dailydevotions

Day 15 - Timeless Love

2006-01-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today's entry is a collage I made for my mother-in-law. I took this photo of her with my husband at Thanksgiving. It's a really good picture of both of them. She hasn't been feeling well lately, so I decided to make her a gift.

The collage is made on an 8x10 canvas mounted on chipboard. I painted it a soft blue - I mixed my own colors. I used Colorbok Summer Garland papers, a ribbon with the word 'Love' repeating, faux postage, tags and random ephemera to finish the piece. It still lacks the title "Timeless". I ran out of 'm' letters in my tiles and scrabble letters, so I have to go and buy some. I might choose some different letters.

Anyway, that is todays piece. A scrapbook page for the wall.

Days 10 - 13

2006-01-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I've fallen behind on posting, although I have been working. The last few days I haven't even been able to get online except to answer some urgent emails. Work has been very hectic and Luke has had some late night pours. He's been going into work at 1 am, so I've been staying up until midnight to make sure he gets up by that time so that he can get to work on time. That means that I don't get to sleep until after midnight, then I'm dragging the rest of the day!

Andy has been in exams this week, so he's been studying and gearing the band -
Southern Most Star - to go into the studio on the twentieth! So needless to say he's driving me crazy too! He just redid the band website - I did the site, then they just plugged the info into it - and it looks much nicer! They're doing great. Their next gig is on the 27 of this month at Monte Carlos in Arlington. Then they're playing the Dallas Music Festival on the 28th. So they're pretty busy.

Then there's Alex. He went back to school on the 5th, but you still worry. He's started marketing his artwork - myspace.com/artbyalex - which is great! - but now I'm putting together lists of galleries where he can show his work. I've also joined
mail lists for art marketing to help him. I'll also probably set up a website for him as well, because I don't want him to be distracted from school too much. He's studing Art Direction and I want good grades - he can concentrate on his career after college.

Anyway the three pieces I'm posting are:

an ATC I did about one of my favorite movies, I know it kitche, but I love it - Steel Magnolias. Luke and I were watching the Colbert Report and Dermot Mulroney was on and Luke and I started talking about the confusion between him and Dylan Macdermot - similar names, both did movies with Julia Roberts. So I did an ATC about Steel Magnolias and one of my favorite quotes.

an angel drawing. I call it Pensive Angel. It's part of my angel series. I may do this one on canvas in oil. This is pen on water colour
paper.

a study of eyes. I was just doing some exercises from a drawing book on eyes while waiting in court. Court is a lot of hurry up and wait, so I tend to sketch. I copy
exercises out of books and put them in a file folder. You can't open a book, but you can look through files - so I cheat that way.

Well, that's my contributions so far. I have today all to myself and have an idea for a meditating angel that I want to sketch out.

Day 9 - Fallen Angel

2006-01-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

Day nine's entry for daily devotions is a mixed media - pastels and ink - of an angel fallen onto a golden boulder. I'm still working on my series of fallen, broken angels and really liked the way this one turned out. Except for the hair. Angels are so androgynous (sp), but this one feels very feminine to me, I may work on another one and see where she takes me.

I haven't been able to sit down and work today - just restless. I've done some sketching, then I started looking at pictures of my neice. She's the first girl in our family. Everyone says she looks just like me, so I decided to pull out some photos of me at five or six months old. I think I do see a resemblance. Then while I was doing that I ran across a studio portrait of my mother at six months old - the only baby picture we have of her. So I did a little layout of the three pictures together. I think we all look alike. Three generations of girls.

Day 8 - I am what I am

2006-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Today's creation is a collage I did in response to my husbands nit picking. I was feeling very frustrated and decided to channel those emotions into something creative and positive. I started sketching and playing with clay and slowly this collage came together. It doesn't feel done - it actually has a reverse. Maybe tomorrow it'll tell me how to finish it.

Simply Become Who You Are

2006-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

Todays entry is a collage that I did in my colage book. I've been alone all day. Luke and Andy were both at work. I worked this morning and spent the rest of the day sketching and playing on the computer. But I noticed an odd restlessness. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then it came to me. I wasn't comfortable alone. I've always enjoyed being alone. Not having anyone to interrupt me. Being able to read a book, or draw without interruption. Or just watch whatever I want on TV.

Today, though, I felt lost. Without identity. As if I needed to have my husband or my sons around for me to have and identity. So, from this very alien and disconcerting feeling came this collage.

Because we should all simply become who we are.

Art Journal

2006-01-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

Today's entry for Daily Devotions is my Art Journal. Last night I started covering my sketch book. I've started using it as my journal. It goes with me everywhere now, and I didn't like the way it looked. So I took an old skirt that I had started to take apart about a year ago. I used part of it for an altered book. It was one of my favorite skirts - purple silk, but I couldn't wear it anymore because I had gained weight. Little did I know that this year I would drop 40 pounds. I still wouldn't be able to wear it because now it would be to big. Anyway, I wrapped the sketch book with the silk, then added some gold wired ribbon left over from Christmas and edged the front and back. Added some jewels and some hearts. Now I have a very presentable art journal to carry around!

Days 4 and 5

2006-01-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I didn't get a chance to post my entry because I had to go to the dentist and get tortured. So, I decided to combine yesterday's work with todays. Yesterday I made an embossed stamp and colored (gold on black paper) and colored the outside frame in metalic pens. Today I cut out the frame and made a collage and used the frame to finish the collage.

Daily Devotions Days 1 - 3

2006-01-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2006

I made this collage while I was thinking about my upcoming
birthday. I turn 42 in three weeks. I don't feel 42. What does 42
mean? I have two sons that are 20 and 17. I don't feel old enough
to be their mother most of the time. Yet at other times I feel
older than old. What is time and how do we feel it, why do we
measure it and try to quantify it? What kind of power does it give
us to try to capture it and say "see? I've had this much of it!"

January 2, 2006

Today's devotion is a watercolor that I did from a painting of my
son Alex's.

You can see the original here. I liked the idea of the broken,
fallen angel. I've been depressed and this just spoke to me. I
called mine 'Angel's Lament'.

This is my first attempt ever at a self portrait. Alex, my son
that is an art major, said it was good - so I feel very proud. He
told me I should use the whole page - I only used the top quarter of
an 8x10 page in my sketch book - it is so hard to try and use the
whole page! The image below is the picture I drew from. I don't
think I look like that anymore. The picture was taken when I was 26
and I'm turning 42 this month. When I get brave I'll photograph
myself and try again!