Tag it.

I have to admit I'm a sucker for office supplies. Folder, pens, notebooks, clips, file cards..... they make me believe I can actually be neat and organized in life and in art. For about five seconds. Then I begin pondering how I can mess them up, alter them, splatter paint and glue on them, and scribble randomly with or on them.
And one of my favorite office supplies is the tag. I imagine them tied to boxes and suitcases with obscure markings identifying the objects inside or the destination they are going. But when I purchased a packet of tags recently I just saw their creamy, untouched surface and decided to play with texture, print, colour, and collage.

Seen close-up they are miniature abstract designs:

Here are are the 15 of 20 I have completed so far:

 A close-up of the lizard and its' negative image:

More close-ups:

And some previously done tags from my Moleskine sketchbook:

I don't know yet what I have planned for them. I suppose I could buy a folder to keep them in. Or put them in a box with a tag on it saying "Tags". But that would be way too organized.

My Little Artwork

I'm working on a new quilted wall hanging and will probably submit it for the Artist's Invitational Gallery at the next arts festival in April. It's a bit risky doing that. Last year I submitted my Absolutely Your Zen series of alphabetical ink drawings and it got in.

  I think a fiber arts entry is more of a risk because many do not consider something quilted to be "Art" with a capital A. The traditional view is that painting and drawing are 'real' art, plus sculpture, then a little further down, prints and ceramics. Fiber arts are now fighting the battle ceramics did  decades ago, in that ceramic artists don't just make pots the same way fiber artists don't just make quilts.

www.jcwclayworks.com

 The medium does not dictate what is art. I might even claim you can make art out of anything even, say, macaroni. And I'm not going to define what art is because that discussion has been going on since Glur looked at Jorp in the caves at Lascaux and complemented her on her amazing horse drawings, while Mirk looked on in envy because hers' looked like My Little Pony.

Here's a teaser for my piece called "October", still in the works. Similar to a banner I did of the West Texas Landscape, so I am interested in earthy textures, the soil, the trees, the changing sky, the passage of seasons.

The tree images are from photos I shot then printed out on sheer fabric through my printer.. I am still embellishing with embroidery, and I am thinking of a unique way to hang it, using an actual tree branch.

Feeling Blue

New year, new projects. Well, actually, a lot of old projects that need finishing. Lots of shows and exhibits ahead in 2013 and I plan (key word, Val, remember it) to be prepared for them. I'll reveal a few sneak peeks as things are progressing. Kind of like watching paint peel from a wall. It's more to motivate me than anything else.
  In the meantime I was working on a little book celebrating the colour blue in all its rich moodiness by cutting illustration board into 5 inch squares and doing a series of mini print/paintings. (Now this image was upright when I loaded it. Sigh.......). BTW I made this book cover from a granola box and crumpled paper bag. You can't get more low tech.

 No great art, just exercises to keep me creating on a daily basis even when I am having artist's block. Unfortunately the putting together of the book itself is proving to outwit me with its' stupid, annoying technical skills and my weak wrists (a hole punch through 1/8 inch thick board requires the strength of the Hulk, or at least someone who is not me). Auurrrrrrgh, in Hulk voice.

 So here is just a sampling of each square.

I sprayed acrylic ink through a bit of lace here then splattered water to let it run.

 Just pen and ink over layers of random paint with a bit of stenciling. Actually this snail is a bit boring. I need to jazz him up a bit.

 More of the same technique, with some tissue collaged on top.

 Sometimes after scanning I try the negative image and find the colours more appealing.

 I literally sprayed paint around dime store plastic lizards then filled them in with ink.

 The albino version........

 Sometimes I just slap things together from my drawer of abandoned bits.

 Just some freestyle flowers in a non-waterproof marker, hence the bleed. Plus the negative version which would make a cool fabric print.

 Jeri's dog Gator. I did this as a reduction lino print and this was one of the test pages that I just added bubble wrap stamping onto. Jeri has her own copy.

 Here's the actual lace I used as a stencil. This time I soaked it in ink and glued it down.

 My feather painting. Looks like a New Mexico landscape.

 You can actually see the marks on the left edge where I attempted to punch holes before my wrists threatened to crumble into dust. Back to the ice pick, I guess.