One World, One Heart

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

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

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

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...

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