Irene August 2011

This is what happens when you have sleep deprivation!

Take A Word Challenge - Time

"Notice" happens to be the word we are using in this week's Art Journal Caravan, and it seemed to fit perfectly with this "time" challenge.

College Obsession Challenge - Complementary Colors

Art Journal Caravan Week 35 - Quote

Some elements from Clementine Designs' kit "Iris and Violet."

Warning! Warning!

Isn't that what the robot in "Lost In Space" use to say? I found out today that while my little art book with my Paris digital art is only $6.95, Blurb is charging over $7.00 just to mail it out. Plus they charge tax on top of that.  It isn't even a hard cover book for crying out loud! It's 20 pages of paper. They are definitely highway robbers. My friends are all poor, so I guess my book won't be seeing too many homes. Oh well. C'est la vie.

My New Little "Blurb" Book Arrived!

So many people have said they liked my "French" themed digital art that I decided to put together a little, not too expensive book that you can buy and enjoy at home. I had it made through Blurb, and it turned out even better than I hoped. It contains 11 of my digitally created pictures. I named it "J'aime Paris." I'm Canadian French actually. My grandparents were from Montreal. My paternal grandmother only spoke French. Unfortunately, she died when I was very young, and I never had the opportunity to learn French. I would love to visit Paris, but the way the economy is going right now, that probably will never happen. But as I say in my book, I visit Paris in my dreams! If you would like to order a copy, there is little box in the right column where you can click to order it. I hope you enjoy it! (It is $6.95, but I'm sure they add postage to the price.)

Beverly's Pink Saturday - August 27, 2011

     I have the honor of being the featured blog for Beverly's Pink Saturday today, August 27, 2011. I use to participate every Saturday in Pink Saturday, but after posting every week for a year, I took a break. I recently decided to jump back in whenever the mood strikes me. In case you've been hiding with your head in the sand, Beverly's blog, How Sweet The Sound, was featured in the Summer 2010 issue of Artful Blogging in recognition of Pink Saturday. (Oh my. I hope that didn't sound like a put-down to those of you who have never visited Beverly's blog. I just figure everyone should know about pink-loving Beverly by now.)

     As I pondered what inspirational piece of pink art I should create for this post, the thought ran through my mind that many guys might not consider it an honor to be featured anywhere or in any way by anyone who thinks of pink as being a great color. Rather than get on my soapbox and preach that pink is just a color and everyone, especially artists, have the right to enjoy and use any color they want, I decided I would find out who-in-the world started the stupid idea that boys have to like blue, and girls have to like pink. (I apologize for that long sentence! Just writing this is getting my dander up.) Pink, after all, is nothing but a tint of red. Red is one of the primary colors, and the primary colors are for anyone to use in any way they want.

      Besides, God created color for everyone to enjoy. He most definitely was not the one who said boys have to like blue, and girls have to like pink. Rather than ramble on, though, I'll show you the results of my search.

The following information was taken from Wikipedia:

"In gender

     In Western culture, the practice of assigning pink to an individual gender began in the 1920s or earlier. An article in the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department in June 1918 said: "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." From then until the 1940s, pink was considered appropriate for boys because being related to red it was the more masculine and decided color, while blue was considered appropriate for girls because it was the more delicate and dainty color, or related to the Virgin Mary."

     No, don't run out and get your glasses changed. You read it correctly. Pink was originally thought to better represent men.  Well that's lead to the question, why did that idea change? Why do many people today think men should not like or wear pink? (I have relatives who think this way, and hope they read this blog post. Of course, anyone who has those kind of backward views in the first place wouldn't take the time to look at my blog. Maybe I should print this and mail it to them.)

Here comes the reversal. Wikipedia continues:

"Since the 1940s, the societal norm was inverted; pink became considered appropriate for girls and blue appropriate for boys, a practice that has continued into the 21st century."

     It would take a lot more research to find out who made this new determination, but there's no sense in boring you to death. There is a lot to read about the discussion on the Internet, and if you are interested in the subject, just do a search through Yahoo or Google. Just let me say that even among pagan religions, pink was attributed to boys, and blue was attributed to girls. Go figure!

     I at least feel vindicated that, not only as an artist, but also as a man, it is perfectly proper for men to like pink! I will continue to use pink in my art, and I will continue to wear my pink dress shirt whenever the mood strikes me.  For any guys out there considering to buy a pink Polo shirt or whatever, I encourage to just jump right in. The water's fine!

By the way, if you would like to visit other blogs who are participating in Beverly's Pink Saturday today, just click on the logo below, and you will be taken to her blog where the other links are listed.

Liberate Your Art Swap Blog Hop

I was able to participate in a fun postcard swap called "Liberate Your Art." It was hosted by Kat at KatEye Studio. The premise was simple. Each of the participants created a postcard, and mailed 5 copies of it plus postage to Kat. Once she received all the postcards, she mailed them back out through snail mail. It was quite fun to receive 5 different postcards from people I've never met before. Kat even made it more suspenseful by mailing them out on different days. Actually, we received 6 postcards. Kat designed one herself, and sent a copy to each of the participants. From Friday today, August 26, through Sunday, August 28, you may visit each of the blogs  owned by each photographer or designer and see the many different creations.

The postcard below is the one I created and Kat mailed to 5 artists. We don't even know who received our postcards. This blog hop will be the first time we've found out.

By the way, you may see a larger version of each picture just by clicking on it.

I created my postcard digitally using Adobe Photoshop CS2. I've had a thing for mermaids lately, because I took an e-course about drawing and painting mermaids taught by Suzi Blu. The little man I used is my Billizetti character. I love all kinds of zetti art, and my screen name is Billizetti in many of the groups I've joined through the net.

Now unto the postcards I received through the mail!

This first postcard was created by Deanna Jinjoe. She titled it "Budding Beauty." Deanna took this photo herself. It is so lovely! I can imagine myself looking at this postcard many times when winter hits us a few months from now. Oh. That's such a nasty thought!

I was quite happy when I received this second postcard. It was created by Carolyn Summers. It is a copy of an oriental digital collage she created. It just so happens that I know Carolyn through blogland. We participate together in several different digital art challenges, and visit each others' blogs frequently.

I really like this one. It was created by Maureen Nichols. What is it about bird houses that is so interesting? Maybe it's because we never know what's going on inside!

This postcard has such a fantastic message. The message was physically stitched unto the postcard. It was created by Patty Waite. I especially like this message, because I am currently creating a digital zine for the Yahoo Group "14 Secrets." The title of the zine is "We Collect Joy." Serendipity strikes again!

I wish I was standing right in the middle of this postcard. Summer has been very hot here in Michigan. The photo looks so refreshing, and was taken by Angela Vular.

Isn't the color of this last postcard wonderful? It is a picture taken by the hostess of this swap, Kat Sloma. Kat offers online photography workshops, and if you are interested in seeing what she is currently offering, be sure to visit her site: www.kateyestudio.com

Now if I post this correctly, and I understand this correctly, you should find a link list below of everyone who participated in the swap and has made a post to their blog. I know all of them would appreciate it if you stopped by and left a comment! It's a great way to meet artists new and old. Enjoy your surfing!

The Three Muses Challenge - Window

The temperature reached about 89 here today, and right now we are under a tornado watch until 1:00 am tomorrow. I saw this picture earlier today that I created while taking an e-course about artists and resilience by Lani Gerity. Even though I am not a winter loving person, it looks so refreshing at this very moment that I decided to post it for this week's Three Muses Challenge. Hopefully you will find it refreshing, too.

Art Journal Caravan Week 34 - Verb - Sound

Mickey's Painted Mess

This is one of those few times when I can show you an actual multimedia painting I've done. It is utterly crazy, but that's the style that makes me happy. The background layer is cutup pieces of the balloon I was given at my retirement party two months ago. The balloon played the song "Celebrate" whenever someone tapped it. The balloon was a very gaudy rainbow and black striped mylar material. I'm not sure how I ended up with the Mickey Mouse theme, but he seemed to fit the craziness. Yep, that's a real paper plate and bubble wrap piece you see. I used the paper plate for a palette on a mermaid painting, and the bubble wrap I used with paint to create texture on that same mermaid painting. They seemed too colorful to waste by throwing away. Besides, Mickey really seemed to like them! I knew how much he liked color, because the 3 colored Mickey heads you see are actually paint color samples I picked up at a Home Depot store. It's times like this when I feel like I'm a real artist! (Crazy, but real.)  :O)

Take A Word Challenge #43 - Old-Fashioned

College Obsession Challenge - Roots

I actually created this last night for my friend Marguerite in California who is going through a rough time. People you think you can count on can be very disappointing at times. Sometimes, all the time! We have to grow ourselves some pretty strong roots if we are going to survive.

If you would like to see what others have created for the "roots" challenge, here is the link to the Collage Obsession blog: http://collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/

Sunday Spiritual Quest

Some elements from FineCrafted Designs' kit "Einstein."

Pink Saturday

This is a crazy picture to post for Beverly's Pink Saturday, but I couldn't believe it when I saw the original on msnbc.com. Pink water to discourage demonstrators? The whole world is nuts!

If you would like to visit other blogs posting "pink" today, please visit Beverly's Pink Saturday post at

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Creative Souls Story Time #17

The poem is "Four Glimpses of Night" by Frank Marshall Davis.

Please click picture to see full version.

College Obsession Challenge - A Glass

This is the picture provided to us by the bloggers at College Obsession:

In view of my current insanity, I thought this digital collage would be appropriate:

The Three Muses Challenge - Hat

Please click picture to see larger size version.

Take A Word Challenge #42 - Celestial

Some elements from Cryztal Rain's new digital scrapbooking kit "Ankh" found at deviantscrap.com. Light elements from Tangie Baxter's "AJC11 Parcel 33" found at scrapbookgraphics.com.

Spiritual Quest

Art Journal Caravan Week 33 - Quote

Art is better than suicide!

My last post was about creating a zine all about collecting joy, and then today I felt so depressed that I couldn't get suicide out of my mind. Don't panic! As the title suggests, I created art about it instead. I feel much better, and maybe now I can get some sleep. Egads!

Art Therapy - I'm Creating A Zine About Joy

I belong to the Yahoo group 14 Secrets moderated by the wonderful Lani Gerity. I decided I wanted to create a zine for the group where everyone who wants to contributes, and then I create a digital zine to send back to them. I love creating zines, and use to participate in numerous zine swaps. Somehow, the zine swaps have managed to die down. Creating a digital zine is so much easier, though, than hosting a swap where you have to receive lots of packages through the mail, sort all the pages, put the zine together, and then mail them all back out to the participants. It sure saves on postage! Digital zines allow much more freedom without all the physical hustle and bustle. If a person wants a physical copy, all they have to do is print it on their inkjet printer.

Anyway, the zine I will be creating is going to be called "We Collect Joy."  Concentrating, looking for or creating joy, especially through art, is proving to be a strong help in controlling depression. I worked on a digital collage tonight that I plan to share in the zine, and thought I'd post it here. If you would like a copy of the zine or even contribute something to it like a special photo that brings you joy, a special poem or whatever, head on over to Yahoo Groups and join 14 Secrets. It's a wonderfully supportive group!

SoArtful Challenge - Mae West

Here is the picture provided to us to alter:

The one and only Mae West!

Here is my digitally altered picture:

 
You may find links to other participates and their work by clicking here: http://jeanette-soartfulchallenges.blogspot.com/

Special Pink Saturday!

Please leave a comment here, and then visit http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/08/pink-saturday-and-a-miracle-makeover-august-13-2011.html to help benefit a very special cause - Miracle Makeover.

Digital elements by Fiddlette.

Creative Souls Storytime Challenge #16

"The Pendulum" by: Dwight Lyman Moody

There was once a pendulum waiting to be fixed on a new clock.  It began to calculate how long it would be before the big wheels were worn out and its work was done.

 Elements from Itkupilli's "Steampunk and Skeletons," TumbleFishStudios "Random Favorites," and Chili Designz "Steampunk Time."

My Wife Goes Mod

Art Therapy

Dancers are Robert Roldan and Kent Boyd from Season 7 of SYTYCD.

Trey Ratcliff

I found a photographer's blog today, and his pictures are so amazing that I have to share one. Plus he says it's alright to share on our blogs as long as we link to his site. Here's the link: www.stuckincustoms.com

Incredible photo! All of his photos are like this. Be sure to visit his site.

Digital Whisper Deviant Art Group Challenge - Stone Angel

Original photo by Cynthia Powell at Deviant Art. Poem by me.

Take A Word Challenge #41 - Faces

 

Lilian Jackson Braun, ‘Cat Who’ Writer, Dies at 97

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/books/lilian-jackson-braun-cat-who-writer-dies-at-97.html?_r=2

Art Journal Caravan Week 32 - Verb - Collect

Elements from Tangie's "Parcel 32," Tumble Fish Studios "Cards," and L. Murphy "Fragments Diamonte." Models' picture Googled.

Viva La France!

Self Portrait for Art Journal Caravan

Tangie Baxter is putting together a digital book of portraits of this year's Art Journal Caravan members. She asked us to provide a self-portrait. Since I've been feeling some kind of gypsy yearning in my blood lately, this is the portrait I came up with:

Theme Thursday Challenge - Paris!

Three Muses Challenge - Angelic

Art Therapy

Little Things Make Us Happy

The August issue of The DeviantScrap Muse came out today. It is a downloadable zine created by the designers at Deviant Scrap. (It's free by the way. You can get your own copy by going to their site.) They sell digital scrapbooking kits that contain lots of digital elements perfect for using in digital art. There was a challenge in the July issue from designer NB Crowabout where we had to create an ATC using images from her kits. The two winners would be announced in the August issue. I just flipped through the pages, and suddenly there my ATC was listed as one of the winners. Yay!

I also got my name mentioned in the Forum!

No, it isn't anything humongous, but it's the little things that make us happy. A little recognition goes a long way!