ICAD 2014 Week 3!

Today is June 24th. That means that in order to be caught up with my ICADs, I must have a total of 24 completed by the end of this post!

Let’s see how I did, shall we?

Day 16 found me using an index card on which I had randomly swiped extra paint off my brush….

A Symphony in Lime and Grape Day 16

Day 17 was a washi tape day!

Measure Twice, Cut Once? Day 17

On Day 18, I played with leftover canvas scraps and punched circles.

Playing With Shapes Day 18

Day 19 similarly used canvas scraps and punched circles to a different effect.

Polka Dot Bounce Day 19

On Day 20, I used a previously collaged scrap and added a cut-out.

Shadow of a Girl Day 20

Day 21 found me playing with circular ink pads… I truly can’t escape circles for long!

Whorls Away Day 21

On Day 22, I was again playing with canvas scraps and punched circles.

Shades of Black and White Day 22

On Day 23, I had some fun with blue gingham!

Bouncing Blue Gingham Dream Day 23

Say what?! Day 24? Yepperoonies! I did it!

Day 24 was a combination of ink and punched circles.

Plaid ‘N Simple Day 24

Next week might find me lagging once again, but for now, I am caught up!

Happy Trash to you, until we meet again!

On My Desk: Right Now!

Originally, I had intended this piece to be a submission for the Epistolarium 2 mail art call for the theme Right Now. Theresa Williams is the woman behind the blog at http://theletterproject.wordpress.com/. I met her through IUOMA and was intrigued by her epistolary assemblages.

Creating a more literal translation of the theme went like this for me: First, I decided that a cut-out of my RIGHT hand would have to be central. I got hands-on with my paper stash and built my palette using the white printed transparency as my jumping off point. It looked really sharp over top the crisp black sketch paper. But what to do for the hand? Then I found red vellum! Voila!

Once the pieces were preliminarily assembled, I made the decision to journal the foundation layer. I contemplated the theme, Right Now. What is important to me, right now? Who am I, right now? I chose silver and white inks that would stand out against the black and yet would blend seamlessly with the transparency layer. I ran the date down the righthand length of the page in white and began at the top with I AM statements, in silver, running them around and around the outer edges of the page, working slowly inward. (Notice the inward focus.) When a word would seem to shout at me, I wrote it BIG! White was used to highlight the large text and some other bits. I used rub-ons to letter the fingertips, outlining them in white to help them pop.

To attach the hand to the bottom layer, I pre-punched needle holes in a zig-zag pattern through both layers and stitched through them with black embroidery thread. The transparency layer was attached by punching two small holes through the top and bottom at the middle and tying a bit of coordinating ribbon through them. NOW! was added atop the transparency using chipboard stickers. It seemed to need a little something in the burst on the wrist, so I added a piece I removed from a thumb tack. The individual layers can be viewed by lifting the transparency from the bottom and gently bending the hand away from the black page of text.

The result made my heart happy! It was then, I realized that I was unable to part with it. I sent a digital image off to Theresa. And intend to send her a color copy of the image. The original has become a page in my art journal.

I suppose I might try to create another work inspired by the Right Now theme, I still have a week or so… but then I also have other deadlines looming, not to mention personal commitments. We’ll have to wait and see.

Happy Trash to you, until we meet again!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

My Trash Bubbles, published in the Winter Issue of GreenCraft magazine, arrived back at Piney Creek Acres over the weekend.

As I unpacked them and photographed the pieces, I tried to think about what to do with them next.

The vinyl enclosed 45, You Are So Beautiful: Solar Disk Holism, was originally created for the 2012 Solar Disc Festival, only the festival was over by the time I got around to finishing it. (That’s what happens sometimes.) Subsequently, it has been promised to another Trashpo contemporary who loves vintage vinyl as much as I do, Neil Gordon of Connecticut.

This wasn’t my typical Trash Bubble. The cracked 45 was essentially trash, but I just couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. Encased in clear vinyl and punched with two sizes of holes at irregular intervals, it became another animal entirely. You Are So Beautiful… I can’t help but wonder what Joe Cocker would think.

Below are the other, more traditional Trash Bubbles which appeared in the four-page spread.

You can read more about these pieces in the Winter 2013 Issue of GreenCraft magazine, on stands now.

Happy Trash to you, until we meet again!

The Trash Bubble Concept

As I sit, writing this post, from Piney Creek Acres, it is approximately 20 degrees and snowing! I can’t tell you how happy that makes my heart! Winter was made for snow! Without it, there’s simply no point to the cold.

Trash Bubbles were a personal discovery I made, while exploring the realm of Trash Poetry via mail art. I was looking for a unique way to reach out to my mail art friends at the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA.)

A collection of cool, plastic consumer packaging and its card backing had been growing for some time, with no idea as to how I would put it to use. I am drawn to colorful pieces with unusally shaped “bubbles.” Here are some examples:

One day, I picked up a piece and began filling it with bits of colorful trash I had collected. I rummaged through the trash can in my studio for other pieces and filler. The end result was a self-contained ecosphere of trash. (Three Trash Bubbles later, I knew I was hooked!)

The first composition made me happy! I sealed it with paper bandage tape, added printed tape, ink, and stamped, inspirational words. A layered button and sticker adorns the divot in the center of the package.

A message emerged from the visible text, left to right, top to bottom: Be GENTLE with yourself. believe. dream. It’s your Lucky Day!

The second Trash Bubble was made from the very same paper bandage packaging. The change in color palette completely changed the feel of the piece.

Look closely and you’ll see a BURIED cable flag, rusted tack trim and paper scraps rescued from the trash bin. A vintage button graces the center. Once again, the visible text left a message: Be GENTLE with yourself. DE CHOCOLAT-HERSHEY’S. WE HELP HEAL! Take the Scenic Route! You may find BURIED treasure!

The final piece in the series of three was a much brighter, more bold piece:

It’s message was no less inspirational: ORBIT the Blue Moon! HELP CLEAN UP YOUR WORLD! MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS!

All three Trash Bubbles were mailed to friends and thus began my Trash Bubble journey through mail art.

Happy Trash to you, until we meet again!

Where There’s A Will….

Many of you know that I have been working on my entry for the 2013 Sketchbook Project. My last post found me wishing I could add a Trash Bubble to its pages, but it seemed out of the question because of the chunkiness of traditional plastic bubble packaging.

These sorts of ideas are not easily dismissed, once they have piqued my brain. Rather, they take root and become bothersome, preconceived ideas: the ones I loathe for their difficulty and love for their uniqueness. The bottom line is that they mean trouble for the project at hand, each and every time.

Inspired to locate an interesting plastic bubble thin enough to adapt to the sketchbook, I went through my stash and found a Dentyne Ice gum pack that would work perfectly! Never mind that it had twelve bubbles to fill, which meant having twelve little bits sliding around, unwilling to stay put, whilst I tried in vain to adhere it to the page! Needless to say, I gave up on adhesive for the job. That left me with only one viable option: hand-stitching.

Pre-punching the holes was going to be my best bet when stitching through such a durable plastic edge. I did my best to space them out evenly, taking care to keep the holes aligned as I punctured plastic and page as one. Tricky business, that. I psyched myself out several times, thinking that I’d somehow let one or the other slip.

All’s well that ends well, reminding me that once again, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Happy Trash to you, until we meet again!