Continuing the Calendar Girls 2010 round robin project, here is the book i had the pleasure to work on for the month of February.
Terrie used a Van Gogh illustrated journal for her book, and decided on a French theme. She is planning a watercolour workshop and tour later this year - so what a better way to get in the mood!
Her book had lovely romantic collaged pages - so i let my pages follow in soft blue and green tones. Someone once brought a bunch of fine art stickers to one of my classes for us to share. So i knew i had some images that would work well with this theme. On this page Terrie had added the blue printed paper and the Eiffel tower. I added the small self portrait and the clipping of stone arches from a French dictionary. On the right side i added some additional paint strokes with Pitt pens and a sticker with the word for February to kick off my spreads.
My first spread had a painting with a sailboat - so i went with Le Mer as my theme. I applied some painted deli paper in blue and green tones. I found the vintage photo of a woman renting sail boats at a park in Paris and added that. I used splatters of white gesso to add texture and stamp Le Mer - only it should have been "la mer" since "The Sea" is apparently feminine and not masculine. Oh well...
The next spread was blank - in that there were no illustrations on the two pages. So i used several Degas ballerinas to create my spread. I used some printed soft blue paper, adding some french text and a quote about dance. I added some lace, velvet ribbon and a tassle that echoes the blue skirt on the bronze sculpture.
The next spread had a Van Gogh apple orchard painting - so i went with a charming french countryside theme. One of the challenges working with these illustrated calenders is how to integrate the images to your collage. On the right side i added some printed paper as well as a strip of stones and a strip of grass torn out of a magazine to "ground" the orchard. At the top i used paint pens to fill in the sky. The lady with a walking stick is from the Anthropologie catalog - and excellent source of lovely females! For a touch of whimsy i added the hungry birds and I know they are woefully out of scale - but i think that makes it fun!
On the left side i added a flap with a swirly printed scrapbook paper, that it evocative of timeworn stucco. I added the stone arch door and the blue painted shutters i found in a book of Tuscany illustrations. You have to be careful with doors and windows so that you have something interesting on the other side! I added another out-of-scale blue bird to the top of the window.
Inside the flap you can see i continued the apple orchard with a photo of a blooming apple tree plus another Van Gogh art sticker. I added a nice stone building to the back of my flap.
I love how the different elements all came together. The dictionary definition for "arbre" completes the spread.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing the 'how' and the 'why' This is so cool. Makes me want to actually try this. I'll be keeping an eye out for the right calendar.
Okay, First of all, I am jealous! How wondeful to have this creative outlet to share with your art friends - it is the best concept and I have always wanted to do it! This French book really speaks to me and I love to see how it has evolved (through your descriptions). I equally love your book below (especially Hello Kitty page) and can't help but think how cool it is that they are all so different! Beautiful work! Kristin xo
Great to see your work back on your blog-----I do so love to look at your artwork! Thanks for sharing
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