Ole"
Top right: "Unexpected"
Bottom left: "I opt for love"
Bottom right: "What is that cat up to?"
All 4x4

Top left: "Always in style"
top right: "C20"
Bottom left: "Life is a bowl of cherries"
Bottom right: "Chasing in circles"
All 4x4

In other words, having fun. This is "homework" for a fun class I'm taking with Jacki Long called Mixed Media Journal. 

Week 3 of my vacation

Here's a little of what I've been up to ... it's week 3 of my non-teaching term (otherwise known as vacation)

 
Fixing healthy meals - turkey burger, portobello mushrooms, soy cheese, red onion, tomato and avocado served on a bed of sauteed spinach. Who needs a bun?

Trying to capture the amazing sunsets we've had recently.

  

Learning Photoshop - combining photos with layers like art (the left one is Miss Sydney's art) or photos

  

Practicing Zentangling

Playing around with Collage

Yes, I'm enjoying the retirement part of semi-retirement!

Vessel

Playing with pattern.

Ticket Home

This didn't start out as a double page spread but it seems to have turned into one. 

Every once in a while I review Jane Davies book Collage Journeys. This piece is directly inspired by one of the exercises. The background is watercolor paint and bleeding from the previous page's markers. I used gesso and acrylic glazing liquid to tone it down. The vessel is acrylic paint on collage with a cover of glaze. Outlined  with charcoal pencil. Oil pastels added to background. It's very textured.

Staying on track with my collage-a-day challenge.

Decisions and a challenge

I think this piece is done ... however ...

Happy 1

I can't decide if I like it this way ...

or this way ... 

and my husband likes it this way ... but I don't.

Abstract/expressionism art creates such heavy decisions.

By the way, I decided to challenge myself in March to "A Collage A Day." For no particular reason other than I need to be pushed into creating each day. I recognize that on some days there will be no art time so I'll bend the rules a bit and create more than one piece on other days. Here is my progress so far:

0301. Vision 2013 (1 page of 2)

0302. Peace

0303 "Happy 1" from above.

Today is a "work" day and doctor's appointment ... so my collage just may be gluing something down on an index card ... and that's OK. The point is to do something each day.

col·lage

1.       Picture with pieces stuck on surface: a picture made by sticking cloth, pieces of paper, photographs, and other objects onto a surface

2.       Art of making collages: the art of making pictures by sticking cloth, pieces of paper, photographs, and other objects onto a surface

3.       Combination of different things