Lorrie Grainger Abdo

Recap of Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale

2011-11-21T22:44:00.000-05:00

The Holiday Sale last Thursday, Friday and Saturday felt slow, it seemed empty and there were lots of lookers. We were all quite discouraged. However, on Saturday (usually our slowest day) we had a steady stream of people. Lo and behold, things started moving for everyone. When I completed my inventory after the sale I discovered, my to my surprise, that I had my best show in years. Maybe things are looking up folks! Maybe three years in the dumps is enough. We can hope, can't we?

We have the sale with the Kalamazoo Valley Potters and an art group called Art Etc. The Weavers' Guild also is there and brings in lots of people. We are at the Kalamazoo Expo Center (fairgrounds). The best thing about this space is that we have lots of space! It also, however, contributes to that feeling of not much activity because it is so cavernous.

As you can see, I really concentrated on the paper mosaics this year.

While I did well, I still have lots left. Let me know the color you need for that special someone and I'll see what I've got. (I know, I know, get on Etsy!)

To those of you that attended: many thanks. To those that continue to support me in various ways: many thanks. And so I'll end with my attitude of gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving all.

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale this Weekend

2011-11-15T11:53:00.000-05:00

After the Brick House opening I immediately switched gears to paper mosaics. The Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale is this weekend and I have lots of fun gifty things to look at, as do many other handmade paper artists. You'll find handmade paper stationery, artwork, journals, frames, mirrors, cards, ornaments, jewelry and lots of other cool things. Additionally, The Kalamazoo Potters, Art Etc. and the Weaver's Guild will all be there. So many things to choose from for the special people in your lives (including you!).

The sale is at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center (Kalamazoo Fairgrounds), 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49048. Hours are:

Thursday, November 17th, 5-8pm
Friday, November 18th, from 9am to 8pm
Saturday, November 19th, 9am to 4pm

Here's a sampling of what I will have available...

Four lined handmade paper cards, $10. Nicely packaged so they don't even need to be wrapped!

Paper mosaic picture frames and mirrors, $40 - $75. Lots of colors and sizes available.

Fun side table. $80. Perfect place to put that morning cup of tea.

Eight paste painted notecards per package, $12. So many colors to choose from your mind will be boggled.

This picture is from last year's sale.

Hope you'll stop by. I'm working Friday morning/afternoon and Saturday morning. If you see me please be sure to say hello.

Lorrie

Brick House Pictures

2011-11-10T12:16:00.000-05:00

I was pleased with the opening for my show Brick House. Officially it started at 5:30 last Friday evening. At about 5:45 I started to panic a bit because no one was coming by yet. But from 6 to 8 there was a really nice steady flow of people and comments were positive. And, if someone thought the work was awful they, thankfully, kept their thoughts to themselves.

The series features my own handmade paper on canvas. Each brick is a separate piece of paper painted using a variety of painting techniques. The grout texture is made by using the surface of the canvas along with modeling paste and sand swiped from the neighbor's sandbox. What really makes these work is that I finally figured out how to use shadowing to enhance the texture of the papers. Ah, progress!

Here are some pictures from the evening...

This picture gives you an idea of the scale of the work. It also shows me looking better than usual.

I talked at length with a very interesting and interested lady about this piece. It was sold in my mind. However, this gallery at the college doesn't allow for immediate purchase and as of this minute I haven't heard from the lady. I'm still hopeful; however, if you need to have this piece in your home it's yours for $350.

I like the size of this one and the colors turned out really nice. I plan to use this one as my "show" piece and will finally have something to enter into the Kalamazoo Area Show this year.

Here's the entire wall, about 30 feet. The comment I heard most often is "I want to touch this". I say go ahead. The texture of the handmade paper along with the various painting techniques encourage it. I think most wanted to touch the pieces because they couldn't figure out the materials used.

This is the smallest painting, 24" x 18" but the most involved. The patches are plaster, the bricks are handmade paper.

The show is up at the Center for New Media/KVCC (downtown Kalamazoo, across the mall from the Raddison) until the 28th of November.

Lorrie

Brick House - Opening on Friday

2011-11-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

I have some exciting news! I've been working on a series that I'm calling Brick House. The work will be shown for the first time this month. The opening reception is Friday, November 4 at the Center for New Media, KVCC, downtown Kalamazoo from 5:30 - 8:30. I'll be part of Art Hop. Come on down and take a look at my new work as well as the work of other artists showing that evening. It's always a fun night out.

This new work is a huge step forward for me. I really feel like I've made great artistic strides with this series as I'm incorporating handmade paper into paintings on canvas. The handmade paper, while already very textural, actually looks dimensional because of the painting efforts with regard to shadowing and color. The piece shown on the postcard is 24" x 24". I will have other pieces that are bigger too.

The reception is Friday. But, the work is up for the entire month. I hope you'll stop by.

Lorrie

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:20:00.000-04:00

My scary melting witch costume...

Have fun with all the little monsters tonight.

Lorrie

Fall Colors

2011-10-24T13:40:00.000-04:00

The Altered Sisters group (we meet monthly to talk art and have fun) had a tag swap in early October. This is my attempt. Can you guess what the background is? I love the honeycomb look to it.

A couple of weeks ago I spent three days in the garage/driveway making sheets of paste papers. I used Lysol wipes to clean up the plexiglass in between each sheet. These wipes were too pretty to throw away so they became the background for the tags! Good one, huh? Then, I burrowed into the back recesses of my messy studio and found my stamps. I knew I had a leaf stamp in there somewhere.

We have had the most glorious fall here in Michigan. The colors have not been super bright and vibrant because the temperatures have been too warm. Nonetheless, it is very pretty out with colors, sun and warmth. Throw in the occasional 42 degree day with rain and the good stuff is appreciated even more!

I turned 50 last month and my husband threw me a surprise party. He did a great job and I had a super time with lots of friends and family. I think I'll use this image on my thank you notes.

Lorrie

What's New?

2011-10-18T13:41:00.000-04:00

Oh my, it has been ages since my last post. So much has been going on, some art-related but mostly not. The biggest and best news is that since August 14 we have a new member of the family. Our Spanish exchange student, Victor, is a super addition and we love him already. He will be with us for the entire school year.

Artwise, I finished my second painting class at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and as a result of that class I was invited to have a solo show at the Center for New Media for the month of November. Truth be told though, when the class finished at the end of July, I totally shifted gears and am only now getting back to creative endeavors. So, you'd be right if you guessed that it is a bit frantic around here now as I get ready for that show as well as the usual holiday sales.

You know that the holiday sales are around the corner when I start making stationery...

Board drying sheets at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.

Finished sheets in all colors with many different inclusions. These will be folded and packaged into sets of four and then sold.

So, what's happening in your world?

Lorrie

KVCC Student Show

2011-05-09T22:49:00.002-04:00

Each year Kalamazoo Valley Community College has its annual student art show. Well, since I'm an official student now I decided to enter. I was juried in with my piece called Bailey Park. I completed this painting well before I took the Painting class this semester but rules stated that the piece entered had to have been created within the last two years so it qualified.

I haven't shown it on the blog in a while so here you go...

All the colors in this photo are too "hot". Adding it to my "Please Get a Good Photo" pile.

This 24" x 48" piece uses many of the techniques that I am hoping to explore on my own and in Art 205. Basically, I am incorporating highly textured handmade paper into an acrylic painting on canvas. In this case the houses are handmade paper and the background is plaster and paint. For a look at how this was done you can begin with this post.

I just completed my first ever college art class (Art 105). Good experience, weak instructor. I debated about continuing with another class. KVCC has an artist-in-residence from the Netherlands right now and she visited our last class and contributed greatly. That one experience, that took less than 45 minutes, was enough to sway me. Yep, I'm registered for Art 205 and it starts this Thursday.

Lorrie

PS. Our garage sale (mentioned in my last post) was a huge success. Lots of stuff gone including piles and piles of new toys from Steve's sample room. Still have a sleeper/sofa left as well as a nice office credenza. Anyone?

Waiting for the Opportunity - Close Ups

2011-05-06T12:03:00.001-04:00

Here are some close ups of Waiting for the Opportunity. I love how the tight crops turn the piece into an abstract. I've always been about color and texture. With these up-close-and-personal shots you really get a look at both.

Water. I love this. In fact, my final for my painting class took the water idea a bit further. I'll show you this painting soon.

If you hadn't seen the completed piece you'd never guess that this is a handmade paper fish!

This looks like a topographical map to me. Hills, valleys, water, etc.

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This one shows one of the handmade paper fish on the left, the painted canvas in the blue and then the raised plaster "lock".

And back to my favorite part: water.

Here's the finished piece again for reference on the close ups. One of these days I'm going to actually have a good picture taken of my finished work.

We're having a garage sale this weekend. It takes so much time and preparation. However, since we do this every year, my husband and I have a pretty good routine down. Nonetheless, it is exhausting. See you again from the other side of the (hopefully empty) garage.

Lorrie

Waiting for the Opportunity at the Signature Artist Cooperative Exhibit

2011-05-03T22:48:00.001-04:00

In my last post I left you with a cliff hanger. My mixed media piece for the Signature Artist Cooperative exhibition called Earth: Power and Fragility was being created with lots of wonderful blues and browns and then...

it went black. On purpose. I get a great patina by using some stuff called bitumen (tar).

It gets rubbed off with mineral spirits. More paint went on top. Some oil pastels too.

The finished piece. Picture shows it a bit more tourquois than it really is.

Me at the show opening on April 9, 2011. This show is up at the Kalamazoo Nature Center until May 31. It's a beautiful show space and the work of all the Signature artists is super. Call the Nature Center for their hours at 269-381-1574.

I like the water a lot on this piece. In fact, I like it so much that I built upon this idea for my Art 105/Painting final. Pictures of that soon.

Lorrie

Waiting for the Opportunity

2011-04-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

The Artists Co-op that I belong to recently had a show opening at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Called Earth: the Power and Fragility, this show had some super work from about 15 members. So, in the middle of the basement remodel, my painting class, a trip to NY as well as interviewing for a job and ferrying the kids around, I had a show-quality (shouldn't they all be show-quality?) piece to create.

I juried into this group as a handmade paper and paper mosaic artist so this is the type of work that I needed to make. It felt good working with the heavily textured handmade paper again!

My idea on this theme was to highlight the plight of the Great Lakes with regard to the very invasive Asian Carp. These fish are expected to enter the Lakes via the Mississippi River and Illinois Canals. Currently there are "zappers" in the canals that are supposed to keep the fish from entering Lake Michigan through the Locks but it is inevitable that these fish, with their voracious appetites, will get into the Lakes and alter the ecosystems. These fish are just Waiting for the Opportunity.

Here's my progression over several days:

Back to working with handmade paper again. Yeh! The fish are handmade paper fish glued onto a canvas. The chair that is supporting the canvas gives you an idea of scale.

A coat of tan paint went over the whole thing then I started to build the colors of the water.

Each fish received it's own color. My formerly bright and fun fish had to become rather dark and menacing. Asian Carp are not pretty fish! The white over the blue on the right is plaster.

Continuing to layer blue on blue on blue on blue. I used my fingers for about 90% of the water on this piece. Very little brush work involved.

The fish get a bit of highlighting with copper paint and the Lock is put in. The lock is more plaster so it is raised. Lots of dimension on this piece.

The Lock is painted copper as well.

OMG!! What happened?!? Stay tuned...

Lorrie

PS. That is what they call a cliff hanger. :)

Art 105 - Fun Little Extras

2011-04-22T11:59:00.001-04:00

So we move from the MOMA back to the MOMMA. :)

In the painting class that I've been taking we use a lot of paint. Well, we're painting so it shouldn't surprise me that we use up some paint. However, once a color is mixed on my palette, I absolutely hate just tossing it. So, I just started putting the leftover paint on a 9 x 12 canvas paper instead. I didn't think, I just did. This in itself is a good exercise as I always over think things.

I discovered that these little extras actually work fairly well because the colors are already working together in the original painting and therefore work in an abstract too.

This was made with paint left over from the collage exercise. Should it be vertical or...

horizontal?

This one is made of leftover paint from a painting that I haven't shared yet. Some interesting things going on here but it basically is a mess and the black is too bold. Yet, these quickie experiments are good for this plodding artist.

Lorrie

MOMA

2011-04-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

While in NYC each of us got to do one (or more things) that was special to that person. My husband wanted to see the diner that is in Seinfeld, my 16 year old wanted to eat his way through the city, my 13 year old wanted to shop, my 11 year old wanted to buy souvenirs, and I wanted to go to an art museum. Not surprisingly, the art museum idea got a luke-warm reaction from the kids; however, my youngest was quite enthralled afterall. She must have asked me at least five times: "you mean that Picasso (or whoever) really TOUCHED this painting?" She couldn't believe that we could get so close to all the work.

I promised a quick tour of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in my last post, so here we go...

Pablo Picasso, Spanish, 1881- 1973
It was fun to watch the kids look at this one and try to figure the body parts out.

Wassily Kandinsky, Russian 1886 -1944
There were four in this series in their own room. They are quite large. I was taking pictures with a flash at this point and got reprimanded. Oops.

Paul Cezanne, French, 1839 - 1906
I don't really think of the Impressionists as Modern but in reality I guess they are the ones that started it all. Wish I knew more about art history. I loved this one.

Vincent van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 - 1853
This one needs no introduction. It's not all that impressive from a size standpoint but the brush strokes and color are stunning.

Claude Monet, French, 1840 - 1926
Ah, the water lilies. Stunning in their size and beauty (although I did like some of his smaller paintings better).

Piet Mondrian, Dutch, 1872- 1944
I think he worked in this style/color palette most of his life. IMO one or two or ten might be fun but then: boring!

Andy Warhol, American, 1928 - 1987
Famous for a lot of things, here are his soup cans. The MOMA also had his cow silk screens and a Marilyn Monroe piece.

Jackson Pollack, American 1912- 1956
I left the person on the left in this picture on purpose. Look at the size of this!

Someone help me. Who painted this one?

Also there were other big names like: Max Ernst, Willem de Kooning, Edouard Manet, Robert Rauschenberg, Salvadore Dali, Paul Klee, Henri Rousseau, Mark Rothko, Joan Miro, and Rene Magritte. The MOMA has Dali's melting watches piece and Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World, as well as many, many others that you might recognize. I only noticed the work of one woman, Frida Kahlo. What a shame that more women aren't big names in world of art.

A good share of it I "didn't get" but all of it is interesting. If you ever get the chance to go there, DO.

Lorrie

NYC

2011-04-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

For Spring Break 2011 we took the kids to New York. Steve grew up in western NY so we go there often. This time, however, we spent two days with family there and then continued on to NYC for three nights. What a great time!

The kids loved it. The weather was acceptable (although we could have done without the cold rainy afternoon on Tuesday). We walked and walked and walked and walked and then walked some more.

We didn't see any celebrities but ran into neighbors that live about six houses down from us. I find that rather amazing, especially since we weren't really in a touristy place at the time. We did see several TV shows setting up to shoot scenes and an upcoming movie called New Years Eve took up a whole city block with trailers for its cast.

We hit many of the usual tourist places and added some fun, less touristy stuff too like Zabars Grocery Store and Deli on the upper west side. We ate Thai, Italian and American Diner. We tried to go to an Ethiopian place but it was closed. We enjoyed yummy pastries, and even had frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. We had the deli experience at Katz' Deli and sat next to the spot where Sally made some noise in the movie When Harry Met Sally. We had street vendor hot dogs and quick pizza slices too.

We shopped for the girls and while in Soho we turned the corner and there was a Dick Blick store. I walked in and was so overwhelmed with awe and wonder, I didn't know where to start! I only bought a couple of things to play with.

Here is the family. Notice the Empire State Building growing out of my head.

Next post will be about the MOMA.

Lorrie

Art 105 - Collage Assignment Finished

2011-04-05T12:13:00.002-04:00

As I talked about in my last post, for my painting class we had to complete a collage and then paint it. We were required to make a grid on the collage (1 inch squares on a 9 x 12 collage) and then transfer the drawing to a canvas (2 inch squares on an 18 x 24 canvas). I've not used this grid method before. Pretty easy to get a good result. In essence you stop looking at the entire piece, which can often be quite intimidating, and put it under a microscope (not literally). You draw each square as you see it. In the end you have a drawing that is darn close to the original.

We spent one entire class just mixing the colors trying to get close to the colors in the collage. This assignment was really all about mixing the colors rather than painting a cool painting. This color mixing thing is so much more challenging than I ever expected and certainly goes way beyond yellow + blue = green. Many of us were wasting lots of paint just trying to get close to the colors we needed. As a rookie, I found it helpful to use a chart that gave an idea of what colors to use to get to the desired result. If I continue with painting I will probably purchase this type of thing. It's not a color wheel, but a matrix of colors. There are books out there for this purpose too.

So here's the original collage again:

And here's my painting:

Using the two positive/two negative critique process, I think that the collage is copied really well with regard to positioning. I was very nervous about successfully painting the sofa and it turns out that I like that a lot. Most of the colors are pretty accurate. In the picture the smiling orange is quite yellow. The real thing is closer in color to the original.

On the negative side, the lavender is too dark, which is unfortunate because the phone is pretty interesting but you can't really see it because the area behind it is too dark. The teeth make the painting fun but the angle on them isn't steep enough as compared to the collage.

One interesting tidbit, after viewing the work in the class critique, it became apparent that an interesting collage doesn't necessarily make an interesting painting (and vise versa). It didn't seem to be a matter of painting talent. Curious.

Lorrie

Art 105 - Collage Assignment

2011-03-30T21:59:00.003-04:00

The latest assignment for my painting class was to make three 9" x 12" collages. One of the collages would then be painted. Of course this meant that I could only choose collage images that I felt I could paint. Quite a limiting factor! :)

Collage #1: I like the curves in this collage: the flamingos necks, the ear, the softness of the butterfly's wings, the small dots in the background. I also like the moodiness of the blue trees. This is why I didn't choose this one. I didn't feel I could capture the trees in a painting. On to the next one...

Collage #2: In contrast to the curves in #1, this one is all lines. Too boring, although probably not too difficult to paint. On to #3...

Collage #3: Yep, this is the one. I like orange/yellow as the key color, the silly mood and the color balance. Hey, I think I can actually paint this one too. Once we picked the collage we intended to paint we had to mark it with a grid pattern. That's why there are lines on it. Wish I had scanned it prior to the grid marking it up.

Next post: Collage turned into Painting.

Lorrie

Art 105 - Still Life Finished, Almost

2011-03-27T12:19:00.002-04:00

Here's the follow up from my last post...

I finished the still life piece satisfactorily and handed it in. I got a good grade too. However, after having lived with it for awhile, the black bird house is bothering me. I've drawn in, with vine charcoal, the part on the black birdhouse that I want to fix. But, since I don't anticipate that "fix" being high on my priority list, you get to see it in its handed-in-but-not-finished state.

In the class critique we had to give two positives and two negatives about each students' piece. My two positives are: The red bird house decorative trim is not only painted in (I debated about leaving it off) but shadowed correctly! I really like the little tan bird house and the shadows it throws.

My two negatives are: The black bird house, as I mentioned, needs some additional work. And, The background went from being one of my favorite parts of this effort to just ok.

More to come...

Lorrie

PS. One fellow classmate suggested that it be titled "Nobody's Home". Seems about right.

PSS. I don't plan on doing any other still life paintings anytime soon.

Art 105 - Progression of a Still Life

2011-03-25T23:25:00.001-04:00

For those of you following me because of my handmade paper art, my apologies for not having much of that type of thing on the blog lately. Between general life with three kids, finishing the basement and my painting class the only art getting accomplished around here is for the class. I hope you'll stick with me though as I continue to explore painting as a way to enhance my handmade paper art.

In my last post I showed you some initial efforts for the class. Thankfully, I'm improving. Or, at least my efforts aren't too embarrassing for public viewing.

Having never done a still life before I decided to record my progress as a reminder that what comes before doesn't have to remain after. I'm frequently afraid, in a good share of all of my finishing work, that I'll mess up something that is already somewhat successful. One of the biggest lessons coming from this class is that you can just paint over it. Of course, I know that in my brain. But, when you actually do it over and over, it becomes rather freeing in the heart.

This is an 18 x 24 canvas at my kitchen table (I mean easel). A key to a good still life is the directional lighting. Since my birdhouses were too big to fit in a box in which I could control the light easily, I found myself painting at night with one directional light to make the shadows. This was a pretty good trick as I was able to see the shadows on the still life yet barely see what I was painting!

I drew in the objects with vine charcoal. Great stuff as it is easily wiped off when you don't get a line right. The perspective of most of this is fairly accurate but it took a lot of wiping off first.

Oh my, this is so brown. The assignment required that we use only white, black, yellow ochre and magenta. Hence, the brown.

I'm liking the ripped up wall paperish background. Check out the shadow being cast from the little white house onto the red one. I'm getting it, I'm getting it!

I have been trying to post this for days. Blogger is just not cooperating with the downloads. So, you'll have to wait til the next post to see the finished piece...

Lorrie

Art 105 - Painting

2011-03-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

I want to get better at incorporating my handmade paper into paintings. So, back in January I began my very first college art class. Things that I've learned:

* The aspect of my past work that I always felt fell short was shading and shadow. My painting work is not very dimensional. I now believe that is because I don't mix colors on a palette I just work straight out of the tube/bottle.

* Even though my work is almost always extremely colorful I work intuitively. Learning more about the color wheel, tinting and shading is helpful with that whole dimensional problem.

* Having said that, I don't really like the mixing colors part of the whole thing.

* In this class I'm learning by doing the assignments rather than by what is taught during class time. Expectations were too high, perhaps? No, don't think that is it.

* In summary, painting a decent painting is really, really, really hard.

Here are my first attempts:

Second try at a studio still life. The first try is too embarrassing for public consumption. We could only use burnt sienna plus black and white. Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?

Painting from a photo. I re-painted the foreground three times trying to make it look like flowers instead of snow. Guess we'll just go with snow. This assignment required that we use only black, white, magenta and yellow. Try making a good blue or green with only those colors. Impossible!

Here is the original photo on a beautiful, sunny August day on Washington Island, WI. My painting looks like an overcast day on the prairies just below the mountains of Colorado. Close enough, I say.

I'll show you more as I move though the semester.

Lorrie

Hand Papermaking Magazine and the Handmade Paper Guild

2011-02-28T18:30:00.000-05:00

At a recent Handmade Paper Guild meeting we had an opportunity to help out papermaker extraordinaire, Andrea Peterson, and the Hand Papermaking Magazine. The magazine is publishing a 25th anniversary book that celebrates the art of hand papermaking and the artists that are at the top of their game.

This book, spearheaded by Andrea from LaPorte, IN, features amazing paper swatches of 25 papermakers. As Guild members, we touched the swatches, drooled over the swatches :) and then glued the swatches into the books. This project is monstrous. With a group of about 12 we only finished 30 and a limited edition of 1,000 is planned for. Andrea has been assembling these by herself and others in her studio too.

We were glad to help and it was fun. In return for our labor, Andrea showed us two of the past Hand Papermaking Magazine portfolios. These were filled with incredible gems. One portfolio featured watermark samples and the other was filled with pulp painting samples. Oh my!

Handmade Paper Guild helpers assembling the books at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.

One of the finished books.

As you can immediately see just by looking at the type, this book was well designed.

Each page has an entry by the artist as well as a description of the sample.

Another beauty.

At one point I remembered what artist did which swatch. I'm sorry I can't remember anymore. Note to self: write things down!

Can you read the artists featured for each year? Not household names perhaps, but in the world of paper: wow!

If you're interested in more information, here is the post on the Hand Papermaking website. It was written by Andrea:

I chair a committee of Hand Papermaking’s board of directors working on a project called “Hand Papermaking 25” to commemorate our upcoming anniversary. This exciting project will bring together 25 paper artists who previously appeared in Hand Papermaking magazine. Each will represent a particular year in which they were featured, and each will produce a distinctive new paper specimen.

These noteworthy contributors to the advancement of the field will be asked to write a short text reflecting on their magazine article, and the evolution of their work from that year to the present. This statement will appear with a 4x4 sample of the handmade paper they produce for this project, along with a description addressing the materials and techniques they employed. The book will include a preface by Tom Bannister and an introductory essay by Michael Durgin, one spread for each of the 25 artists, and some concluding remarks. Each copy in the edition of 1000 will be uniquely bound into a letterpress printed cover commissioned from one of four distinguished mills.

“Hand Papermaking 25” will be published in October, 2010, and sell for $65 per copy. A special price of $50 each is offered to those who purchase four copies, with unique covers commissioned from four different mills. Postage is $4 in North America and $9 overseas. Please support Hand Papermaking, as we look forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary year in 2011.

If you want to purchase these books you can go here. This book is beautifully made.

Lorrie

One World One Heart Recap

2011-02-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

For this year's One World One Heart blogging event I posted my giveway, visited most of the people that visited me and left a post, then hit some of the blogs on the main list that seemed like they might be interesting. There are just too many (800+) to hit them all. If others followed the same strategy it's likely that many missed me. After all, what's cool about a blog called "Lorrie Grainger Abdo". I may need to rethink my blog name.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite blogs from my OWOH journey:

*   Cathy Horner at Cathy Horner Collage Art. A funky collage artist with a unique style from Tennessee.

*   Nancy Baumiller at Crowabout. A zettiologist, also from Tennessee.

*   Susan Himmel at Living the Dream. A watercolorist and winner of my OWOH giveaway. She lives in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts.

*   Lulu at My Pink Turtle. A painter of colorful girls (and other things) from Quebec.

*   Cindy Dubbers at Crimson Heart Studios. A California mixed-media artist. Her giveaway was a mosaic heart. Sound familiar? Hers however, was not made of paper. Very cool, colorful stuff in her world.

*   Jennifer Conway at Raven's Rest Studio. A Vancouver mixed-media artist. Sure wish I had won one of her giveaways!

*   Diane at Turn Left at the Pigs. A southern Ohio jewelry artist. This site caught my eye because of the great name. Apparently she lives in a very rural area and there is not a street sign en route to her home. Thus, the direction "turn left at the pigs" was born.

I didn't win a prize this year. But, like the lottery, it's hard to win when you don't buy a ticket. I only entered giveaways for things that I really, really wanted. It's always fun to receive anything in the mail from a fellow artist but I'm in the purging mode right now and only want things around me that I truly love.

OWOH has had a good five-year run and I participated for three of those five years. It's done now. However, it is coming back in a different form next year. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

Lorrie

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T21:40:00.001-05:00

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!

Having said that, and meaning it wholeheartedly, I must say that this is kind of a non-event in our lives. I've been married 20 years. I've spent Valentine's Day with my husband only once in all those years. He attends Toy Fair in NYC every year and every year it falls over February 14. He's out working hard, making money and dining well. I'm at home working hard, not making much/any money and eating poorly!

Where ever your love may be, I hope that you know it is solid as the milk chocolate heart you enjoy scarfing down. :)

Lorrie

Altered Photography Workshop - Kalamazoo Book Arts Center

2011-02-11T08:40:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, I switched venues and taught at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center. On a record-setting low temperature degree day (-9 overnight), what better place to be than creating in a creative environment? Here's the work from the day...

This was Jaclyn's first attempt. Wow! Enough said.

I love the harsh, graphic background of this against the softness and color of the flowers. Jaclyn is a high school student in a rural district. She told me that she doesn't have much exposure to art at her school. Her grandparents, on the other hand, are well known artists in the area and certainly provide her with inspiration and the inclination to create.

Jill is an excellent photographer to begin with so she had to work with idea of making an already good photo interesting in another way. She worked larger (8 x 10, I think). The flower bloom on the left was stunning in its new bluish, pink color and her background was beautiful. The scratched in flower to the far left was a try at eliminating a flower that was already there in the photo. I don't think she likes this part of her work as much. But, now she can scan the photo and crop that part of it out. Magic!

Compare this finished photo with the one above when it was still work-in-progress. She used paint markers to adjust her background because the paper/ink combination wasn't taking the watercolors the way it should. I like how she made lemons out of lemonade and wound up with a photo that pops.

This is the work of Stephanie (in the middle). She's a senior in High School and takes some photography classes. What could be better than hanging out at the beach with your friends? She used it all here: scratching, sanding, painting, pasteling, markering. She knows Photoshop so I'm envisioning a scan of this photo with additional digital manipulation. Cool.

This was also created by Stephanie. She highlighted Diesel's eyes by painting the background in similar colors. It also makes the dog pop. In the original photo the dog was on a boring tan sofa. Probably a super nice sofa, but not so interesting in the world of altering photos! Notice the tiny, little holes that outline the dog.

This photo was altered by Doreen. Her color palette is much more peaceful and thoughtful than the loud colors I typically go for. The background on this butterfly photo continued to evolve as the afternoon went on. She sanded off almost all the background of the original photo but left just enough to make it interesting. At first quite flat with only one/two colors, it changed as she slowly layered watercolor, oil pastels, more watercolor and a bit more. Very nice!

Doreen was experiencing problems with the photos she brought because of the way they were developed with indestructible paper/ink. So, she tried one of my photos and did a great job with it.

This is the work of Molly. She has taken another class from me and I've come to know her through other avenues as well. She is a fun lady with lots of talent. This is Devil's Tower, Wyoming. She has worked the entire photo by scratching into the Tower, sanding on a texturing plate for the sky then carefully adding color in the spots she wanted it. The result is that the photo is more powerful than it's 4" x 6" size would indicate. It think it's great.

If you've read through all the captions you've probably noticed that there were a couple of glitches with the developing of some of the pictures. As an instructor, this is so frustrating. As a student, this is so frustrating. I feel like I know the techniques I'm teaching pretty well and then a wrench is thrown into the works. We adjusted. Jill and Doreen were patient.

If you're interested in altering photos you need to know what's going on in the world of photo developing. In the past, photos were developed and after time they would fade. A drop of water could ruin a picture in seconds. Photos were easily destructed. Now, like all technology advancing at the speed of light, photo developing has changed. HP features photo developing that is guaranteed not to fade for 200 years. Other companies are doing all they can to progress as well. For 99.9% of the market these are good/great improvements. For those of us purposely trying to destroy aspects of the photos this becomes a huge problem.

I think/I hope everyone went home with an understanding of how to alter photos by hand, despite some photo developing issues. What fun it can be!

Lorrie

Altered Photography workshop - Art Center of Battle Creek

2011-02-08T09:45:00.001-05:00

One weekend in January I taught Altered Photography to two groups of creative folks.

On Saturday I headed over to the Art Center of Battle Creek. It was my first time teaching at there and it was a positive experience. So, from noon to three on a freezing cold, blizzardy day, we played with photos, watercolors, pastels, markers and various distressing tools like sandpaper, awls, needles and texturing plates.

This is Donna. She had quite a few photos to choose from and worked wonderfully with her floral close ups. The one on the left was from a black and white photo. The one on the right has a wonderful background that was achieved by sanding over a textured polymer clay pattern plate.

This is Kari. She's a mom that needs her creative fix once in a while. Maintaining sanity is kind of important! She did a great job with quite a few of her photos. The one on the right was printed in black and white then she went in and highlighted the clothing by scratching in an outline/pattern. Adding color was the last step. The building on the right has a new background that is much more interesting than the original.

Here is the mom/daughter team of Kim and Morgan. While hard to see it in this photo, the picture of the lone person on the beach used to have two people in it. It amazes me that by using the simple techniques of sanding and painting, you can completely eliminate things in a photo. Morgan had fun giving her cat a spot of supreme importance. Of course, don't cats always think that they are of supreme importance?

This one and the following were created by Sandy. Sandy, an art educator for many, many years, is now working on her masters in digital photography. She took this class to see if there might be a good marriage between the two skill sets. Yes, indeed! It does have possibilities for a good marriage.

Many thanks ladies for taking the class. I'm so pleased with your results. I think those reading this will be happy to see what you accomplished in one short afternoon. Now, everybody, go make some more!

Lorrie

Jumping on the Blizzard Bandwagon

2011-02-03T23:19:00.002-05:00

Well, like so many others, I'm going to share my blizzard 2011 pictures. We were lucky here as the blizzard hit about 5 pm Tuesday, in time for most commuters to plan ahead and get home. The worst of it came overnight. And it was over by Wednesday mid-morning. We got about 12 inches. A lot of snow but certainly not historic.

We went to bed Tuesday night knowing that school was closed the following day so we actually got to sleep in. My husband works out of the home so he had to work but had no commuting worries. All in all, it worked out just dandy for us: we had food, we didn't lose electricity, there was no place that we absolutely had to get to, and the sun actually came out. The extra day at home with the kids today was plenty. I'm ready for normalcy again.

Our back deck.

Fire hydrant almost drifted over.

Yep, school's closed (for 2 days).

This giant snowblower/mini-tractor was like The Little Engine that Could. It kept getting stuck trying to clear a path at West Middle School. Eventually, he made...

this.

Daughter Claire enjoying her day off.

Deserted playground.

About 10:00 pm during prime blizzard-mania, my son and his crazy buddies ran screaming from our house to a neighbors (2 houses down). They were barefoot and wore only their bathing suits. Guess who they found already in the hot tub? My daughter and some of her friends. Many thanks to the Haworth's for this fun diversion!

And so we now move on through February with the hope of an early Spring!

Lorrie

One World, One Heart

2011-01-31T00:44:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. Welcome! Welcome! I'm Lorrie Grainger Abdo, paper artist, from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Today, the fun, crazy chaos of the One World, One Heart blogging event begins. Sure, it's a great way to enter tons and tons of great handmade item giveaways. But it's really a way to visit lots of blogs and find some that really speak to you. I hope you'll stay and take a look at what I'm up to, let me know that you're here, subscribe or at least come back as often as you can.

The Event:

Lisa Swifka, from A Whimsical Bohemian, is the creator and host of this event that started in 2007. She describes it best in her blog: "the original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way."

The Artist:

I am Lorrie Grainger Abdo. I make paper from 100% cotton linters. I also use various surface design techniques, like pulp painting, paste painting, resists, acrylics, texturing mediums, etc., on commercial papers to create papers with color, depth and interest. Of course, all this paper begs to be used! My current artistic directions are paper mosaics, which is a very controlled artistic experience. And, painting highly textured handmade papers which then are included in paintings on canvas or used on home decor items. This is much more intuitive and free. Working with both sides of the brain seems to be working for me right now. Regardless of brain function (or brain dysfunction!), my work is almost always full of color, color and more color.

The Giveaway:

My giveaway is a paper mosaic heart on a wood pedestal. It is about 8" tall and 5" wide. It's a sample of some of my more intricate mosaic work. This type of piece would usually sell for $20. Leave a comment and it could be yours.

Side one: could be front or back

Side two: could be front or back

The Rules:

* You must leave a comment on this post in order to be entered into my giveaway drawing.

* You must be a blogger in order to participate.

* Your comment must provide a way for me to contact you in case you win.

* I will pick a winner (random number choice) at 9:00 pm EST on Monday, February 15, 2010. Anyone that posts after 9:00 pm EST will not be included in the drawing. The winner will be notified that evening or the following morning.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I look forward to hearing from you today and, hopefully, in the future. To continue on your blogging journey you can click on the OWOH logo and find all kinds of other bloggers with great giveaway. Have fun and best of luck!

Lorrie

Hot Stuff for your Valentine

2011-01-24T14:19:00.001-05:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day I'm offering these two fun collages. They are 6" x 6", cradled on top of a 1 1/2" deep black frame. It's a nice presentation for a small, precious piece. For $30 each, one or both can be yours. Free shipping within the US.

This one cracks me up. Is she kissing him awake? Is she whispering sweet nothings? Or, is she politely but firmly saying "hey, get up, I want some."

Let me know if you're interested and I'll get it shipped out in time for February 14.

Lorrie

Book List for 2011

2011-01-17T13:11:00.006-05:00

Anybody that knows me well, knows that I love to read. Oftentimes this love gets shoved aside due to more pressing commitments, but I always go back to it eventually.

Reading is a great stress reliever for me. But, inevitably, the times of greatest stress leave little time to enjoy a good read. Kind of a problem. And, I don't read in bed. If a book is good enough for me to read then it means that it will not lull me to sleep. Just doesn't work that way for me. Lastly, on the subject of my reading habits, the library is my friend. I'll buy a book very occasionally but it has to be one that I might read again and again.

Since book lovers are always looking for their next great read (it is an addiction) it's always nice to share titles. So, in that spirit, I've decided to post all the books that I finish in 2011 on the sidebar to the right. I think, to keep it simple, I'm just going to list the books rather than give a commentary. Each book is listed with one to three ***. If a book gets three, it's a winner. Only one * and you can probably skip it. I'd imagine most will get two since I'm a hard grader.

I know this isn't an art related topic, but it's part of my life, and therefore you get to learn about it, like it or not. :) I'd love to hear about your best and brightest titles. Please, please, I really would.

Lorrie

PS. Kudos to Gera Scott Chandler for posting her book list and giving me the idea to put it on my blog too.

Altered Photography Workshop at the Battle Creek Art Center

2011-01-13T22:32:00.006-05:00

Listed on my sidebar is my Altered Photography Workshop that will be happening at the Art Center of Battle Creek (Michigan) on Saturday, January 22. I've not taught here before so I'm looking forward to meeting some new folks in a new venue. An art friend, Kelly Parker, became the Director of Programming at the BCAC last year and she's added a slate of new, fun classes/workshops. Happily, mine is included.

You can find information on the class to the right of this post. Or, you can go to: the Art Center of Battle Creek. Or, you can contact me and I'll try to answer whatever questions you have. There is a bit of prep (you must get some photos developed ahead of the class) for this, so if you're interested and have Saturday open, get yourself registered! You can register for the class online.
Here's a sample of the types of things we'll be doing:

Here are pictures of work done by past students:

Fun stuff! Come join me.

Lorrie

Thoughts on the New Year...

2011-01-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

A week into the new year and no pithy post from me about resolutions, thoughts for the new year, artwork underway, grand plans, etc. Instead I'm still catching up from last year. I'm buried. My To Do list is a mile long and is filled with stuff (a good share of it rather important) that got put on hold due to Christmas, our usual trip to NY to visit family and holiday art shows. Seems that each year my New Year starts around February 1 not January 1. I'm really looking forward to it.

I took this picture this morning on a back road to Timber Ridge. Child 1and Child 2 and buddies were dropped off there for a day of snowboarding/skiing. We've gotten a steady lake effect snowfall for the last several days. Unfortunately (in the kids' minds) it hasn't come fast and furious enough for a snow day. With the sun out right now, it's a gorgeous day.

Have a good weekend. My tree ornaments are calling me now. Love getting them out. Love it when they are put away.

Lorrie

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

Dear Art Buddies and All Around Good Eggs,

Thank you for being in my life and making it richer. I wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Lorrie

Signature Artists Cooperative Gallery Sale

2010-12-21T10:14:00.000-05:00

In May I was thrilled to jury into an area artists' coop. The group, Signature, meets monthly, has an annual exhibition and also opens a wonderful Gallery each December. The Gallery features the artwork of about 20 different artists. Incredible handmade gifts and artwork is available: jewelry, photography, pastels, ceramics, wood, stained glass, fiber, steel, blown glass, handmade paper, and paintings. If you still need that special something and live in southwest Michigan, check us out.

The picture is of my space on opening day. The work of pastel artist Melody Allen is beyond mine. I didn't take any pictures of the entire space because I wasn't sure about "permissions". Next year I will show you the whole store.

Hours for the remainder of the "run":

Tuesday - Thursday: 10 - 7

Christmas Eve: 10 - 3

Christmas Day: closed

December 26: 12 - 5

December 27: 12 - 7

We're located at 4644 West Main, Kalamazoo, MI 49006. The store is in the Westwood Plaza next to Coney Island. 269-382-4134.

For those of you that have already been there. Many thanks for coming and encouraging local artists with your presence and support.

Lorrie

Tis the Season

2010-12-11T21:59:00.001-05:00

Recently a collage artist and FB friend, Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, has been posting about her best friend from childhood having suffered paralysis from the shoulders down as a result of a car accident. The world of Cherie Stannard and her family has been turned upside down since September 30, 2010. In such a case, what's an artist to do? Cry? Of course. Then Elizabeth decided to try to help.

A book, called Art with Heart, has been created with the profits ($12 of each book) going to Cherie's family for her round-the-clock care. The wonderful art of about 50 different artists, from around the country, was donated for use in the book. You can take a look at it here:

Art with Heart by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson | Make Your Own Book

Yep, I'm in the book and am honored to be a small part in this effort. The peacock on the opening spread was created by Elizabeth.

This would be a great gift for an artist or the person on your list that has everything. You must order soon to get it by Christmas. If you're not in a holiday rush, this book will be available after Christmas too.

Thanks for looking.

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale

2010-12-07T12:24:00.001-05:00

I would judge this year's Handmade Paper Guild Holiday a success! We joined with the Kalamazoo Valley Potters, the Weaver's Guild and Art Etc. to put on a really nice holiday gift show the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Some challenges:

* We were in a new venue so we had to organize ourselves a bit better than usual ahead of time. I wasn't one of these organizer people so I'm very grateful to our Holiday Chairperson, Barb Stewart and her committee. One big change was that members had to commit to a table or two (or three or four) way ahead of time and stick to the commitment: no dropping out at the last minute because it would leave a big hole in the table layout.

* We were in a new venue, way across town from our usual spot, so our customers had to find us. The Weaver's have a big following so that certainly helped but our postcard to our mailing list seemed to do the trick. More advertising would certainly be a plus, but how to do it economically?

* We were in a new, much bigger, venue so we had lots of room to spread out but how to make it a bit cozy too? Thirty customers in this cavernous place made it seem like no customers were there at all. But, thirty customers at our old space made it seem like we were crazy busy.

* We were in a new venue but it is still located in Michigan: my lovely, but suffering, State with regard to most economic news. Enough said about this as I'm quite tired of hearing about it and the experts' guesses as to when it will be getting better.

Getting the idea that the new venue was a problem and an opportunity? Mostly opportunity, IMO, and I hope the groups decide to remain there for next year. My sales were about even with last year. (I haven't heard a total for the group yet.) It's not what I had hoped for but it wasn't down and I met some new wonderful people along the way. One gal from my yoga class that I didn't know beyond a smile and nod before each class, even made the effort to call me after the sale and tell me how much she and her daughter liked my work. Now that's a nice phone call to get!

This is my little corner of the world. Notice some of the work of the Potters behind my work.

This gives you a view of the work of one the Handmade Paper Guild artists as well as a look at the entire space. Big, big, big.

The soft lighting from the handmade paper lamps made by Liz Faust helped to cozy up the space a bit.

Many thanks to all that stopped by...

Lorrie

Blue Sunshine

2010-12-01T09:38:00.001-05:00

Look what's blooming in my garden today...

Of course, this fun side table is just on a flowery rug. In reality, we are getting our first snow of the season and roads are quite icy. Let's be careful out there!

The Handmade Paper Guild Show two weeks ago went well. In my next post I'll show some pictures. Then we immediately left for western New York for Thanksgiving. And now I'm working hard to get ready for a month-long Gallery Show with the Signature Artists Cooperative. I was thrilled to get juried into this 30-member group in May so this will be my first time participating in their annual Gallery Show. I have no idea if I have too much work or not enough. Plus there's always that whole thing about guessing what things will sell. Oh my!

I wish you a wonderful month of December filled with family, good food and wonderful thoughts. Something to strive for anyway...

Lorrie

Paper Mosaic Frenzy

2010-11-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale this weekend as well as the month-long Signature Gallery Shop I've been in a paper mosaic frenzy...

Picture frames and 10" x 10" mirrors...

More picture frames and 10" x 10" mirrors...

Some holiday stuff...

Some fun stuff...

Most prices range from about $10 to $50. I will have larger stuff available too but I don't have pictures of it all yet.

Back to the studio...

Lorrie

Robert Genn Post and My comment

2010-11-09T13:31:00.000-05:00

Two posts from me in one day? Unheard of, I know. But I'm all worked up about something and wanted any new visitors from Robert Genn's site to see the amazing variety of artwork possible with handmade paper (some of which was created in workshop settings). Anyway, I welcome you and hope you'll look around!

Ok, back it up a bit...

Today in his weekly newsletter artist, and all-around-good-art-guy Robert Genn, responded to Tom Bennick, a paper artist who asked why his work, that was partially made in workshops, could not be included in a show. It starts:

Recently, Tom Bennick of Mountain Home, Idaho wrote, "I'm a paper artist belonging to a small art group that puts on a couple of shows a year. Some of our members are adamant about not showing work that is done in a classroom. Much of my work is partly done in a workshop or class setting and because of this I'm not allowed to show. I completely understand that work needs to be juried, but what's this classroom thing all about?"

Robert's reply to the "What's this classroom thing all about?" was:

Tom, your exclusion from shows is a function of your group and not a reflection of your processes. You can urge change within your group--or you can get out and take your paper and equipment with you. If you still want to be a joiner, I'll bet there's another group who will welcome you. You may have to drive down US 20 to Boise. It's an unfortunate fact that some art clubs and guilds, including both big city and small town ones (Mountain Home, formerly Rattlesnake Station, has an Air Force base and population of 12,000) can be downright draconian and inhibiting, often loaded with outdated attitudes and shibboleths.

The enemy of growth is dogma. Groups should be classrooms of free energy and joy, where all flags may fly, and even sketches done in the back seat of a jet trainer may be juried "in."
Best regards,
Robert

Most of the comments so far are disagreeing with Robert on this one. I think it is because they are primarily painters and fear that all students in a workshop will be painting the same still life and then the possibility crops up of having several of those paintings appear in a show. What's more, the paintings will be in the style of the workshop teacher, not the painter. I know this happens, especially as the whole copyright boundaries continue to blur. I'm not denying that it can be a sticky issue.

However, I felt that I had to speak up for all the papermakers out there and here is what I wrote in the comment section:

Please make note that Tom is a paper artist, not a painter. This means that he probably uses some fairly specific equipment in a workshop setting that, perhaps, is not available to him in his studio or home. Yes, workshops are teaching venues, but they are also opportunities to explore, share, stretch and do some great work. This is especially true in the paper arts where you can have 20 people in the workshop making paper but doing 20 completely different things with the result. We're not talking about a situation where all 20 participants are doing a pastel portrait of the same person.

Tom, I'd suggest you make your group aware of the type of workshops you are attending so that they understand the difference. Then, if your group is not amenable to change then the advice is good: find another group. For example, The Handmade Paper Guild, Kalamazoo, MI is one of only two Guilds in the country specific to handmade paper. We have not limited our two annual shows by excluding work done in a workshop. And, guess what? I've never seen two things at all similar or anything included that is sub par. Join our group! However, the commute for the monthly meetings, might be a bit tough!

Since pictures (although these aren't necessarily great pictures) are more telling than words, I'll get on with it.

by Lorrie Grainger Abdo

by Vicki Berglund

by Liz Faust

Setting up the recent show.

by Alice Breese

by Dale Menz

by Eve Reid

by Judy Finnegan

If you'd like to read the entire post by Robert Genn and learn more about his helpful and interesting newsletters go here.

If you'd like to read the post about the most recent Handmade Paper Guild exhibition, and see additional pictures, go here.

And, I'd be curious about your stance on this issue. How do your groups handle it?

All the best.

Lorrie

Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale - November 18, 19 and 20

2010-11-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

The annual Handmade Paper Guild Holiday Sale is fast approaching. We always have lots of wonderful artwork and gifts available at a variety of prices. You can find journals, cards, stationery, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, lamps, picture frames, mirror frames, gift boxes, scrap packs, and artwork all made from handmade paper. It's quite an assortment!

Some good news this year:

* We are once again showing our work along with the Kalamazoo Weaver's Guild! This makes for a wonderful opportunity to see and purchase work by area weavers, as well as by papermakers, potters and a variety of area artists that display with Art Etc., all under one roof. Plenty of parking too.

* To accommodate the four groups, we're at a new, larger location. Come find us at the Kalamazoo County Fairground, 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, MI.

The show is Thursday, November 18 from 5 to 8; Friday, November 19 from 9 to 8; and Saturday, November 20 from 9 to 4.

Here are some pictures from past sales...

Hope to see all you locals there!

Lorrie

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T12:25:00.001-04:00

It's a beautiful day to get some of those leaves raked up. And, it looks like it will turn into a great evening for my three trick or treaters. I've got one multi-colored little bird, a ragdoll and a "yet-to-be-determined". Hope you have some fun today too!

Lorrie

The Life of a Sheet of Paste Painted Paper

2010-10-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

A good deal of my time lately has been painting sheets of 18" x 24" sheets of paper using the paste painting techniques that I love so.

The fall weather here in Michigan has been glorious (instead of the usual cold, rainy days that we frequently get in late October) so I can work in the garage, not freeze, and then clean up with the hose and not freeze. I do believe, however, that those days are behind me and I will soon be stuck in the basement using the table under the stairs and the stained utility tub that is next to the sump pump. Not the most inspiring environment.

Here's a sampling of the 50+ sheets that were painted.

Trim edges. Cut down to 5" x 8 1/2" inches. Fold. Count out envelopes. Package up with raffia. Label and price each package. Doesn't seem like too much until you try to do 50 sheets, then it's a back breaker. I think I'm going to look into having a printer do the cutting. Each package of 8 cards is $12. Now that you know what love and effort goes into each little package, it's quite a bargain, don't you think? :)

Here are some of the trimmed off bits. I used to throw most of these away. The stuff in our recycling bin was the prettiest in the neighborhood! It just about killed me to throw all these away. But I could only make so many bookmarks and the piles of scraps continued to grow into a mountain! Then, I started working with paper mosaics and the rest (as they say) "is history".

Here are some paper mosaic composite sheets made with the scraps from the larger paste painted sheets. Almost every little piece of the large sheet is used, each and every time.

With the holiday season just around the corner, these will probably be made into picture or mirror frames.

Lorrie

Current Exhibition - Better Homes and Gardens

2010-10-18T09:00:00.003-04:00

I was asked to exhibit my work at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church, Portage, MI. I was pleased with the offer and gladly accepted.

Here is the Artist Statement for the show titled Better Homes and Gardens:

Lorrie Grainger Abdo is a local paper artist. One July weekend in 1995 she took a papermaking workshop in northern Wisconsin and it changed her life. Inspired by the textural possibilities of the medium she began exploring different ways to push paper pulp to its structural limits yet maintaining a 2D format. Adding bright paint highlights the hills and valleys of the paper texture. Recently she has begun to use various painting techniques and canvas to progress further with handmade paper.

Additionally, she works extensively with paste paint. This is a surface design technique that she uses on commercial papers. These papers have movement and infinite possibilities. The papers are turned into paper mosaic art pieces as well as for home decor accents.

The show Better Homes and Gardens combines her handmade paper artwork and paper mosaic home decor pieces. She often uses the graphic shape of a house in her work as well as simplistic flower forms. These basic forms, while childlike, inspire powerful memories for those living in the adult world.

From left to right: Heavy House, Hopeful House, Hell House, Healthy House and Harmony House. Each is 100% cotton fiber and acrylic paints. Each measures about 2' x 4'.

The house form on these is handmade paper, the background on each is a paste painted sheet of commercial paper. The one second from the left sold during the show. Others are awaiting a good home: maybe yours?

These are paper mosaic pieces, each measuring about 9" x 12". It's hard to take decent pictures of artwork when it has a high gloss finish coat.

The mosaic wall.

These are small, about 9" x 12". I'm showing you these because they incorporate handmade paper (the flowers) on a textured canvas.

I took more pictures but they are too terrible (glare, blurry, etc.) to show you. Instead, I'd like to share with you something that they have on the alter of the church. It is a large, multi-panel screen that is decorated with...

tiny paper pieces. What are the odds of that? Apparently this was done by church members. Various commerical papers (mostly magazines and scrap) were used. I think it's lovely.

The show has already been up for about a month and comes down on Monday, October 25. If you'd like to see it before then, let me know.

Lorrie

Flower Paper Mosaic Mirror

2010-10-11T09:00:00.001-04:00

This mirror was fun to make and I'm very pleased to say that it sold to a local art friend: Angela Hoffman. Angela is one of the Altered Sisters here in Kalamazoo. We meet monthly and share our work, our ideas and techniques. I took this to a recent meeting to show everyone and she decided that she had to have it. Nice to have friends like that!

It is pretty big, measuring almost three feet from petal tip to petal tip. The actual mirror is about 10 inches across. There are at least 7 different mosaic patterns in this piece and more than 12 different paste painted patterns were used.

A close up of one of the petals.

I hope Angela and her family will enjoy it for many years to come.

Lorrie

Art Prize 2010

2010-10-04T13:48:00.002-04:00

An amazing free event is going on right now in Grand Rapids, MI. It's called Art Prize and it has invaded the city like nothing I've ever seen before. As you stroll around town, I guarantee that there are many, many people there that have NEVER gone to any type of art event ever. It is getting the average Joe interested in art rather than just having the usual artists and art lovers attend. People of all ages were swarming over the city.

It has been compared to American Idol because the viewers vote on the "winners". This means that the most "artistic" piece might not make it to the top but the most "appealing or impactful" piece might. That's ok with me because we get to enjoy it all. With over 1300 entries, the work is up all over the downtown area. If you can get there before it all comes down on October 10, do so. You won't be disappointed.

Here are pictures that I took of some of my favorites. I'm sorry that I didn't make note of the names of the artists or the titles of their pieces. Lots to show you so this will be a long post!

This was my favorite of everything that I saw. It made it into the Top 25 but not the Top 10 so it is out of the money. Can you tell what it is made out of? The artist, from Olympia, WA is a fiber artist. The entire, ginormous piece is felt!

A close up of the piece.

A full size coffin made out of thousands of cigarette butts. Notice the cigar handles.

This artist made the Top 10 last year with his entry of a moose. This year he also made the Top 10 with a savanna scene. There is a lioness and her cubs outside the picture. It is all made from welded nails. I liked the moose better.

I can't believe that I got a picture of this with only one viewer blocking the the work. Usually there were so many people in front of this you had to wait your turn to get close. This entire piece, picturing a WW1 Calvary troop, was drawn with a pencil. The sheer size of it is impressive and the drawing skills required are substantial. However, by the 20th guy, I'd have thought the artist would be wondering when this thing would be finished! This is in the Top 10.

A close up.

I find it odd that with my love of color, some of my favorites were done with only black pencil. This elephant made me laugh. I stood in front of it quite a long time. Notice the sneakers, the belt, the hair pick, the bling, the hat, the expression.

Creepy huh?

These guys were either getting ready to jump the little rabbit and have him for dinner or were very intent on protecting him.

This is a Top 10 piece. Huge, impressive, all made from glass.

A close up.

Also a Top 10 piece. This artist is from Florida and obviously used local materials. This was a commentary on the BP oil disaster and the fragility of the life cycle.

Here it is in its entirety. Can you see the wonderful things emerging from the branches? A turtle, fish, coral and other water life on the bottom and land animals as you work toward the top.

I'd like to be able to paint in this style. This artist set up a working studio so that people could watch him paint.

This was titled "The Gatherer". I'm not sure why I liked this one as he certainly isn't pretty but it has lots of emotion. This was created by Brent Harris of Kalamazoo.

If you'd like more information you can go to ArtPrize. Also, here are my write ups on last year's inaugural event, ArtPrize 2009 and ArtPrize Quiz and Grand Prize Winner. The Quiz is a fun lesson on using everyday materials in different ways: always a good topic for me!

Lorrie

Altered Photography with the Altered Sisters - Honorary Member for a Day

2010-09-24T11:00:00.001-04:00

Here's another post about the altered photography play session with the Altered Sisters. School was out at the time so I brought along my 11-year-old. She had great fun playing around with the pens, inks, watercolors and scratching tools. Here are her results...

Sculpture in Seattle

Turning her brother into a court jester on the soccer field.

Dash Abdo

Pelican on Marco Island

Our beloved Taylor looking like she has never looked before! I really like what Alicia did with the palm tree trunk.

Altering photos can be a successful effort for creative people of almost any age. Go for it.

Lorrie

Altered Photography with the Altered Sisters

2010-09-21T08:00:00.007-04:00

by Jeme Baker

Recently, it was my turn to teach a technique at our monthly Altered Sisters meeting. Everyone seemed enthused when I showed some of my altered photography results a few months ago so that became my gig for the morning.

It must have been a successful meeting and technique because for the first time in recent memory, even the die-hard lunch goer-outers didn't go. We stayed working and playing for a couple of hours.

As is typical for me, I forgot to take pictures during the time we were together. But, I do have some of the results of the morning from a couple of the Sisters. Hand altering photography is such fun and offers great potential to turn even bad photos into something really cool.

So, now, please enjoy the work of Jeme Baker, Lynn Contos, Joanne Huffman and Cathwren Warner.

by Jeme Baker

by Lynn Contos

by Joanne Huffman

Self Portrait by Cathwren Warner

by Cathwren Warner

I think these are just amazing. Dig out those photos folks and see what you can do with them!

Lorrie

Paper Mosaic Mirror Frame - Matt and Rachelle

2010-09-16T08:50:00.001-04:00

Our nephew, Matt Monroe, got married this summer in Huntington, West Virginia. That's a new pin on the US map for us. The weekend was lovely because family came from all over the eastern half of the country to enjoy one another's company and wish the bridal couple well.

I made a mirror for them that I hope they'll enjoy. They chose the colors and tell me that they have a place to hang it. Blues are definitely my comfort colors so this came easy (but not necessarily quick) to me and I was happy with the result.

Close up of corner. There are about eight to ten different patterns/shades of blue in the mosaics for this piece.

As far as the actually wedding and reception goes...

This is a close up of one of the contemporary stain glass windows in the church. I like the seemingly random placement of the colors. Of course, it isn't random at all.

Since we don't often dress up (we're more of a shorts and T-shirt kind of family), here's what we look like when we've cleaned up.

Aaron and Cousin Alex from Virginia made their own fun.

Lorrie

Me Again

2010-09-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

Well, I see that it has only been three months since my last post. Wait a minute. What?!?! Yes, Lorrie, it's true. The World Cup and the associated Crayon Sculptures, which were the topic of my last post on June 14, is distant memory.

Abdo Summer 2010: we road-tripped, we stayed home, we were busy. Summer has come and gone and I didn't blog once. In June and July this worried me and kind of hung over my head. In August the worry turned to a bit of a relief. For September I'm back to wanting to share.

Ready to venture out again. I hope you'll still hang with me.

Lorrie

Soccer and Art/Art and Soccer

2010-06-14T00:37:00.001-04:00

It's not very often that my two main worlds, Art and Soccer, collide. But today, thanks to a tip from one of my Altered Sisters, Lynn, I can say that they do.

If you read my blog you know that I try hard to keep it focused on my art. Of course, personal stuff does creep in every once in a while: married, 3 kids, Michiganian, etc. Here's a bit more. My kids are all athletes, with soccer being their main love. We travel all over the state, Midwest, and as far as Florida, to watch our kids play. My husband is a licensed coach/ref and is in charge of a very talented group of 11-year-olds. I am the team manager for my 13-year-old's team and coordinate lots of stuff associated with the team. We used to coach/manage our son's team too but he's at a level way, way beyond where we can help. It's all a bit crazy.

Unless you've been living in a hole, you know that the World Cup just started in South Africa. My son has already gone through every frozen pizza in the house sitting in the red chair in front of the TV watching game after game after game. (Other than the US/England game, I haven't been watching and try to tune out the constant noise makers.)

OK, finally, here's the art/soccer connection...

by Diem Chau

These carved crayons were made by Diem Chau. On her blog, The Pleasure of Tiny Things, she posts lots of pictures so you can see these in better detail and find out more about her and her work. She was commissioned by Wieden + Kennedy to carve 66 crayons for this year's Nike World Cup press kits. There are pictures of these elaborate press kits too. Quite something!

Soccer enthusiasts, can you guess the players?

Robinho in Silver
Cristiano Ronaldo in White
Fabio Cannavaro in Antique Brass
Wanye Rooney in Timberwolf
Didier Drogba in Copper
Franck Ribery in Gold

I have no idea what tools she uses to get such incredible detail in these tiny carvings. I also have no idea how she has the patience and stamina to huddle over the crayon to get it accomplished. I do know, though, that I'll leave these tiny wonders to her and do my part instead which is basically this: Go USA!

Lorrie

Artist Spotlight - Ingrid Dijkers

2010-06-08T11:19:00.001-04:00

It's time for another Artist Spotlight so prepare to be inspired and amazed!

Ingrid Dijkers is a Michigan artist. Our paths haven't crossed for very long but I'm certainly glad that they have now. I love her colors. I love the intricacies of her work. I've always thought that bookbinders are special people because they must have the capacity to be creative as well as very precise hand skills in order for their work to work. Using both sides of the brain all the time. That is quite a talent!

She will be doing some teaching very soon (check her blog) so you could meet and learn from her in person.

Hands by Ingrid Dijkers

Where are you from? And, where do you live now?

I was born in Breda in the Netherlands. At a young age my parents and I immigrated to Canada. Later I moved to Georgia, England, Brazil and finally settled in Michigan, which has been my home ever since. Currently, I live in Plymouth, Michigan, a beautiful small historical town.

What is your art education?
I have a degree in the Fine Arts, but consider my real education to have come from my parents and my upbringing. With both parents having Masters Degrees in the Fine Arts, I was brought up with a love for the Arts and travel. It has always been a lifestyle I appreciated and have been thankful for.

Have you always been an artist or are you “new” to it?

As I mentioned, it’s something I have always been exposed to. I have been very fortunate to have had a very supportive family and a husband that bends over backwards to help me all he can. While often what I do seems a bit strange and weird to him, all I have to do is remind him that my Father warned him when he ask for my hand in marriage … he just smiles and agrees. I know I am very fortunate and am very grateful for all this.

What is your specialty? And, have you always worked in this medium?
For the past 20 years I have been mostly a contemporary doll maker and worked as a shop owner and Artisan for the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Throughout my life I have explored weaving, pottery, painting, collage, jewelry, and wearable art. However, at the moment my specialty is visual art journals. I have become truly passionate about making and sharing them, to the point that I have put my lovely Renaissance Festival shop up for sale. This was a very difficult decision, one I agonized over for about 2 years. I can’t make dolls, be a shop owner AND make and teach journaling.

Meters by Ingrid Dijkers

What does your work space look like? What would your ideal workspace look like?

Hmmm, that’s something I’d rather embarrassed about. While I have beautifully designed workspace and stations for different types of work, and lots of storage for materials and supplies, I claim to have too little space. I tend to drag everything around the house (inside and out and in my car) with me and I tend to leave a trail of mess. I actually am a very organized person, however I always seem to have too many ideas and too little time … putting everything back in it’s proper place ranks rather low on my list of priorities. I still like to blame it all on a lack of space, but in my heart I know that if I had a 10,000 square foot warehouse to store everything thing in I would have the same problem…. just on a larger scale.

It seems you've been teaching quite a bit lately. What is it that you like about teaching and how does it influence your work?

I absolutely love sharing what I have learned through trial and error with others. It provides a degree of satisfaction that I have rarely felt before. As I add more workshops that I can teach to my list, I hope to begin teaching more. Admittedly, I am very surprised at the amount of prep work involved with setting up proposals and gathering all the necessary supplies. I hadn’t quite figured on all that in the beginning, but it goes along with it and I am beginning to simplify a lot of it all with experience. I have found that teaching has added a whole new dimension to my work. I now keep in mind how I would be able to adapt what I am working on to a class room situation. It is often quite a challenge, but one I truly enjoy.

Alice In Wonderland Tunnel Book by Ingrid Dijkers

Do you have any special art tips for others?

I get a lot of emails asking how to get started with making journals, saying they can’t afford all the expensive supplies. I also see a lot of people (especially beginners) getting caught up on rushing out and spending lots and lots of money for very expensive supplies and gadgets. I really don’t find this necessary. In fact, I have found that a lot of people end up being intimidated by expensive materials, are afraid of messing up and actually find it crippling. Now, only after years of working on Altered Books and Journals, have I justified and purchased many of the better art supplies. I really don’t think it has made my work any better. I still think my best work has always come from the scraps I find in the trash can and a pack of markers I bought in the kiddy section at my local discount store. Don’t get me wrong, I love some of my better supplies and enjoy using them, I just don’t think it’s necessary to get started.

Alice In Wonderland Tunnel Book by Ingrid Dijkers

Into the Crypt by Ingrid Dijkers

What inspires you?

Just about and everything. I could never make a complete list.

When you're not making art, what are you doing?

Answering emails, trying to get get caught up on paper work, working out details for a future project, updating my website and blog. Sometimes I’ll do a bit of laundry.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I have found that one passion always slowly morphs into another. I never know what direction my work will lead and I rather enjoy that. I am never bored, I just keep finding more options to explore. I just go along for the ride and enjoy the process. For now my passion is visual art journaling and sharing that, but this too will evolve over time as all my work has through out my life.

Soon an article about my Journal “Over the Edge” will be featured in Art Journaling Magazine (scheduled for the Summer 2010 issue) and an article about my Artist Trading Cards will appear in ATC Quarterly (scheduled for June 2010).

How can you be contacted about your work?
My work and teaching schedule can be seen on my website and blog.

http://www.ingriddijkers.com/

http://www.ingriddijkers.blogspot.com/

And, I can be emailed at Dijkers@ameritech.net or Ingrid@IngridDijkers.com

Many thanks to Ingrid for letting us into her world for a bit. She might be teaching in your area. Check out her blog for her soon-to-be whereabouts, including the big kahuna of journaling, Journal Fest in Port Townsend, Washington.

Lorrie

Paper Mosaic Mirror Frame - Julie and Marc's

2010-06-01T08:44:00.000-04:00

Continuing on with stuff related to my friend's wedding, here is the wedding gift. This mirror may look familiar as it was done with the same colors as the mirror I just hung at the Haworth home. However, this mirror is a slightly different size and is actually a frame with a mirror in it so it hangs on a wire/nail rather than getting screwed into the wall.

Two weekends ago, while in the Detroit area for a soccer tournament, I showed this particular mirror to a gallery. It was a horribly wet and cold weekend and I walked in (with an appointment) wearing a winter coat, rain boots, wet straggly hair and basically looking a mess. I had just enough time to stop in between games and tried to make the most of it. Anyway, the gallery is in Brighton, is called The Artisan's Bench, and they want some of these babies! I'm now in the market for well built frames/mirrors with a 3" to 4" flat profile. I would have thought it would be easy but no. Any ideas/sources?

Lorrie

Paper Mosaics - Green Basketweave

2010-05-27T12:18:00.002-04:00

While I was painting the book I showed you in the last post I did lots of extra sheets in shades of green for use in paper mosaics. There are so many steps when making paper mosaics that I'm truly afraid to count the hours in a completed piece!

Have a great holiday weekend. As with most of our April, May, June weekends, my family will be at the soccer fields with 10 games for sure (potentially 13) for our 3 kids. Craziness!

Lorrie

Paste Paper Wedding Guest Book

2010-05-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

One of my best friends got married Saturday. It was the second time around for both bride and groom and marks the beginning of two families joining together not just two people. The ceremony, in a monastery chapel with huge windows overlooking a beautiful valley covered with trees, was everything it needed to be: special, elegant, and heart-felt. The reception, held at Genitti's Hole-in-the-Wall had, as you might guess, a more fun, casual feel to it. The bride asked me to make the guest book. With the less formal feel in mind, I made the following book...

First, I paste painted a large sheet of Fabriano paper. One side has lines of varying widths that act as guides for the guests to write on. The other side is painted in the same colors but has no discernible texture to it. Her daughter and sister wore green attendant dresses so that's where all the green comes from. The color of the dresses and the book is a light "celery" color.

I kept it pretty simple as the words from the guests on the inside are the most important part of the book.

This is the picture she gave me to work with. Nice of the two of them but a not-so-great background. I sanded the background over a textured printing plate and then scratched into the background with an awl. Then came watercolor and oil pastels. Finally it was sprayed with a fixative.

On the inside front cover the Irish Wedding Blessing was printed on a sheet of vellum and then tucked into the folded cover. The folded part, on the left, is glued down and holds the vellum in place.

For the structure I used Teesha Moore's wonderful 16-page-book-from-one-sheet-of-paper directions. You can see the video here. I had to change Teesha's directions to fit the dimensions of my paper so this book was not a vertical 8" x 10 but about a horizontal 9" x 7". This structure worked really well as the book could lie flat when open so people could write in it without the cover getting in the way. While not a typical, "sign here" type of guest book, it fit the occasion. Guests were able to write a prayer, a wish or some light-hearted advice where ever they wanted in the the book, including tucked away under the gatefolds.

Their day was beautiful and I hope their new life together is too. They deserve it.

Lorrie

Jerry's Artarama Art Tip Contest

2010-05-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

I submitted an art tip at Jerry's Artarama. They then chose eight to be in the running for a $250 gift certificate. I'm one of the eight! $250 can buy a lot of paint, paper, canvas, etc. Please take a minute and help me win by voting by May 26 at: Jerry's Artarama

My tip is about using acrylic paint and a heat gun to raise bubbles and make interesting textures. There are a couple of other good tips there too (but don't vote for them). :)

You don't have to sign up for anything or give any contact info. For those that are inclined to vote lots and lots of times: thanks very much. But this contest only allows each voter one vote. I'll take all the one votes I can get! Pass it on...

Lorrie

Taylor Grainger

2010-05-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

Three years gone...

But, kept alive through our memories and Team Taylor, a biking group that raises money for Make-A-Wish kids in Michigan.

Lorrie

Paper Mosaic Mirror Frame - Haworth family

2010-05-10T10:04:00.000-04:00

A friend and neighbor hosts an amazing art party each November. She invites five to nine artists to invade her home, pound nails in her walls and show their work for one evening. Lots of people ready to drink wine, chat with friends and spend money attend this four-hour whirlwind event. A portion of the sales goes to a charity that has been chosen ahead of time. It's a win-win for everyone. And, what does the hostess get in return for her efforts? She gets a piece of art from each of the participating artists. You can bet that her home has lots of cool artwork!

Here's the journey of the half bath mirror frame that I made for the Haworth family of Kalamazoo, Michigan...

The existing mirror is glued to the wall with no frame around it so my dad and I bought wood at a Big Box and made the 2' x 3' frame ourselves. Several trips to measure, to make sure it was right, ensued. The frame was painted with a primer then black.

Claudia's home is tastefully done primarily in earth tones so my uber-bright colors don't always work well there. I made lots of 18" x 24" sheets of brown, terra cotta, cream and tan sheets of paste papers. Some have a bit of metallic shimmer too. This reminded me that I can work in brown, even though I seldom do.

The sheets of paste paper got cut down into mosaics. Here they are drying after being coated with Mod Podge. The kitchen table didn't see any meals for several days throughout this whole thing.

Rather than just covering the mirror frame with one mosaic style, my intent was to use all the different mosaic styles and colors on the one frame. Lots of scissor work, glue and time. Oh, did I mention lots of time?

Here's a close up of one of the corners. You might notice that the circle at the top has a hole in it. I had to somehow allow a way to get the mirror frame attached to the wall. These holes are where the screws will go. They will be covered with half inch wooden plugs. Pretty ingenious, huh?

When the frame was finished, I put three coats of a varnish on. This is important for lots of reasons but mainly because it will be used in a bathroom with moisture around.

Ta Da! Installed!

After it was screwed into the wall, I caulked around the mirror with a clear caulk to keep any moisture from getting between the frame and the mirror.

Wow, what a project! The Haworth family is really happy with their new bathroom mirror. I'm really happy with the results too and fully expect to be doing more of these in the future. Claudia has offered that anyone in the Kalamzoo area interested in seeing it up close and personal is very welcome to do so. Contact me at lorrieabdo@aol.com to set up an appointment and discuss fees. Or, if you know her, you are welcome to go directly to her.

Lorrie

Basketweave Paper Mosaic Pattern #2

2010-05-05T10:42:00.000-04:00

Here's try #2 on the basketweave pattern with paste paper strips. Each square is one inch. Once you get a rthymn going, it moves along pretty quickly. Well, I guess "quickly" isn't quite the right word. Let's just say it goes faster than "slowly". I have a plan for all this pink...

You can see try #1, in shades of brown, in my March 21st post.

Lorrie

Artist Spotlight - Nancy Donaldson

2010-04-30T11:51:00.000-04:00

I've been following Nancy Donaldson at All Pulped Out/The Evolution of Nancy for about a year and a half now. Like most of the blogs/art I like, I typically pop in every once in a while, enjoy myself and move on. A rather selfish approach really. But, when Nancy made a blog post with the title "I Love Texture", I knew I had found my next Artist Spotlight interview. I hope you'll enjoy her words, her art and absorb some of her enthusiam. (Special bonus for you lovers of Paris: she just got back from a trip and has posted lots of photos on her blog.) Please read/enjoy here. Please read/enjoy there.

Where are you from? And, where do you live now?
I was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada-- which is just a mile across the river from Detroit. When I graduated college in 1982 I moved to Toronto which is just 365 km up the highway northeast from Windsor.

What is your art education?
I have my degree in interior design. Architectural drafting and the history of art and design were my two favorite classes. I've taken many classes here in Toronto, at Art and Soul, and at Art Unraveled.

Have you always been an artist or are you “new” to it?
For as long as I can remember I've been creating some form of craft or art.

My grandmother started me when I was just about four. I learned how to sew with a darning needle and yarn around a paper plate, before I knew it I was making clothes for all my Barbies. I was crocheting when I was seven and had my own sewing machine when I was ten, revamping all my clothes as I grew really tall at a young age. At the same time my grandfather (who was an electrician and I was his "helper") taught me how to construct things out of anything we could find. It was my first attempt at assemblage.

In school I loved trying anything new including making all the bulletin board displays, creating projects for class, and drawing buildings in perspective. When I moved to Toronto I always took night classes in different forms of art, from still life drawing, japanese painting, watercolour, collage-- just to name a few.

What is your specialty?
I enjoy creating. Anything.

I've always wanted to know how things are done and so have tried just about every craft. I have a huge collection of paper and found objects and love mixed media. I also love photography and incorporating my photos in my work. I've been learning and discovering Photoshop for five years. In the fall of 2008 I started encaustic classes at the Toronto School of Art and have been hooked ever since. I love that I can combine everything I have learned so far with this medium.

Please describe your work.
It's me! I'm not sure how else to describe it.

As a papermaker, I was drawn immediately to your site because of the title All Pulped Out, yet you're not a papermaker. Tell me about the blog title.
My website is All Pulped Out. I've always loved paper and started making papier mache in the early '90's. I was making a lot of home decor items and was enjoying it very much. I made my own pulp, sculpted each item, added wire, and painted or decoupaged each piece. By '96 I was attending a huge craft show and needed to make a ton of work so I invited all my girlfriends to my house for a "margarita" party and asked them each to bring a blender. Well before you knew it, drinks and pulp where flying everywhere. At the end of the night I was taking a break and one of my friends said "Hey, get back to work" and I replied "I'm all pulped out" and she said, "That's it! That's your name!"

Since then my art has evolved. I work in collage, mixed media, assemblage and jewelry as well as concentrating lately on my digital work and encaustic. My blog became The Evolution of Nancy because my art is always evolving.

What does your work space look like?
Organized chaos. I've spread out into four rooms of the house and taken over several closets.

What would your ideal workspace look like?
A huge room, maybe 20 by 30, with a large window on either end overlooking nature and hopefully some water. It would have two walls of shelves filled with supplies and several large tables in the middle. There would be an office at one end, a lounge area at the other and maybe include a small kitchen.

What inspires you?
Everything!!!

When you're not making art, what are you doing?
My day job is a hair stylist, which is creative. I take photos anywhere I go. I love digging in my garden, going to flea markets and garage sales and hanging out with my friends.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?
My art is my meditation, my therapy. When I create, the external world drifts away and I'm free to concentrate on what is in front of me. I never know where my art is going to take me, but I enjoy the journey and look forward to the many experiences yet to come.

How can you be contacted about your work?

Email: nancy_allpulpedout@yahoo.com
Blog: The Evolution of Nancy
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancydonaldson/
Encaustic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26191877@N06/

Many thanks to Nancy for visiting with us. We all should remember to continue to evolve artistically and personally.

Lorrie

New Paper Mosaic Sheets

2010-04-26T11:54:00.000-04:00

On Friday, after working my last-fundraiser-ever at the elementary school, I got moving on some paper mosaic sheets. As usual, the papers that I use are sheets of commercial tagboard that I paste paint on. These will be made into picture frames, mirror frames and the other home decor items.

Lorrie

Andrea Peterson Workshop - My Pulp Painting Results

2010-04-22T08:17:00.000-04:00

Continuing with the Andrea Peterson workshop... here is my work from the pulp painting frenzy. None of these are finished. But, all (I think) have potential...

Poured pulp and a little brush work. This was the last one I did of the day and it took me about 5 minutes. I think it has the most potential. Don't you think that I'd learn one day that the stuff I labor and fuss over is usually less good?

Playing with orange.

1. Pull white sheet. 2. Pour blues and purple. 3. Use stencil for flower blossom. 4. Use dental syringe for orange squiggles. 5. Wrinkles are bugging me.

This one was also toward the end of the day. I used mostly leftover colors just to get ride of them. Fence stencil used on the bottom.

Poured background, drips made by flinging pulp with a spoon tip, brushed on brown pulp over a stencil.

I made the fence stencil during the workshop. Original photo is from our trip to Monticello last year.

Next steps on all of these is probably to go back in with pastels and/or ink. We'll see.

Andrea's studio, Hook Pottery Paper in LaPorte, IN, is not far from here and several Guild members and I hope to made a road trip this summer to see her set-up (she uses sustainable art practices whenever possible) and spend more time with this really cool lady.

Lorrie

Andrea Peterson Workshop

2010-04-19T11:37:00.003-04:00

The Handmade Paper Guild typically brings in one or two artists each year for a workshop. Sometimes we focus on surface design, other times bookbinding, papier mache, or another paper-related technique. But this year it was back to our roots: handmade paper. We enjoyed the company and knowledge of papermaker Andrea Peterson of LaPorte, IN. She is amazing! I'm very happy to have met her and benefit from her expertise. The workshop, with 13 Guild members, was held at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.

The workshop was all about pulp painting. I'm not talking about just squirting overbeaten pulp from a ketchup bottle onto a freshly pulled sheet of paper (although we did that). She talked about the chemistry of it all (and made it interesting). She demonstrated how to color the pulp with pigments and retention aid so that the pulp was really highly saturated. We then each had to try to match a paint chip so that not only was the color correct but it didn't bleed either (sounds easy, it's not). Then big fun: using stencils, paint brushes, titanium white, dental syringes, spoons, cups, ketchup bottles, spray misters and other tools, we experimented. Into the press and then voila, finished masterpieces. Ok, I'm getting carried away. No masterpieces maybe, but all good tries anyway.

Here are sample colors. I mixed the orange. You can see how the bottom left blob is bleeding so more retention aid was added until the bleeding stopped.

The cups of colored pulp that became our pallete. We used white, buff and gray sheets as our base.

Sally, Lauren, Judy, Alice and Sally working away...

Pouring pulp and using a brush to paint the pulp on the surface.

Preparing to use a stencil.

Barb and MaryJo pulling sheets out of the press.

An experimental group project where each person made a mark of some kind with the color that they had mixed.

At the end of a long, productive day...

Andrea Peterson, instructor

Eve Reid, founder of Handmade Paper Guild and Andrea's hostess

Sally Rose, professor at Central Michigan University

Lorrie Grainger Abdo, workshop coordinator

Can you tell that it was more than a full day and we all went home exhausted? Many, many thanks to Andrea for a great day. I'll show you my results from the experience in the next post...

Lorrie

Armand Merizon

2010-04-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

Armand Merizon, 90, a great Michigan painter with international fans and collectors died earlier this month. At his memorial service last week some of his paintings from the family collection were on display and they are awesome. Not awesome in the typical teenager use of the word. But awesome in the way the word is intended to be used: invoking awe. The memorial was a beautiful tribute as the speakers came from the various paths that he walked in his life: his art, his family, his faith. He always said that if he couldn't paint he would die. While certainly not a medical explaination, in the end, that's what happened.

Armand was my uncle. My dad's sister's husband. In his prime he was a large man with a flowing beard and a giant cigar forever nearby. He painted every day, usually throughout the night, in a chicken coop converted to his studio. Painting came first.

During our couple-times-a-year family gatherings, he sat at the head of the dinner table and told stories that usually ended with a loud, deep, booming laugh. He was king of his court. And, oh my, he was intimidating. Not unkind, just intimidating. As I got older, and the infrequent family gatherings became even less frequent, he intimidated me less but what to say to one another? Then as an adult, pretending to be an artist, when I would have loved to talk with him about art, it never happened. I didn't know him well, but wish I did.

During the last year of his life, Uncle Armand lived with one of his daughters and her family. As a result, his 17-year-old grandson Jesse, got to know him better and wrote this poem in tribute. It is for his grandfather, but let it also serve as a reminder to all artists. Our job is to find the beauty in this world that others can't see or simple don't stop to see.

Hidden Beauty
by Jesse Ludema

A blind man ponders as he gazes upon the magnificence

Why can’t we see the beauty?

He treasures every moment, and finds wonder in hidden places
We move too fast for the beauty

He lives a simple life, taking pride in simple things, like dogs and shake-spear curls

Why can’t we see this beauty?

As he looks out he sees a brilliant sight, blue and white wings flapping and soaring in the breeze… or is it just laundry hanging outside…

Why can’t we see this beauty?

He sees roaring waves crashing and tumbling in the sky… I only see dark clouds…

Why can’t we see this beauty?

The sun reflects off a small old window on an ugly aged house… He sees an explosion of majestic illumination beaming before him

Why can’t we see this beauty?

We look and look and look and look, but he tells us to look some more

We are still searching for the beauty.

He sits there in thought and begins to paint; he lets his mind flow free; he loses himself in his art

He is trying to show us the beauty.

He paints dancing colors; his painting comes alive and tells us marvelous tales

Now we can see the beauty.

For more about him you can go to the Armand Merizon website which has more information about him, his work as well as providing information about the documentary that was made about him several years ago.

Keep looking.

Lorrie

Trip Around the World

2010-04-03T23:49:00.000-04:00

And now for everyone's favorite past time: viewing someone else's vacation pictures! I promise to keep it short. The goofy family pictures will remain within the family.

Italy

Nepal

Africa

Carribbean

New York

Hollywood

Pretty flowers somewhere in the World

No, we didn't travel around THE world. We went TO the World (and Tampa for a Spring Training game.) This picture was taken at about midnight on day 4. Even the kids look tired.

The most amazing thing I find about anything Disney is the attention to detail. Every plant, screw, bolt, paint color, and architectural feature is there for a reason. Unfortunately, in the rush to get from one attraction to another, in the huge masses of people, it is easy to forget to look. And looking is what artists do best.

Spring Break 2010 will go down in our family history book as fun, expensive and exhausting. There is no such thing as relaxing at Disney when you open one of the Parks and then close it too.

Lorrie

I'm a Scrappy Momma

2010-03-30T10:30:00.004-04:00

As I said in a recent post, studio clean up has been happening. Once I finally get started on a project like this there is no stopping me. The "getting started bug", unfortunately, does take a super long time to take hold though. I haven't been able to work in there since early December. (Note to my Mom: I'm going to show a really messy mess now, so don't look.)

The main advantage of cleaning the studio (beyond the obvious of having a clean studio in which to work) is that it inevitably spawns ideas. Some are big and some are little. On the side of "little", here's a fun paper doll I made quickly in an effort to not have to find a place to put the things I used to make her. Make sense?

The doll piece was a left over from the Handmade Paper Guild collaborative piece called Twelve Angry Men seen here in a very bad, blurry photo from our fall 2009 show. The Angry part will have significance, as you'll see.

The paper scraps (leg, hands, belt) are left over from my participation in the Swatch Swap and I used them just as I found them: no cutting.

The figure was already dyed but needed some emphasis so I tried, for the first time, some Pan Pasels that I got for Christmas. Fun stuff, by the way.

The doll face, well, that's just a first attempt. Let's just say that I won't be jumping on the Female Figure Mixed Media band wagon that is so "in" right now. :)

As for the Scrappy Momma part. It has a double meaning. Obviously, you can get the Paper/Scrap tie in.

The other part is that a few days before I made her I was blindsided with a loud verbal attack, accompanied (for emphasis) by a door slam in the face, by an acquaintance/friend in a parking lot. I asked, what was intended to be an innocent question, in the wrong tone or something. I slunk away, with my jaw hanging open and still have no idea of how/why this came about. After a few days of dwelling and fretting about what I could have said, should have said, shouldn't have said, etc., I got a phone call and was told that I needed a diagnostic mammogram. Guess what? The incident in the parking lot is now NOTHING. A big, fat, giant nothing. It is of absolutely no importance at all! Thankfully, two days later the diagnostic mammogram also came up with nothing.

So, I made a Scrappy Momma doll in memory of this incident. Be scrappy! Little things don't have to become big things. And, move on as quickly as you can because oftentimes you're the only worrying about it anyway.

Here's to a clean studio and all the junk it brings to the surface.

Lorrie

PS. No, I don't have red hair.

Artist Spotlight - Jan Moulder

2010-03-24T08:39:00.000-04:00

As a papermaker myself, it may seem a bit odd to have not featured a fellow papermaker yet in my Artist Spotlight series. Well, the time has come! I'd like to introduce you to Jan Moulder. I've known of Jan for years through the Papermaking group on Yahoo. This wonderful group discusses problems, ideas, solutions pertainant to the world of handmade paper. We each then do different things with the paper. Jan makes the most amazing lamps from paper. Yes, lamps! Her jewelry is pretty cool, too. So, sit back and enjoy this look into her artistic world and please visit her site/blog when you're ready to see more.

Where do you live?

Spokane, WA in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, United States

What is your specialty?

Handmade paper and twig creations. I also have a handmade paper jewelry line.

How did you first discover paper as your artform?

It was a dark and stormy Sunday afternoon in 1983 when my friend Deborah suggested that we make paper. “Make PAPER?!?” I screeched, “What? Are you crazy? Why should we make paper? I’ve already got tons of it!” After we sipped our tea and talked of other things, she donned her coat and hat and went home. Left to my own devices curiosity got the best of me and I rummaged through my books – this was in the days before the Internet when one looked to books for information – and what should I find, but a chapter on papermaking!

Now, you need to know that I had always wanted to be an artist but I compared my artwork with others and decided that I just wasn’t good enough. So I closed the ‘artist’ door just as I had closed the ‘dancer’ door because my legs weren’t long enough. But paper was different. I had never seen handmade paper before so I had nothing with which to compare my work. At first I just used junk mail and newspaper and paper napkins beaten in a blender to make cards and little pieces of art. I threw in grasses and flowers for décor and played with dyes. I learned through trial and error what worked and what didn’t.

Then I found the book called Plant Fibers for Papermaking by Lillian Bell. That book transformed my experience with paper. I found myself making paper from any plant I could get my hands on. I became dangerous as I drove around the countryside looking for more raw materials to feed my obsession. I developed a style of work embedding grasses in paper made from cattail, wild iris and bulrush fibers. So in 1989 I started Wyldewood Papers with the intent of marketing my art (books, cards and pulp painted landscapes) through craft shows and galleries.

In the last 20 years my work has gone through many evolutions with the only constant being handmade paper. I love the process from collecting the materials to cooking and beating the fiber to hearing the drip, drip of the water as the mold drains to the sensuous feeling of running my hands through a vat of freshly beaten pulp. I can’t imagine my life without making paper. It is now a part of who I am.

Please describe your work.

Rustic elegance with a touch of whimsy and a splash of magic.

Do you have a favorite piece?

Elfin Song – A Lamp with Soul

Anyone that has not made paper before has no idea how easy it is to make a simple sheet of paper.   However, they also can't fathom how difficult and time consuming it can be to bring a handmade paper piece to fruition. Please talk about some of the materials and processes used in Elfin Song - A Lamp with Soul.

I started with a handful of twigs and a handful of hickory bark. The bark was cooked in lye for a couple hours and then rinsed and beaten in my Hollander beater to make a pulp. After I created the framework using the twigs and Apoxie Sculpt I made fresh sheets of paper that were wrapped around the frame while wet. As the paper dries it shrinks creating a very taut and firm surface. Then the fun begins! After stamping it with a resist in a scroll pattern, this piece was dyed with fiber reactive dyes and then embellished with leaves and lichens.

Naming the lamps is always a special time. I meditate on each lamp letting it tell me its name and the message it brings. Elfin Song’s message is:

Join in the dance.

     It’s all just about movement and flow.

          Each step originates from the one that comes before.
               You don’t need to know where you’re going.

                    You just need to take the next step.

What is it about this piece that makes it so special to you?
This was the first piece I’d done with the stamping process. But, what makes it particularly special is that I made the stamp from one of my grandfather’s woodcarvings. It’s such an honor to bring our works together.

What inspires you?
My inspiration comes mostly from the natural world, but I’m also influenced by fantasy and fairy tales and history. Also, I love Celtic music…Loreena McKennitt, Blackmore’s Night. And I also listen to jazz and classical. Love Pink Martini and Secret Garden!

What is your studio or work space like?
My studio takes up half of our basement. The back room is my wet studio where I make paper and other messes and the front room, which is carpeted has a fireplace, is my dry studio. This is where I make my jewelry and other dry works and have my computer and printers. The other half of the basement is my husband’s photography studio. He does photography for other artists.

Do you have any special art tips for others?
Just go for it! Plunge in and take some risks. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, they are your best teachers.

What is the best creative advice you have been given?
Elaine Koretsky, a well known papermaker, once said that a ‘good’ piece of paper is a piece of paper that serves the purpose for which it was made. That was such a freeing statement for me. I had created all sorts of rules for my work which had put me in a box creatively. That statement made it okay for me to get out of the box.

How can you be contacted about your work?

Well, there are lots of options:
http://www.wyldewoodpapers.com
http://www.wyldewoodpapers.etsy.com/
http://www.bijouteriepapier.etsy.com/
http://twitter.com/Wyldewood
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jan-Moulder/49979014526

Isn't her work amazing?!? Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Jan. And many thanks to all my readers for hanging out with me. I hope these Artist Spotlight interviews inspire you as much as they do me.

Lorrie

New Mosaic Pattern

2010-03-21T22:19:00.000-04:00

I'm excited about a new basket weave mosaic pattern that I just tried using paste papers that I made earlier this week. Each square is one inch. Eyes are a little wonky now.

So, what's with the brown? I ~~never~~ seldom work in brown. A very patient friend has been waiting for a frame for her bathroom mirror for quite some time and this mosaic pattern will be a part of the effort.

I've really not been creating much lately. I'm in a wheel spinning routine that doesn't seem to let me actually make art but I'm thinking about it constantly. Part of trying to finally get off this Wheel of No Fortune has been to clean up my studio and putter with some things I found while cleaning it out. I'll show you some of that stuff later.

Lorrie

More Good Mail!

2010-03-18T07:29:00.000-04:00

Isn't it fun when the mailman brings something fun instead of just the census form? Now days, old geezer that I am, just a once-in-a-great-while regular letter makes for a good mail day.

But I got something even better in the mail last week: a package. Martha Brown, of Toronto, was kind enough to award additional "winners" after her One World, One Heart giveaway. I was a lucky one and received this hand stamped and stitched card, along with the very cool fabric heart-shaped pin. Martha tells me that she'll be traveling to Kalamazoo this summer and we'll plan to meet then. Another online friendship turned into a real hug. Check out Martha's work at her blog or her Etsy site.

Lorrie

Swatch Swap

2010-03-15T10:46:00.001-04:00

And now on to the other swap that I just got back in the mail...

You may remember the scraps I posted about last month that I was so excited about. I had made them for the 10th Swatch Swap (or in its more refined, sounds-like-a-real-book form A Papermaker's Sampler) with the Yahoo Papermaking Group. This is the third time I've participated.

Back in October 2009, I mailed in small 2" x 3" swatches of handmade paper that I painted using house paint, bitumen and oil pastels. So, why did I work at only 2" x 3"? Actually, I didn't. I worked larger and then cut up the larger pieces of paper into small swatches. Even at only 2" x 3", they still show off the texture of the handmade paper and the possibilities of work at a larger scale.

Here's how it works: the handmade paper artists send in a specific number of swatches (in this case 72) to the hostess. In return, each artist gets back a most amazing and beautiful book that contains swatches made by each of the other handmade paper artists. The "recipe" on how each swatch was made is also included. Most of the paper artists that participate in this are more into the natural possibilities of paper. They harvest and cook (often smells pretty bad) various things found in the wild or in a garden like cattails, hostas, corn husks, and more exotic goodies then turn the pulpy concoctions into wonderous paper.

If you're a regular reader of mine you'll have guessed that I'm not really into that. Or, said differently, it is doubtful that I would gather plant materials and cook them (cooking dinner is more than enough of a chore). But, I definitely appreciate the effort and beauty that the process brings to life. And, I know that it is more than possible that the other paper artists might look at my brightly colored swatches and think to themselves "well, I'm not really into that" but I hope they will appreciate the effort and beauty too. Papermaking presents endless possibilities and this book is just one indication of that.

The four Canadian hostesses, calling themselves The Paper Dreamers, put in an incredible number of hours to get this labor of love put together and mailed to papermakers in seven different countries. And each papermaker put in lots of hours to get their swatches made. It would be completely impossible to count the time involved. Think of this: more than one papermaker wrote something like "let plant material ret for 2 years", or "soaked for 2 months under weights" or "beat in Hollander for 18 hours" or "paper was stacked and dried in a dry box for 24 hours". This is craziness! This is devotion! This is wonderful!

Lorrie

PhotoArtJournal Swap

2010-03-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

A number of years ago most of what I did creatively, it seemed, was swap after swap after swap. They pushed me in new directions and I met new online friends. However, they can become expensive and I felt like I was always trying to keep to deadlines that I had trouble meeting. As I became more confident in my abilities and bogged down with the mailings, I stopped.

Recently, however, I participated in two swaps. It was time to give it a go again and they were well worth it. Here are the results from a Color Series swap with the PhotoArtJournals Yahoo group. I've drooled over Joanne Huffman's swaps with this group for years and finally asked to join. I think I'll be an occasional participant but WOW on the first one!

The rules were to submit a photo with the color blue featured, along with a quote. This is my entry featuring a sheet (really just a small scrap) of my handmade paper. We had to print 40 (or so) 4" x 6" photographs then fold and glue them in half. My entries got mailed to the amazing hostess for this group, Catherine Anderson. She then binds all swappers entries, with great consideration and care, into a cozy little book. Catherine gets the final product back to the participants within a week or two! For those of you that have done swaps before, you know that this is an incredible feat.

The second book featured the color red. This is my entry showing a sheet of my paper mosaics. The group also did books highlighting yellow, orange, green and purple.

The group doesn't just stick to colors. Upcoming themes are: Dreamscapes; Ant's Eye View; Roads,Trails and Pathways; and, The Birds and The Bees. Most members are photographers and their results show this expertise. I'm not much of a photographer but hope to continue with these swaps once in a while to improve on this aspect of my art.

Lorrie

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2010-03-08T09:56:00.000-05:00

At last week's Altered Sisters meeting one sister was kind enough to demo how to make the Sitting Pretties initially created by Claudine Hellmuth and shown on Martha Stewart. Angela brought all the supplies needed to make these cute poppets. (Many thanks to Angela for her time, effort and tips!) As students, all we needed to bring was the photos.

We had a fun meeting exploring this technique. I'd say it was definitely a success as there was several minutes, here and there, of no noise at all. Just concentration. Now, if you knew this group like I do, you'd really think that is amazing because we never shut up! I made "Pretties" of my three kids. Of course, they immediately told me that they don't dress like that!

The ingenious bendy base for these guys is aluminum flashing. It is then covered with paper or fabric. I primarily used paste paper scraps as well as some commerical papers.

I had fun making these and they will go to my mom for her birthday. I think they'll go over big. My hope was that this would be a great 2010 Christmas gift idea for friends and family. Sorry guys, I think these will be the only ones I make. The result is fun but the process was too fussy (lots of scissor work) and problematic (glue didn't stick, markers didn't stick) for me.

Then again, maybe I'd get better if I made more...

Lorrie

Close Ups

2010-03-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

Last week I retrieved my Show Piece from the Carnegie Center for the Arts. With these beautiful (and rare) sunny winter days I decided to take some close ups. Tight crops can be so interesting...

The blue shapes (houses) are all pieces of my handmade paper. The background is a plaster concoction. Go here to see the beginning of how this piece was made.

Hope your day is sunny.

Lorrie

More Altered Photography...

2010-02-25T10:42:00.001-05:00

More before and after samples from the Altered Photography class...

Naples pier, Florida

Sculpture park in Seattle, Washington

Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington

Hand altering photos gives bad photos a new life and can make already decent photos more interesting. You can make them colorful and silly or go with the look of your choice: classy, serious, ghostlike, beautiful, scary, thoughtful...

Lorrie

Altered Photography class

2010-02-22T09:34:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, from noon to about 3, I had the pleasure of teaching an Altered Photography class at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center. Thirteen very cool ladies took the class and it seemed like they had some fun. Of course, most were from the Kalamazoo area but Lansing, Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Chicago addresses were in the mix too. I'd like to say that my reputation is building but the Chicago and Ann Arbor gals were in town to visit with their moms. :)

As is typical, I got caught up in the activity and forgot to take pictures to show you. I do, however, have scans of the photos I altered in preparation for the class. All these photos have been hand altered (no digital playing here) using sandpaper, an awl, watercolors, pastels and/or markers. I don't think they are "done" yet, but it's a start...

Most everyone in the class played with their own photos and wound up with some very cool images: a beach scene is now in bright turquoise and pink with "1950" scratched into the background; an already beautiful close up of a flower now has a grid-like background that helped to highlight the flower even further; a playful dog in the back of a pickup truck is now painted an even more playful bright blue; a self-portrait was outlined and the background painted so that the figure became almost ghostlike; many vintage ladies (including Amelia Earhart) in brown got makeovers and became more colorful versions of themselves; and, even a moss covered phone booth from a Washington rain forest got to make a statement. Now that your interest has been piqued, I'm so sorry I don't have pictures of it all.

This class was full. In fact, we actually had to turn a couple people away. With this kind of interest I'll be offering this class again in the summer.

Lorrie

One World One Heart Winner

2010-02-17T09:28:00.006-05:00

Actually, there were lots and lots of winners. All of us that traveled about reading the many blogs of very creative people won because new friends were made, new techniques were learned, and new inspirations became possible with each click. Last year I frantically went to each blog entering to win a giveaway. Craziness! This year I was more deliberate, visiting many fewer blogs but staying longer at each. Much less craziness and much more enjoyable!

My random number generator (each kid picked a number between 1 and 277, I added them up and divided by 3) points me to Heidi at Create - Reach for Something More. Congratulations Heidi. I hope you like the frame.

To those that entered: thank you for your interest. To those that made a special comment: thank you very much for reading and scrolling through my blog. And to those that will stick with me for a while now: thank you very, very much and I look forward to getting to know you better.

Lorrie