More Book Collages

Sure To Be In Demand 

Ask Your Big Brother

Both of these collages were made from vintage book parts. I am loving this process and the different ways that the books, titles and parts inspire me. 

And I am still practicing portraits. I love using the iPad to paint and manipulate sketches I import from my sketchbook.

Photography is also calling to me again. I am wanting to get out and experiment more with different locations and subjects. I'll always find beautiful subject matter at the nature preserve. Chasing hawks is my favorite pastime while I take my morning walks.

These are a few of the things keeping me busy right now. I am enjoying the weather, the walks and the inspiration! 

Look Beyond

I decided to be brave and try to re-design my blog background. This is not easy for me. I know nothing about html code or how to change it. Thanks to my friend Kimmie I was able to experiment a little bit. I wanted to add my own artwork to the background; make it feel more "me". Since my Warhol collage has been so lucky for me, I had to include it! The colored portion of the background is a scan of one of my CitraSolv pages I made. Oh, did I mention that I won the CitraSolv Art Contest for the collage category? My Warhol was a hit! ;) I also added a couple of my encaustic pieces to the sides of the background. I tried so many variations of this background and the size is still a bit off. I'll try and tweak this is I go. For some reason, changes that I make do not show up when I upload the new version. So I'll stick with this one for now.

I used one of my sketches in the digital piece at the top of this post. I call it "Look Beyond" because that is what I'm trying to do. Look Beyond where I am now and envision where I want to be. I have a lot of goals for this year and I want to stay on track with those. I had a milestone birthday on May 6 and that is propelling me forward. Funny how that can alter your perception of things. If nothing else, it has gotten me to really sit down and think about what I want to accomplish yet this year.

I am the worst procrastinator there is. It can almost be debilitating how I will put off something just because I know I can. Ugh! I've done this my entire life: from grade school through college and still to this day! So, while I'm realistic enough to know that I won't change something that's been a part of who I am forever, I can kick myself in the butt and get going! That is what finally propels me into motion: getting so fed up with something that I am forced to make a move. Wish me luck in sticking with it!

I've been doing a lot of work in Juliana Coles' online workshop Altered States. It has really opened my eyes to a lot of different aspects of myself that I was either ignoring or were just completely hidden. This is an awesome experience. The participants are very open with sharing their pages and their stories. I love it and it's been a constant source of inspiration for me over the last few weeks. I've ordered a few of her workshop booklets from her Etsy site and was so happy when she decided to offer one online. It did not disappoint!

One other great site for inspiration is The Painter's Keys. I receive Robert Genn's weekly newsletter that always gets me thinking. The latest one had this quote from him: "An artist may be a lone wolf. She may occasionally run with the pack. Most often she is happy foraging on her own. She may be wily and alert to opportunity. She may know that adventure can bring out her best. There are times when she's out for blood. There are also times when she's as playful as a puppy." That sums it up pretty well for me!