One Thing Leads to Another Which Creates a Perfect Day

Maybe the faster life goes, art is a way of stopping time just for a little while." Dixie Blackwell president of the Allegan Community Players

I felt a strong unexplainable need to go outside last night and so shortly after midnight I braved the cold and snow. It was so incredibly quiet and the snow sparkled from the light of the street light across the street.  I stood under my locust tree looking up into the falling snow and thanked the universe for the lessons learned in 2013. Then I asked for kindness for my dad who is slowly dying and expressed appreciation for the people in my life who love and support me. It felt good.

Yesterday I decided to tackle the pile of National Geographic magazines that were taking up space on a shelf in the basement. I had meant to go through them quickly but articles and images caught my eye then suddenly I remembered that one of the small art exchange themes was "ransom notes." I thought I was done creating ransom note but Linda Edkins Wyatt loved my ATC ransom notes and wanted to give it a try. How could I deny her? They are fun to create. Seeing the
words "an 800 lb gorilla" set me off in the direction of finding words to write them. Luck would have it that I actually found two "an 800 lb gorilla"! Rejoice. Soon my dining room table (and the floor) were covered with words.  Before I knew it hours had passed and two ransom notes (4.25" w x 5.5" h) had been created. Our April exchange has been completed.

"Indigo"is our theme for June so I gathered up paper that had indigo in it. Off to create a collage. Several years ago, I took a heat seal iron method of collage from Laura Lein-Svencner. I have played around with the method but have never dedicated any serious time to it. One of those things where I simply have not made the time. It seemed the perfect way to go with the materials I had on hand plus I got to play with Nevr-Dull a polish that does fun things to paper. My collage is not completed yet, but I am happy with its beginnings. It was created on a 8" x 10" canvas so it won't be part of the indigo small art exchange. It does give me an opportunity to explore the theme and create in a technique that I find interesting.

Spending the last day of the year doing a little cleaning out and making art was perfect. I even made fresh cod with roasted acorn squash and kale topped with a roasted red pepper sauce for dinner. Like I said, "perfect."

So here is my wish for the new year-

To a world that needs it, may the new year bring peace.
To spirits that long for it, may the new year bring hope.
To hearts of all people, may the new year bring love, gentle grace and a creative spirit.

Happy New Year!

Ransom Note Postcard

I am bone tired and still feeling a need to be creative. I don't know what it is about cutting letters and words out of magazines but it makes me happy. As a member of Postmark'd Art, I was thrilled when Typography was one of this round's themes. I hadn't planned to make another ransom note and yet it seemed like the perfect activity for today. I sat on my couch, watched old movies and created this postcard. It's just the first step. I have to decide whether to use TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) or print it directly to fabric. Too tired to decide tonight. Happy and hope I can get a good night's sleep. Here's to creative dreams for all of us.

More Ransom Note ATCs

These really are like potato chips--you can't just make one! I am a firm believer in letting an idea run its course. I made 12 so I don't feel too bad about this latest obsession. However, it is time to move on so I'll share a few more with you and invite you to play!

Ransom Note ATCs

I definitely have typography on the brain. I cannot tell you why I decided to do ransom notes. It simply popped into my brain. I do love cutting up magazines and words. Since Artist Trading Cards (ATC) are small (2.5" w x 3.5" h) it did present some challenges so instead of cutting out individual letters, I tried to find whole words whenever possible. I had a package of six colored background ATCs. I don't even remember where I purchased them and of course, now I want more! I started out doing a fairly traditional ransom note then moved on from there. While ransom notes are usually just words, I decided to use images too to make them more interesting. Today I plan to give them a coat or two of mat medium to seal them and keep the words from falling off. I have made six so far and do plan to make more. I am hoping to trade them with people who want to play with ransom notes. My friend Marie Z. Johansen is game! By the way, Marie has a great typography basket that she made on her blog. Check it out!