WHAT'S IN THE PANTRY? - A.P.R. CHALLENGE

This week's challenge for the Artist's Play Room is What's In Your Pantry.

This left my mind absolutely blank.  Drawing a tin of beans or a glass jar of pasta really didn't ring my chimes.

It was only this afternoon, Thursday, that I suddenly had a 'right brain' moment, and realised I didn't have to be quite so literal.

So this is the idea that flashed into my mind and just came together in a couple of hours.

Hope you enjoy.  (And it isn't quite empty really).

COLLAGE ABSTRACTS IN WAX ... AND MORE

The image above is a small section from a larger encaustic collage.  swirly girl and Sarah, were interested in my methods for wax painting, and particularly wax collages.  A good excuse for spending spare time on Saturday and Sunday experimenting to make a few new images.   Some were failures, and some I was more pleased with - you don't get to see the failures!.

'MYSTIC FOREST'


Here's the full collage, A5 size as most of the ones on this post are.

Here's how it developed. I took a scrap off-cut piece of tissue paper that had been crumpled and painted with various colours of wax.  I wax painted a background on card, and ironed the scrap wax piece over it with the craft iron.  Then I used a block of gold wax to highlight the creased areas by scribbling over the surface, and mounted the finished result on card.

'LE TEMPS SUSPENDU'

The clock face was simply placed on the card, and the wax ironed over the whole card with a swirling movement.  I cut a few words that appealed to me from a magazine, and stuck them on with PVA glue.

'LIFE IS A LOTTERY' 

The idea of numbers appealed, so I cut random numbers from magazines, placed them on the card and ironed wax 'splodgily' over them.  Then I 'blobbed' wax dots all over it (note the technical language here).  The text was temporarily added on Photoshop, and I'll write the words on next time I get back to my desk.  The words just formed themselves in my mind as I looked at the numbers.

'THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL'

This card is almost A4 size, mounted on black card.  In my 'bits' box I found a large circle of what I thought was tissue paper, with a circle cut out of the centre.  I placed this on the background card and painted a chaotic background right over it.  Fixing the tissue circle with the wax proved difficult because it turned out to be covered in some sort of wax-resistant coating.  

I like clock and watch faces, and the idea of cutting out just the circle of hour numbers appealed because I had a clock face image just the right size.

Once again, from out of no-where, the text jumped into my mind.  I wanted to finish all the wax element to the cards and time was short, so I added the words in Photoshop.  I intend to print out the words on tracing paper to stick inside the circle of the clock numbers.  

A strange thing struck me about these three time/life related cards.  I looked at the them on the desk and realised that the seemingly random choice of words reflected the reaction I was experiencing to some bad news we had just been given.  Very psychological.

'THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR TEA'

I paused in my artistic efforts, and enjoyed a reviving cup of tea.  Then it was clearly time to change direction.

This collage shows how I always prepare myself for working with a hot iron and even hotter molten wax, even if I'm painting out in the garden!  I keep my feet warm and dry by standing in a box.

The background was painted on card with blue, green and yellow wax as a landscape, and the image and text stuck on before mounting it on coloured card.  The word 'time' still wasn't quite ready to be abandoned!

'SENSE OF STYLE'

One of my favourites.  I started with a card already painted with purple wax found in the 'past failures' box.  The wax painted yellow piece is a section torn from a larger sheet.  

The larger sheet was made by crumpling up photocopy paper, flattening it out, and painting several colours of wax over it fairly randomly with the craft iron.  

I liked the yellow section as a contrast to the purple background.  The result was just the right size for the glamorous young lady trying on the latest style in daring headwear.   

'MYSTERY OBJECT'

I found the words in the muddle on my painting desk, already cut out just asking to be used.  In the 'bits box' were two pieces of metal found in a car park, just right to form the object - the 'blade' of the sword shape that emerged is separate even though it looks attached.  I hadn't tried sticking found objects on wax before, so this was a real experiment.  

The wax painted background was another 'past failure' and looked just right.  I had originally painted the card then placed something, perhaps a paper towel, over it while it was hot to remove the wax and add texture.  Can't remember what it was.  There were 3 off-cut slivers of wax-painted card, which I stuck on, and then mounted the finished piece on card.

'SEA SILVER'

This is not really a collage, but an experiment in trying to draw on the wax background.  Another piece I found in the failures box and decided to experiment with.  

I used a silver pen to draw the fish on the wax, and the silver shine appears or disappears depending on how the light hits the card.  It didn't seem to need any text, and even though it's rather ordinary I was pleased with the actual experiment, which shows promise for the future.

'THE MYSTERY OF THE RED BLOB'

Although it's not a collage, I added it here because it was the last piece I made in this bunch of experiments.   I noticed on my desk a scrap of cartridge paper, on which I had at some time scribbled a silhouette figure of a cloaked lady.  Cartridge paper is very absorbent, and therefore it takes a lot of wax to get any kind of 'painted' surface with the iron, so it was worth an experiment.

I painted the blue wax sky first, sliding the iron right over the ink-drawn lady, and used lots of black wax for the ground and the looming shape behind the figure.  Because of the paper's absorbency the result was a nice variation of colour and texture.  

Finally I added a small red blob of wax for a flower which turned out to be a large blob, a big white blob for the moon - which you can see slipped a bit - and a tiny one for the star.  I like the hint of menace in the piece, and I'll definitely try combining a drawing with wax on cartridge paper again.

Enjoyed these adventures in collage immensely. I hope you do too.

MAIL ART SEASIDE STYLE - A.P.R. CHALLENGE

    THE 'JUST-A-LITTLE-BIT-SAUCY SEASIDE POSTCARD'


Saucy seaside postcards of the past were the inspiration for this piece of mail art for the Artist's Play Room  'Mail Art' challenge. 

I wanted to create a 'little-bit-saucy' card, but with my own original twist and without the gaudy colours.  And - as this is a family friendly blog - cheeky rather than 1950s saucy.

So, I present to you three lovely ladies from the seaside town of Morecambe:

          These cheeky girls are Jill, Nancy and Sue

          They once used to dance in a saucy review.

          At Morecambe sea front they are still great high kickers

          Shamelessly flaunting their pink-lace-trimmed knickers.

          So if you should go and meet Jill, Sue or Nancy,

          Don't waste any time - pick the one that you fancy.

As Eric would say - "What do you think of it so far?"

  

 ------oOo------

          

(For overseas friends, Eric Morecambe (from Morecambe) and Ernie Wise were a much-loved comedy pair.  My favourite sketch had Eric playing a piano concerto with André Previn - referred to as Mr Preview - conducting the orchestra.  Eric played a cacophonous passage of random notes.  When Previn complained that he was playing all the wrong notes, Eric insisted "Oh no, I'm playing ALL the RIGHT notes.   But not necessarily in the right order.) 

BRIGHTEN UP MY EVENINGS - A.P.R. CHALLENGE

I've just joined The Artist's Play Room and the current challenge is Bright Colour.

Here's my take on the the topic:

"Brighten Up My Evenings"

In a busy week I thought I would take the quick and easy option and just use my wax 'paints'.

The title jumped to mind simply because the colours were so rich and vibrant, that they are just what I need in the evening sky to banish thoughts of the miserable rain, snow and wind that seem to be our permanent weather just now.

OK, so it's very ordinary otherwise, but it made me happy just to look at it, so I share it with you.  I hope some of you are having colourful sunsets.

ARTWORK AND REVIEW FOR JANUARY 'ARTFUL READERS'

                  MY FIRST 'ARTFUL' BOOK OF THE YEAR

Positives 

• This was a successful 'in-betweener', easy reading and light-hearted,  the kind I like to read between more serious books.
• I read it in just a few hours in my coffee breaks - it's one of those books I keep meaning to put down and then find myself well into the next chapter and into the next coffee break.
• It's unlike anything I've read before, beautifully daft, tongue-in-cheek, great fun, with a bit of black humour.
• Cleverly alternates between the present and past, with the great idea of the hundred-year-old-man acting as an unlikely catalyst in events of world importance.

Slightly less positive aspects - but not really negative ones

• As with most books, there are a few slow, patchy or repetitious pages, but it's well worth getting through those for the entertainment of the rest of the book.
• Perhaps readers much younger than me may not know of all the historical people and events, and may not enjoy those sections as much as I did.  Yes, there is a flavour of 'Forrest Gump' in there.
• Disappointed that I finished it so quickly - I'll read it again!

ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THYOMWCOOTWAD

     

As children my sister and I drew simple comic strips, and later I drew them for my young kids.  This story was so visual that I kept seeing it as a comic cartoon.  OK, elephants aren't pink, but grey elephants would have looked very dull, and given the quantities of alcohol imbibed in the story pink ones seem appropriate. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it.

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY 5 - MELVIN FINDS LOVE

SADIE THE SPAGPIE - LIKE MEL ALSO MYTHICAL

For the love of his life poor Melvin was longing,
You really can't say that the females were thronging.

We had heartfelt pleas from much (well 7) of the nation
To find him a mate to suit his creation.

Morag suggested he tried on-line dating,
She's sure that there must be a bird out there waiting

To meet him and love him and be his sweet honey,
So he tried it and found it was well worth the money.

It's Sadie, smart lady, Mel felt that arrow from Cupid,
Her Pa's a magpie, Ma's a spadger - that Cupid's not stupid.

Crimson beak, rosy cheeks and red varnished claws
Oh! what a surprise, she said 'Melvin, I'm yours'.

In the branch of an oak tree they built a sweet nest,
............ It would be indiscreet if I told you the rest! 

(Spadger --- local term for a Sparrow, it's the name we always use)  

SURPRISE GIFT

A few days ago I received a surprise gift in the post from Gina at http://daydreambeliever-gina.blogspot.co.uk .  It came on just the right day and cheered me up tremendously, and I wanted to share it with you.

It was a 10" x 8" blank journal that Gina had made and painted, and what a journal.  The painting on the front cover had the text 'Why would you cry ... when you could be singing with the Birds'.  And this is the back cover:

Inside the pages were all 300 gsm watercolour paper, my favourite paper for watercolour because it takes any hammering from loads of water, and some of the pages had fold-out additional pages.  I can't wait to get started in it.

There was also a lovely card and message, and I'm keeping the card tucked into the back fold.

This is such a lovely surprise gift, and I appreciate Gina's generous spirit and the lift it has given me at a difficult time.  Thank you Gina.

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY 4 - MELVIN THE MYTHICAL SPAWK

Finding it difficult to concentrate on serious things at the moment, so as usual I turn to doodling to help me through.  Today we have Melvin:

Melvin has had an unfortunate life since hatching, and he's obviously not a very happy chappie.

And this is the reason why:

          Pity poor Melvin, the mythical Spawk
          His Ma fell in love with an amorous hawk.

               His voice is a failure - can't screech and can't sing,
               He's one of a kind, big of beak, short of wing.

                    He struggles to fly in all kinds of weathers,
                    And sadly his flight tends to ruffle his feathers.

                         Melvin's great sorrow - of which he won't talk -
                         Is that since he's unique, there is no female Spawk!

ANOTHER COLLAGE - ELVIS IN PAINTING MODE

This is a small section of another collage made a few years ago which I've Photoshopped with a filter, just for the fun of it.  

When I first heard Elvis on the radio, right back at the beginning of his fame, I thought the music and the singing were terrible - the shock of the new!

Then one day we were sitting in a café - on the radio Elvis was singing 'Blue Moon' and it was so beautiful I was converted.  

As pop music rapidly followed his style I came to appreciate his voice more - even when he sang 'Wooden Heart'.

This was actually an A3 collage, and this is the left-hand side.  I love the idea of Elvis painting the sculptures, and I'm sure he sang as he worked.  But he really should have worn an overall.

Here's the right-hand side:

In fact the two halves stand alone quite well.  I was just enjoying myself so much I carried on and on and had to cut the collage in half to fit it into my sketchbook.

I tried to marry the two halves again to give the full effect, but my skills of photographing each of them at exactly the same size, and even adjusting them on Photoshop were woefully inadequate.

Never mind, c'est la vie!  Hope you enjoy them.

COLLAGE - MY STYLE (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS I DID IT MY WAY)

Collage is one of my favourite art forms.   I love getting lost in the free process - which translated means I don't plan in advance - and I enjoy seeing other people's collages, there are so many different styles.

I do vary my approach from time to time, but my collages nearly always end up in this style, with hopefully a little humour thrown in.  The 'Tea, Coffee, Sandwiches' pic above is a small section of the collage I want to show you today ....... at the end of the post.

It's a collage I made in 2004, and even though it has been in a sketchbook, time has not been kind to it, as you can see from the lifting of the paper here and there.  But it's just about my favourite collage, and most definitely in my style, made just for enjoyment and a bit of relaxing fun.

I realised today that I haven't posted a collage yet on my blog.  What reminded me was that I started to tackle a collage background for a collage-swap for Collabor-Art.  

The strange thing is that although I rarely plan in advance and hope that it will come out right, I have found it so difficult to create just a background for someone else to complete.

So here's the full collage:

'Tea, Coffee, Sandwiches' collageJez Eden 2004

How many of the unfortunate holiday-makers can you identify.  I have to say that I can only name 5 for certain now, so if you can beat that please let me know your list.

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY - 3 - DARREN THE DREAD

I'm still doodling and 'doodle-rhyming in my coffee breaks, which have rather more generous and flexible time allowances than I ever had in employment.

By popular request ..... well two people have said they like the doodles/poems enough to see more ....... here's another one, about Darren the Dread.  

Black Pitt pen and my favourite Inktense pencils, plus one of those brushes with a water reservoir in the barrel, and everything can be done on the cream sofas.

It's clear that Darren doesn't even like himself.  It's a good thing he's not one of twins.

                                   DARREN THE DREAD

                     Darren the Dread is a bit of a bruiser
                     Especially when he's been to the boozer
                     His favourite drink is Guinness with Rum -
                     And he's not all bad, 'cause he loves his Mum
                     And at times he can be a likeable fellow
                     He just looks tough - but he's totally yellow!

                     He quickly sees red when he's roused to ire                        

                     But give him a hug and it puts out the fire.
                                    ..............oOo...............

Anyone else out there with a doodle and a bit of doggerel?

DOODLING THE DAY AWAY - 2 - FLANNERY FINN

Another day, another doodle.  Years ago I wrote a nonsense poem (no picture ) about 'Flannery Finn' for a magazine and the name stuck with me ..... but the only thing I remember about the 'poem' is the first line and the fact that it was fairly long.

So I decided to resurrect and doodle the odd, old, fellow with a portrait and a new verse.

In case you can't read my scrawl, here's the newly invented bit of doggerel, shorter than the original you'll be glad to know:

          Flannery Finn is a very strange fellow

          His hair is blue and his eyes are yellow

          He wears big boots on his size twelve feet

          And shakes the ground when he dances down the street.

Actually he thought he wasn't strange, just unusual and original ....... but he's just had the traumatic experience of seeing his first Picasso painting!

I think of the silly verses I often write to accompany a doodle as 'doodle doggerel'.

My personal rules (which I sometimes ignore to my cost) for creating doodles and doodle doggerel like this are: 

(1)   when you've scribbled the figure and coloured it, and still like 

        it, never go back to add something else - it only spoils it, and

(2)   scribble out your first ideas for the verse, leave it for a day or

        so, alter it if necessary, and then leave it alone.  It's only a bit

        fun.

Rules, rules, rules.  That's the first time I've ever written them down, but I think I'm genetically programmed to invent rules if none exist.  Sad, sad, sad.  

As usual I like to take things a little further with Photoshop, and this Mr Finn has been digitally enhanced with a filter.  Happy doodling.

P.S.  In my 1st January post about Darcy Wilkinson's ARTFUL READERS BOOK CLUB I forgot to say that the idea was to select, in advance of 1st January, 12 unread books from our shelves (or Kindles) to read at the rate of one a month.  At the end of each month we then post a blog review plus a piece of artwork or craftwork inspired by the story.  A brilliant idea.  I've started reading my February choice and am really enjoying it.  It's a great challenge.  

THE ARTFUL READERS CLUB - THE TWELVE BOOKS OF 2013

Having seen a couple of booklists on other people's blogs, I can see mine is a very lightweight list - entertainment reading - but variety is the spice of life.

So here are my twelve books for the Artful Readers Club

(I'm a sucker for an interesting title)

and I've decided that these two will be the books I read in January and February.

THE LAST TELEGRAM
Liz Trenow
Pub: Avon    ISBN 0007480822

A FISH TRAPPED INSIDE THE WIND
Christien Cholson
Pub: Parthian Books     ISBN 1906998906

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE PINK CARNATION
- Lauren Willig
Pub: Allison & Busby     ISBN 0749007613

THE DRAWING BOOK
Sarah Simblet
Pub: Dorling Kindersley     ISBN 9781405341233

THE HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED
Jonas Jonasson
Pub: Hesperus Press Ltd     ISBN  1843913720

THE TELLING
Jo Baker
Pub: Portobello Books Ltd     ISBN 1846271401

THE CURIOSITY CABINET
Catherine Czerkawska
Pub:  Polygon, an Imprint of Birlinn Limited     ISBN 1904598420

WHERE THE WEAVER BIRDS FLY
John Ellwood Nicholson
Pub: Acorn Independent Press     ISBN 1908318317

A PLACE OF MEADOWS AND TALL TREES
Clare Dudman
Pub: Seren     1854115189

THE ITALIAN CHAPEL
Philip Paris
Pub: Black & White Publishing     ISBN  184502303X

A DANGEROUS TALENT
Charlotte Elking and Aaron Elking
Pub: Thomas & Mercer     ISBN  1612182739

COLOUR: TRAVELS THROUGH THE PAINTBOX
Victoria Finlay
Pub: Sceptre     ISBN  0340733295

All but two of them are Kindle books 99p or less
Quite a varied selection