Found Art Tuesday: Favorite 8-21-07

This is the week before school begins at our home. We are running around, finding that perfect back pack, note books, getting hair done, dentist appointments...well those of you with school age children know the routine. There is something soothing and comforting about this annual activity. My children are so excited to start back, mostly because of their friends. While summer has been refreshing, the new school year heralds in Autumn. Which brings me to this weeks topic...Favorite. Autumn is my favorite season and I included a little drawing in this weeks offering.

Sound of Music...Rain Drops on Roses.. was all I could hear in my mind when Rosa posted the theme. I was not sure how to depict that song because I have a lot of favorites. So I took a subset of favorites to include in the work. I had this scrap piece of canvas and used that as the base for the piece. I used collage elements as well as my own drawing. There are a few stamped images as well. Mixed media would be a good way to classify the work. So I have my two favorite years, my favorite season, and my favorite holiday. The canvas was washed with gesso and then tissue paper (dress pattern) was adhered on top. Colored washed were use to achieve the look.

Now I am off to a high school orientation. Kaitie is a freshman. Where has the time gone?

k

Found Art Tuesday: 8-14-07 Portable

Portable...Rosa had me on this one. The only thing that I could dream up was my hair dryer. I tried, I really did. Rosa did such a fantastic drawing last week that I decided to give drawing a try again. I sort of illustrated my hair dryer I guess. This is a pencil and pen drawing. I also used a little white acrylic paint and a touch of oil pastel on the lips of the figure. Obviously not my best but I have not done a pen and pencil drawing in years. Probably 30 years to be more precise. It was fun and different. I am going to get this drawing thing down if it kills me! If I can use more of my drawings as transfers or direct in collages, I might not have to worry as much about that nasty old copyright issue, something I really do my best to respect! And so another week has past and more found art is left in the world.

DId you see the Granola poets tagged response? It is a good one, I promise!

k

Found Art Tuesday: 8/7/07-Candy

This is just a silly piece for me. My immediate thought when Rosa posted the topic of candy was Eye Candy... So I decided to list some current favorite eye candy sites...ones that I really enjoy each week, if not day. The rest just sort of fell into place. The work is acrylics and oil pastels on water color paper and the candy is really good! The title is none other than Eye Candy.

The sites I listed, one of which is mine, are really like a shot in the arm for me. I enjoy reading other artists thought processes. One site , Misty Mawn's- http://www.mistymawn.typepad.com/, always gives so much to reflect upon. She is just a wonderful artist and an incredible writer. . I will find myself smiling or saddened, happy or nodding in agreement with her reflections on moments from her life. I hope you will visit her blog. It inspires me to be a better artist and person.

Rosa's site offers a look into her thought processes as she creates a piece. When she was completing a piece called Maria, I felt I was peering into her studio weekly, to see the progress on the work. I love that sort of intimacy and Rosa does that really well. Her link is on my side bar as is Claudine Hellmuth's.

Claudine has been a favorite collage artist of mine like for the past 5 years. I have learned so many techniques from her books and DVD's. She is an excellent teacher and has a wonderful sense of humor. Her style is really unique and has a signature that many mixed media artists just can't miss.

I included Pacha's blog as a found artist. Her work is really fun and I enjoy reading her many comments on each work http://pacha-foundart.blogspot.com/index.html.

Laura Lein-Svencnver http://lauralein-svencner.com/ is an excellent collage artist with many awards to her name. Her work flows, direct and to the point. Her style is a little reminiscent of J. Talbot and Kurt Schwitters, both of whom I adore as artists. I love to look through her work often...it opens up feelings and emotions from deep within me. She is also the former president of the Midwest Collage Society, of which I am a member. I wish I loved just a little closer to where the meetings take place. I would love to experience her joy of collage.

I mentioned my own site mainly because it is my therapy and my record of who I was and am.

k

PS- This scan did not work really well because the candy is "popped-up" from the actual work with foam double sided tape. So it is really hard to read the websites. That is why I listed them in my text.

Burl has found his Forever Home

We are thrilled to welcome Burl to our pack. After much discussion, my husband and I decided on which monthly expenses we could cut back on. Look into those eyes, the eyes of an earth angel for sure. Now we just have to cross the T's and dot the I's, pay a fee and it will be official. Burl has settled in and even with his healing leg, he is doing stairs like a champ. To see his mug shot on Greyhounds only click here: http://greyhoundsonly.com/frameset.html. Scroll down till you find his picture.

K

Unconditional Love

I was sitting on my sofa today thinking of how privileged I have been these last 14 plus years. My children are growing up so quickly. They are making decisions on their own, fixing some of their own meals, making/packing lunches for school, and are beginning to test their wings. I have two preteens and one teen. There are days when they look at me like I am from another planet, days that I feel resentment, days that I feel like I am taken for granted, and days when I am beaming with pride. There are so many ups and downs. I don't hear "I love you," as often as I would like. There are times when I just shake my head and wonder how I have raised my children. But for the companionship of my animals, I am not sure if I could get through the up coming high school years.

When I talk about privilege, it is about sharing my life with my animal companions, now being Mandy and Tigger. I have never felt resentment, or being taken for granted. Their kind, knowing eyes, seem to lead me to be a better person. Their is so much to learn from our animals, of that I am sure. Our animal companions offer an unconditional love every hour of every day. I can't believe how lucky I am to be a part of that.

This past week, we took in another greyhound as a foster. His name is Burl and he looks just like a polished piece of burl oak. He sort of chose us as a family when we visited the greyhound kennels for a mini reunion with other adopted greys. His racing history is very interesting. Burl raced 34 races (in Iowa) as a two year old and won (came in first) 21 times. He was raced hard because he was a winner. And then, like with many greys, he broke his rear right hock. It was a bad repair. In other words, the Doctor had a difficult time putting it back together. For other greys with injuries in this area, they typically recover in a couple of months time and use their legs normally. Burl may never have full use of this leg again. But for all he has been through, he has not complained and for a young three year old, he has the wisdom of one much older. He is so kind and gentle, allowing me to massage his sore leg and rub neem oil into his callouses and balding areas of his body. He is greytful for the love and understanding. I can feel that depth of emotion every time I stroke him. He makes sure to give each member of my family kisses and nuzzles for no apparent reason. But I know that he wants a family of his own, he wants us and this is his way of letting us know that he has chosen us. I believe my first greyt, Grizzly, send him to us because he knows that we will give him what he needs and because Burl has much to teach us about love, humility, patience, and perseverance.

We return our Burl on Sunday. I so want to adopt him but my husband but I know it will be a hardship for the family. Another mouth to feed plus medical bills make it a hard decision. Tigger, our 5 yr old, has some problems that just began as well. I had him to the vet this week to try to determine if he is having a sort of seizure and if indeed a seizure, then what is causing it. This just happened and it makes our decision even harder. My heart says one thing, but my brain says another. My husband and I will make that decision before we talk to Burl's foster Mom number 1, Linda. She returns from vacation tonight.

To know the love of a dog is something I believe every one should experience. To care for and nurture dogs that no one wants because they are not perfect is a definite calling. I hope I can do right by this beautiful animal.

K

Found Art Tuesday: 7-31-07 CIRCLE

The found art topic this week was circle. Actually that was the topic last week but some of us were too busy reading the final Harry Potter book. I took this fun picture of my daughter Claire at her field day (one of the last days of school). They had games and snow cones and all that fun stuff. So here she is in a big plastic bubble, thus the title Bubble Girl. I had no particular idea for the theme so just went with the shape.

Right after I started the Harry Potter book I purchased this great new acrylic book entitled "Acrylic Revolution. You can see reviews and stuff here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1581808046/bookstorenow99-20. It is filled with techniques and good information on the physical and chemical properties of acrylics. Since I use this medium a lot, I thought the book would be a good addition to my library. It was. It is funny though because in my mixed media adventures, I had been using a lot of the techniques in the book already. Now I have rediscovered some of them and will try to incorporate them in new works. Here in this found art piece I am using a crayon resist with ordinary kids crayons (any brand will do) or you can use oil pastels or wax pencils. So my circled themed work evolved. It is done on a piece of cardboard, 5 x5 inches in size. The photo was copied and then transferred to the gesso prepared cardboard. Crayons were used to draw circles and then color washes were over layed, fun and simple.

Below you will find my Tagged entry.

K