I missed part one, on angles and squares, of a series of four challenges Cee is featuring on her blog. So here is part two:
the leaning tower of Pisa
the interior of the cathedral in Pisa
feline curves
this is how silk worm cocoons are “farmed” in Luang Prabang, Laos
an art journal page I made last year
WELCOME to my sanctum and to the “Where Bloggers Create” blog party hosted by Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage.
This is the first time I have participated in this event so I would like to explain a bit about my blog.:
My blog has evolved over the years into a travel blog although it started with journeys of all sorts and experiments with writing. Lately, because I never seem to be in one place for more than a couple of months at a time, it has become a documentary of my real life journeys and my journeys into the world of digital photography and the editing of many of my photographs into new versions of their original selves. I have moved into the digital age more out of necessity than anything else as it is not practical to lug around my stash of mixed media bits and pieces. For my digital work all I need is my laptop and my two cameras.
When we are not on the move we return to south western Turkey, to my studio, my place of preference, where I can pick up again on my mixed media creations.
It is the place to which I can retreat when I need some me time, where I am surrounded by art – mine
and other people’s,
my books,
some treasured pieces of furniture
and souvenirs brought back from our travels.
Here are some more photos my domain:
what’s on my bookshelves
storage solutions
some of my early jewellry pieces. The piece in the bottom left corner is a wall hanging made for a friend out of some bits of broken jewellry she gave me.
introducing Scampi, a street cat we feed when she deigns to visit us and a constant source of inspiration
there’s a wealth of flowers for inspiration
this was the view, with Greek islands in the distance, after a couple of days of heavy rain. Usually it is nothing like as clear as this
the winter sunsets are fabulous.
Thank you for visiting my little corner of the world. I hope you have enjoyed it and I hope you will return, I am always adding new posts.
Whilst exploring an internet link I came across a blog called the three muses and they have a challenge to use postage stamps in some form in your artwork. I love postage stamps and incorporating them into my artwork and made these journal pages
Pebbles was one of my favourite cats
and I think Sandy was my alltime favourite
A while ago Tee Thompson posted an art journal prompt on Facebook called “stranger”. The idea was to draw or paint a stranger or use a photo from a magazine or newspaper and then journal a bit about the life of your stranger.
La Principessa Befania hails from a far-distant land of high peaked mountains and a people known for their fiery dispositions. She is no exception and the expression on her face indicates that she might have mischief on her mind.
La Diva was a regular visitor to the elegant salons of Edwardian England. Known for her saucy outfits and biting wit she was a hit wherever she went.
a slightly different take on Eve where the snake has become a jewelled salamander
Milliande’s art journaling theme for the beginning of this year is “seeds”.
The first one was about sowing a seed versus being the seed. What sort of seed are you?
Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy. I am a dream seed, cast into the Heavens to drift into a sleeping mind and there to sow the seeds of future dreams. I contain within my heart knowledge from years gone by and visions and hopes still to be fulfilled.
The second one was about seed vessels – create a vessel which will contain what you take away from 2011. What does it contain?
my vessel was partly inspired by an earlier post on FB about scattering seeds of love. Each seed contains a little heart and when the seeds are scattered love will be spread wherever the seeds fall.
At the end of July DH and I attended a theatre summer school, organised by Luxembourg’s NWTC, in the village of Clairefontaine on the border of Belgium and Luxembourg. I chose to sing my way through the week and he chose to do comedy in various forms. The week was hectic as we worked from 9 in the morning until gone 9 at night with tea, coffee, lunch and dinner breaks.
Now that I have access to my art supplies I have just finished creating some pieces inspired by the course.
The first is a mixed media painting of pomegranates to accompany a poem we heard entitled “how to cut a pomegranate” by Imtiaz Dharker from her collection of poems “A terrorist at my table”. I love pomegranates and the poem just cried out to be illustrated.
this is the painting on its own
with the text added
In one of the other classes we were each handed a haiku to work on and I created a digital picture for this.
Summer school is a wonderful experience where you are bombarded with new sounds, words, ideas and are surrounded by old friends and new. Silence and retreat from the outside world is just about impossible. In our singing groups we were learning complicated stuff – Bohemian rhapsody – for example, as well as taking a look at some new ways of creating “music” from non-traditional scores. At the end of each day I found it difficult to shut off as there were so many things flinging themselves around in my skull. I tried to explain what was going on by referencing the Hadron collider/accelerator (a high speed particle accelerator). When I told DH what this collage was all about, he just said “oh dear”. I am left wondering quite what he meant by that …….
Two versions of a fish page I made for my art journal (prompt by Tee on FB in the Milliande art journal group)
version 1
version 2 with overlay of netting.
I couldn’t decided which one I liked best so I have posted both of them.
The background is blue and green acrylic paint smooched over with a credit card. The fish are stamped on tissue paper and then adhered to the background. The shells were stamped directly onto the acrylic background
Another prompt by Tee was to use something translucent on your journal page. This is my interpretation.
A recent prompt on FB from Tee Thompson was to incorporate something old in your art journal page.
I have used a photocopy of a poem, in French. It’s one of many painstakingly copied, often in beautiful handwriting, into a book that was designed for just such a purpose that I picked up in a flea market some years ago. It is dated 2 October 1889.
À des oiseaux
O mes doux voyageurs, lassés d’un long voyage
Reposez-vous ici; restez dans ce bocage ….
Hélas! Impatients, vous regardez dans l’espace!
Quels sont vos noms? – je suis le Bonheur, et je passe
Et toi ? – je suis la Joie, et je m’en vais là-bas !
Et toi ? – je suis l’Espoir: je fuis à tire d’ailes.
Et toi, voudrais-tu suivre aussi ces infidèles?
Non! Je suis l’Amitié : je ne m’envole pas!
A rough translation:
Oh my sweet travellers, tired after a long journey
Rest awhile in this wood
Alas, impatient, you look into space!
What are your names? I am Happiness, and I am passing through
and you? I am Joy, and I am going far away!
And you? I am Hope: I flee swiftly away
And you? Do you wish to follow these faithless creatures too?
No, I am Friendship: I do not fly away!
The signatures attached to the spine of the book appear to have pink ribbon in them so I have incorporated a piece of pink velvet ribbon in this piece too.
