When I Began To ALTER My ART...

In 2003 when I first heard the words "altered book"...I nodded my head not wanting to look uninformed...and quickly Googled it. I was done for. I knew I had to try this new (to me) form of creative expression.

For some reason, at the time I was obsessed with images of the Virgin Mary - perhaps it was a throwback to my rebellious days of being raised Roman Catholic ;-)

As I sat down to begin the process of altering a book I didn't give it a lot of thought - letting the muse lead me. I recalled a book I had read - Our Lady Of The Lost and Found and dug it off the shelf...and so began the journey. This book created in 2003 - as you will see in my video - was the starting point of my love (obsession/passion) for mixed media 'altered' art.

Excuse the unprofessional video - I doubt Spielberg will be calling me...I have attempted to hold my camera while turning the pages as my tripod and I are not getting along today.





And one new page in my Visual Journal...

Back To Blogland Soon...

Yes, I have been absent from Blogland...returning soon with more art to share.

The photo above was taken a couple of weeks ago at Disneyland -
a tribute to Dia De Los Muertos....LOVE IT!

AlteredInsomnia

In a shameless plug I would like you all to know that I added more VINTAGE rubber stamps and VINTAGE wallpaper from the 1930s to my shop at:

AlteredInsomnia today!

Things are flying off the shelves like ketchup at a french fry convention :)

Go Look!
:-)

OPEN!

My little shop around the corner....

AlteredInsomnia

(www.alteredinsomnia.blogspot.com)

has opened!

Please come and browse my first items ....
RETRO RUBBER STAMPS!

When You're Awake - We're Open!

It Is A Small World, After All...

No, I didn't spend the day at Disneyland :-) Although, that would have been cool!

The other day on Marita's Southern Valley blog she had been talking about fading borders in one post, and in another how blogs had given her the opportunity to make new friends worldwide.
I was reminded of a postcard I had made last year when my "art-sister" Linda and I did a summer postcard swap we called Archaeological Digs. Linda came up with this groovy idea that we had to 'dig' from our collected stashes of art materials to create postcards...no running out to buy new stuff. Since Linda and I are both ephemera freaks the challenge wasn't all that difficult...but it sure was FUN!

For one I created...
It Is A Small World After All
which certainly reflects the discussion on Marita's blog.

The postcard was made with a piece of cardstock that I stamped with a rubber stamp image of an old map...I found a textured wallpaper sample that I painted over to give it an old world look.

In my bits of pieces of ephemera I found an old world globe...using an X-acto knife I cut out some portions so the textured wallpaper behind it would be exposed.

Finding a small scrap of torn paper I 'aged' it using an ink pad and stamped EVIDENCE No. 55.

Then on regular notebook paper that I also 'aged' with the ink pad I stamped the words:
it is a small world after all

How many of my readers agree that blogging is bringing us all closer together and making our world 'smaller' ?

MEMORIES : DO NOT DISCARD

Simon & Garfunkel sang... "Long ago it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you..."

The song was constantly going through my head as I searched through hundreds of old photos the other day...
I found a photo of myself, once again, on the beach...digging in the sand...and it prompted this Visual Journal entry...

The small text at the bottom reads:
...digging through the layers of MEMORIES
as a kid I was always DIGGING
...in the yard around our HOME
...in the sand at the BEACH.
I loved the ANTICIPATION of what I might FIND.
* * * *
* the junk mail used in this piece were the words: MEMORIES and DO NOT DISCARD.
I painted some 140-pound index paper, then stamped with gesso, applied more acrylics and buffed with an old rag...I then randomly tore pieces and adhered them to my pages to create my 'layers of memories'.
Also note: I turned my journal vertically to create this piece - always a rebel :-)

Visual Journaling

Although I am now making and selling hand bound coptic journals I must admit I have never kept a visual journal myself (hanging my head in shame!).

So, this weekend, as a means of relaxation I began one.

I am actually working on the pages and then I will bind them into a journal afterwards.

The challenge I gave myself for this one:

All of my images need to come from...
1.) junk mail and catalogs
2.) free magazines (like those found outside the health food and art stores I shop at)
3. my own original art, photography or carved stamps.
At least one piece on the page must be from from numbers 1 & 2 above. Junk mail frustrates me (like I am sure it does most of us), and I wanted to find a way to put it to good use other than tossing it in the recycle bin.

Here is the first page I created.

Click on the image for a better view.

Sunday Scribblings - SECOND CHANCE

With the prompt this Sunday being SECOND CHANCE the first thought that came to my mind was reincarnation. A few years ago I did this piece in an Altered Book I created titled:

Our Lady of the Lost and Found.

*****

The text reads: A Reunion of Body, Mind and Soul
are released without warning. Exit.

When the 'veil' is lifted from the page it reads:

...these mysterious affinnities must be evidence for reincarnation.

*if you click on the image a larger view appears*

Mixed Media Ephemera

Here are my two latest offerings on eBay of my new ephemera line for altered art and mixed media artistic endeavors - and if you are not an artist - these are just FUN to collect :-)

I hope you enjoy looking at them - click image for larger view!


TALL TALES measures approx: 3" x 4"
*edit: the bird on this piece is done in a dimensional adhesive...my new favorite product! It looks like the image is embedded in glass...loooove it!

Note To Self: Life Altering Experience measures approx: 3" x 3 7/8"