Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mixed Media Monday Challenge ... I Feel Pretty!

For this week's Mixed Media Monday Challenge the theme is "I Feel Pretty". I looked through my scans and found these images from an altered book i did a while back.  I started an altered book group with 7 very talented women years ago.  I would say they were all artists. Much more talented than I - who was just starting out with collage.   Virginia's book's theme was "Ordinary Miracles". The themes were like that - ideas to push you creatively and think outside the box.  We would meet each month and do a show and tell and describe our pages.  Then we would do a small workshop to learn a new technique, or try out new products at the shoppe where we met. (sadly Attic Archives is long gone)
 The pages above show two images of dandelion weeds - just before they are blown apart and scattered to the wind. Underneath the two flaps with copper tape edges (shown at top) are pictures of the flowers with yellow petals and the words "am I pretty?"  "yes I am".  The idea - yeah i was trying to be all profound - is that if we didn't know dandelions were weeds, we might think a blanket of them on the front lawn was pretty.
 Here is another spread i did in the Ordinary Miracles book.  I was trying to show the contrast of sea life - one side hard and solid compared to the ethereal lightness on the other. I have no idea why i chose the colourful checkered background.  I think it looks horrible!
And my final spread in this book had 4 trees in different seasons.  But wait - the background is sketches on Leonardo's inventions.  The Ordinary Miracle?  No man, no matter how talented, can build a tree.
Well  - i think my altered book spreads became less "profound and thought provoking" (if they ever were!!) and became more layered and textured than these examples. But we had great times together and I learned a lot.

4 comments:

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Your pages are wonderful, they look really great.

Diane said...

What a wonderful spread! Diane

kathy said...

I am so glad you are enjoying them also -- HAve never completed a journal type collaged book -- Have started them -- once in an online -Teresa Mcfayden (the Bella herself ) class -- What fun -- but alas moved on to a new swap -- etc .. Need to finish or at least do a page or two occasionally -
I love seeing what you are currently working on -- KAthy - ga ♥
HAve a great week - Kathy

Virginia said...

Hi Diane! I wondered where you had gone off to! I was cruising the net and here you are:)Good to see you are still pushing the envelope with your art and making beautiful things.I still love those spreads you did in my book!