WholeLife Mastery

If you're looking for a challenge

ArtSoMoFo starts Monday, October 1 through Wednesday, October 31.  I've been clearing a space on my studio table to get ready and I still haven't decided what I'll be working on.  To finish works in progress, and there are dozens of them, or to start something new?  On challenges like this the latter seems to work best, as it did when I did my Random Rubber Journal and Gluebook of Me, but not with this summer's Gluebook Challenge.  I made it way too complicated and it was too much of a challenge to think about cranberries and pumpkins when the Farmers' Market had me up to my elbows in strawberries and tomatoes.  I did, however, do a spread last weekend when I splurged on some figs from Whole Foods.  Looks like I just decided to start anew for ArtSoMoFo.  Now for a theme?  I think the most helpful aspect of a challenge is the community of accountability.  So let's go ya'll! 

Art Unraveled Magpie's Dream Journal and Library Pocket Book

The last, but by no means the least, of my Art Unraveled 2007 class projects. In addition to being an excellent teacher -- e.g. being patient and giving clear instructions for making the complicated stitching pretty easy, Doris Arndt is one of the most creative people I know.  Every year she describes the process of coming up with the idea for the class projects.  No two years' projects have been the same.  This year's project was born when Doris found shiny, NOT MATTE, duct tape.  No, not the aluminum flashing tape I already have a huge roll of. See the texture in the photos? It's really duct tape. I haven't seen it in my closest Lowe's yet, but I know it's out there somewhere when I need it. We colored it with alcohol inks. I always learn something new in addition to the technique or binding stitch for the particular project.  For example, I had no idea what a magpie was until Doris told us.  Now every time I pick up some shiny tidbit to drop in my "Walking Booty" basket, I laugh and know that I've got a bit of magpie in me.

   In the Library Pocketbook class taught by Jo McQueen, proprietor of The Queen's Dresser Drawers Rubberstamps, "a good time was had by all".  Unlike most library card books, we actually cut and folded these ourselves.  We also papered the book covers.  The binding was the easiest I've ever done, just sewing each of three threads through the beads individually.  I left the ends long as I'm planning to add danglies once I get around to finishing the book.  After all that pasting, folding and cutting, I only had time to start one spread.  With all these projects to finish, I'll never be bored.

Art Unraveled Confessions of a Daily Journaler Class

This was my first Traci Bunkers' class and it definitely won't be my last.  What I love about Traci's teaching style is how easy she makes it for folks like me who are afraid of making a mess to "slap on some color, glue some stuff down" and throw some text over it.  The supply list for the class included "Personal ephemera: shopping lists, to do lists, etc."  WOW! What a wonderful way to corral all those post-it notes I've been saving because I didn't want to throw away a good idea.  They made a great background for my second spread, "Grading", because the blue ink from my Uniball pen tinted the white gesso. The list rubber stamps are from Traci's full sheet of unmounted journaling stamps.  I have three more pages of post-it notes glued down waiting for me to art them up. I love it when I start journaling a spread only to figure out later what it's trying to tell me, a lot like interpreting a dream. I just finished -- and finished is always provisional when I'm crafting -- the "Grading" spread I started Thursday, 10 August. While grading has always been my least favorite part of teaching, looking back at this spread to scan and blog it today reminded me that "It's only hard when I try to do it from anyplace other than Center."

Art Unraveled Journaling with Watercolor and Ink

   

Bev Brazleton's class was the first one I took at this year's Art Unraveled and it turned out to be the perfect start to a perfect week. We painted with both watercolor and watercolor crayons.  We bound the books using Bev's Rubicoil machine.  She guided us through some fun composition exercises including "Art on the Grid" and the "Exquisite Corpse" as described in the Winter 2006 issue of Artitude.  This journal ended up being my Artitude 2007 journal including the postcard and themed bottle cap on the cover.  This was my second straight year taking a class with Bev and my only disappointment is that this generous and gracious teacher won't be back teaching next year as she'll be taking a year off to change her artistic direction.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. 

Art Unraveled Mail Art Class

Altered postcards I made in Claudia Roulier's Mail Art class.  I had three hours to do something I seldom do at home -- just play and experiment.  Through trial and error that night I learned that the type of transparency I use for gel medium transfers really made a difference.  It seems ink jet transparencies (I used Highland Brand 707 and no, I don't remember where I bought them!) with a textured surface are a lot more forgiving.  Each of the Black Heritage stamps on the post cards are gel medium/ink jet transparency transfers.  I used a regular slick-sided transparency to transfer the feather onto the Zora Neal Hurston post card.  It slipped and slided and ended up looking like a blur instead of the feature I was intending it to be. The "Expressions of African Americans: A Cultural Diary" headings are from the note pad that comes with the diary. The Langston Hughes quotation stamp is from Invoke Arts.