Change is here...

Metamorphosis
DC: 190

With my help, my dining table (that comfortably seats 10 but sadly is not much used for eating) has undergone a metamorphosis this day. Here are the BEFORE shots:

And here is the AFTER shot:

To see more metamorphosis visit ROSE. Ariane has chosen this timely topic for this week's drawing challenge. Thank you my dear! Thanks for coming by today; see you soon I hope, Norma, x

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

All sixes and sevens...

SIXES and SEVENS
drawing challenge no. 187

Our host this week for the drawing challenge is the lovely Nadine! It's been far too long since I've been able to play here and so I am particularly happy to join in. And, as usual, I wondered what I might possibly come up with. My mind blank, teetering on the edge of the abyss of panic, my heart beginning to race a little, my logic reaching for possibilities, I go to bed discouraged in my own ability to ever make anything interesting, truly creative, original, nice and in particular something that others might like, again. This happens every time. But absolutely every time, the panic is followed by a kernel of an idea. It grows. I relax. I find BELIEF again that maybe I can think of something original and that I love and that others might like. I relax more deeply. The muse enters into things. I begin to trust. I relax quite a lot now. The muse and me are working together on something. That something for this drawing challenge is a little book. SURPRISE!

And so it grew. My ideas always grow. Too big for a challenge and done in one week, actually. I'm always full of "this is going to be...or, when this is finished it will..." And so again with this week's challenge.

But here is my little book. The feeling I get when faced with signing up for a new challenge repeats itself every time. As outlined briefly above, I doubt, worry, panic, relax a little, allow an idea to enter, relax a little more, allow the muse in, relax a lot, and get down to work. That is my personal experience of being all sixes and sevens. It's not comfortable. It is always worth it. And as always, I won't be able to complete my project for the deadline but will show you what I do have done, and describe the rest.

I believe in things unseen. Miracles, magic, ghosts, favors granted from the divine, synchronicities, quantum physics, prayer, an intelligent universe. I believe. But my belief is not always comfortable and at times quite the opposite. My ego who very much wants to control things and is very incompetent and some say, run by the devil himself, just has to have a say in things. The devil might whisper "prove it" and I say back "I don't have to, for I believe." These are general musings I realize, but so is my drawing challenge offering this week.

As I sit and think of things 'universe' I think of stars first, so I made a small book of 65 lb. recycled art paper inside and my beloved Saint Armand paper for the cover, using a Japanese stab binding in the shape of STAR. The first page of the book shows a very small drawing of a field at dusk with the nighttime stars beginning to twinkle. At the bottom, a quote cut from an old recycled bible: for we walk by faith, not by sight. This is from 2 Corinthians 5:7. The meaning for me is that I don't have to see things to believe in them. I believe I have a muse that will never leave me or fail me. I'll leave it at that.

Lincoln said: "To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing."

Now we come to the part where I won't be able to complete the whole art idea by the deadline for this week. My little book is meant to be written in, drawn in, or whatever one desires. It will snug into a little pocket which really will be a pendant pouch on a rope, worn as a necklace. The pouch will be woven (I have a table loom I call Saint Agnes) from textured wool and strips of paper rope I make from bible pages (shifu Japanese paper rope.) It's gonna be great I tell ya! Famous last words.

I like the idea of affirmations and one could write these in the little book necklace to refer to, remember, quote to one's self (might come in handy at the dentist's office) and I like the idea of the card no. 17 of the Major Arcana in the Tarot. Card no. 17 is STAR. This might have special meaning for some. As I worked on this small book, the meaning of it grew as it grew into being between my fingers and needles et al. I see this piece as a 'prayer book' of sorts. For it has a bible quote and is illustrated ever so slightly. So it can be that for some, too. Okay so what does this thing look like for heaven's sake! Here is the cover. Shown beside a dime for scale, and threading instructions for drama (HA!):

Here is the front page illustration. Pencil crayon, ink. I haven't done any art for months so I'm critical of this but it does give a nice idea:

Drop by to visit Nadine who will direct you to the visuals for all of the folk playing along this week. You will see all different kinds of wonderful offerings here. Nice to see you again! Cheers, Norma, x

p.s. just ignore the blue colored chunk in the middle of the blog. I can't get rid of it.

Love Paris

I started working on a few wee books for my first Christmas Craft Fair, and have stamped some with my new hand-carved stamp. I had it made yesterday in Chinatown by a brilliant artist. The stamp, also called 'chop' is small and this guy doesn't use a magnifying glass...and, he works without glasses. He carves directly into the stone! The chinese character ideagram means 'return' which I chose specifically because of the meaning as it relates to the cycles of a year. We return to the same place but see it differently, with new eyes. Snowflakes are discovered anew each year, for example. Nature returns. We return. All return.

The red cinnabar paste takes a bit of time to dry. So while I'm waiting on it, I started to make pages for a new little stack of books (small stack as I work so darned slow.) I started gathering the supplies and materials together and came upon a colour picture of the Eiffel Tower and that stopped me in my tracks. I knew I had to make a wee book in honour of Paris and that led to hours and hours of finding supplies, garnering ideas in my head and hands on cutting, stamping, sewing, pasting, embellishing; I'm still at it so who knows what else will transpire. I work with an idea in my head, but my hands as they work on the item, always do their own thing. Which is always a surprise to me, and always comes from my 'muse.'

So instead of making a small batch of books I'll be making one book about Paris. So it goes.

I glanced up at one point and realized my work desk was a sight to behold. A flurry of activity. I bet most of you work like this. Here's a few photographs:

The cinnabar paste is drying.

 Pages are folded and awaiting selection.

 So busy these days no time to replace dead flowers in vase on my work desk.

And no time to pack away Halloween decorations.

Here's a few reference books on my work table.

Well it is time to get back at it! Hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves. Talk soon, I hope, sending love to all, Norma

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

The muse is back!

Honestly, it/they have been gone for a bit more than a year this time! I began to lose hope. I did lose complete belief in my ability to create anything beautiful ever again in this lifetime. I've been living a 'crisis of faith,' though my other faith (spiritual) has been stronger than ever so perhaps the two faiths have crossed paths this time. All I know is that I am bursting with ideas and belief in my self. I embrace the Universe creatively these days. No complaints here...but I'll say that there seems to be not enough time in one day to do all I want to do. It's all good...

Those of you who know me know my love/passion for using used tea bag paper as a ground. And of my love/obsession [it's in my blood] with making wee books. Say an inch or so by an inch or so~in that category. And so I work small. If I fill a whole tea bag then that is a big painting for me. My books are filled with little drawings and paintings of things. A lot of birds. You'll see from my last post that I've been working on a new design little book and had plans to make more. I have. And while making them the muse arrived into my life again. Ideas abound. Belief in myself impregnates me. I rediscovered my original love for things calligraphy, illuminated letters and small painting and I am designing pages of illuminated letters/miniature painting to adorn the front inside page of my little books AND stumbled upon the idea to do the illuminated letters/miniature painting in a pendant format as well. That way I don't have to make a complete little book to feature one illuminated letter and can just (well 'just' is a bit of an understatement but you know what I mean) pop the drawing into a bezel and cover it with a protective layer of resin. This is where my expert daughter Jennifer comes to my rescue. I'm not about to enter a learning curve of working with resin. There's only so much I can ask of the muse.

Anyway, I'm enthused and that rhymes with muse and not wanting to confuse (forgive me) I'll show you an illuminated letter I did and posted three years back this August.



You can see the teabag paper [used] clearly here. I work mostly with watercolor but sometimes venture into the acrylic realm. It's a mystery to me. I did one complete acrylic painting which is a COPY stroke by stroke of what I saw in the original painting [a post card.] I thought I might learn something during this process. I didn't. When I ventured into trying to do something of my own with acrylic, it is a dog's breakfast. I think I will stick with watercolor. Anyway, here is my acrylic COPY which taught me nothing.

Starting out. 


 Coming along.


Ready for my close up. Meow! (note: I didn't get a photo of the finished piece. I painted LONG whiskers right on top of the painting where they should be located using a dagger paint brush which is used by sign painters to get a long long clean line.)
 

 A watercolor folly. Bwaaaahaaaaa.
 

 A real mummy. His lips are kept closed by a pine cone spine I think it is.

 Coming along. Oh my what nice eyes you have!
 

 So as you can see, watercolor(especially on used tea bag paper) is my thang. I'm just trying out doing calligraphy [script lettering this time] directly onto the paper with a mapping pen. Pointed steel against fragile tea bag paper. A day in the life... Lovely chatting and who knows, I may post more often now that the muse has returned. Good day to ye' and wishes for a great day. Norma, x

Tiny Book

Drawing Challenge 174 TINY

I'd started to make a small book with a leather cover and hand made sturdy paper from my favourite paper mill for the inside signatures a few weeks ago, so decided to complete the prototype for this challenge. Here it is, warts and all...

I was going to use a 'peace' symbol charm, but as it is Sunday, decided on a 'cross' instead. I like the way it looks.

Here's the back, closed. The last picture shows what it might look like as a necklace. I placed a thinnish paper rope style here.

I wanted to figure out a few construction steps and managed them satisfactorily so it tickles me to see that I figured out how to use headbands and to install a small wire hanging loop that is unassuming visually, and how to manage the end papers and sewn binding. Now I feel confident to surge ahead and make some more. The size of this book closed is 1+1/8" Wide X 1+3/8" Tall. Thanks for popping by today; to see more offerings for this challenge of TINY, click onto this link where you will find our illustrious host Tammie! See you again soon, I hope, *smiles* Norma.