Migration Dream

I haven't just taken out all my papers and created a collage in such a long time. How fun. Should be done much more often. This, though was created for a workshop -- a Valentine workshop, no less! I taught a collage class last Saturday, in the guise of a Valentine making class. Only two people came, and in the spirit of seeing where things took us, we decided to ditch the "Valentine" theme. (and the more "traditional" Valentine making techniques I had planned)

We created some "wet" collage first. On a piece of freshly made, newly couched handmade paper, collage other thin papers on top. These papers should be dipped in a water-mod podge solution first. Then press and dry the papers as you normally would. The finished product is a collage that looks like it is part of the paper.

We also made some collages on 5x7 pieces of book board. I just had them choose from a bunch of paper I brought in. I brought in cut out images, lots of printed design paper, hand made paper, paste paper, unryu tissue (my favorite!), and old wrapping paper. Somehow this didn't even make a dent in my supplies at home. That's either really impressive, or really sad... We just put gesso on the board to prep it, and used mod podge (love it!) to paint our pieces on. So simple, and as always, so satisfying.

I really should do it more often. It's good for the soul.

This one I titled the minute I finished.

It's called "Migration Dream".

My goodness, has it been since September!??!! Well, the holiday season sure is a busy one for us crafty types... But now that 2010 is here, it is time to think about my upcoming show. This will be my first show -- and I am quite excited (and a little nervous).

I've been collecting sheets of handmade paper that I've been making over the past year or so, and plan on making collages out of them.

Here are some pieces for the first one I'm working on. The paper was made from scraps of pulp I've been collecting from the drain at the studio. I think it's made up of cotton, abaca, hemp, and flax -- plus some other random things I'm sure...


I'll post more as I work on it. The show isn't until June, so I've got plenty of time...

Origami top

Thursday evening I met with my origami group. This is just a hand full of people who get together once a month, and well, fold. And fold. And fold.
The woman who heads it up recently returned from a national origami convention, and shared some new patterns with the group.
The first is a York rose. My attempt wasn't so great, but I'll try again. This is one piece of paper that is red on one side and green on the other.

The next is a top. It's made from three sheets. The smaller ones are from 6" sheets and the larger is from 12" sheets. The best part is that they actually spin! The larger one I made is from scrap booking paper and it is very sturdy. I gave it to my 23 month old daughter to play with. It has held up beautifully!
Here is one spinning...
These were so much fun to make. This is one I will definitely remember for Thanksgiving with the nieces and nephews...

Marbling Fun!

This is only my second attempt at marbling. My first time was in a workshop setting. The class took place during the Friends of Dard Hunter conference (in Chillocothe, Ohio) and was taught by Ann Woods. She was wonderful, and as any talented person does, made it all look so easy. Maybe too easy. I took what I learned in this class of only a few hours, and years later thought I could do it again.
Here's a sample from that workshop:

In Ann's class, we did marbling that was typically European. What I attempted last week was suminagashi, which is Japanese marbling. There are differences, but I think the spirit of it was the same.
I was working with my friend Rita at Paper Circle, and we just had a kit to work with.
Here's Rita adding the pigment with a brush:
This is the handmade paper floating on top of water. It just takes the pigment off the top of the water when you lift the paper. Amazing, really...:
The kit came with rice paper, but the colors were so washed out. We quickly realized that handmade paper was the way to go. Though they may not be technically good, I think they came out really great. I'm thinking book covers.... These are some of my favorites:

Cereal Box Book

One of my favorite blogs is My Handbound Books. This is a blog by book artist in Canada who is so talented and has such a wonderful eye. One of the books she made was from an old mini cereal box. Well of course I just had to try this one out!

First things first -- I had my son eat the cereal...












I just did a simple longstitch exposed binding. The result was really cute! I'm thinking it would make a good food journal...

Oirgami Quilt

This is from the book Origami Quilts by Tomoko Fuse. Sadly the book is no longer in print. I borrowed a copy from someone in my origami group to play with. Fuse's books are great. I find the diagrams in many origami books to be a little difficult to understand. These however are extremely easy. She also has a number of books on origami boxes and unit origami which are still available -- and absolutely wonderful!
I did a couple of these "quilts" with my Mom when visiting her last week. She is a quilter, so I thought this is a paper project that would appeal to her. The one pictured here is made from 13 pieces of 6 inch origami paper. The finished piece is about 18 or so inches square.
We also did one using 12 inch sheets of scrapbooking paper (which is great for some origami projects) This ended up to be about a yard or so square. Unfortuneately, I ran out of space on memory card for my camera, and didn't get a picture of that one.

Time Flies...

Has it really been six weeks since my last post!? Well how time flies... I've been busy teaching in a kids art camp called Circle Round the School. The program serviced about 80 children ages 9 - 15 in the Nelsonville, Ohio area. Sadly, the school system there has no art classes for the kids until they are in high school. Imagine! I cannot even begin to think about what Morrison Elementary would have been like without Ms. Rector... Anyway, I taught with the theater portion of the camp. We did costumes and masks for the plays that were performed -- and of course they were all out of recycled materials! The kids did such a great job. Bravo to them all!

The only project that I have worked on for myself were invitations for my daughter's 10th birthday party. It's this Saturday, and the theme is "Summer Camp". We took scraps of decorative paper, cut them to the shapes we wanted, and did a sewn collage to look like a campfire on cards I made of recycled paper and grasses. As you can see, they turned out great!