Mannaquin, altered photo

Playing around with a mannaquin image shot at the marvelous ARTpool Gallery in St. Petersburg. I flattened the image by pushing the contrast, highlight and shadows to the ends of the scale, creating a less detailed surface. Then I applied the Lomo filter from Topaz Labs, making it look sepia, vintage and edgy all at once. I like the stuff in the background playing across the flat look of the profile, and the detail in the jewelry. This kind of altering, using filters and pushing the lighting levels takes only a few minutes and gives you many options for one good photograph.

Altered tote bag

I’m working on several tote bags for the Trashion Fashion show at ARTpool Gallery in July. This one features an original photograph, Asian newspaper, napkins and tissue. I put a very thin wash of gesso over the top of all the components and scrubbed most of it off, to unify the elements a tad. I will probably do some additional surface design to soften the edges of the photo, perhaps some stenciling on the darker parts of the photo or some stamping. I found these totes, about half a dozen all the same, at a thrift store for $1 each. They are canvas-y material and had the company’s imprint on them. Easy to cover that up with a photo. I usually start the process by gesso-ing the front of the bag in white and I leave the sides black for the graphic quality.

Soda bottle flower

I learned yesterday that as part of my participation showing my altered purses in Trashion Fashion at ARTpool Gallery in July I need to style and accessorize seven models for the runway. YIKES! My experience in runway fashion happens on Lifetime Thursday evenings glued to to the tube. Anyway, the glove has been thrown down. The idea of this fashion show is that the featured items are 50% trash or thrift type finds. I love the flower look of the bottom of this soda bottle (it is a small bottle, not the honking soda size). I am also considering drink umbrellas, altered child sized umbrellas and medalions made from yo yo’s with vintage pin centers, some vintage embroidery or crochet,using repurposed chain necklaces etc. I need headgear, necklace, bracelet (obviously the purses I entered in the show originally are the star accessory) and something for the models to carry. That’s where I thought of umbrellas as delightful parasols. Any ideas out there how to make great fashion items ON THE CHEAP and out of junk? Or the most inexpensive place to find kid’s umbrellas?

“I am periwinkle” Poem Page

A new page in my watercolor journal. I’m calling them Poem Pages. The journaling derives from a writing assignment having to do with a favorite color and “I am” statements. The poem is written on watercolor paper and then washed in a light to medium tone. The statements are cut out and perhaps rearranged into a poetic collection. From there is is a matter of rewriting the poem in pen and doing some outlining of the handwriting to make it pop. I think it looks cooler in person than in the pix, plus it’s very overcast here today so not a lot of light in the photography station (ha! my dining chair in the kitchen!). Pick your favorite anything, write out what it’s like to be it, and make a poem today in your journal. This exercise will appear as Class Three in Art Journaling at Whim So Doodle in St. Pete, FL sometime in July.

Look closely

If you look closely at this photograph, taken by an unknown shooter many years ago, you will see a very clear double exposure image. While we can produce these kinds of things in Elements and PS, there is something magical and just a tad creepy about a double exposure produced in camera. This is a found photograph and one that I treasure, not just because of the double trouble but because I enjoy the guy leaning up against a huge tree on a lazy afternoon out with his peeps having fun and somebody snapped the pix. This image has found it’s way into three canvases so far and I do not tire of him. Don’t overlook not so early photos. The rage for a long time has been late 1800s, but mid 20th century photography has a more accessible quality. I grew up with photos like this and will always love them and now I use them in my art because it is becoming a lost art.

Collage art journal page

A bunch of stuff graces this page. The background was spray inked and I stamped a hand carved dandelion plant image (from Quik Cutz, not a styrofoam plate this time) onto the foundation. Then I began to layer on some ephemer. There are ration stamps, an epsom salt RX envelope, business cards, word cards, more RX labels and some Victorian scrap, plus a lotteria card. The cigar bands and red tickets create somewhat of a border around the dandelion image, and a cute little girl from what could be a paper doll sheet finishes the edge. This page does not feel finished to me. I think it needs a very thin wash of gesso or white acrylic to unify the items, or some journaling in white would accomplish the same idea.

Painted styrofoam print to canvas board

Another of my styrofoam plate prints, this time printed and over painted onto canvas board. The image is all on one plate and printed in black. I love how the styrofoam prints end up looking like graffiti, and to that end I thought I’d spiff some of them up with color. The wonder of these prints is that you never know how they will turn out. A face can have many expressions depending on where the paint settles into the crevices of the plate. One thing about painting the image is you can define areas and change the print a bit. This is a face with a tic tac toe body; grids are fun to carve and usually look cool printed.