New Work - Need Titles

Thanks Giving

As Thanksgiving approaches I am reminded to give thanks for all that I have and all that I cherish. My father just got home from the hospital and I am so grateful that he is feeling better and on the mend. I spent more time talking to my siblings, especially my sister, these past few weeks and that makes me so happy. I've been cleaning up my apartment and getting rid of years of accumulated stuff and though it is sometimes hard to let go of things it feels really good to have more space and see a positive vision for the future. Peaceful surroundings, space to create art, inspiration, music, comfort, love...

 Below are some ATC's that were in a recent show, Small Wonders: ATC's & ACEO's. Enjoy and have yourself a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, love, gratefulness and good food!

New Work

I've been taking a collage class at Cooper Union for the past five weeks and love it! The instructor, Jerilyn Jurinek, is wonderful and even though I've been doing collage and mixed media for years I've learned some new tricks. More than that though I love having three uninterrupted hours to work. I don't love everything I've done but I do love that I'm spending more time each week creating. It has spilled over into me working more at home too. I am determined to get my home studio cleaned up in the next month so that I can start working in there again. Here are some pics of pieces I do like:

 This piece was based around the vintage pic of the gentleman reading. I read constantly and just love the image of him. He looks so serene. I incorporated lots of other vintage textiles as well as found papers and a small watercolor painting I did a while ago.

Here's a closeup showing the inside cover of an old notebook I got at the flea market. I plan to use the inside pages for another piece. Behind it is an old quilt block that my friend Vicki gave me. I've had it for years and finally found the right piece to use it in. I still have 5 more weeks of class so I'll share more pics soon.

I made this collage landscape almost entirely from painted and patterned papers that I made. See my patterned paper tutorial on this blog.

Here's the closeup

I couldn't resist showing these cool wire wrapped ornaments that were created for a class I taught. Most of the samples were made from gold and silver wire but when I saw the black and galvanized wire I couldn't resist using them. They are so my colors. I want to try rusting the galvanized wire. That would be so cool. It's hard to see in this pic but the frame of the star is black wire and the wrapping wire is galvanized wire. I'll take a better picture and post it soon. The image below shows the captured heart within the framework of the star.