Found Art Tuesday: 2-27-07: PEACE

This topic is very timely for me as I am reading a book by one of my favorite inspirational speakers/writers: Matthew Kelly http://www.matthewkelly.org/. His latest book has made me realize that I have a lot of personal house cleaning to do. I especially loved his discussion on achieving an inner peace. One way that Matthew works toward this goal (of inner peace) is by entering the "class room of silence " daily. Take 15 minutes a day to listen in quite to your inner voice. Sit in a quite area, no music, T.V., kids, husband etc...just silence. By attending this lesson in silence, we can work through problems or decisions that need to be made because we can actually hear our inner voice. Fifteen minutes does not seem very long...but just try it for a week. I have challenged myself to do so!

It is no wonder that my piece is called "The Class Room of Silence." I created a sort of door hanger (like a do not disturb sign) that you can hang on your door during your 15 minutes. The work is a mixed media one using acrylics, inks, rubber stamps and hand drawn element (I seem to be a bit bolder with my drawing these days).

I plan on leaving it at hair salon tomorrow :) But maybe I will enlist my husband again to leave it in the big city.

k

Found Art Tuesday: Inspiration

Ah yes...just where does that ol inspiration come from? What is the process, where do the ideas come from.... I absorb a lot of ideas from other artists, both friends and the likes of Picasso, Schwitters, Talbot, Cornell, Kahlo. So those always tend to be in the back of my brain. When I need them, they are there. I will often go to bed at night with a glimmer of a thought on a particular piece. Then I will assemble it before I fall off to sleep and probably in my dreams as well. I just completed a work for the Conscious Cup gallery. My inspiration came out of my anger. A friend had just been diagnosed with breast cancer...stage III. At night, just prior to dosing off, I clearly saw what I wanted to do. Now mind you, it did not turn out exactly how I pictured it, but at least I had a good starting point.

My little ATC is called "I Dream." It works for me! This is a mixed media collage on watercolor paper. I then mounted it to a piece of glossy black card stock. I drew the sleeping me and the moon. Stars were punched out. I enjoyed putting this found art piece together as I was working on the piece I talked about above.

I will post those works for the gallery but I want to make a few more. I have a piece churning in my head now having to do with fair trade and coffee.

K

UPDATE:
I expanded my found art territory and enlisted an accomplice. Since last Sept. almost weekly I have been leaving a found art piece in my favorite watering holes, dentist office, orthodontist office, doctor offices, even church. I finally decided that I can't keep leaving the works in the same places. So I asked my husband to leave this ATC at his favorite watering hole in the big city of Chicago. The place: Intelligencia Coffee (another fair trade coffee shop). He left the work there on Friday (AM) in the sugar/napkin area and reported that it was gone by lunch. The loop area of Chicago is gianormous! Just think of the possibilities!

Found Art Tuesday 2-13-07: LOVE

Well my found art Tuesday will be a Wednesday this week. We are in the middle of a huge blizzard. I did not even take my kids to after school activities! The schools closed at 2 PM this afternoon. So I made a wooden pin, a sort of traditional valentine pin. I will leave it for someone on valentines day...seems appropriate. I used an ultra thick embossing powder to coat the heart and then just sprinkled in beads and heart confetti. The bauble was glued on.

Some good news...I did get an exhibit at The Conscious Cup coffee cafe for the beginning of April. I will be busy creating a few more pieces and we will see what happens from there. I am really excited about it. I just hope I can live up to the store owners expectations!

k

One of the last go arounds for ArtDecos

I am sad. One of the premier (in my opinion) deco groups, ArtDecos, is coming to an end. Our list owner has a fledgling new business and she has plenty of other yahoo groups to look after. It has been a wonderful journey. This group had some of the best mixed media artists around participating in traditional deco swaps. The owner kept the group by invitation only and we kept the decos within the group. The art was spectacular. When I joined, I was a deco newbie and very new to mixed media/collage. But by having my hands on these little gems, I quickly learned something about compositon, style, color, and technique. I really grew as an artist. So I am very grateful that I was part of this wonderful group of talented women. Here is one page from a deco booklet that I just sent out. The theme was travel and I chose spy capitols! I really like this page...

K

Found Art Tues. 2-6-07: Superhero

The topic of Superhero is just perfect for us Moms. Old Moms, new Moms, International Moms, you get the picture. When I think of what I juggle each day....I think we deserve the title of Superhero. Think about it...I am a retired research microbiologist but no amount of schooling could have prepared me for the grueling Mom schedule that I keep. I always have to be on. Get the kids dressed, fed and out the door to school, walk the dogs, clean-up the dishes, go to my part-time job, come home and walk the dogs, start to prep dinner, clean-up, pick the kids up from school, take them to after school activities, return home and walk the dogs, prepare dinner, feed the masses, feed the dogs, clean-up, help with home work, crash at 9:00 (after walking the dogs). Oh yea, then there is the wash, the laundry baskets are always full no matter how many washes I do. House cleaning you say...only when necessary! So that is my daily routine. Then there are all the volunteer things we do! Do I really do all that? I have not even begun. Do we get any thanks? Seldom for me.

OK so my little 3 1/2 by 5 work, titled Super Moms, is a tribute to mothers everywhere. My Mom is the woman on the left. She was my Superhero! The work is a mixed media collage on a heavy duty piece of scrap book paper and then I mounted it to cardboard. I want to thank my children for their homework papers :)

k