It's alter art time again! Yep, moon is full. Tomorrow to be exact. And, as the Native American's called it, the Worm Moon. Full Worm Moon
At the time of this spring Moon, the ground begins to soften and earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of robins. This is also known as the Sap Moon, as it marks the time when maple sap begins to flow and the annual tapping of maple trees begins. -- source: The Old Farmer's Almenac
Well, let's just say this month I tried to PLAN. That's right, I had really cool ideas. I was SO inspired. I've taken up rollerskating again and am fascinated by what people are doing on skates. I thought it was a lost art. But, people are dancing as fluidly on roller skates or more so, than with their feet on the ground. Blows my mind. And there's this amazing phenomenon where a whole group of people skate in a single file line really fast practically dancing. It's fascinating to watch and scary if you're skating too slow and they come racing through the crowd. So, you learn to stay toward the center and just watch.
How does that fit with my alter project this month? Well, I thought I'd be sketching skaters, doing some cool 3-D art. Spent hours looking at skaters, watching videos and out skating. But, I don't have enough time under my belt drawing bodies, observing the skating movements I want to convey, nor enough experience skating to intuitively know how those movements should feel or look. And queue melt down. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I got. I even went outside and had myself a good cry. You've got to let go of the emotions so you can get on with making the art! Ok, ok. I surrender. This is not what I should be making right now. Too early. I went back inside and just started working on making the background or inner box with samples of water color paper I had messed around spritzing and daubing alcohol inks and dylusions sprays. I knew I needed a background. Didn't know where I was going, what it would be. That was cathartic. I made something I knew would be needed and work. I even got to try my new perforator tool. Cool tool, that. Voila. A beginning. I made another, and tried to put the roller skaters back in and hit another wall. OK. yeah, got it. No skaters this time. I'm moving on universe. Message received. Mom took me out to her studio (a place of wonder) and started pulling out all the bits and bobs, doo dads and whirly gigs she's collected and stored from the you-never-know-when-you-might-need-this pile. And my Parisian Dream began to take form. We found wheels, skulls, mini light bulbs, and so much more. There were a few stencils - an Eiffel tower, a hot air balloon, an old Model T, and a guy riding a 1910 big wheel tricycle. First, I tried to reduce them on the copy machine to check fit. Then drew a few Eiffel towers on shrinky-dink with colored pencils. FUN! The first was so fun I did another. Then, remembered how cool things look en masse and made 2 more. Each is a little different. Added a hot air balloon and shrank them all in the oven. Oh they became so wee! When they finally landed on the background, they ended up circling one another like going down the rabbit hole or the view from a kaleidoscope.
While each piece (background, shrinky-dinks, etc) was made independantely and I had no intention of creating "Oz", I discovered that the balloon & a spot on the background paper worked out to be just that. So, I let myself be inspired by Disney's Oz and I let the balloon act as though it were The Great & Powerful Oz floating his way way to Paris by night. All while a French bulldog barks at the crazy multiplying Eiffel towers. I'm SO happy. But if you'd asked me when I started if this is what I'd have ended up with - I'd have told you entirely different. Not at all what I planned or imagined, but better. Reminds me of phrases in many of Summer McStravick's flowdreams.
Valentines! Oh how I love the cheerful red, pink, and white colors brought out for making Valentines. So sweet. So uplifting after the dull, grey days of January. I'm not a snow bunny; you won't find me skiing or playing in the powder. So I find January to be a bit of a bore after the throws of Yule and Christmas. But speaking of Snow and Bunnies... I made one for the alter project this moon, the Snow Moon. We are marking our transitions through the project not in months, but rather in moons. It's a refreshing change to the calendar and I feel like I'm getting more into the rhythms of the earth and planets. Why, if the tides can change with the pull of the moon, then why not try and see how the waxing and waning of the moon affects the creation of art (or lack there of depending on the phase). Back to the bunny... I made this sweet little guy a little while back and just didn't know what to do with him. I even made his back flat so he could rest in a shadow box. That much forethought I had. But the assemblage? no. He actually sat in a box with some other really fun sculptures for, oh say, 5 months. And then, when I saw I was creating for Beth's box, a vision of him popped into my head. I tried fitting him in the box and voila! Magically he fit!! So, I went off to my local indie craft store in search of papers. I was thrilled to find a lovely valentine paper that went so well with the glimmer of the sparkle polymer I used to make bunny.Then, my next bit of inspiration came from the "Love Me". My parents are kind and thoughtful people. One day when we were out on an antique treasure hunting adventure, they gave me a box with 3 chocolate frogs. Well, the frogs were delicious. Then as I was getting ready to toss the box, I saw the words "Love Me" and wondered if they'd fit. How cute and appropriate would it be for a bunny to profess or even accidentally pose in front of a sign that said "Love Me"? It's like all bunnies say, "I'm cute and cuddly. Love me!" So, in the sign went. I used temporary tape and gazed on it for a week or so before I secured it permenantely. Lastly, the itsy, bitsy washi tape flags. I love miniature things. Always have. I had and made doll houses in every corner of the house, much to my mother's chagrin some days. :) To make these 1/8" - 1/4" wide flags I used the width of the washi tape itself as half the height of the flag. Then to ensure I had a tiny enough width to allow for lots of flags over a mere 3", I cut strips that were ~ 1/8" or so by 1/2" (width of washi tape). The result? A magical, miniature, banner of flags fit for even a Lego guyto hold! Yay! I love the whole thing, just like the words say, "Love Me". Please visit Peg Gyldenege's blog to see the other artists amazing creations: http://wildhairstudio.blogspot.com
I love all the seasons. I love the transitions. While I do find winter difficult sometimes and mourn the loss of the sun and lush growth, I think having them gone reminds me to appreciate them that much more when they return. So today, I inspire you with a Tulip Tree also known as a Magnolia. This is one of my favorites to watch bloom, along with the cherry blossoms. The colors are cheerful, innocent, and sweet. I took this photo last spring with my iPhone and used some fun app to enhance the blue colors. I wish you dogwood blossoms and wagging puppy tails. Happy Spring!
I was invited to participate in the Little Alters project with a group of amazing artists. It's a project where you create a little piece of art for each person based on what inspires you. We each have a typeset style drawer with funny little compartments where each mini alter will be created. The intent behind alters is that often in our lives we collect objects and gather them together on table tops, nooks, and crannies. Why not create more art and alters at the same time? "Cool!" I thought. I can do that. "And what fun to be part of such an eclectic group!"
| | We all started with our own box (Box A), the biggest spot in the drawer, which is not a square, not a rectangle, but it's a square with a square cut out. Grrr... there goes the even, orderly, balance & structure. Getting started on a group exchange project is often the hardest because you feel it sets the tone for what everyone else has done, but Peg, our fearless leader, has encouraged us to not follow a theme, but rather just to create what inspires us.
| Whee! Free reign. Oh, wait - that can be unnerving to people like me who have learned to work within a structure. Structure creates freedom to be creative. Ok... so I'm starting with no theme and very little structure. So, I gotta consider the box shape my "structure" rather than rules. This leads me to my inspiration for my box, Box A.
This year, upon opening a ripe pomelo, I discovered it's delicious floral scent, much like that of walking through an orange grove. Pleasantly surprised and captivated, I had to have more. I wanted to bottle it up and wear it every day. The pith is what holds the richest scent. The pomelo flesh, is also very tasty - like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit and delightfully pink.
| | When cut in a cross section, the contrast between the bright green rind, the pithy white and the cheerful pink pulp of the flesh segments is so inspiring. I love how the pomelo segments aren't even in cross section. They remind me of flowers drawn by kids.
| So inspired to bottle up this scent, I went out and bought mason jars and all different kinds of citrus to make lemoncello, floral waters (via vodka) and vinegar for cleaning (thank you pinterest! click the pic above to get a recipe to make your own). So, now that my counters are stacked with mason jars and the multitude of citrus offerings, the inspiration to draw these wonderful fruits happened. Well, it took a while before I was hit with inspiration. This box, being less than evenly balanced on all sides jarred me so much that I couldn't create. I made that worse by berating myself for not doing anything, then was concerned that my artists block would continue long beyond just this one box into every other box I attempted. Damn that cut out square! But, I put the whole project into a drawer while frustrated and took the day off. I let myself relax, enjoy, and napped. Then, the day after the full moon, I just sat down and started drawing all the citrus that I had brought into my life. I let it all hang out and anchor near the lower right corner. Let the fruit fall where it may! Lo and behold, it behaved! I was able to cut a square out and still maintain the integrity of the art I created. Whew!
My favorite part about this was discovering the cross sections of each fruit. When I look at it, my heart skips a beat over both the pretty pink & green pomelo flower cross section and how I really captured the pink ripening spot on a grapefruit. I think, "Wow, I did that.... I did!"
Le mer an original sketch by Gwen Gyldenege (c) 2012 Gwen Gyldenege, Calm Under Tension {made with paper by 53}
I have been drawing since I could hold a crayon. Been cartooning more in the last five years as I recognized my style lends itself quite well to the cartoon world. Exploration of en vogue cartoon artists exposed me to the world of digital sketching. At that time I had only a computer & mouse and the only good way to sketch digitally was with those pens & pads that you plug into a computer. They were expensive and cost prohibitive. Enter the iPad. I received an iPad as a "hand-me-down." At first I didn't know what to do with it because it is wifi only. But then I discovered Paper by 53. Oh God. Love me this app. You can have multiple sketchbooks, incorporate photos, and add a page. It's quite lovely. And, if you're out & about sketching, it's a fantastic ice breaker as people are quite fascinated.
Le orange an original sketch by Gwen Gyldenege (c) 2012 Gwen Gyldenege, Calm Under Tension {made with paper by 53}
I'm starting this post by showing the work that Peg did on Randy's paper. I was visiting the day she was working on it and grabbed my iPhone as soon as I saw she was working so I could document the process. See she was using this "glass bead" type gel medium with a stencil to create branches around the rabbit moon. Lisa Lee was the 3rd person to work on this paper and she created the rabbit moon. She mentioned to Peg that there is some folklore surrounding the idea of a rabbit image on the moon. So, off I went to research. Fascinating. Maybe I'll write a story too... Anyway, here's Peg's work. Next I'll talk about what I did on Randy's paper. Once the branches dried, Randy's paper was passed to me. What to do, what to do. The rabbit needed some attention. You could hardly see it through the moon and trees. So, I had to give him some love. | | First, I started with the pale moon colored grey and outlined him. Wanted to be sure I wasn't going to give it too harsh a line by starting too dark. Made that mistake a few too many times in my own marker drawings. Then, I gradually went in darker and darker until I hit the black in spots to emphasize this leaping bunny wabbit.
Next, I thought the mooon needed to glow. You know, that ring you see around the moon sometimes? It can be reddish or white or any number of other colors, but you often see it around a full moon like this one. So, I grabbed the lightest peachy pink I had because I wasn't sure what the color would do on the purple background. Boy was I shocked how much both that peachy pink (pale european skin color) showed up. Then, I tried that almost white, can't-even-see-it-on-white-paper-sometimes grey. Yowza, that was a glow of a different color. But I liked it. Then, I wanted to include some of the purple blue tones in the glow and grabbed the blue. Just a hint, just a line or two. No more or it would have overpowered the moon and no longer looked like a glow. Then, ya gotta start figuring out how to fix it or make it into something else cause it wouldn't be a glow any longer. I really like how it looks. Really glows, you know? | I had the great fortune to work on the a friend's rooftop garden while I enhanced the rabbit and gave the moon a glow on Randy's paper. It was a glorious day. Just thought I'd share with you the joy and beauty before me that day. Thank you Sunshine!  Rock Flowers on the Rooftop by Gwen Gyldenege
I fussed & fussed over this paper. Beth started it with a "Beach" theme. But that's not what it's becoming. And given the mountains (which I love) and the flowers (which I also love), it was not feeling very beach like. I couldn't come up with a thing all month & then some. I kept hearing, " The Atchison, Topeka, & The Santa Fe" a train song, but in Harry Connick, Jr's version on the album 25. I cut trains out to collage onto the paper, I tried to place a train track, but no. They didn't feel right. So I sat in front of it with colored pencils and markers. What to do? What. To. DO?!  Colored Pencils. My medium. |  Markers. Got em out. Didn't touch em. | Then I recalled many an inspired day watching Commander Mark on PBS. Remember him? Fun! Enthusiastic! Encouraging. Aliens, planets, secret hide-a-ways. So I grabbed my pencil & swooped & looped like Commander Mark would do. I didn't think. Just let the pencil lead me. I always used to think he knew what he would draw before he did it. But now, I wonder if he didn't just trust his marker & let the marker take him where it wanted to go on the drawing. My swooping resulted in a river that wandered into a waterfall. Wow, I found a way to connect the mountains to the flowers!  Starting a river. There were mountains, flowers and a moon. The river had yet to run through it.  Adding base color |  Giving the water movement. |  Adding white, the faster flowing water. Starting the waterfall feel at the bottom front of the page.  Layers of blue hues & black/graphite to enhance corners & the swerving feel of a winding river.  The final effect. River to waterfall. Waterfall over Hawaiian flowers. Enhanced Moon. I'm really happy with the results. I couldn't have planned this. I'm really glad I just let my pencils go to work. I feel like I achieved a good sense of 3-d with just a flat piece of paper. That in and of itself is an accomplishment in my book. Yay me! (remember to congratulate yourself after a job well done. You'll then encourage yourself to improve!)
This year, I returned to sculpting in polymer clay. As a kid, I spent many, many hours sculpting. Then, about 6 years ago I picked up some clay to make some fairies for one box in "The Take-Out Box Project", an art challenge I was part of with 16 other artists, and haven't played with it again until this year. In my elementary years I created a lot of art. Sculpting was just one of the many mediums I was blessed to play in (thank's mom!). I made wee figurines and stuff for my dolls and toys. I loved dolls. But, I think I loved making things for them more. I used to make vingnettes all over the house (and get yelled at to clean them up - sorry Mom, creative muse and all!). I collected blocks, dolls, and then I figured out how to make doll furniture out of paper with origami techniques. A doll or faerie home always seemed better when made in a fresh corner. Still makes me giggle. I made food, plates, and cups. I sculpted heads. It was great fun, then I didn't know where else to go with it.
Dragon sculpted by Gwen Gyldenege. Norman says, "Hi! My name is Norman Rockswell. Wanna play 'melt the glass ball'? Cause I just figured out I can burp fire when I drink sparkling mountain lake water."
Fast forward to 2012. I had the great fortune to take classes from Patricia Hedegaard at FaerieConWest. She taught us how to make goblins and dragons. The flood gates just opened up and sculpting what ever I wanted became so much easier. I learned about fingers, toes, bodies, horns, and more. Above is a picture of my little dragon. Isn't he cute-a-full!? Now when I pick up the clay, I just allowed myself to play. I find my greatest success comes when I don't try to create a vision or think long and hard on what I want the clay to become. Rather, I pick up the clay and start with a shape and let the clay tell me what it wants to be. I just fall in to my creative trance state (natural people, natural) and allow my hands to work. Think of it like walking meditation. That's how Bald Mermaid was born. I started with a head and no eyes. Then, I decided to make a torso. The hands - oh gosh, they ended up being as big as her hips. Guess we all need to be a little handy. Lastly, I just created a simple tale. I decided that clamshells would be funny for a "bra". And who had the best cartooned clamshells that are easy to sculpt? The Flinstones. They're not an exact of clam bucks, but they're my idea of funny clam shells.
Bald Mermaid by Gwen Gyldenege
I didn't add any hair. In fact, it took me a while to settle on eyes. She's still a work in progress, but I'm not sure I'll add hair. There are many women who don't have hair by choice and not. Why not support a unique standard of beauty. For, how many bald mermaids really exist? At least 1 in my wonderland! Ya like her?
On a total whim I decided I'd whip out the embellishment on round 3 of Pass the Paper (Lisa's). Then, a few minutes into the process of drawing on Lisa's paper, I decided to video the process of me updating the paper 30 min before I needed to leave for our annual Guild Retreat. Why does inspiration strike at the last minute like a lightning bolt that you cannot escape? From start to finish, recording and doing the work on the paper took 10 min. Now that may seem insufficient or haphazard, but the intent and the work were done with full focus. I think it more amazes me what we can create in a short period of time given constraints and decent tools. What took me longer was finding a video editor that could handle my video (removed from iphone and in .mov format). I settled on this great software called PhotoStage Slideshow Producer after reading the CNET Editor's review. I loved working wiht it. Intuitive and easy. I've really enjoyed working with Oil Pastels and I like the process of creating a quick something on paper. Until this art challenge, I haven't been inspired to use the oil pastels that have been in my stash for, oh... say 10 years? In fact, I've been a little unsure of how to best use them since they seem to gum up so many things. But, these papers are perfect and we'll all learn what the pastels will do when combined with other things like gel medium, glues, acrylics, fabric, etc. Fun!
 Pass the Paper 2012. First Swap is Round 2. Gwen's additions to Peg's paper include Oil Pastels and Brush Markers. NW Creative Spirits Guild. In January after I posted about my paper, I got another artist's paper in return to "art up". This one is my mom's. She used watercolor pencils to create a neat missoni zig-zag style effect. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was an oak leaf. I don't have any formal training on how to use oil pastels or how to give something depth. So, I just played with blues like I've seen other artists do. When I thought it was too bright, I softened it with grey, black, white or a olive green. I used bright kelly green and lime green and white to create accents of light. Then, I added the words that kept running through my head and made up a poem about oak leaves and thought of how the strength of the oak can help my mom continue her success as an artist. I'm very pleased with the results. I like the look of oil pastels over watercolor pencils. I'm enjoying this challenge. It's inspiring me to break my own "can't" rules and just dig in and try regardless of whether the outcome will be good or even successful. Quite freeing. 'Bout time I relaxed and let myself create.
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