Delight in Disorder

It's taken me awhile to get to this point this morning....first my camera battery needed recharging and then I lost my internet connection.  
I had my monthly altered book workshop class yesterday and want to share what we did....it was all about using Black & White.

Our instructor brought lots of papers with various patterns and prints for us to use and  I also  brought some of my own.  There are two tags that I made for the class...one I've attached to the left page, and one to the right.   Here is the 1st picture....

If you read the caption on the tag I made with the little black dress, it reads "Delight in Disorder"....and if you are a left-brain thinker and you're looking at this picture...you might agree with the "disorder".  The placement of the papers is truly random.  The polka dots down the right hand side is actually a piece of ribbon I sewed on.  I do love the copy on the black dress tag...it goes on to say "A sweet disorder in the dress, kindles in clothes a wantoness...a lawn about the shoulders thrown ...into a fine distraction...." and it goes on.
Here's the left page...

The "game boy" was made with rubber stamps provided by the instructor and brads to attach his arms and legs so they move.  Only his torso is glued to the page.  The tag I had made prior to the class.  I brought the lace doily and the mask.  Could he have been placed on a less "busy" background so that he stood out more?   Yes...but somehow, the delight in the disorder appeals to me.  I might have to do a couple of more black & white pages because I still have some interesting "stuff" I could use...hate to waste...The words "The Difference is Black and White" is from a magazine ad.  How well that worked out!
Here are both pages together....

 And we learned a little bit about Zentangles and did a little exercise in that as well....

This is Zentangles 101...there are many fun patterns and great things to do with them...

Rainy Day Sunflowers

At long last....RAIN! Boy did we need some....even Sunflowers are happy....in the rain.  Remember that old song..."Rainsdrops keep falling on my head...."

What is it about...Sunflowers?

I found this wonderful picture of Sunflowers while looking at photos on MSNBC...the Week in Pictures.  Now, most of the pictures I viewed....were tragic...floods, starvation, human drama.  In many parts of the world, peoples day to day lives are quite a struggle....we don't have much to complain about living here.  So, I'm posting the Sunflowers photo, taken in Germany.  I love Sunflowers...mine are blooming on my deck now too.  I wish everyone could enjoy the beauty of a ...Sunflower.

The Creativity House

This is the house I created today and I'm calling it The Creativity House...it's self explanatory.  The hardest part was fitting everything in this house that I wanted to....I'll show you where I started....

Lots of "stuff" sitting around the house, trying to determine what was going to go "into" the house....next.....

I find it hard to "let loose" because I'm always afraid I'm going to mess something up that I didn't want to mess up....but I decided....if this was to be The Creative House...that I had to let go of some of that control, so I just started painting and glueing and more....the zebra at the bottom is a paper napkin. And I loved the little animal, but it got buried.  He's there in spirit. The round item at the bottom is photo of a dish filled  with paper beads that I made.  And the clock at the top of the house....well, you just have to make TIME to do the things you love to do.  The dust on the dining room table will just have to wait!  I'd rather be known as a creative person than a great housekeeper... :)

More on the "Houses"

I started this 2nd house earlier in the week.  And I finished it tonight.  I like this one better than the first, but maybe I'm just getting the hang of this a little bit better....see what you think.  My favorite part of the house below, is the quote I found:  "To create is to journey, to no longer belong to one place, to be a citizen of the world."

I tweaked the first one just a bit so here it is....

  

Now I think I need to move away from the garden/outdoor/flower look and try something entirely different.  Can I do winter in August?  Maybe....Christmas?
I have to go back and look at my "stash" and see what will be next....TGIF!

A Work in Progress.....

The Summer House ....maybe that's what I will call this....the first "house" in my house book.  I haven't finished it, but want to share what it looks like thus far.  

 Here is a close up...that is Tom at the window, when he was 7 yrs old, holding our first pup, Max, a wonderful Golden Retriever who is no longer with us.  Tom's picture is printed on vellum, as is the bird in the cage at the peak of the house.  This "house" isn't quite finished, but wanted to share what I accomplished today... a learning curve with collage and mixed medium but I'm having so much fun!

Playing with Ideas

I have a couple of different things going in my art room, but I am especially interested in doing a "House" book, inspired by Angela Cartright's book, In This House.  I've cut several pages of a house shape out of watercolor paper and last night I started to "play" with it.  But it's not easy!  I'm used to painting my pictures and this is really more collage work, lots of layering and so forth.  So it becomes a question of what I want to show and what I want to be "in the background", having been sanded and painted over.  So, I'm at the very beginning of this page.  I put some color on the page and I glued bits of music because my house is nothing if not musical.  But the music will be an "underlying" theme in my house pages. 

Now I need to take the next step on the page, but I also feel like I need to collect more materials so I have lots to choose from.  It all takes ....time.  And I want this to be good....incorporating bits of my own home and life and part of things I just happen to like.



So here is a  page of the beginning.....not necessarily the first page of my book, but who knows....

He's Home!

Tom returned yesterday from his training at Camp LeJeune. They say a picture is worth a thousand words....he looks great, he is great!
I'm just a proud Mom.....