Found Art Tuesday 9-26-06

I left my key themed piece at Le Petite Marche (Dawns Bread) today. I snuck it in between the napkins on the coffee bar. I was the only one in the bistro so I could not really hang around. So hopefully Dawn herself will find the work. She is such a nice lady. This week will be working on some more deco pages to meet swapping commitments :)

k

found art Tuesday 9/26/06

I can't believe how fast this one came together. I was finishing up a couple of deco pages and the idea just sort of announced itself as I was working. And so, while waiting for various items to dry, I started on this work for found art Tuesday. The theme is key.

This past Saturday I picked up a September menu from Le Petite Marche (Dawn's Bread). This little bistro is a well kept secret, tucked away in downtown Crystal lake, Illinois. They have a wonderful wine selection, cheeses from around the world, breads, and pastries to please the sweet tooth. I like the idea of using or altering a coaster, menu, or what ever I can pick up free from local establishments. In turn, I leave the finished art piece at that establishment for someone to find.

This collage uses a child's flash card as the base. The background paper is the menu I picked up from Dawn's Bread and I spent about 15 minutes looking for phrases in a travel magazine. Acrylics, inks, rubber stamps, found papers, and stickers, were used to complete the work.

I plan on leaving this at Dawn's Bread tomorrow (Tuesday). Dawn, the owner and chief chef, is a patron of the arts and I secretly hope she finds it :)

k

Found Art Tuesday on Saturday 9-23-06

I finally got to Chilis to leave my altered coaster found art piece. The topic was money and when you scroll down you can find the work. We have a fabulous waitress and so I was thrilled to leave the work for her in the payment folder. I hung around just long enough to see her pick up the folder. Unfortunately the place was so crowed that I could not see her actually open it and then my family was calling me to get moving! I have to admit this is down right addicting. This weeks topic is keys. I have a thought...now if only I can get the time to do the work! It seems like homework aid for my three children is taking up most of my evenings, work takes up my mornings, and my two greyt hounds take up my afternoons!

k

Found Art: Money Changes Everything.

Rosa announced the found art Tuesday topic this past Friday and it was Money. I decided to go for it again. I really enjoyed leaving a little piece of myself for someone to find so I guess I am officially bitten by the found art bug. While working on some deco pages, I completed this work today. I have a lot of cardboard coasters from various local eateries and bars and so I altered one from Chilis. Guess where I will leave it?

This piece is a mixed media collage on a 4 by 4 coaster. I used a variety of acrylic paints and media as well as rubber stamps, found papers (my kids play money from old games) and of course some bling. I usually have several projects out on my work table and it is so easy to add on a smaller work for found art Tuesday. Everything takes time to dry....so easy to work on several pieces at once.

I am not sure when I will be able to leave this at our local Chilis. I do not have the time to eat out on a week night so I may have to fudge a little on when I leave this. Possibly tomorrow, or maybe next Saturday night, but I am sure not this Tuesday.

k

ART FOUND!

I stopped in at the coffee shop where I left my found art piece last Tuesday. Lo and behold, it was gone! If I had to take bets, an employee probably found it because when I left the work, it was late in the day, right before they closed.

This weeks theme is money. If I have some extra time, I plan on giving it a go. My plan would be to create a work and leave it at a local restaurant, tucked inside my bill. Rosa mentioned on her journal that she thought this was an interesting experiment. I just hope those finding the works get a little pleasure from them!

k

Found Art Tuesday 9-12-06

I was so busy yesterday with being a taxi, homework, school curriculum night Mom, that I did not have time to post where I placed my little 4 by 6 postcard. After dropping my oldest off at the ballet studio, I stopped into a little cafe 4 stores down the street. Had a wonderful conversation with some old friends and then pretended to be looking at some fancy chocolate bars. I put the work in between the bars and purchased myself a latte and was on my way. I felt really good about leaving a little something to brighten someone's day. Rosa, I am looking forward to the next topic. :)

k

Found Art: First Work- "1995"

Opening my emails the other day, I received some information from Laura Lein-Svencner, the founder of the Midwest Collage Society. She was forwarding info from Rosa Murillo and her movement to leave a piece of found art somewhere in her community every week, Tuesdays to be exact. Found art is not a new idea and artists have been leaving little pieces of art in public places for people to find for sometime. Shari Vogt introduced the concept shortly after 9/11/01 in an effort to do something to bring smiles to peoples faces. If you want to read more about the Found Art Organization ... www.foundart.org.

I have not decided if I will join but I am thinking about it. For now I think I will try to work with Rosa's group and leave art around my community, maybe two times per month. Rosa's website if: www.rosamurillo.com

Here is my first piece. I used an old post card and altered it with found papers and acrylic. I am going to leave it at a little coffee shop near the train station in Crystal Lake Illinois. I left my blog address on the back in case the finder of the piece wants to investigate further. Thank you Rosa, for inviting the overall art community that you are involved with, in this endeavor!

k

A Delicate Balance for Sure!

Just a few posts ago, I described a monthly exploration that is common place on the Yahoo Group Art Explorations. In that exploration we made some ATC backgrounds using a technique that was described on the site. A swap was set up in which we sent 3 ATC size pieces from our background sheets to a given person. The person on the receiving end then created an ATC from one of those background cards and sent it back to the originator. The ATC sized backgrounds I received were created with a gloss type medium, acrylic paints, and bubble wrap. The artist made the backgrounds extremely textured and very glossy. I chose a yellow and green card for the work. Because it was very textured, I had the choice to either sand it down in order to use rubber stamps in my design or do a collage. I decided to leave the texture and work with it. The look of the background screamed something to do with nature to me. I found this incredible tortoise and the rest fell into place. The color and gloss look was a bit too much for what I had in mind so I toned down the color with a buff colored acrylic and added raw umber highlights. I used Golden's soft gel matte medium to adhere collage elements. Talbot's method would not have worked because of the uneven surface.

I chose the little glass fairy to represent how fragile the balance is between preserving these wonderful creatures and sending them into extinction with our never ending need for more sprawl. I really loved the textured background on this piece as it mimics the tortoise shell.

k