applique

Surround yourself with beautiful things.

altered art, art, artist, DIY, mixed media, recycled products, studio, upcycle

There are particular products, mediums & tools that are an absolute necessity in the artist’s dance with creativity. They aren’t sexy, inspiring or even vaguely attractive (like that guy standing in the shadowed corner after you’ve consumed a full night’s worth of firewater).
I digress.. sooo, unsexy, BUT necessary art supplies; and I have to suffer their uninspiring presence every. damn. day.

Annnd so, I beautified them…because I couldn’t/can’t help myself!

I realise that there’s something wrong with me. It’s a compulsion, nay, an obsession; as I truly can’t help myself…mind you, as a pursuant of creativity, that’s not necessarily an erroneous pursuit.
[…] because there’s somrthing kind-of awesome about living & breathing the chaos and obsession of the everyday artist.

My envelope book…

altered art, art, artist, collage, DIY, mixed media, painting, recycled products, studio

I finally, finally, (seriously…sooooo much work went into these; layer upon layer upon layer!) FINALLY finished my handmade envelope book.

I wanted somewhere special to store my little sketches and artworks that weren’t on display…and so I undertook a massive endeavour. I didn’t just make one artwork/ envelope…oh no, a book has multiple pages; and my book included six envelope inserts. Annnd all six needed to be alike in both design and degree of finish. Boo.

However, that being said, I love the final product. I’m happy with myself for persevering and commitment to finishing! So, yay! Go me!

My envelope book…

altered art, art, artist, collage, DIY, mixed media, painting, recycled products, studio

I finally, finally, (seriously…sooooo much work went into these; layer upon layer upon layer!) FINALLY finished my handmade envelope book.

I wanted somewhere special to store my little sketches and artworks that weren’t on display…and so I undertook a massive endeavour. I didn’t just make one artwork/ envelope…oh no, a book has multiple pages; and my book included six envelope inserts. Annnd all six needed to be alike in both design and degree of finish. Boo.

However, that being said, I love the final product. I’m happy with myself for persevering and commitment to finishing! So, yay! Go me!

Altered journal

altered art, art, collage, DIY, mixed media, recycled products

I have a god-daughter turning 17 soon; 🎁 time. So, I decided to make her a journal and pair it with a beautiful fountain pen.

The considerations for functionality, were, to put it mildly, bloody annoying!
Have you every tried to write on a bumpy, uneven surface? Not one of the most pleasurable, or easy of tasks. I needed to keep the cover as flat as possible and not use any bulky embellishments in the cover’s construction.

And so…frustratingly, my usual creation and layering process had to be repressed.

Definitely not an easy business, for when I create, I completely lose myself in the ‘flow’. Hopelessly, I succumb to my artistic state and then I am lost to it and in it. However, this time, I had to resist and stand a little further back from the lure of the ‘flow’ and so, I had to ‘do’ less and ‘think’ more…oh, the horror.

(Back Cover)

(Inner front page)

The personality of an artist…

altered art, art, collage, DIY, installation, mixed media, painting, recycled products, recycled wood

When someone I hold dear, asks me for something of the arty persuasion, they truly know, not, what they do.
[…] because:
a) I have trouble saying that word…you know, that word, the one opposite to ‘no’.
AND
b) I don’t, ever, ever, ever, ever do things by halves. In fact, I may be known to go, well & truly, over-board. All of the times.
Every.Time.

Soooo, one of my teacher friends wanted a name plaque/artwork proclaiming the title of the room’s occupant.
I.did.not.disappoint.
However, maybe, just maybe, the required function of this object, may have (just a touch…) gotten way-laid; and when I say way-laid, I mean, gone beyond all hope.
*shrugs*
Oh, well.

Just say no…to the white canvas.

art, collage, recycled products, recycled wood

I recently demolished a VERY old Jarrah chest-of-drawers; it was over a 100 years old. Wait, before you start, It was very broken & rickety…don’t worry, I’m not a complete heathen!
But I didn’t throw out a single scrap or even a splinter. There’s some quite large boards, all beautifully stained & distressed from a century of use.
Such a perfect blank canvas for me.
Soooo, what to do, what to do?!
Well, I guess I’ll just start, here goes…

Fabrications…

art, collage, installation, recycled products, recycled wood, sculpture

‘GENESIS’
(2018)
Mixed Media; Collage on wooden palette

Artists are elusive creatures. Her chaotic, crazy, impulsive brain is the birth place of many weird & wonderful ideas; the wholeprocess is a little bit magical really.

No one can quantify the creative brain. It remains a mystery to the other 98% inhabiting this planet, alongside those that create.

How would an artist go about explaining their process verbally? Are there words that adequately describe the electric tang of creation? How would one visually represent, symbolically represent the artist?Their process? The ‘Genesis’ of creation?