February 3, 2009 Freeeeee Bird!

Over a thick and gloopy page of gesso, I played with easy but rubbery water-based oil sticks. Yikes, what a contradiction. still, a nice departure from beloved Pitt pens.

Hey, Jane. Thanks for the spare bird! I've sent it out with pages to dry.

February 1, 2009 Daily Art Journal...One more time

or more.

It's easier to create a page on the weekends so I kept going. Also, this one is going to Random Arts in Saluda, NC.

I heard this phrase blurted out in a nearby cube several months ago and laughed myself sick. Must have been the context. It's one of those crispy quips that crack me up even when I don't know why. Like Ethiopian jokes in the 1980s.

Since then I've wanted to use it on a journal page. I'm also real fond of the cage image, especially copied onto a transparency. So when Jane, from Random Arts, sent me the Sweet Tweeter ephemera for the next invitational, I put the two together. The black bird is from Jane.

The blue cat appeared in a dream many many years ago and has been a kind of walk-on ever since. 

January 15 Art Every Day

Finally got the name of this challenge right!

This page feels too easy to be art but it's something I've always wanted to do: lay stuff out on the scanner and see what I get. Art should always have a little something changeable about it.

These are some of my favorite 'white' things: pearls, feathers, a single glove, animal skelton. Behind it all a transparency of a bird cage I'll be using for the next Random Art journal page collaborative.

I like it.

January 14 Daily Art Journal Page - Green

Lost in the Green

Going to sleep now

It's amazing how much you can get done if you never leave the house, isn't it?

January 13 Art Journal Challenge

Orange, eh? I set about to create a collage, something that always seems so much easier than it really is. Challenges always involve some constraint, often time (always time) and often inspiration. I was inspired by a comment/suggestion left by an anonymous reader but time contraints won out. Among the materials I keep color-coded in an accordian file were color Xeroxes of a small artist book. The prose poem is called "Love Letter".

Further constraints include holding lower abs in position learned in Pilates solo session yesterday. So, 20 years of tucked hips was ALL WRONG! Who knew?

Art Journal Pages for Random Arts

Here are variations on a non-theme journal page challenge. This is the first time I've participated in a challenge. It was issued by Random Arts' blog random notes. Random Arts is in Saluda, N.C., and while I've never been there (yet), a visit is forthcoming...sooner than later. Usually, when heading into N.C. for art fixes, we head to the John C. Campbell School or Penland School. When heading to or from Penland, there's Asheville and Black Mountain to visit. Saluda is something new (to me).

Also new, creating to a theme or with constraints of having to use some or all of the materials sent by artist blogger (and gemini) Jane Powell. What a week of anxiety! I seem able to work easily when alone, when teaching a class or taking one, but responding to a friendly challenge brought out all my latent competitiveness and perfectionist tendencies. When this happens, I wind up working on two or three pieces: one for the inner nag, one for the inner good girl and one for the real me. Not sure who did either of the above, but I like the one with the empty clothesline.