Asemic Book Project

Yes, this has been a very busy time for me.  My Mailart365 involvement also led me to other mail calls and interesting projects.  The links below link to blogs that have photos of my Asemic Writing Chapter pages.  I'll write more about the process and my experience later.  Right now you may view the pages at the following sites.

http://cherylpenn.com/wpb/

http://om-2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/om20110901-8-sue-bowen-pretty-lily.html

Cheryl Penn and De Villo Sloan deserve recognition and thanks for organizing and overseeing the project.  The book I am in is only one of three, they are juggling at the same time. 

Thank you both for this great experience!

Summer Break

Summer Break

Fresh Perspective

There are times when I feel the need to do things in a different way, to get a creativity boost. Just practicing a new process, a different technique, or simply switching to a different medium, can also give a fresh perspective.

I enjoy experimenting and mail art is a perfect way to experiment. Occasionally, I have received printed cards, from other artists, and they looked pretty good. Since I am a painter, I am a hands on artist, but I wanted to see just how I could combine my painting with printing. So I decided to give printing a try.

First thing I did was ask around about the best card stock, to use. Each person has their own favorite, so I selected as a starter paper, a card stock, selected primarily because it had a texture. I next had to find a painting that I wanted to experiment with and it also had to be a fairly small one.

The first photo above is a painting that I had done on YUPO. I then scanned it and reduced the size to fit on a post card. It printed out quite nicely, but I was still wanting more texture. The card stock was AC White Card Stock and it worked great! I was very satisfied with that part.

The next two paintings are collages made from the scanned original, reprinted on white gummed mailing labels. My Re-Cycle Label series was born. I had discovered that the labels were perfect, to reposition, and re glue to card stock, for collage.

This was very exciting, to me, because it added another dimension, using the collage process. I am now filled with other ideas which I intend to try. So, my printing day ended up to be a very productive day and I was quite pleased with the results. Other printing experiments will be following this, as I want to add even more dimension to the collage.

One Easter Morning

Once upon a time, the Easter Bunny used to drop by, but that was long ago! This is an old photo of me on Easter Day. It's "vintage"; I would venture to say.


My dear brother, John, rescued a batch of black and white negatives, found a place on line that could develop them, and then proceeded to "make it happen". My generous brother also paid for having it done. I'm a lucky gal; even if the bunny doesn't visit any more.

Renew, Refresh, Enjoy!

It has been a long time since I have done any sewing, but after receiving a wonderful piece of mail art, from Gabby Cooksey, I felt challenged to sew again. It had been so long since I had last had my sewing machine set up, I fully expected to have to read the manual before starting. The sewing goddesses were with me though and I found my machine, threaded and ready to go!

The timing felt perfect to embark on a new adventure. I had just returned from a trip and was filled with ideas. Gabby had mentioned that she liked Lady Gaga, so I had decided to use that as a theme. Although I have made many collages before, I had never combined machine sewing with collage. It was totally new territory for me.

While looking for a good substrate, I remembered that tucked into a corner of my studio was a roll of primed canvas. It had been there for years; just waiting for the right project. Cloth Paper Scissors had a similar project last year, so I knew that canvas could be easily cut into the doll shape, after I was finished with the collage part. I already had everything else on hand, so I was ready to start. I then cut, glued, painted, stitched, and embellished. It was great fun!

I was quite pleased with the way it turned out, however because of the embellishments, it had to travel in an envelope. Gabby was so pleased that she sent me a computer photo of her self, holding the doll in one hand, a thumbs up with the other, and a huge smile on her face. It makes me smile just to think of it!

This particular piece is cross posted over on the IUOMA site. I do expect to do combine more sewing projects with my mail art. It is a new dimension, I plan on exploring more!

Lesson learned

It has been one of THOSE days. The first part of the day was spent framing a pastel painting, for my daughter in law, and although the outcome was successful, the process wasn't. I did learn that I could have saved myself time and grief, by attaching all of the hardware "BEFORE" adding the frame spacers, glass and artwork. I had to open it back up, clean the glass and close it all up an extra time. However.... I did learn from the experience and now thinking back on it, I remember reading somewhere there is an easier way.

So after my framing task was finished, I was feeling better and headed up to the Post Office. I wanted to check my new PO Box and drop off more outgoing mail. It was bittersweet when I opened my PO Box. A piece of Mail-Art (one I especially loved) that was returned in pieces. That was the sad part. The great part was PostMuse sent me a card that made me smile. :-) Please check the IOUMA site for the details and photo of her card.

I had hoped to have time to write about some of the processes, I am using to make my Mail-Art, but I am short on time today. The lesson learned at the PO today though was that I should not try to use Multi Media Art Board as a substrate, for a postcard, with other hard layers. You can see from the photo, the piece I attached to the front was most likely the culprit that caused the postal mishap. It was all too stiff and just ripped apart. Others have gone through the system without any mishaps though.

Those are my lessons for the day.

Working on my art addiction........

Isn't it funny how time can just slip up on you? I have been so totally immersed in making mail art that I haven't even thought about any other kind of art, this week. I've only spent one day in the studio where my pastels are laid out, and I have works on two easels there, in various stages of progress. Scurry in and scurry out has been the order of the day!

My little mail art operation has taken over another space and it's getting out of hand. I really must make up some packets of things I just don't use and send them out into the mail art community. I'm trying daily to organize as I go along and will be filling some baggies with excess, to share. Believe me when I say I need the space. I like to paint flat and big when I work with paper!

Even though it's only been a couple of weeks and so far it's been all outgoing mail. I await in anticipation of the arrival of mail, from far away places. The only interesting mail I have received is the arrival of vintage stamps, but they are oh so fun! And to make it even more fun, the envelopes have been stamped with more vintage stamps.

Meanwhile, I have been doing lots of mixed media work and loving every minute of it. My mail art IS ART; little miniatures of the kind of work I like to do. It's also a great way to recycle older works, into something new. It's been exciting reworking pieces of work, by adding more paper, paint, new elements, etc. I've used so many of my hand painted papers that I need to spend a day painting new ones.

So, it's off to the post office this morning with a fistful of mail; heading to foreign lands. The piece above is heading to Greece! Oh what fun making art, of any kind is!

Crossing the pond

Boy it has been fun working in mixed media again! I had not done any mixed media in ever so long, but I still have access tons of interesting "found items", hand painted papers and other collage goodies to use. This piece started out as a larger piece and I was able to cut 4 cards from it. It's very reminiscent of a week long, Ann Baldwin, workshop that I attended in 2005, Sedona, AZ. Now I have taken many workshops in various media over the years, but I have to say that Ann's workshop was one of the best I have ever attended.

Since then there have been so many new products introduced and I have added more items to my mixed media arsenal. Mail art just cries out for this medium.

This piece is going to Andy's REAL wall over @ mailart365, one piece went to a gentleman in the UK that has an awesome web site with a Morse Code Translator. The other two have already been mailed to a couple of my local artist friends.

I'm looking forward to more mail art and the challenge of balancing my art interests with it.

Thanks for the fruitcake!

A special thank you to Golden Artist Color's for the fruitcake they sent me during the holidays.

I've purchased experimental mediums from them in the past and they produce the BEST art mediums. I have used their acrylic paint for years, but it was a workshop in 2005, Sedona, AZ, with Ann Baldwin, that introduced me to the fluid color line and the mediums Golden makes.

Thank you Golden for being there for the artistic community. This is #6 in the Mailart365 challenge.

One of the happiest days of my life!

I thought that it was an appropriate tribute to my parents, to post this photo today, on my mother's birthday. The roll top desk was a miniature made especially for children and I loved it! Only wish I had it today to organize my mail art in the wonderful little slots it had. It was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

My parents left this world long ago, but they are never forgotten. Seriously, they would be happy to know that I just joined Mailart365. Artistic endeavours were always encouraged by them both. Thanks Mama & Daddy. You were just the best! I wish you could have been in the world a little longer.

Nocturne study

This month I have been working on studying the Nocturne painting. This photo was gleaned from the Wet Canvas reference library. Thank you lisilk for the great photo. The whole process for this painting has been a first for me. I used Canson paper, the smooth side, Orchid color, 9 x 12. Working with pastels and no tooth has been a good learning experience. I started with a charcoal sketch and followed it with hard pastels, graduating to medium and soft.

I did find that I quickly filled the paper with pastel until it screamed at me "please no more". So I found myself with an unfinished painting, but I did learn a lot from the experience. My next Nocturne will be on larger paper, so I can capture more detail where needed. It's a bit of a challenge to include figures and not be able to refine the image I am going for. The colors also need refining (less purple).

Another try with a larger piece on Canson will be my next step. If I am not happy after that, I will move on to a more familiar paper with some tooth. I was just trying some new techniques before some up coming workshops. This is essentially unfinished and will remain so. It won't accept another iota of pastel!

Wishing for warmer weather

I wish I could say spring is here but I know there is still more winter ahead. The groundhog did say we can expect an early spring though. This painting is from the December Wet Canvas Spotlight. I've been a bit busy and am just getting around to posting it.

County Clare, Ireland

Spotlight on relections

This pastel is a painting of reflections. Clouds, mountains, ice, snow and water combine to give this a somewhat abstract feel. It was painted without the use of any white, utilizing the pale soft pastel colors and greys, to achieve the lightest of lights.

Along the road to Rio

This month the Virtual Paintout artists are painting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I chose a simple landscape scene to start the month off. Palms are so hard for me to resist and one of my favorite trees to paint.

The paper I used was black and since it would not accept a watercolor under painting. I approached the initial block in using pastel. The most notable part of my start was the fuschia color, I used in the sky. I balanced it off with a bright green, to gray it down a bit, followed by a little lavender; one of my favorite sky colors.

I hope you enjoy my latest Virtual Paintout offering. It's titled "Along the road to Rio" and it is another pastel painting, approximately 7 x 11. Also, don't forget to check out the web site for The Virtual Paintout, hosted by Bill Guffey, and featuring art from around the world.

Down the hill and yonder curve

A little taste of autumn can be felt in this recent pastel painting. I painted this for the October Spotlight, hosted by the Wet Canvas Pastel Forum. It's titled "Down the hill and yonder curve". The focus of this October's Spotlight was using the warm colors of autumn.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico


The October, 2010, Virtual Paint out location was in San Miguel de Allende. This is my contribution for the monthly event It is a pastel painting and I just love the sky in this one. In fact, I titled it "Reaching for the sky".

This month has been a very busy month, for me. I had major computer problems this month, loosing everything stored on my computer. Couple that with some travel and I did not have a lot of time to paint.

Fortunately, my computer savvy husband was able to retrieve all of the items that I needed, to save. I am now adjusting to new software, as well as a new computer. That old Toshiba was a good old gal and I will miss it! I am so grateful that my spouse had the know how to save what was important to me. I would be lost without my address book!

It's in the mail!

At last I finished my abstract painting for the Swap-Bot challenge. The painting did not evolve into anything like I originally designed, but I like it. It's signed on the back, so my partner can select which way she likes it best. This photo shows the finished product and you can imagine the way you would like it best displayed. I always tend to favor the initial way that it was painted, so that is the way I photographed it. The title is

"It's Your Choice", as it will be the owner's decision which way to hang it. I hope she likes it. The image I am showing is my personal choice, for display. The painting is 10 x 10, acrylic, with a painted 1 1/2 inch profile.

Balloon Saloon Revision

The revision changes some shadows, moves a couple and darkens a larger area, to create a stronger composition. Of course, as usual after making changes, I always see others area that I could improve. If you paint, you know this is is a never ending process. My usual process is to "lay it down and let it be". I do not fiddle or second guess myself, but I always like to have critiques and comments. In this case the shadow and directional light critique that I received was worth taking a second look and making the changes. I am very happy with the results!

Now it's time to move on. My abstract project was delayed by the recent storm "Nicole". A little more work is needed to finish. The painting evolved into something completely different than my original vision. I hope my swap partner will like it.

Balloon Saloon

Balloon Saloon, 9 1/2 x 7 3/4, Pastel on La Carte Paper

Here is my latest contribution to the Virtual Paintout, for September. This months paint out location is Manhattan and it's been fun poking around the city. It's also been an opportunity to have some people in my paintings. I have always liked the urban feel of some art work and I'm delighted to have an opportunity to develop some of that feeling in mine.

Most of my training, experience, and skill has been with oil painting; although I dabble in other mediums. I have recently taken a fancy to pastels though, and I plan to attend the IAPS convention, in New Mexico next year. The reservations have been made and classes have been signed up for. I hear it's a great opportunity to mingle with other pastel artists and study with very skilled pastel artists. It is supposed to be a very exciting event.

I have another project waiting in the wings and I need to get started on it. The project I am getting ready to start will be a little different than the paint out. Actually MORE than a little different! It is going to be an abstract painting, for a Swap-Bot Challenge. This challenge starts with 3 random colors (I draw from my crayon box) and I can also use one of my choosing. I must then create an abstract painting using only those 4 colors.

Well.....I really lucked out with the colors (can't say what they are yet, in case my partner looks in on my blog), so I know I can make a nice painting. I will tell you it will be a square and I have already designed it on my iPAD. When it's finished and has been mailed off to my partner, I will post it. I don't want to spoil her surprise.

Until then, I hope you enjoy Balloon Saloon!