her vision. family. art.

untitled

 
but yea, it's got meaning:-) studio play day for me and i got some much craved journalwork in!! this is an old pic though..  taken 3 years ago actually. i was doing a photoshoot of a friend's girls and i didn't know it until afterwards- she was shooting me at the same time!(the concept of the photo feeds into this page/old or not) so check this out...  does the torn-jagged piece of tape NOT look like a wing???(i seriously crak myself up sometimes!!) i have strips and pieces of tape,etcetera stuck randomly onto the edge of my island countertop. for some reason i looked down and this piece was there, it said 'wing' to me and it came into play on this page(crazy how that works right) the tape was too transparent to leave 'as is' so i put red dye underneath to make it more visible. the side strip says KC(at the top) with a line drawn to TENN(bottom). (more symbolism)

here's the page in whole. the torn piece of milagro paper came from anima designs (love.love that site!) the paper is very porus. i actually journaled underneath the paper before i adhered it onto the page underneath. the wet paper helped to expose the journaling. it's just for visual purposes..  you can't read it:-)

i swear, i've thought of having a contest to see who can define the most out of one of my pages!! would be interesting to know..  sometimes i have to take a 2nd look myself, but it always comes back to me once i look at it long enough. lol.. 

this is good for my soul work.slm.

a little random.ness..

up early..  trying to get my 'to do' list established for today but it's not working too well for me:-)  i cleaned and did the laundry yesterday, so it can't be too bad right.. 

going through old pics (i've posted this one before) i came across this old hallow's eve pic of my bro and me (1976)! i love it!!   the good ole' days when we created our own costumes (and seriously..  always said i had a gypsy soul, guess this secures that statement;-) who knew then??!

btw:millhouse has a redesigned website. check it out..  kinda retro-cute.ness(he'll hate that statement) i guess their expansion and moving to their new location spawned the revision of my bro's website. i'm still hoping on the expansion to pull through in tenn! (fingers crossing!!)

our road trip up to nashville for halloween was a good time-as always. we went out and stayed with good friends, then on the way back on sunday, we hit some side towns. taking our time..   the trees are beautiful here right now. we stopped and checked out the new harley store in columbia. -amazing store built mostly out of recycled elements dug up from the excavation.(timber/rock).impressive.very cool.

and-i'm loving the sweatshirt with diamond.studded wings that tony bought me there.. (you know my obsession with wings*wink) but it seriously rocks!

(he's just TRYing to look scarry! and no, we didn't do the costume gig this year:-)pic.halloween night.more on myspace)

my plan is to get started on the re.build journal that i committed to for the guys bike that tony is rebuilding. it's been a slow process...  mostly taking pics of the different stages from the teardown.to the rebuild.

i've had so much on my plate lately, it seems like our days slip away and i don't get enough accomplished!!

i'm craving journalwork for myself in a huge way and have only done 2 pages since i've been here. and we're talking JULY!

bluhhhhh! not cool at all..

my boys' flights are booked for Thanks.giving and i'm super sToKEd! serously.the plan is for my bro and his fam to come for a week as well and i can't wait! i'm not kidding.. i will be waring my camera out!

OH YEA..  did i mention that the new print of pistacchio will be available around the holidays?? remember the altered cigar box that i posted 'limited' visuals of a few posts back??  (smile) i'll post details as soon as i get them. i can't wait!! in the meantime, check out the previous issues. this zine is amazing and the synergy of artwork is created and put together by the fab sarah and angela.

....(forcing myself to get to bustin a move with my day)!

see ya!

trick.or.treat!!

quick post..    i wanted to show you a mini photo journal that i made to go with a recent photo shoot.

fox.

this is the cover.

this book is a mini 7gypsies accordian journal that i altered.

the cover is a library pocket that i covered with modeling paste and impressed the design with my wings (surprise right!) and a clock stamp. after the m.paste dried i covered the surface with turquoise acrylic and wiped-randomly to expose some of the underneath. around the outside of the pocket are strips of heidi swapp decorative tape strips.distressed. i also used a few strips at the top where i wrote FOX with my pen nib and black ink, then stamped 10/   09 unerneath that in RED.

i kept the inside simple and mainly used hks tape strips and again distressed.

 
 

Tony and I are heading to Nashville and the Fox's tonight to parteeee in Nashville for All Hallow's Eve!!

TRICK.OR.TREAT everyone!!

co.laborat.ion

round.2. part.2. 
here's some visuals of my latest contribution to seth's journal.

it's surreal that we're almost through this collab already!! seriously! only 1 more round.

the first visual (fig.1.) is pretty simple. on old booktext pages i spraypainted over a set of wings from tim holtz's grungeboard swirl set. in the negative space i journaled with my nib and black ink. 

(fig.2.) is the cover. i shot this from the top so i could 'disguise' a few page elements. to leave a little 'element of surprise' for seth and viv!!     (these wings are rubber stamped).

(fig.3.) lots of layers here. (**some background on seth's collaboration piece..  each round, viv and i get a bound stack of old book.text.pages.
the end result will be a large journal collaboration made of 9 small journals. i know-cool concept right??!)

fig.3. image is full of symbolish!! hidden meaning:-) and all good!! i love the little skeleton with wings piece. it's a big factor here -that if you look deep enough, you might pull the definition out of this*wink. (sorry for the partial visual now!)

i wanted to show an example of the spraypaint and water technique that i did with our porcelain/cabinet knobs. i mentioned that you can also use this technique on paper right..  well, the gray/random swirl here is using the same technique. only with 1 color. the paint dries almost immediately after it grabs onto the paper, but you'll have a few water areas that you'll need to blot away.

(fig.4.) here and on the cover i used a textured medium/modeling paste. aside from the dimension and texture, it's a great 'stamping ground' with rubber stamps. IE:wing impress.ion

(i pressed the stamp onto a black inkpad before i stamped it into the paste, then again with silver ink)

that's about it for the visuals and descriptives here..  i want to leave some 'element of surprise' for the other 2players:-/!!

now this is on it's way to viv in OZ!(i'll have it at the p.o. by monday girl)

the 3 of us have decided to use this collaboration 'experience'/journey for an even bigger collab. so cool.   we'll expose details soon i hope..

 

to touch base......

well, my cube is on it's way to the fab viv(australia), and i've already received seths(NY/NY) project journal, and i'm excited to dive back into it!

so my recent'ART' has been inside the house!! i've been updating the major traffic areas(much needed!)

here's the built-in entertainment center ....paint in progress...the old color was pumpkin(bluhhhhhh!!....and i used to have kitchen cabinets this color!!!)    

   

(during)

(finished)

so the knobs were painted gold/white porcelin underneath. guess what??...  they got stripped and reworked. here's where this project fits in with my art...    i wanted a distressed-very rustic.looking finish on the hardware. i remembered a technique that i've used on paper.yep.paper!!  this is what i did...   filled a bucket with cold water and sprayed brown,black and gray spray paint INTO THE WATER. then i dipped each knob individually. the paint(use ENAMEL for longevity) grabs onto the knob, paper, whatever-and the end result is a textured, dimensional*dam cool-random design!! and the best part is they are all different. you can re-spray the paint into the water as needed...and re-dip until you get the appearance you want. so cool. seriously. i haven't photographed these with the hardware/knobs in place yet. i'm still printing black and whites/framing. will post pics of the end result asap.

so.much.better!

now i'm stripping the layer.ed painted/papered kitchen walls(sux), but... the good news is that i'm about done! we're painting the kitchen cabinetry to match these(black, same knobs/hardware), and painting the walls a medium gray-lt.gray on the ceiling. should be great

bad visuals(SORRY!!)i was in a hurry!

deadline......Thanksgiving.-GASP!(it'll happen, we're hosting!!:-)

....see ya!

some collaboration looks

 
this is my latest contribution to my 'cube' in this collab i'm in with viv & seth. the start of round 2! i gotta be honest and say that i battled with the start of this 'addition' a bit. the theme is SELF CONTAINED, and i'm in a whole new place -mentally and physically- than i was 7mos. ago!! it's a good thing, but it just made sense to follow in the same direction with this piece. a continuation of progress. the next time i see this i will be finalizing my part of this cube, and i'm interested to see what i pull out at that point! *wink none the less, it's been an amazing collaboration-project with 2 fab artists. 

 

here i added a lot of meaning/thoughts-visually. it all has symbolism...  the texture, colors, words, spinner that i covered with red dye (tim holtz). on the right of the pic i created a partial frame with a piece of packaging (love packaging designs!) then i added 3 strips of very thin masking tape that i wrote onto (with nib and blk ink). the spinner is in place over the picture and secured in place -

pointing to the direction that i wanted it to!!!!!!! lol- basically it's pointing to the 'wording' that i chose. (hard to explain...  that's why i love art so much, i can say things that only i can read or understand, but visually it draws interest, whether you get it or not.you still want to look-touch. -then i used Delta's 'texture magic'........basically it's a dimensional medium, or modeling paste. i chunked it randomly, and at the top, with a stylus i wrote 'in progress'. after the modeling paste dried, i covered the surface,randomly, with gray acrylic. after THAT dried i wiped the surface to distress and pull some of the underneath to the surface. the 'carved' wording in the modeling paste also grabbed the acrylic which made the words pop. in some areas i actually 'distorted' some written wording by smearing the acrylic. then i added a cut out strip of book text, which was the foundation of this whole design!!

it was the starting pt. crazy, huh??

i'm working on a couple of projects that i was basically stalled on...  this helped me get my creative groove back on!! sometimes the pressure of deadlines kicks my butt into action!!  i just think that sometimes we get so much spinning around in our heads, in art-and life itself, that even though the thoughts and ideas are there, it just doesnt come out! overwhelmed!

slow down. breathe. find the balance. embrace and GO WITH IT!

(yep, the pic is ME. it's kindof an inside thing, but i have a habit of putting my hands on my hips when i get frustrated. life-long habit. one day i did this and T told me to put down my bitch wings!!!!!!!!!!!! no offense, i laffed. loved it actually-it fit at the moment *wink... and right again.. it also feeds into this piece of ART!!) love symbolism!

my only sunday creative.nessssssssss.

(see random pics photo album) 

i shot this fun series of pics then altered them with this and this. i love photo play, and these free.online.photo-altering.sources!!

the visuals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

kinda retro-cool,and haley fit this shoot.no doubt.

 

anxious to seek

finally getting a little journal play in. i challenged myself to play with the 'color' thing (crazy i battle with color. seriously.) it seems that i either work in neutral;AKA:black and white, or extreme and dark color.

so this is me coming out of my box a bit*wink. i went with darker colors, but still.... 

red.turquoise.

this pic has been stapled into my journal for about 3 months now. the journaling has been on the opposing page, but that's it. i 'simply' went for the distressed paint peeling appearance. using the old fashioned concept of

vaseline and acrylic.

acrylic.vaseline.acrylic.........and again.(layering)

i used the heat tool to speed up the drying and because i wanted to distort the edges of the photo some. (notice the random.white bubble spots:-) i used white acrylic and masking tape to tone down the darkness of the 'color'! the wing on the one stamped time.piece is made of thin masking tape strips. -love that-. i also added a 'gut' from an old pocketwatch. it just breaks up the darkness a bit..

journaling on the photo, and cut out book text.

this all flows with the opposing page. the bottom time piece with wings rightside up, and top time piece with the upside down wings both have symbolism. for me to know*wink! (notice the right side up wings are the only wings that i enhanced with the masking tape strips....:-)

my saturday .....trying to find my creative energy.... play!!

 

 

oh............our trail of tears ride was nixed because of the crazy rain we've been having, but we did meet up with some friends for a few minutes, and T gave Taylor a ride around the parking lot on his bike. she's too cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T. (me and photo play)......

simplicity.with.an.edge.

 

self contained.

round 1.

end result.

i received my cube back from viv last week. SO excited! the work that her and seth added was more than simplistic wow! their work complimented mine perfectly, and i'm seriously loving that! i keep looking and TOUCH.ing! i cant wait to get this completed. 2 more rounds.

my mind is spinning with ....what will i add to this next...... keepin in my neutral zone of black and white, OR ......a little color splash maybe......  ( -interesting thought since color intimidates me!)

here's some of viv and seth               

seth

viv  

i know. very cool. loving this collab

updating before the holiday weekenddddd

sooooo.... get ready, this is gonna be one of those longgg reads   ....hope interesting though.... lots of pics and detail in this one!

this is a collage.photo.flip.journal that i've been playing with.

it's fun, .....interactive no doubt...... a lot of detail to see (pics included in that statement)

this is the front visual of the journal closed. made from hardback.book.covers.and.backs that i spraypainted black to start. then i attached them with 2 different gages of wire. 3 places on each side of the back piece, so it folds out to 5 pieces. all front.and.back,  so realisticly it has 10 sides.

the front-center has a metal piece that is stapled in place and also covered with a piece of aluminum tape  then ....spraypainting about 5 times to create the wings imprinted into the flat-black background..... i adhered a tiny skull-&-crossbones metal piece with clear adhesive. the closure is a strap from an old.old.old pair of worn-out harley davidson riding boots (super cool, huh...)....it's stapled in place with some clear adhesive under the strap for more security.

the open visual. with so many pics i had to keep the design simplistic ....i chose some fav pics and with a photoshop program, re-sized....then printed. i used old cigar bands, masking tape,tape transfer (frames), and journaling (in random spots). the distressing comes from instant coffee granuals that i mixed with water and black acrylic. red dye too. i used old dennison file tabs and added strips of journaling inside. to give the tabs a little character, i held the heat gun on them to shrink and curl. happy with that end result!

in random areas i journaled facts and thoughts on pics themselves.

the backside..... it's all play! beeswax that i carved a symbol into (when warm.pliable).... added an old watch face, feathers are also embedded into the wax symbolizing ....what else..... WINGS love.love. them, and the textured-dimensional appearance they created with the wax. some areas raised. some embedded.

i journaled onto the strip of masking tape.

to finish, i used gold metallic rub.on across the design....grabbing onto the indentions and giving this some bling!!

i'm sure i've missed something or 2, but it's almost impossible to name everything i've done with this journal...  and i said i kept it simplistic ....didn't i.....  

i haven't worked with photo collaging in a longgg time, so this was fun. challenging, which i'm always up for a good one of those ;-)

by the way....  how seriously cool is this red.chipping.concrete.background?!

i think i'm ready to work with some COLORness now! i'm over the black for a while

see ya