Take A Word Challenge - Manuscript

The manuscript is a portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The white elements are from Holliewood's kit called "Stark."

Sometimes . . .

Elements from Tangie Baxter's new kits "Autumn's Poetry," "Splatter Graffiti Autumn's Poetry," and "Autumn's Poetry Vintage Glass Glitter lace."

I'm Published in Pasticcio Quartz!

If you haven't seen Pasticcio Quartz, published by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn, now is the time to get your first copy. (You might remember Angela Cartwright from "Lost In Space.") I have a digital collage published in the new issue #14. It's very exciting! Pasticcio Quartz is one the most beautiful art magazine/books I have ever seen.

Here is a description of issue 14: "Pasticcio Quartz 14 rocks the tried and true, with book reviews, entertaining quotes, window shopping, and of course just a dash of art history to show you where it all began. Yet it's also New and Improved! Not a single one of the artists in Palais d'art has ever graced the pages of Pasticcio before. Discover new gems in our museum style gallery! Bridget Davies, Seth Apter, Lisa Hoffman, Reva Solomon, Jill Berry, September Gerety, Donald Hendricks each contributed art and articles galore! Looking for a sign? We'll even get your dormant sign-making knack in gear!"

Here's the link to all issues of Pasticcio Quartz page:  http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/cartwrightandfishburn

and this is a link to order this particular Issue 14:  http://bit.ly/PasticcioQuartz14

I have to warn you that Pasticcio Quartz is a little bit expensive for some of us starving artists. Once you see the high quality, though, you will see the price is well justified. By the way, it's 60 pages full of articles, instruction and art!

I want to thank my wonderful artist and writer friend Marney Makridakis for giving me the courage to start sharing my art. I've had several digital collages and poems published in her beautiful magazine Artella - The Waltz of Art, Words and Spirit. Then she included two of my collages in her book Creating Time - Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life. My collage that is published in Pasticcio Quartz was created in response to one of the prompts in her book. I have an Amazon link for Marney's book in the sidebar if you would like to check it out. It's a book every artist should read!

The Next Doctor?

For any Doctor Who fans!

Elements from Valkyrie Designs' "Life On Mars" and Mr. Whiskers' "Space Toons."

Three Muses Challenge - Birds

Elements from kit by Valkyrie Designs named "Brazil."

The Family

As difficult as it may be to believe, a crazy person like me actually has a family. My wife's side of the family had an end-of-the-summer picnic so everyone could take pictures. I combined our immediate family photos into one photo. We have a daughter, son, son, and daughter, and all of them are married. We mustn't forget the two grandsons, either!

Hmm. I wonder how many more grandchildren we'll end up with?

Making Macarons!

I found this on Eric Tenin's blog "Paris Daily Photo." Macarons are my favorite! I may be taking a class soon on how to make them.

Take A Word Challenge - Blue

Grotesque's Friend

Elements from Rebecca McMeen's kit "Grotesque."

The Grotesque Child

Some tales are meant to be hidden.

Some tales are meant to be told.

But when secret stories

escape through loose lips,

legends grow for all to behold.

Such was the birth in a hovel,

far from the populous world.

It was grossly deformed,

and had brains slightly addled.

“O’r a cliff it must be hurled!”

But a mother’s true love

knows no boundaries nor codes.

She hid the babe in caves

where no one dare tread.

It became what nature forebode.

 

Elements from new kit by Rebecca McMeen called "Grotesque."

Weird story by me.

© wjc
 

Autumble

I created this digital collage after being inspired by another of Martin Stein's poems, "Autumble." He reworked his poem after I had created this collage, but the poem still has much of the same feel to it.

The autumn elements are from Lori Davison's kit "Before The First Snow."

If you would like to visit Martin's blog to read his poetry, the link is: http://starwatcher521.blogspot.com/

Art Journal Caravan 2012 - Week 37 - Machination

Background from Tangie's kit "Tangibles #21." Zetti stamp by Teesha and Tracy Moore. Font is called "Trashed."

Three Muses Challenge - Autumn

Even though I love autumn, I always hate to see it arrive. It means winter is close behind. I hate winter! Oh well. It's a good excuse to eat more to have some extra layers for protection against the cold.

Life Book 2012 Class - Week 38

The artist who provided instructional videos for us this week was Connie Hozvicka. She calls her style of painting "fearless painting." I really liked her videos, because by painting "fearlessly," it's easier to shove that inner critic aside, and just go with the flow. The painting below is what I ended up with. It's wild and crazy, but I seem to be drawn to this type of painting. I hope you enjoy it!

Take A Word Challenge - Zetti

Zetti stamps by Teesha and Tracy Moore.

Three Muses Challenge - Turquoise

Martin Stein's Poetry

I love trying to illustrate poems that people have written. We did that a lot when Artella had an online site where artists of all types shared their work. One of my good blogger friends writes beautiful poems. His blog link is: http://starwatcher521.blogspot.com/ I created this digital collage last night based on his latest poem. He loves poppies. You may need to click on the picture to be able to read his words. I hope you enjoy it!

Beautiful Video

If you're a return visitor to my blog, then you know I can't resist anything about Paris or France. The creator of this video, Luke Shepard, needs funding for his next project. He explains the process here:


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1191072802/nightvision

We are so broke right now (thanks to our wonderful economy) that I can't afford any donation, but since I enjoyed the video so much, I thought I'd try to help by spreading the word. By the way, I first saw the video at The Gossamer Tearoom. You might enjoy visiting her page, too!

http://gossamertearoom.blogspot.com/

Gypsy Soul

Elements from Tangie's new "Gypsy Rhapsody" kit. Gypsy model Googled. Font is Tangie's "Orange Marmalade."

Life Book 2012 Classes - Mandala

For week 35 of the Life Book 2012 classes, we were given instructions on how to make a mandala. I did mine while I was up north at our daughters. My mandala turned out kind of like a combination mandala/dream catcher. I couldn't resist the duck feathers I kept finding around their small pond, and kept stuffing them in my pocket. Once I drew and painted the mandala, I felt like I needed to add the feathers to it. You can't tell from the photo, but I used metallic paint, and the background is actually solid white. It's a beautiful contrast in person, especially with the white duck feathers. I'm glad, though, that I didn't decide to go with using the small, round goat droppings I kept seeing anywhere. That might have been a little too much mixed-media. :O)

Back Home!

Well, being without the Internet for a week robbed me of any sanity I had left. Being out in the country was so peaceful and beautiful, though, that it was worth it. Here are some pictures taken from my cheap cell phone.

Yep, the goats love me. I'm not sure what that says about me, but it's nice to be loved!

Life Book Class 2012 - Secret Person

After weeks of battling my inner critic, I finally worked on the project for Week 30. We were suppose to come up with a picture of a helpful critic (secret person) we could turn to to shut up our bad inner critic. I didn't paint the face like in the instructions, but drew it on drawing paper, and then put it on top of the collaged background I had created. The background didn't photograph well at all, as I used some silver paper along with others with silver writing. The background kind of faded out in the photo. Anyway, it was another case of just draw, don't try to make it perfect, and just take whatever comes out. At least it looks like a person. I'm very happy to have finally done another project. I beat down my inner critic one more time! I wish that thing would just go away!

My trip to our daughter's was postponed until tomorrow, Sunday, but I hardly touched the computer this past week anyway. Our two year old grandson, unbeknown to us, swallowed 3 small, round batteries. No one knew until one showed up in his diaper. That necessitated a trip to the emergency room as we had no idea if he had swallowed more or what. They did x-rays, and determined that two more were in his intestines. That was okay, as it meant they had passed through his stomach and shouldn't get stuck anywhere. However, I was the one who lifted him unto the x-ray table, and while doing so, one of us moved the wrong way. I wrenched my back. Corben just turns 2 tomorrow, but he's as big as some 4 year-olds. It doesn't pay to get old! I've been in pain all week, and living on Ibuprofen. I didn't even do one digital collage.

To make a long story short (woops, too late for that), it will be another week now before I will be able to visit your blogs. Don't give up on me. I haven't kicked the bucket yet.