Alter-It Monthly Challenge: Home Sweet Home

july's challenge on Alter-It Monthly is "home sweet home"; make an altered art piece with the theme of homes or houses. so my entry is this piece. it is made from a house shaped canvas i got from the NAEA conference a couple of years ago along with flower and heart shaped canvases. my method for this was simple. i picked a black white and blue color palette with silver as an accent. the background was done with watered down acrylic paints to give it a washed feeling. then i dripped water from the top to make the paint run and give it some interesting subtle lines. i used black sharpie to add dots, lines and swirls to keep the eye busy. i also had this great silver crayon that i used for swirls and dots to give it some extra shine. the embellishments i used were silver hearts and stars and bits of mirror. the text "home is where the art is" was taken from magazine pages. i outlined those with sharpie to make them stand out and added some pearl beads in the bottom corner to anchor the composition. and there it is! my finished piece that can be hung on a wall or propped like a picture frame.

***last minute changes***
i added a door! made from the same black illustration board i used for the back and prop. i cut it out skewed and added some window panes and a mail slot. i really love this piece now, very happy!

what i love this week....

initially i was going to post one of these every tuesday, but i had spare internet time while working on the latest project so i got this one done early!

so what i love this week is....tea cups! the ones above were found at Oh Joy! sometimes i like to feel fancy and sweet, and now is one of those times. so were the time when i created these pieces.

this first one is a simple ATC (which i really need to get working on some more!) i used scrapbook paper pasted onto card stock to add depth and cut them into tea cup and tea pot shapes. i love using scrapbook paper for silhouettes, it just seems so fulfilling to the composition.

this one is also and ATC. all of the elements are scrapbook paper, the tea cup is raised. the text and black swirls are stamps, the swirls are from Michael's and the text "you're my cup of cocoa" was a birthday gift from a friend ages ago.

this last one is an encaustics piece i did in my summer workshop. again, scrapbook papers were used for the silhouettes and collaged into the wax medium. the text "your late" i wrote out and image transferred onto it. the orange is the only part of the piece that is not collaged, it is encaustic paint. i think this piece has a kind of Alice in Wonderland feel, and that's what i was thinking when i made the text. the green lines at the top are incised and filled with encaustic paint.

assemblage 64

so...it was a rough week. i started this project on tuesday and have just finished it at 1:10am on saturday night. usually these go by pretty fast, but i got stuck on places so many times! it was completely worth it though. i am very satisfied with this assemblage and i love this piece.

i used the other little shelf seen in the earlier picture for another assemblage, this one is also from the dollar tree, yay. i have been researching assemblages from other artists, and i wanted to create another one that was more filled. im usually timid with filling the spaces, but this time i completely packed the sections and i love the results. although, i did leave a couple with only an item or two, but i feel that it was the right decision.

my favorite part of this is probably the spool and feather. as soon as i put them together i was in love. it's just such a compelling piece, i have no idea why, and you all probably think i'm crazy.

breakdown: the bottom left space has the spool and feather with a pile of buttons and part of a paintbrush with a corrugated cardboard background. i love the little 7 on the paintbrush.
the next one over has a die with many different numbers, all multiples of 4. i don't know what it's from, but i loved the color and the interesting numbers. the cork and bottle cap gave this space the perfect depth and some great color.
to its right is a space full of keys and key related pieces. i had a hard time organizing these because of how 2D the pieces were, it was difficult to give them depth when they were put together. so i used modeling clay to raise the space and used cardboard for the background, then simply arranged the elements. i am pretty satisfied with that.
next row up, the center space contains a prickly ball, no idea what it is, it was in my yard. it also has a mini domino and a small bottle that contains a fortune; "others appreciate your creativity".
the top left simply has an old pocket watch that i was going to gut and use for a small assemblage on its own, but i think it works better here.
to the right is a crating sponge for texture and a small spaceman we found in our old home.

the last section is the reason it took me so long to finish this piece. i had so many elements i wanted to use an no way to make them look nice together. this is no where near how it looked this first time i put it together. the final product is a gold arm, small bottle with sheet music inside, a tiny paintbrush, a fuse? maybe? and part of a saxophone reed with a mesh background. i like that the fuse is intertwined with the mesh, which was my fiancee's idea, not mine. i also like the arm and the fullness of the space.
on the edges of the spaces i screwed in a key and a cog.

my favorite part of the overall piece is all of the little numbers spread throughout the piece. they're subtle little details that i think make the entire piece interesting. what do you think?

tim holtz inspired

this is me trying to figure out what to do with the aforementioned 7 and 8 i acquired. the 6 was used in a simple necklace composition, and the 8 is used in this one.

inspired by, who else, Tim Holtz's work, i created this piece. (not the one with the 5, that's tim's.)

i had some copper plate left over from a high school project that i decided would make a great setting and stable base for this piece. i used green scrapbook paper for color contrast and a rough grit sandpaper to create a mesh feeling that also breaks up the composition. then i added a cog (actually i think its the exact same one he used, oops) that is held in place with a brad. the nut has some green and some copper color in it, so it was perfect to use for this. it is help in place with copper wire that runs up to the top and is clamped in place. for an extra sparkle i added a plastic gem (no idea why, just felt like the right thing to do). it actually kind of gives it a feel of an old oil lamp or an early edison bulb and makes me think of things like 9 or The City of Ember.
last, i used a stabbing tool to make two holes: one in the top for stringing onto a chain for jewelry and another on the bottom to hold the 8 in place. the 8 is connected with a gold jewelry making wire.

this is one of my favorite pieces, even though i don't know what to do with it yet and i may or may not be finished. i love the colors and the steampunk feel. i still have the 7 left to work with, we'll see what comes of that!

mixed media shelf

inspired by an image in L.K. Ludwig's Collaborative Art Journals, which consequently has more projects that just journals, i started collecting shelves. i found a great huge shelf at a consignment shop and the small one and the one used for this project were both found at the wonderful and amazing Dollar Tree! i actually got the book from a second hand book shop for only $10. this was an amazing store1 almost any kind of mixed media or altered art or journal art books you would want for half the price! but of course, before i had a chance to go back and buy everything, it went out of business and the books were probably just thrown away. :(

the project used in Ludwig's book (below, i couldn't find an online image, and i don't have a scanner, so here's an awful picture of it i took with my phone) used a self portrait theme. each shelf contained a hand drawn image of the artist, photograph, personal artwork, reproductions of favorite artwork etc., as well as a ton of adorable little bottles filled with micro beads, itty bitty dice, rocks, or nothing at all! about a third of the shelves were left empty, some had only crayon scribbles. the entire piece came together nicely with good balance of elements and a busy color pattern that reflects the artist's personality.


so, inspired by this, after my search for wonderful shelves, i created this piece: Trapped in Time. time and death are an ongoing theme i have been working on, i have a few other pieces to post with that theme. in this piece, each shelf contains elements relating to time or death, as indicated by the clock parts, wires, skeletons etc. the smallest clear bottle is filled with micro clock parts, the larger bottle i actually found at a gallery opening, and honestly doesn't have much to do with the piece other than a color balance between that and the copper wire. my favorite part of this piece is the mesh wire that covers the shelf with the parchment. the parchment reads "time wastes our bodies and our minds", which again is an ongoing quote in this series of works. the bars in the center were made from rebar tie wire that was simply cut an shoved into place. the cogs and gears are set differently. the Tim Holtz cog was glued in place, while the white plastic piece was placed in a hole cut into the shelf.
another interesting aspect of this piece is the top middle shelf with the skull and, i have no idea the name of this, the clock dinger thing? the gold dome is a piece of a clock that makes sound when hit, like the bell thing. anyway....i placed these two items together because i liked how the clock dinger (as it shall now be referred to) gave the feeling of an electric chair when hing from the top with a small screw. so i placed the skull beneath it in order to push that feeling. i also enjoyed the texture of the brown paper bag and hemp string tied around the contrasting silver watch back.
the color scheme of this is reddish orange, or copper, and green. the piece of the clock in the bottom middle section (the rest of this can be found in the piece 2:18; Ambush) is used to balance the green screws found in the mesh sections and the gears section. what you may not be able to see in the picture is the small amount of very thing copper wire that runs from the bottom right corner, wrapping around the bars, and ending around the small bottle in the top section.
and finally, the thing that pulls this whole composition together for me is the setting. this is a plain shelf like the one above that is set in an old mantle clock base that i found in the trash (art schools at the end of a semester are the best places to pick up random awesomeness).

so that's what i've done so far, at least two more shelf projects are in the future. what work have you done with shelves? i want to see your ideas and inspirations, so share!

what i love this week....

to keep myself going with this, i've decided that i need some kind of prompt. i decided to use many. one of which is "what i love this week", which will include inspiration blogs, projects and how i incorporate those idea into what i do. so what i love this week is COLLECTIONS. i found an amazing blog, Aesthetic Ouburst. she finds all these nice things so i don't have to! i have no idea how long she's been blogging, i've been looking through her site for almost 2 hours now and am still nowhere near the end of her pages. i collect a few things, and this week i am sharing my jars and bottles. this isn't nearly all of them, but these are the ones that fit on this neat little shelf i salvaged and painted and they hold my craft supplies: feathers, beads, gears, chipboard, etc. i also keep a few little empty bottles on there, just for display and contrast. this is one of my favorite elements in my office, and i will be posting more pictures of the rest of the place soon. i also collect snails, just because love them. but they are no where near organized, so you don't get to see them. :)

another wonderful thing that i WISH i could collect more is vintage mushroom things. i have a few already, all from thrift stores; coffee cup, clock, and napkin holder that i use for a note holder on my desk. i also found some amazing mushroom canisters, but i wasn't allowed to buy them because we had just gotten new stainless steel canisters. :(

Jewelry: Graphic Numbers

i found these excellent number pendants at Michael's for half off the other day, so of course i couldn't resist. the have a very steampunk-esque feel and reminds me of the movie 9, even though i've never seen it, it looks great though.

this was a very simple composition. i started with a chunky silver chain that i spray painted gold to match the piece better. a piece of gold wire was strung through the top of the 6 and two beads were added. then simply connected to the chain! a very quick piece, very beautiful and vivid colors that will bring a pop to any outfit. i especially like it with this purple and orange palette. i still have a 7 and 8 to work with, as well as a ton of other great pieces, but i am out of chain! which happens to be kind of expensive. so those other pieces will have to wait, although i am very eager to get started on them.

from old blog: domino accordion book

First, I painted 2 dominoes and attached a folded piece of Bristol board between the two with regular glue. Then the Bristol was painted, I chose rich organic colors. I then colored the edges of the Bristol pages with a gold sharpie for a more elegant touch. A gold ribbon was added to hold it all together, it's very springy and pops open easily. Now it's ready to be purposed to any idea I may have! In case I find a really inspiring quote to pop in there, or as an impromptu gift.

Hello!

this is my new blog, moved over from Altered Art by Beth. basically i wanted to move to more serious work, not just playing around with different techniques. i also wanted a more catchy site name, and i think i found it.

i am 20 years old, and i will be getting married next year on June 25th, so there will be a few wedding projects on here! this new blog will include projects i do for myself and my home as how-to's on certain crafty things, as well as professional work done at school and collaborative works with other artists. i am a huge fan of collaborative art journals and swaps, and i would love to participate in any that you know of, so please let me know!

i would also like to know any suggestions or tips you have for my work or any new ideas from similar styles, always looking for new things!