Thursday, November 24, 2005

Art Journal

Different ideas have swirled around me and I have been reading about art journals. One blogger led me to Danny Gregory. At the library I found Hannah Hinchman and others. I wrote more in my last journal so I could get to my new, unlined one. So today is picture day.

The cover of my journal. Made from gift wrap, a ribbon, a heart punched from a photo crop leftover, a page from a Mary Engelbreit day by day calendar, and a punched heart covered in glitter glue. I tried to just highlight the heart, but later the glue smeared, so I just filled the whole thing in.



CHG and I play with a local college band. One of the band alumna joined the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, a part of the US Army. A group of five (out of 70) came to town for a visit - demonstration - recruiting opportunity. While they played, I sketched three of the musicians. They wear colonial attire, as the group was commissioned by Gen. George Washington and they have been together ever since.

I had some free and quiet time when our kids have three friends over and all were watching Schoolhouse Rock (and not School of Rock, as one of them had hoped). I was able to prepare some pages and play around in my journal.

That quote from Ganoush that I mentioned earlier: One of the places that she was born. I'm not happy with the background. It got cluttered and I didn't have great vision before I started. Which usually is good. But not always.


This is a collage done with tissue papers painted by Eric Carle and published through a Klutz book( that I can't find a link for - prolly discontinued). I gently used blue BloPen on the page first. The mountain really popped when I added the scraps from the penguins back and tummy. The sky was torn to make the mountains.


I don't know what this will be when it grows up.


The collage I made from things on hand near my art desk.


In other art news, a local business offers bisqueware for patrons to buy and glaze on site. They fire the pieces and pick up is a week later. I went with the kids in August for a friend's birthday party. We went again in early November with a homeschool group. Gonzo grumbled about going until he got there, then wanted to stay longer. He painted a cat figurine to look like his stuffed green Ty Baby cat, Kitty. Ganoush painted a unicorn to match the one she made in August. I painted a plate for my mom. They didn't have any cow figurines, so I improvised. Mom is in a Red Hat group. Not the Linux kind. It's a sushi plate, but no one in my family eats sushi. (All the more for Sage, then.)



I couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to her, so waited until Tuesday. Fortuitous thing, too, for it led to our schedule changing a little so she could go with the Camp Wacky Homeschool to have another glazing session. Gonzo painted two smaller kittens, Ganoush painted a bowl with lid, shaped like a cat's face. I painted an outlet cover for my mom, who just watched and helped get more glaze. We'll pick up the works next week.

And for Thanksgiving, I leave you with this cartoon.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

The Crow Head

I mentioned Mystery Science Theatre 3000 today, here on Sage's new pages.

Now that I have photo abilities, I can post shots of one of my coolest crafting events.

When Gonzo was 3, he wanted to be Crow T. Robot for Halloween. So, Crafty Mom that I am, I made one, out of black fun foam, brass fasteners (aka brads), staples, gold chenille stems (because no one cleans a pipe anymore) , rubber bands, and gold lame fabric I still had on hand from when I made golden goose eggs for a local Willy Wonka production.

We bought him a yellow sweatshirt (size 7, which he still wears). I attached the Crow head to a black winter hat, using an Acco 2-piece fastener through the hat and through a Solo brand dessert plate slipped inside the winter hat, to give balance and stability to the wearer. Duct tape covers the fastener ends to protect the wearer's hair and scalp.

The upper head kept lopping over, so either side has a small Styrofoam ball wrapped in black felt and hot-glued under the eye section and onto the hat.

Either people have no clue what it is, or they can tell exactly what it is and are impressed. (I still regret that I didn't notice that Crow's eyes are yellow, not white. CHG says to get over it.)

He was quite a sight during the preschool costume parade and again later while trick or treating around the neighborhood. Every time he was asked, "And... what are you?" he proudly answered, "I'm Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theatre Three Thousand and my mom made this costume."

What's not to love about that?