Sunday musings

the tools of the trade might be paper, paint and scissors...
but without direction and decision, the path is obscured...

Not the usual suspects

Since my schedule is not totally crazed at the moment, I actually had time to plan ahead...more than usual...

I even had the forethought to check what the theme would be for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday link-up...rather than discovering the theme just as I write my post and then have to figure out if there is some way to shoehorn the image I have to fit the parameters...it doesn't always work out!

So when I checked and read that the theme would be "yellow", my mind started racing...

Given that its spring and there are plenty of blooms...buttercups, tulips, daisies or dandelions seemed to be obvious yellow candidates...but I thought...surely there are other yellow subjects to consider...it became my challenge...with one simple set-up, how many different yellow compositions could I create...using just what I could find in the house...

I went to work and concocted ten different vignettes...

Some were more whimsical than others...

others more arty...

and some were just everyday practical...

I didn't spend tons of time on photo editing...all of the above images were edited with kk texture dollard or urban...both textures have a yellow tone to bring out the colors and lighten the image since getting inspired at 3 in the afternoon is not the most conducive natural light situation.  Instead of focusing on photo editing, I wanted to take the time to consider what I could compose that would break conventional ideas of yellow...

It turned into a fun exercise...even got the Southern Man searching around for different types of yellow things...

edited with kk texture 2203 - hue at 75%

and of course in the end...I just had to include a few buttercups...

Contemplating the New Year

Welcome to 2014...I'm not quite sure what to expect...new directions taking shape...
a couple of big changes under consideration...what?  if?  when?

Best to take each day as it comes...and so for today...let's celebrate the dawn of a New Year...

Asking the right question...

I'm continuing to pare down/purge/lighten the load...as can be expected, I'm finding a few things that I'd forgotten about...most of which have been happy discoveries!

While cleaning out a cupboard, I found this device, wrapped in an old cardboard tube...immediately upon opening the tube, I couldn't remember this item but I could immediately tell that it would be exactly the kind of thing I would pick up and become attached to...

I'm a sucker for anything scientific in nature...with such gorgeous numbers!  They are obviously some sort of calibration...and the information on the side opposite the numbers indicates its some sort of thermometer...

The bulbous end is filled with tiny beads - mercury?













Standing upright in my glass beaker, its the perfect still life...
I know some of you are asking..."What is it?"

My response..."It doesn't matter what it was...but rather what can it be now?"

Serendipitous

I've been working on a three part collage project...using the nail drawers I picked up at an estate sale last year...my first box, "precious life" was completed without a hitch...details on that project here...








My next box, "cre8" was nearing its completion...but it was missing something...I was focusing on numbers...and the ways that numbers can be good for measuring and qualifying/quantifying...but also jumbled and confusing and twisted...I was casting about for a quote to tie it all together...and the idea of "taking aim" stuck in my head...

Ok...I am a believer in karma...no sooner had I grabbed onto that thought of taking aim...and noodling how I would incorporate that into my box...Laura Tringali Holmes, an artist friend who I follow online, was offering up vintage targets for artistic pleasure...I could not believe how serendipitous it all was...I immediately responded that I had to have a target!

Earlier this week, the targets arrived...I cut one down to size and glued it into place...it was meant to be...

the finished box...

Each box in this project contains a Little Blue Book...I wanted to incorporate the book into the piece and yet have it be available for closer examination...thus the book hangs from a hook in the top cubbie...

the old metal caster wheel spins...repeating its message...




Laura organized an online group of the artists who received targets...where each of us can share our creations...while waiting for glue to dry...I grabbed another target...and using leftover scraps on my worktable, pieced together this version of "aim high"...

 

I have another target left...what to aim for now...?

Stationery supplies...

I have a thing about stationery supplies...and I know I'm not alone...something about feeling organized...
and ready to tackle any project at hand...and when the supplies are of a vintage nature...all the better!

A couple of weeks ago...while I was supposed to be "working"...I snuck away to an estate sale...just a couple of blocks away...picked up a few things in the garage...but it was on Sunday when I returned for the "we are ready to make a deal to get rid of everything" sale...that I found the real treasures...

These are the things that make my collage artwork sing...old raffle tickets with their faded color...

the red bordered gummed labels...
a series of numbered tags...#1 to #24 (but #2 is missing...mmm...)

This old paintbrush is priceless...

and the well-loved typewriter eraser that is ever so gently worn in just one spot...
over the years, correcting misspelled words...

Kim Klassen is hosting a new link-up called Friday Finds...sharing whatever special finds you discover during the week...not anything grand or glorious...but rather those simple pleasures...that can bring such delight...I think its going to be my new Friday addiction...that is, after I check out the estate sale ads in the local paper...

In the groove

There are times when everything falls into place...an idea brews...the scraps align...a synergy builds...

When all of these things click, it is amazing how quickly I can take a collage from start to finish...on the flip side, I have a couple of pieces sitting in my studio...since last summer...after the initial layers were put into place, there was a loud thud.

So when the opposite occurs, I want to capitalize on this energy...in other words, I was in the groove...







For my smaller collages, I use 1 x 10 pine boards cut into sections...its economical, sturdy enough to take layers of glue and sanding, solid enough to attach found objects with either nail or screw and easy enough to finish the edges so additional framing is unnecessary.

After I pull together my scraps, I do a dry run...nothing is glued down...just a rough idea of what might work...I take a quick photo of this arrangement for reference... and then proceed to paint the board in my color of choice...

The scrap that started the process was the strip of a vintage dictionary page...add in a magazine page...a parking ticket stub...and an old library catalog card...and I had my direction...



The process of my creation is a short burst of activity spread out over a couple of days...each layer is glued into place...and then has to dry completely before the next layer can be glued...and then everything is sanded...and waxed...before I add any 3-D elements...

Throughout the process, scraps may move, be cut up or cropped...or reconfigured...the first layer of leaf transparencies did not show up very well...so a second layer was added to give more depth...but attached with small brad nails for additional interest...

Building on the theme indicated by the library reference card, I think of recombinations of letters and numbers...bingo markers not only add another shot of red, but spell out a suggestive message..."go in"

Notice that the board edge is painted dark gray-brown and has been sanded and waxed...simple framing for the piece.








And before long...it is finished...

The library catalog card that I used is from a large supply of cards I received a number of years ago...the University of Iowa was converting their physical library card catalog to a computer version...so the cards were available free to anyone who wanted them...all you had to do was send a pre-paid postage box for shipping the cards back to you and explain what you were going to do with the cards...you had no choice in what you would get...I got a selection of cards from "S" Surgery to "Y" Yorkshire...its been great fun to look through the cards (including many that are in Chinese...I have no idea what they say) as a prompt for art ideas.

I still have quite a stash...If you would like to be so inspired...email me at amy_duncan@yahoo.com with your snail mail address and I'll send you 6 random cards...and then I'd love to see what you create...

Anatomy of a collage

While I was cleaning up from my Valentine Art Party two weeks ago, there were a few snippets that caught my eye...so I gathered a small collection of scraps...and was inspired to make a collage...and thought that I would, in essence, document the steps so you could see my creative process.  Of course, all I can show is what I physically put together...I can't put a finger on the intuitive end...it usually starts with a color...which I find is a good common element to use when composing.  The other common element that wound itself into this piece is numbers...and so it begins...





I painted a 5"x 5" piece of wood a very light pink/gray tone...and then layered a page from an old accounting journal...adding a miniature reproduction of a french envelope (leftover from the art party detritus!)
that aligns with the pale lines of the journal page...

Next were two strips that intersected...a section of a bingo throwaway sheet and a sliver of a paris street map...the map strip was just a little short...so to extend the line to the edge of the wood, I added in another red number from the bingo sheet...repetition always makes for good composition...

Coffee is one of my favorite instant aging techniques...not only did I pour some coffee over the entire surface, but I dipped the bottom of my mug into a plate of coffee and then set the mug on the collage to leave a ring...already the "story" of the collage was forming...the piece from a french language book pulls the theme together...writing a letter to a dear friend (cher ami)...

 

The number 7 is a small sticker that was adhered to the label of the t-shirt I recently bought...you just never know where you might find art inspiration!

 

I always like to add found objects to my collage...giving additional interest and character...a remnant of pink embroidery thread and an old steel pen point are perfect...

 

With the front panel complete, I turned to the sides...a cloth belt from a vintage cotton dress matched the color scheme and replicated the intersecting line pattern...I thought it would be fitting as a finishing edge to the collage...as well as a hanger for display...I nailed the belt around the edge with small metal brads...

 

And here it is..."a letter to my french friend"...

 bit by bit, a tale is told...how do you tell your creative story?...

Another sneak peek...

Thought I'd give you another preview of what you can find in my booth at this weekend's Ruffles & Rust Vintage Show...

There were a couple of teasers of these lamps in progress on my four corners design facebook page (click here to jump over and "like"...that way you'll be in the know on all that's happening in my studio...)
Here are the completed lamps...burnished gold metal bases topped with custom shades created with vintage french book pages...

the inside of each shade was finished with a length of Cavalinni numbers tape...and the outside of the shade was buffed to a waxen sheen...

I transferred a few of my photo images onto canvas and stretched them over a frame...

love the numbers on this old scale...

I'll also have plenty of old books and vintage ironstone...and other fun finds...

For the rest of the week, I'll be busy setting up and then I'll be at the show...so I'll be back next week with pictures...but if you want to see it all in person...stop on over...Friday night or all day Saturday...I'd love to see you!

Change for the better

Sometimes things are not as they seem...

On my recent trip to Yakima, I spied these whitewashed wooden buckets...I thought they looked great - wonderful patina, well-worn look, metal strapping...but when I looked closer...the strapping was plastic!  But I had a eureka moment...change for the better...

The bucket on the left shows the original condition...with a set of pliers, it was easy to rip off the plastic strapping...

My plan was to remove the plastic strapping and in its place to wrap around a length of jute twine...the indentation encircling the bucket would keep the twine in place.  I gathered a few vintage metal numbers since numbers on buckets seem to be in vogue...the small nails that held the original strapping in place were saved...I'll re-use them to attach the numbers to the buckets...with supplies at hand, I began...

After wrapping the twine around the bucket, I finished it off with a square knot...to this day, I always silently repeat my Girl Scout mantra "right over left and left over right makes a knot neat, tidy and tight" whenever I tie a square knot...












After hammering in two nails to hold each number in place, I was done...

I think they look much better...more natural with that hideous plastic removed...
and a perfect addition to my french-inspired booth that will be at Ruffles & Rust next weekend...

and linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special...because its always great to see the inspiration out there...