Collage – Page 27 – red paper boat

Hemp Bound Journal

December 25, 2005October 5, 2015 Shelly

I uploaded a couple more pages from the hemp bound journal. One is kind of meh, but I like the poem that accompanies it. The other is visually more interesting, but the poem isn’t as good. That’s about par for the course. The poems are part of the Creation Myth series I’ve been playing with.

This journal was a great idea, but it ended up being a royal pain in the arse to work in. The pages are nice and heavy, which I like, but the brown color gives me a mental block. I keep pulling out the gesso and waxed paper to try to cope with the unending brown. I wonder why that bothers me, but white paper doesn’t?

A Question of Ghosts
December 22, 2005

If we were soaked in the practice
Mechanisms of truth
Lost in the work
Sanded and rectified
Stuck tight to what seemed fitting
What was lately manipulated
Encouraged
Then killed,If, all around us
The ghosts were deserting,
Would we become gods
Woe takers and lightning makers
The careful sculptors of bones and
Guardians of the lesser portion?

Three Things
December 6, 2005

Three things
Are not four things.
Three things
Are sharper than knives,
Silent famines of thought that
Shine silver like moons in the dark.

Three things are perfectly cold
By intent
By design
By the deadliest scheme.

Three things are ancient wheels
That turn in the night,
Near misses and reflections.
Three things
Are stitching thought to flesh to deed,
Bone drawing blood slickened sinew.
Three things are problematic monsters
Ministering, waiting, and watching.

Art, Artist Books, Collage

New Vessels

November 17, 2005October 5, 2015 Shelly

Merry-Go-Round
10 x 14 1/2 inches
collage on paper

Mathematics
7 1/4 x 10 inches
collage on chip board

These are the two newest additions to the Vessels book. Someday I’ll finish the content, so that I can bind it. The only problem is that, as soon as I do, I’ll end up with more stuff to put in it. I’m not very happy with the top one; the bottom one turned out much better, I think. There are also some nit-picky problems with the scans. I’ll probably re-scan them before uploading them to the website. If I don’t, they’ll annoy the crap out of me.

Obviously, we didn’t get sucked up in a tornado last night. The winds were intense, though. The weather guys on Channel 10 were guestimating that we’d get overnight gusts of up to 80mph. I don’t know if it got that windy, but it sure sounded like it did. I got almost no sleep, and decided to chicken out on trying to drive to work this morning, because I hate driving in the wind. It was a good thing, too, because my car title finally came this afternoon. Whee! I haven’t a clue why it took so long, but my second temporary plate expires on the 20^th, so I’m glad it came when it did.

Now, to clean up the unholy mess I made arting and figure out what to make for supper. Hmmm.

Altered Books, Art, Collage, Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Friday Round-up (Are We There Yet?)

September 9, 2005November 15, 2015 Shelly

I Carry a Picture in My Teeth

Meme-tacularity: I normally don’t get meme-y here. They bore me to tears on other people’s blogs, but I saw this on Creating Text(iles) and it amused the hell out of me. So:

You are Joan of Arc! You don’t really want to hurt anyone, but if they attack your friends or your country and no-one else will stand up to fight them, you head into the battle. Beware though, conviction tends to get you killed. (Which Saint Are You? brought to you by Quizilla)

Basically, I hate taking any sort of leadership roll, but if I’m forced to, heads will roll. Which is not inconsistent with what the Myers-Briggs personality test has to say about me (iNFj).

Anyway, a while back, I was asked to contribute artwork for the cover of an anthology of poetry. They ultimately chose to use a page I’d done in an altered book (above). The piece was inspired by a song called John Dark (if it were a rose of another name, it would be called Jeanne d’Arc).

Craptacularity: In other news… Today got off to a less than stellar start. I woke up at midnight and didn’t get back to sleep until nearly 4am, so I’m tired and cranky and my back hurts from tossing and turning all night. The bathroom light burned out, and I had to fumble around in the dark to put a new bulb in, almost stepping on the cat in the process. While I was in the shower, the gas company started cutting down brush along the easement (at 7am!). Harriet, who is normally very quiet, decided to sound the Intruder Alert. I had to get out of the shower, see what what she was barking about, tell her the sky was not falling, then get back in the shower to finish rinsing my hair. Blech. Then, I was a dork and turned on the microwave while I was making toast, and had to go reset the breaker and re-toast my breakfast. Naturally, after the toast was done, I forgot to finish heating up my tea water.

Hopefully, all that craptacularity will mean that the rest of the day goes smoothly. I’m not holding my breath or anything, though.

Friday Dogblogging, Starring Harriet Brown the Canine Corkscrew:

Isn’t she the cutest thing ever? I love watching her wallow around. She’s one of the twistiest dogs I’ve ever met. What cracks me up is that she’ll stay in that position for quite a long time. I can’t imagine that it’s comfortable, but it seems to work for her.

Harriet’s a funny, funny dog, in both definitions of the word. She’s a typical Boxer, in that she loves to make people laugh. She’s got a great sense of humor and will do anything for a joke. She’s got a serious, sensitive side, though, and is changeable, so you never know which Harriet you’ll get. It’s like getting two dogs for the price of one. She’s nothing at all like Elliott, who was thoroughly consistent. He was always sunny and gregarious and pretty much just happy to be. Harriet is like having hot- and cold-running Boxer.

Okey Cokey Pig in a Pokey: I’m half-way through season three of The League of Gentlemen. Dear God. It’s truly brilliant. The plot keeps twisting and weaving like an inebriated acrobat. It’s funny and disgusting and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Oh, and the extras are damned good, too. I recommend re-watching the episodes with the commentary on. If you can get your hands on the Christmas episode, watch that, too. It contains three horror vignettes that are priceless, as well as tv and radio interviews and old footage.

A Bone Dry Moon: I learned an interesting bit of weather lore yesterday. A friend’s mother said that she’d been taught that a dry moon meant it would not rain. Last night’s crescent moon was dry. It was supposed to rain yesterday and today, but so far, we’ve gotten bupkis, and the radar is crystal clear. I know it’s just coincidence, but it’s interesting, nonetheless.

Image credit: A Blue Crescent Moon from Space, Expedition 13 Crew, International Space Station, NASA, from APOD.

Art, Artist Books, Collage, Ladybusiness

Color Erratica: Magenta and Orange

August 22, 2005October 4, 2015 Shelly

Museum of Femoribilia

Girls

Did She Fake

Be Ready
10 x 6 1/4 inches
new and vintage magazine ads, wrapping paper, page from vintage children’s activity book, 1920s yearbook photos, and soap wrapper

The latest round of Color Erratica pages, this time in magenta and orange. The monitor I’m viewing them on right now is, I think, uncalibrated, because the colors look off. They were fine on my own machine.

I took more of a gluebook approach to my pages in this book. I was reluctant to use any wet media, because the pages of the book had been glued together by the owner. Where others had used wet media, the paper has buckled and the glue is failing (you can see the buckling in the first page).

Art, Artist Books, Collage

Color Erratica: White

July 25, 2005October 1, 2015 Shelly

I Turn Myself Inside Out I

I Keep My Spine in My Pocket

By Hand

I Turn Myself Inside Out II

These are the pages I did in Patti’s book, for the Color Erratica round robin. Obviously, her chosen color was white. She requested that people choose vintage themes–black and white movies and things that made people feel calm and soothed. I don’t know how well I followed her directions–calm and soothing is not really in my art vocabulary. However, out of my work to date in this round robin, I’m happiest–on a personal level, at least–with what I’ve done in Patti’s book. Hopefully, she’ll like it, too.

[Edit: The last image was taken with my camera while the other three were scanned. The scanned images are fairly close in color to the originals. The one taken by my camera came out almost glacial white, which is incorrect. Can’t do anything about it now, because the book is long gone.]

Art, Artist Books, Collage, News & Politics

Artings and Musings

July 19, 2005January 8, 2016 Shelly

First, the artings.

These are from the latest installment of the Color Erratica round robin. The color theme this time was “dusk,” so I focused mostly on purpley, winey colors.

The Pea Hens

I’ve had that peacock feather floating around in my stash for at least ten years. It was time to use it. The little cotton knickers came from a bunch of antique baby and doll clothes my mom snagged for me at a yard sale. The background is another piece of wrapping paper from Mr. and Mrs. B.’s wedding. This particular book has already travelled overseas, so I figured it was safe to include the poplar leaf and the peacock feather.

The Party Girls

This was a silly little page. I kept the label from a bottle of Christmas sangria. It was too lovely to throw away. The purple wrappers came from a bag of chocolate truffle candies. The yearbook girls–glued to 35mm film negatives–are from the 1920s (Prohibition era in the USA), which makes me laugh, because the sangri was non-alcoholic.

Baubo and the Girls 1

Baubo and the Girls 2

The last two pages started out covered with dark purple tissue paper. It was a little too garish, though, so I covered it with unbleached waxed paper to tone it down. I love the way it looks–the scans do not do the subtle color justice. I used a couple more Polaroids from my Baubo’s Safari series. I separated the photos from the backing, then sanded through the photo layer, to make them lay flatter and give them some transparency and texture. The top Polaroid was also sanded on the front and rubbed with brown India ink.

The bottom page presented an interesting challenge, in that it had a window cut out of it by the person who worked in the book before me. I decided to emphasize the window by framing it with a scrap of intaglio print I’ve been carrying around with me since college. A cast-off from another student’s printmaking project, I picked it out of the trash and have been carting it around ever since.

Now, the musings.

Thanks to Cynthia for pointing out this article.

I think one of the ironies of the whole Rove debacle is that it shows just how dishonest and lacking in integrity this administration is. It seems to me that, when your platform is based on “moral values,” you might be expected to hold yourself and your staff to a certain, well, moral standard. Countering claims of wrong doing with “it’s partisan politics,” or “he didn’t actually do anything illegal,” seems to me to indicate an ethical disconnect. Since when were moral values a legal matter? Rove clearly discussed information that he had no business discussing with people he had no business discussing it with. Whether or not he’s legally in the wrong ought to be irrelevant to this administration, as it’s quite clearly morally wrong. Condoning such behavior speaks volumes about what’s important to Rove’s superiors and it’s not “moral values.

Oh, and speaking of ironies, dare I say that Mr. Bush’s rephrasing of his intention, from “the leaker will be fired” to “if the leaker did anything illegal he’ll be fired,” might–just might–be considered flip-flopping?

Art, Collage, Letters to Esther

Better Late than Never

June 27, 2005October 12, 2015 Shelly

I finally found time to transcribe some more Letters to Esther. I believe I uploaded 11 new files, which completes the first–and smallest–box o’ letters. Whew! As I get time, I’m going to put the transcripts on-line, with scans of the actual letters. That way they’ll be more searchable and user-friendly. Or, at least, that’s the intention.

One box down, four or five boxes to go!

That’s about all I have to report. It’s bloody damned hot–95F with 1000% humidity. I need gills. All I want to do is sit and try to expend as little energy as possible. The dogs aren’t enjoying it, either. They’re both as flat, and useless, as pancakes.

This photo is from a week ago. It’s nice and cool and green, which is not at all what my yard looks like right now. Now, it’s overgrown (too damned hot to mow) and steamy looking.

Edit: I forgot to mention the mosquito bites. Lordy! I went with some friends to scope out the loot at a yard sale they were having. I scored a bunch of books for arting, some cool bones (big–cow or horse or something in that vein) and a mess of mosquito bites. I’m about to cry. I put lidocaine lotion on them and took Benadryl, but nothing seems to be helping. Yuck!

We also went to see Batman Begins after the yard sale set-up. I’ve never been a fan of the Batman movies, but I was impressed. It was easily one of the best movies I’ve seen in quite awhile–well worth full evening price. It’s dark and, while there are humorous moments, it’s not at ALL cheesy.

One last thing! Here’s the top of an end table I decoupaged a few years ago. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a fun and colorful way to tart up an ugly piece of junky furniture.

Art, Collage, Paintings, Poetry

The Tree of Mercury

June 14, 2005October 12, 2015 Shelly

The Tree of Mercury
oil on canvas
48 x 67 inches

I started this painting a couple of years ago and didn’t completely finish it. It’s ginormous, so physically maneuvering it is a little tricky. Since I’ve been rephotographing and measuring everything, I thought I should dig this out and try to shoot it, too. That was an, um, adventure.

I love the twisty, viney bits and have based a few other pieces on it.

The Keeping Tree
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
collage on paper, with pennies, cork, hat pin, and yearbook photos

To Blossoms
9 1/2 x 12 inches
collage on paper, with 35 mm film, dried ironweed flowers, and yearbook photo

To Blossoms
by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,
Why do ye fall so fast?
Your date is not so past,
But you may stay yet here a-while,
To blush and gently smile;
And go at last.

What, were ye born to be
An hour or half’s delight;
And so to bid good-night?
‘Twas pity Nature brought ye forth,
Merely to show your worth,
And lose you quite.

But you are lovely leaves, where we
May read how soon things have
Their end, though ne’er so brave:
And after they have shown their pride,
Like you, a-while;–they glide
Into the grave.

We’ve had on and off clouds all day, but it’s been dry. That’s due to change soon, though. A line of storms is heading our way. I looked out a little bit ago and saw that the sky had darkened. After the cloud had passed, I took a photo of it. The sun was in the west and the cloud in the east. It’s amazing what a change in perspective will do. While overhead, it turned everything black, but with the sun on it, it looks soft and benign.

And, an instant review. Soy Fusion’s Matcha Green Tea is excellent. It sounds kind of gross (soy milk and green tea), but it’s nummy stuff. Then again, I love lots of soy milk in my tea, so this isn’t much of a stretch.

Art, Collage

I Shall Not Go to Heaven

June 10, 2005December 29, 2015 Shelly

I Shall Not Go to Heaven
30 x 22 inches
oil pastel, collage, and found objects on paper

I still have finishing touches to put on this (the bones and collage need to be attached–I’m leaning toward copper wire, but we’ll see). This is one panel of a two-panel diptych. The other panel has the same basic subject matter and layout, but the slip is orangey and the collage/assemblage bits are different. I’m still working on the background for that one, so I haven’t photographed it yet. That’s a whole lot of acreage to cover with umpty layers of oil pastel and my fingers are hamburger.

I’ve been having a gawd-awful time working on this project, mostly, I think, because it’s been difficult for me to change gears. Web design and research/writing–which I’ve been doing a lot of lately–is very different from arting. It’s nearly done, though.

Art, Artist Books, Collage

More Vessels

May 28, 2005September 29, 2015 Shelly

These are two new pages for the Vessels book.

Migration
collage
7 1/4 x 10 inches

I covered up the desert at the bottom of the giraffe picture with a carrot I found in a food magazine. The idea of the giraffes walking into the ocean seemed kinda funny. The carrot balances out the orange at the top, plus it adds the perfect surreal touch.

What Lily Saw
collage
7 1/4 x 10 inches

The label at the top right came from Catherine. She got me my first library job when I was in college. She also taught me how to weave and quilt. She passed away a few years ago and most of her crafting stash went to my mom. I ended up with a few things, though, including some spiffy fibers. This yarn label was in one of the boxes of supplies.

Ibarra Mexican style chocolate makes the best hot cocoa. It’s got a hint of cinnamon in it. I don’t usually like cinnamon, but it adds the perfect touch. It also has lecithin in it, which makes it extra creamy.