Someone once said, "better late than never", and I really hope that's true. Michelle at Faerie Dust Dreams http://faeriedustdreams-michelle.blogspot.com (blogger or Mac still won't let me link! sorry)celebrated her 100th post with a technique party. I am waaaaaay past the deadline but I am determined to play. This is probably not really a technique, but it is something that I love doing and I like what it does to my art. It is also an excellent way to use up scraps.

Raggedy Frames

You will need construction paper in your favorite colors, or some nice long scraps of any paper you like. I am committed to construction paper, for the most part, because I am very tactile and I get all calm and zen like when I handle it.

Start tearing long, thin strips of the paper. Take it slow. The more irregular, the better. If a piece comes out too straight or too wide, I start teasing out little chunks.

Glue these strips along the very edge of your piece. Of course these "frames" can be as wide or thin as you choose, but I like them pretty thin. Sometimes I will run a damp finger over the edge and use my thumb nail to fray it. If you burnish these thin, irregular edges they begin to merge into the piece. You can make a single layer or you can build up layers of the same color paper or mix patterns and colors. If you look at the piece I posted on Sept 9th you will see layers of 2 shades of pink. It almost looks and feels like papier mache.

Here is a journal, front and back, that I used this on


And here is one of my favorite paintings with this addition. As you probably know, Southern Calif. was burning last week. We had a fire right here on our property last Sunday that really rattled me. We lost most of our outbuildings in the 2004 fire, fortunately not our house, and this fire season is a bit too much for me. At any rate, Sunday's fire was put out just before it reached the house. The fire department kept it to an acre. To calm myself when we were finally allowed back on Monday, I started tearing and embellishing this piece that I did months ago. I am glad I made the addition.


I love raw, irregular edges. Here is another example of this in my work. The photo is of The Lone Cypress in Big Sur.



OK, it has taken me days and days to get this ready to post. The pictures are smaller than I would like, but I'm still having to coax blogger to upload. Here's to life and art, always unpredictable, always beautiful.

...and a child shall lead them

Last Friday, my 6 year old granddaughter was feeling a bit too poorly to go to school so she spent the day with Nana. We painted, of course, and I got to experimenting with some techniques I've heard of. What I think looks like a stained glass goddess window and the wonderful bunnies and are acrylic paint versions of Sandra Evertson's (sandraevertson.blogspot.com) ink blot techniques. The kind of crazy orange watercolor is the result of using a straw and blowing paint around. This will make a great journal page background. Watch for further developments. I have some ideas for all of them. I've already made transparencies of the goddess. I also have 2 other of the paint blot variety that are not much, taken as a whole, but I realized I have some great wings.

Friday evening I attended a seminar on finding your soul's purpose. Among other things, the facilitator spoke of "giving" yourself a breath instead of "taking" a breath. Think of all of the times we say we are "taking" something and substitute we are "giving" ourselves those things. From this day forward, I am not taking time for art which, for me, includes writing. I'm giving myself time for art of all kinds. This just feels good and peaceful to me. Ok, now I really need to add to my journal. Get ready, get set, ART!

By the way, sorry for not having a link to Sandra. I've got the picture uploading working, but I am having a real time with the linking thingamajig. I'm working on it.

A fine pair

Here are two little bits that I made at Art and Soul to use up some scraps. The background is the amazing product of a technique that Claudine taught us. I can't get enough of this. I should be paying bills and cleaning up a desk piled high with the stuff of life. But this is just so much more fun.

But wait, there's more

Here are the mini-collages from Sally Jean's class. They are my mother and her two sisters. And who knew I could learn to solder???

Art from my Soul

What a wonderful weekend at Art & Soul. Not only did I learn some great things and get to do art to my hearts content, surrounded by like souls, I got to do all of this with my darling daughter. Here is a piece that I went crazy with. This is the biggest collage, actually the biggest piece, I've ever made. At one point Laura said that I seemed a little "tranced out". Gives a whole new meaning to "altered" art. Gotta go. I have cutting, pasting and painting to do!

Flamenco!

I have been crazy about Flamenco since I was 5. Imagine a pudgy little girl with bangs and braids, wearing oxfords, stomping, clapping and throwing attitude all around the kitchen. On my birthday a few years ago, my husband surprised me by hiring a favorite music group to play at my party. They played Malenguena and I Flamencoed for the first time in public. This whole art thing is, for me, all about indulging that passionate side of me. Dishes be damned! Let's dance.