Asymmetrical Composition

Greetings fellow bloggers,

My apologies for not being around much. I have been in a bit of an artsy/crafty slump as well as very busy. (Aren't we all, busy that is?!) I've been to a wedding of a friends daughter and then to a reception for one of hubbies co-workers. Chiatra was married in India. It was so much fun trying out Indian foods and watching the video of her marriage ceremony while at her reception here.

We've also been doing a lot of yard work here and at Bobbie Jo's place. Bobbie is doing good but just cannot handle the yard work by herself. Hubby and I have also planted a pot garden. we have cherry tomatoes hanging in an upside down planter and a big pot with roma tomatoes. Also a big pot with bell pepper plants and another pot with snap peas. I already have pea pods forming and flowers on the cherry tomato plant.

Yesterday I was cleaning the weeds and such out of my rose bush that was dug up and transplanted here by me after my grandfather died many years ago. I had a terrible mishap and cut a good chunk out at the base. So we have decided to try to get it to root. Right now it is in water but hubby has been researching the process and we think we are going to attempt the sand and soil mixture in a pot with a plastic bag over the rose bush technique. I hope this works because if it does we should end up with 3 clippings plants and my mom has been wanting a piece for her new home for a while. I just had never attempted doing a cutting because I did not know how. I hope this works.

So to try to get out of the artsy/crafty slump I decided to take an online class over at Big Picture Classes. Since I really enjoy Collage I decided to try Claudine Hellmuth's Composition for Collage class. I love Claudine's art and liked that the class is self paced. You can still join in until June 8th . Above is my first asymmetrical composition collage attempt using Claudine's downloads. I just thought that sweet little girl was begging for wings.

So what have you all been up to?

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Be Safe,

Tess

Remember Abby? Her Lesson is A Good One

Greetings all,

I would like you to meet Abby. She is a shy little girl from a poor family. Abby is smart and understands many big words.

Abby learned a very important lesson when she was very young.

Abby loves dragonflies.

And she loves playing dress up too.

Sometimes she gets into her moms make-up.

Abby is often sad when others make fun of her torn and tattered clothes. Sometimes people will use words they think she does not understand, but she does. She knows they don't really mean the awful things they say.

Abby knows her freckled made-up face, her best clothes and shoes and a beautiful crown will always put a smile back on her face.

Abby came to me in a dream. She was inspired by a poem I had written...

This is a mixed media collage painting created on a board roughly 24"x10"x3/8". I used acrylic paint, fabric, tissue paper, an iron on dragonfly, computer generated words, magazine clippings, buttons, twine, Sobo Craft and Fabric Glue and Mod Podge to create Abby's Lesson. I adhered words and phrases cut from an old children's book to the sides all the way around.

Abby is my first attempt at creating a real looking face. I don't know how artists create such beautiful faces. Her nose gave me so much trouble. Her face is so dirty because of all of the erasing and doing over. I wanted her to have a dirty freckled face and I guess she definitely got one. In my original sketch she had pigtails. I tried, I really did, but the pig tails idea was just not working. I like how the twine gives her hair a bit of a messed up stringy look.

It doesn't matter if a little girl comes from a poor family or a rich family. When she's all dressed up she can still feel like a little Princess.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Abby as much as I enjoyed creating her.

Oh, and a big thank you to my granddaughter for helping me find just the right crown for Abby.

Have a great week and remember to

USE KIND WORDS,

Tess

Remember This...It Became This...

Remember this journal page?

Well, over the weekend it became this mixed media painting. I had so much fun playing with this. I have to admit the color pencils in my journal was easier than the painting was. I used so many things, acrylic paint, paper, markers, crayons, highlighters, my fingers and just played and played.
Then I did something else...
I put it up for sale in my etsy shop. Oh My Gosh, I think I'm hyperventilating! Ok, ok, enough of that.

The snow is almost gone here after our sudden snow storm Friday afternoon and night. It was still snowing some on Saturday morning too. So what is the saying, "In like a lion and out like a lamb", well we got it backwards. Our winter and spring sure have been mixed up here so far this year.

I hope all others that were facing bad weather over the weekend have fared well.

Well I'm off to watch 24. I just love Keifer Sutherland. This season has been pretty predictable, almost disappointing, but I love the show.

Have a good night,
Tess

Shine Quote

Greetings to all,

I found a new site today that I may check back on frequently. Self portrait challenges are something I feel I would have trouble with and yet I think a self portrait challenge could be interesting and help one learn about oneself. The August challenge is get your shine on or shine. Visit http://www.selfportaitchallenge.net/ to find out more.



I found this site through Misty Mawn's website. Misty is a wonderful mixed media collage artist and she is featured in the September/October issue of Somerset Studio. I love the faces in her art work. They are so expressive and evoke such emotion within the viewer. Her blog is at http://mistymawn.typepad.com/my_weblog/ I loved the post she made to articulate the challenge.



I leave you with a wonderful quote found posted on spc. I love this quote and am very pleased to have found it:



“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.” ~ Emily Dickinson