Meditation Zine

DC: 193: Prayer/Meditation

This week's drawing challenge pushed me to design my first real 'zine.' The theme Prayer is interpreted by my self as 'Meditation.' Thank you so much TammieLee for hosting this event and choosing such a lovely theme for us to consider.

Firstly, this is a prototype, a design idea, a learning curve, an experiment. It is a zine about meditation and the graphics are collaged tea bag paper (used) with watercolour birds and stitched (oh it is awful but oh well) outlines for veins, etc. With all of its warts and (hateful due to machine issues, etc.) stitched boo-boos.

Here's some stems with tired worn out brown leaves from a lotus plant.

This is the entire 8.5"X11" sheet filled with old lotus plants.

We find a colourful bird has found its' way into the lotus grove.

Birds have been painted, and machine stitching added to denote veins, etc.

Words have been added.

And the pages folded and cut. It's ready to be born into a zine proper:

Front Cover.

Page 2 and 3.

Page 4 and 5

Page 6 and 7

Back Cover.

So I learned a great deal. The beige on beige is boring so I have in mind some very colouful bugs to add...next time. And I want to do hand lettering for the type. And use brown thread in the sewing machine. And to play with the machine to get control over what I want to happen on the page...

And so dear readers, thanks for dropping by. Click on Tammie's blog to see what others have added to this great drawing challenge this week. Bye for now, hope to see you again soon, Love Norma, x

P.S.
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to a friend who sent me a surprise gift in the mail. Her art inspired me no end and launched me into a whole new world of tea bag collage. Thank you so much Kim Henkel.

Pink Horse

DRAWING CHALLENGE INVITE (All are very welcome here!) To join in this fun challenge, just leave a comment below and I'll add your name to the list. When you've completed your offering/contribution to the challenge, I'll link your name to the list so everyone can come visit your site. So, to join in all you have to do is: a) leave a comment below indicating that you are IN the challenge, b) do your art piece, drawing, painting, sculpting, photographing, installation, whatever your expression is, c) let me know in the comments section below that you're ready to show your art and I'll then go in and link you in the players's list which will be at the bottom of this post, d) on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of April, visit the folk on the list who are playing along so you can see what they have done. It's easy to visit the list, as they are all in one spot at the end of this blog post and are all highlighted so all you have to do is 'click'! I hope you will join in for the fun here.

DC No. 192: Pink Horse

Well, judging from my last post it looks like it took just under a month to get my dining table up and running and back to normal (ahem). This is what it looks like right now, March 21st, that is:

I got a neat little wood display case that is very narrow, wall hung and with a glass door. Perfect for my little books. Just bringing your attention to it as it contains a few books at the moment.

So working on the dining table was impossible and I moved over to my other actual work table, equally messy but where I work most. My work desk is overlooked (freudian slip) by a religious figure as I do need help in the cleaning department:

Most times I feel like the saying in the post card:

I knew I was going to do a little book with a pamphlet binding. Here's a pile of visuals and I chose the horses on the post card for the front cover:

I made a selection of papers from my favourite paper mill (Canadian I am proud to say.):

Then I went to 'the SUITCASE':

The suitcase contains paper, and I opened it:

I'd found an image of two horses, one of them pink, that I liked and had chosen. Perhaps I should use this pink gun found in the suitcase? Perhaps not:

I surveyed my pencil crayons:

And then got down to work.

I was laying in bed waiting to go to sleep the other night, when a flash of an idea came to me: why not use the 'channel' where the blade runs along to slice through paper, on my paper cutter to draw a crease in paper to act as a fold line? Wouldn't the width of the bone folder I have run along that channel nicely? Honestly, I don't see why not is what I said to myself just before I drifted off. And then forgot about the whole brilliant idea upon waking the following morning!

Until I remembered it earlier this day. It launched me. I have had the idea for a long time, that a person (me!) could make things from what they (me!) already has. So I jumped up, found some suitable paper and tried the running the bone folder along the channel to score a piece of paper idea. SUCCESS.

That was the leap off of the tall diving board, creatively speaking. I decided that I could make a little book and be a host of the wonderful paper swap for this week at the same time. So I rushed to action, sourcing out things in my home.

Time for some words. I went through the stack of books I keep for cutting up and as I scanned the pages, really, a story evolved on its' own from the first page I looked at. Suddenly the picture I chose now has a story to it. And it's taken on a life of its' own. This is the muse at work. A surprise for me, and a surprise for you at the same time...I think this booklet might be a story about two gay guys. It's called PINK HORSE, starting from an image of two horses, one a pinkish hue. And I chose a bunch of pinky, purple papers to do a collage with and beyond that I knew not what it would be. But, I found a picture that I've been long long in love with and decided to use it in the centre (chosen mostly for the pink tie and purple vest in the image) and then stumbled across some lines on a page in an old book, and a story emerged. All by itself. I think it is about a jockey. Is he a former jockey? Did he retire? Get kicked out of the community? Feel shamed in some way? Maybe he is still working...a current jockey. In any event, he is feeling sad. I decided to tuck his friend into a pocket in the previous page so our jockey can just get a glimpse of him. Perhaps his friend is just a memory. Or a fantasy of the night. We really do not know.

So the idea popped into my head to search for the 'pansies' image I have somewhere...somewhere...I began the search...and didn't find pansies (though now that I think of it, pansies would be 'guilding the lily',) but came across a bookmark with the word COCK written in large pink letters and I'm thinking of using it to tuck into the pocket with the friend. And then I came across another little box of papers which contains quotes, and the first quote I came upon says: " Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one's breath." Okay that quote will definitely be tucked in with his friend in the pocket. On with the search. Be back soon.

Well it didn't take long. I found a cover image. And so I'm going to throw out the whole idea of doing a collage on the front cover. I'm only going to use the horses image from the very first bookmark cover design idea. Back to searching...aaaaaaaand it's done! Quickly, I came across a pink horse (another one), pink lipstick, and an image of a Japanese actor with a lipstick 'cross' over the lips. Perfect. Now time to dig out the glue.

Okay this is getting to be too much. Even for me. A believer (in the muse; in serendipity.) I was cutting out the pink horse image to start to glue it down, and swished away a section of my messy work desk, and what fell onto my lap? The following quote: "My inner male loves and supports me." Nuff said.

I just cut and pasted and glued to my heart's content and here is the finished book. It's a small 'pocket' book with only 6 pages plus the front and back cover, but it is a story complete unto itself nonetheless. The inside pages being planned:

Our fella is feeling very sad indeed:

All of the images have been chosen:

And the binding selected:

And the book, completed. Here's shots of inside pages, and front and back covers:

The last photo is the front cover. The title of the book is "Pink Horse" and it tells the story of a man who is very sad. The visuals show pink lipstick, a Japanese actor with a lipstick cross "X" on his lips, 3 different pink horses, and other horses so perhaps this guy is a jockey. There are a quote and an affirmation about the 'inner male' and about 'a kiss', and the word COCK written in large capital letters. Two pockets hold some of these things.

Well, my muse took me on quite the journey this time round. I do not judge my muse, only obey.

Thank you for joining in for this week's drawing challenge and I hope you've all had a blast and I know I'm going to have a blast visiting your sites to see what you have done. Bye for now, and thanks for dropping in. All the best to you, with love, Norma, x

P.S. If you want to join in on this drawing challenge just leave a comment below on this post. I'll make a list of who is joining in this time.

THE PLAYERS: TammieLee, Melodye, Veronica, Lucia, Mano, Ariane, Nadine,

Cocoon

DC: 189
THE CATECHISM

I've felt the pull to do a collage and so for this drawing challenge, that is what I've done. All I had was a black and white photocopy of a whole group of cocoons from a white butterfly [common cabbage type] that were attached to a tree. Not much to go on, and pretty boring really. But the muse piped in and suddenly an old drawing study plan of 'lines' for an image of a single female sitting in a boat came into play, quickly followed by some lines from an old Reader's Digest condensed book so old the yellowed pages are practically falling out of the spine. They struck me, these lines. The word 'squaw' jarred my mind. It's an awful word. But I think used often in past times. And the idea that the teaching of the catechism to 'squaws' was of import really strikes me, almost a physical sensation, as I've recently been thinking of residential schools and about the idea of taking the 'indian' out of indian kids in their charge. The schools I know of were run by priests and nuns.

Bits and pieces fell into my hands as the collage completed itself on the page. After it was done these questions came to mind as I viewed what I'd just made:
1. Did Mrs. Feake have a knowledge of good and evil? Is the snake symbol her friend or foe?
2. As the snake with the forked tongue is facing the catechism sentence, what does that say?
3. As the snake with the smile on its' face is facing the lone woman is snake her friend?
4. Is the lone woman sitting in quiet repose reciting the catechism to herself in serenity?
5. Is the lone woman making plans to leave her situation and fly like a butterfly once her cocoon phase is over?

The poem is by Ellie Daphne van Stralen. The lines are from 'The Winthrop Woman' by Anya Seton, c. 1958.

Patrice is our host this week for the drawing challenge and her blog will direct you to the other players participating in this challenge. Have a look at what they have done. There is always such a variety of interesting, inspiring, fabulous creative offerings here. Thank you for dropping in today, and I hope to see you again soon, Cheers, Norma, x

Designing paper

So me and the muse have been having fun together. I've made about a dozen small books with a learning curve in mind. And there is really nothing like getting one's hands 'dirty' so to speak, to learn what to do and what not to do. The muse has been vocal~~giving me ideas and feedback. I started with a simple black book and soon I was making red suede with matching 'belt' closure, etc.; bright mustard yellow creamy smooth leather that feels like butter and itching for something yummy inside of the book, etc. One thing led to the other and I have four or five different styles of closures and am making inside pages with a bit of collage to break up the monotony of plain pages. Well of course some will be journals (art journals in particular) and so clean blank pages are welcome. But I have in mind junk journals, deconstructed journals, art journals as I mentioned, smash journals, wreck this journals and I did a tiny bit of research into what these different journals mean and now I forgot what I read. Sheesh. Well I could not hold back tonight, so planned a collage sheet (page of 65 lb. dry media art paper which will be the insides of a book or two or dozen) that will be sliced into small sections to represent a 'sheet' in a sewn signature. I saw some visuals on line that particularly inspired me so started out applying ripped pages from old books which then got a coat of gesso overlaid and then dried so I could go to town with sandpaper. I had in mind beiges, pale browns, light greys, palest of greens...fall going into winter colours. But the muse stepped in and my collage turned into strong purples mostly, with touches of dark green and black. The whole topped off with silver to represent the coming cool frosty weather which is sure to come soon.

The colours were inspired by my walks lately where I have been very aware of the dark dark dark faded but strong saturated browny purples and blues of old basically dead hydrangea blossoms. I have pressed a few and so this piece took on a completely different look than what I'd imagined. There's hints of pine cones in here as well, as they are falling fast now. Yellow daisies are in fresh bloom as well. We've had lots of sun this fall and the flowers love it. In any event, I've been busy but wanted to show you what I've been playing on tonight. Playing with or playing on? Nice to see you, Norma, x

Nude with Blue Hair

dc140: nude

A quick collage of sorts with watercolor pencils and conte crayons. Done for the drawing challenge for this week, hosted by the lovely Patrice. See her spot for more offerings. You'll be delighted with what you see I promise! Thanks for dropping in today and hope to see you soon. I'm not much here these days it seems. I miss you all. Hugs, Norma, xo

WOYWW[196] Envelopes

The desksurface (my glass table):

The beginning of a fabric/paper collage envelope:

What the envelope is going to contain [one of my birds]:

A little section showing a closer look:

I've a long way to go [painted bird is a large part of the plans] but this is the very beginning! Thank you for dropping in today. Thank you Julia for hosting this wonderful Wednesday wander through many work surfaces and many projects by many participants. If you want to see more workdesks, pop by Julia's spot!

Hope to see you again soon! Hugs, Norma, x

Fate Keeps Happening; searching for buttons

Here is my second attempt at doing collage. This time, a post card. I have to apologize if anyone is offended because I cannot read the Old German Script writing. I don't know the content and I chose it because of the beautiful lettershapes. If it is really inappropriate, will you please let me know!! Here is what the card looked like before I applied the final layer of Dorland's wax:

The wax obliterates the fuzzy paper bits that are left on with the gel transfers I used in this piece. Nothing is perfect, in life, or in art. I am ignoring the imperfect bits and won't bore you by pointing them out. My complete purpose in doing these pieces, is to learn. I am having so much fun, and must say a hearty thank you to BarbaraBee for inspiring me to begin to do collage, AND to Kim for teaching me about the Dorland's wax in the first place. My tip o' the hat to you two ladies.

Thanks for dropping in today, and I hope to see you soon. *smiles* Norma, x

p.s. see the little hole in the rose in the middle of the scene? I'm going to cover it over with a stick-on bee.

ART happens

Today I am practicing painting buddha faces. I'm working small and just playing basically. I'd arrived at the point where I was happy with my results and ready to take a break and maybe pack up for the day. Laying on my art table were the throwaway bits and I was just about to scoop them into the garbage bin when I realized that I could pop them on to a rolodex card for an altered rolodex art card. So I grabbed a blank card and collaged the throwaway bits onto the card and then added a word and an edge of other throwaway paper that I keep in a small box ready for times like this. Here is one page of the rolodex card (untrimmed) and also the bit of printed transparency that my daughter threw away and I nabbed. This transparency will make up the larger part of the reverse side of the card.

I just really liked the look of the ART that happened with the printed transparency laying beside it on the table. It's all serendipity isn't it? Nice to see you again. We'll see you soon, I hope, *smiles* Norma

My favorite things

In the selfish interest of having a chance to win this:


I am playing along with the butterfly effect and answering ten questions about me.

I. What is your favorite flower to bring to your enemy’s grave?
The grave is a place of memories so I'd bring forgetmenots.
II. What is your favorite bird to dress up as if you were in a parade?
Budgie.
III. What is your favorite pet quality you’d like to own?
Cat~the ability to just walk away; Dog~eternal optimism
IV. Which one of your favorite celebrities would you marry if you could?
Michael Caine
V. What is your favorite food to order when your in-laws are paying for the meal?
Something involving booze.
VI. What is your favorite drink to accidentally spill on a person you like?
Water
VII. What is your favorite destination to vacation and/or live if you won a million dollars?
London town
VIII. What is your favorite color to wear to your best friend’s wedding?
Indian yellow
IX. What is your favorite book or/and book character you’d take with you on a lonely island?
I Ching
X. What is your favorite song to sing in the shower?
My Sweet Lord by George Harrison

We are to do something creative as well so this was the excuse to go ahead and try out something I've been planning inside of my head for about a year now. It's a zine/littlebook made from a used tea bag sheet of paper. Here is the cover which features an india ink sketched bird and a quick collage. As tea bag paper is impossibly thin you can see that it bleeds easily and tears even more easily. Both a rip and a bleed come with the territory on this cover. So here is my prototype of my zine which I plan to make for my etsy shop.




Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you soon. *smiles* Norma

My 'first' collage piece

Well I've started my first collage/transfer on a small 2+15/16 X 2+15/16 inch canvas. One of my favorite books "Descent to the Goddess~A Way of Initiation for Women" by Sylvia Brinton Perera features a striking black and white image on the front cover so I'm planning to transfer that image as a component of my collage. In the book (which has sat on my bookshelf since the early 80s) I found a very dried fleur which was originally a delicate lilac color so there's a hint still of that. I sewed an outline of a just-opening crocus onto a used tea bag paper sheet, and I left the long tails of thread so you can see it better. I'll cut them for the collage. There is a quote typed with my faithful manual typewriter along the edge of a very old book from France. It reads:

"Her breasts and arms ached with the beauty of her own forgiveness."

This is a quote by Meridel Le Sueur. I've a snippet of Japanese hand made paper which I am hoping will fit in. I haven't started the collage but you can see my initial planning of what will go into it!



Thanks for dropping by. To see more wonderful work by a group of fabby artists, pop by here.

See you soon I hope! *smiles* Norma

Season's Greetings Giveaway

The other day while walking down the ally behind my studio I came upon this wooden butter mold laying on the ground by a dumpster. At least I think it is a butter mold. There's a handle on it and the whole thing is very smooth. So I took it home, scrubbed it clean, and...


Now it is a holder for my calligraphy pens and inks.


So it sits on my work table and of course inspired me to stop what I was doing immediately (bird making) and begin a piece with some sort of script writing (which I have not done for a very long time.) I decided to make an altered coaster ornament for the season festivities. I began by painting a wee angel.


And she will be the center of the coaster and I will finish this piece hopefully today to be given away so watch for the notice! *smiles* Norma

To see what other fabulous artists are up to drop by here!

Nice to see you again, and may this day be all that you hope.

A Flock of Seagulls

Make that one seagull, one starling, one dove (use your imagination~he's generic), and two house sparrows.






What's wrong with these pictures! EVERYTHING! And that is why they made it to this post. Because today is 'Failure Friday!' I came across this post and just loved it so. This very day I'd planned on saving some failures in my bag; and so timing is everything here. In actual fact, I've already 'saved' a lot of what is wrong but I keep giving away the birds I make so never have any on hand. First, all beaks get a kiss of silver or gold acrylic. I mean a 'kiss.' All eyes are no longer a seed bead because they roll over. Now I use bugle beads that have a flat plane to rest on. And I've developed a technique for construction so that the eyes don't have to go through the ordeal of being manipulated through a sewing machine phase. Believe me they don't want to have to go through the sewing machine phase. The best 'save' is the seagull feet. I was originally (this is my very first prototype in fact) going for feet that kind of bend back (you know how pathetic bird feet are of deceased birds? The kind that pull your heartstrings) but these are ridiculous. I wanted some bulk in the legs so wrapped them in fabric. Forget that noise. I've figured out the feet on my birds.
Each bird I make has a number (like on real birds who are banded with a metal ring on their leg) as well as a word or two of 'inspiration' such as JOY or LOVE, etc. These are inspirational birds after all. I painstakingly hammered the metal letters to spell the word on used aluminum can metal. Forget it; they break in two in no time at all (by the way for folk who are reading this who have received one of my birds as a gift, I apologize for the breakage; if it's happened to your bird). Now I am going to try banding them with paper. It's a work in progress let's just say.
The glitter is heavy and rubbing bare in some places. Wrong kind of glue. I've got that sorted too! And that dove? Skinny as a rail. Maybe he is not a dove after all. We'll have to see.

So there can be a lot wrong with one's art. Someone once said something like: "Art is just figuring out problems." I like that.

Thanks for dropping by! *smiles* Norma

p.s. for those wondering when their birds will arrive; know I haven't forgotten you!