Postcards du jour

I find that if I have a limited stash of materials in front of me then I get less overwhelmed with the possibilities  of composition. I had a book of reproductions of old Victorian postcards that I wasn't especially fond of that someone had passed along to me and figured that I could cover them with collage.

I  was also given some tattoo like stickers that came with a very decorated box of tequila.

I've given the box away now since it was so nicely decorated I thought it would be wrong to cover it up .

You'll see evidence of some of the stickers on these postcards.

It's funny but some of the paper is from a printmaking class I took back in '91

The grid piece is from that time and matches up nicely with a scrap of the intuitive painting I did this summer at Sparkle Days Studio with Corrine

The painting was so big that she rolled it up in pieces to send to me. 

I like it better in pieces anyway and am having fun collage-ing with it.

The background is some monoprint paper that a friend gifted me when she was offloading old pieces of hers from art school. I pleaded with her not to toss it and send the paper to me instead.

Thanks, Nina.

In my state of less than ideal health yesterday, I cut pieces from old books.

That was after a nap and a cup of coffee. I needed my strength for this endeavor after all.

The last pieces of a vintage Cannabis poster that belonged to my brother in 1968.

I sold some of the rest of it on Etsy. Hmmm, selling cannabis on Etsy... not sure I should be saying that!

My friend Mountain Heather has given me one of her fabric catalogs to cut up for collage.

See lower right.

She's also given me these pieces of fake slate-like fused stone that I'm using for backgrounds for assemblage.

I know it's hard to tell with this scan but the body of the girl is a large shard of an old mirror that I found outside of an old church near the Mexican border. The shell piece was just given to me a couple of weeks ago and I found the embossed copper at a thrift shop. I only need to keep myself in Liquid Nails and Mod Podge as far as supplies go these days. I am totally overrun with supplies I realize and yet they still keep making their way to me somehow. My husband is off in Tucson attending to the tiling job in our new apartment. It seems he's talked the lady at the tile store into giving me a box of scraps of ceramic, porcelain and glass tile. I know I just won't turn it down!

Travel Journal

I managed to get into the studio and create, head full of crud notwithstanding

It's nice to find elements I had prepped over 6 months ago at the ready.

I had this sheet of ironed sari silk ribbon already affixed to wonder under so all I had to do was iron it to the  folded cereal box cardboard.

Same with this African fabric- already prepped.

I knew I needed a journal to bring on our India trip next month so that was my goal yesterday.

This is the inside cover

and this. I know, it looks like I have already traveled and filled it.

I guess I couldn't handle dreaded blank page syndrome already.

I had some thick gauge copper wire for binders that I hammered shut.

Now I can't add any more pages

All of the pages that I decorated do have blanks on the other side, just too boring to show here.

I used vintage calendar pages for some since they are also blank on the other side.

I should have included more pockets and I'm now beginning to have doubts that this is the journal that will travel with me because of its size and abundance of imagery and color already.

I kind of ran out of blank paper anyway so I just may have to try again and include more pockets on the next one

I made it with onion bag mesh and metal tape. I think it's rather ugly but my excuse is that I'm sick.

I do think it will be functional however.

Well, back to the drawing board. I may have to pull out the old 1890's treadle sewing machine and familiarize myself with it and make some proper pockets.

thanks for having a look!

Wahhh!

I finally landed home after all of our travels, holidays and renovations and made it to Bisbee.

So looking forward to buckling down and getting into the studio to make some stuff and then picked up some sort of weepy drippy crud that requires a handkerchief affixed to my face  and a stuffed up head that's rendering brain rather useless... in fact I'm surprised I can type at all right now.

Wasn't sick once our whole time in Alaska...oh well at least this boss is lenient with sick days...one of the perks of working for yourself I guess.

Don't you just love this page that I found in my brother's collection. I think it's from an 1800's book.

I've used a few of these faces in my ATC's before but it pretty much illustrates how I'm feeling right now. 

Don't worry though these things generally seem to run their course in a matter of 3 days or so I'll be back in business soon I hope.

Over the Arroyo and thru the Cactus

I do have to say one thing about southwest Thanksgivings, It always seems to be grey and cool and threatening rain here in the desert.

Not your traditional indoor feast, this one involves turkey breasts on the grill rather than roasted birds  and subzero temperatures and saunas after dinner.

I found some beasts to commune with in the stable

Meet Victor... he let me know it was OK to touch him. I'm not so familiar with horse beings.

I'm more familiar with mooseys and I never get too close to them

I think he sensed I was going for composition... quite nice of him

Ubiquitous Cacti

Majestic Saguaro

Trail groomer that looks like it was inspired by the cactus

Happy Thanksgiving to you  all and thanks to you all for the new connections that I've found here.

XOXO  Kim

Elevenses

I'm trying a little experiment with my ipad and a new blogger app.
Since this is one of the few photos I happen to have saved on it I didn't want to leave it devoid of a photo. These are some chains I picked up at the gem show last year. They kind of look like Elevenses.

I made it dwon to Tucson just in time for some cooler temps, although much warmer than Alaska. A dusting of snow on the mountain tops and cool enough for a second light layer of clothing.

First day spent shopping to outfit our new little apartment... shower curtain, towels and the like. Filling up on good Mexican food 'round town and stocking up at Trader Joe's. Then north to Phoenix to catch up with my sister that's doing a hundred mile run on her 48th birthday called the "Javelina Jundred". I had the full on IKEA experience in Phoenix when I actually need to furnish a small place so that was so exciting for me. I've only ever been to one once before so you can imagine what fun that was.

Meanwhile I'm waiting for my man to show up with the truck he drove down from Alaska. It was kind of scary to hear that he covered 1700 miles without stopping to sleep. What a marathon man he is and I'm glad he made it safely so far. He's stopping at Obsidian Mountain to pick up rocks today he tells me. We never ever travel light!
After the weekend we'll finally make it to our destination of Bisbee and settle in and I can start making stuff again!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Finding Time... Almost Packed

Now that most of my tools are packed and studio is buttoned up I just had to leave myself something to play with for the rest of the week or I would go crazy.

I have just a couple of bags of ephemera left out and have been occupying my spare time with a bit of collaging.

                                 

a bit of winter theme and color scheming

...mostly just playing

Feeding Time

A display for my  lampwork paper clips for my next show

I re-covered a small journal I made. I really didn't like the colors I painted it with before.

here's the back side of the same journal.

Not sure how many more blog posts I'll get out before I leave and I'll most likely have a bit of a break until I get situated back in Bisbee. Meanwhile I have one more two day show up north before I fly and a trip to Phoenix to see my sister hopefully finish her Javelina Jundred 100 mile run on her 48th birthday!

By then David should be caught up to me with his 4000 mile trip in the little truck and we can settle in a bit and enjoy some desert sunshine.
                                                         Until then...XOXO Kim