Why, Hello

Detail of stamping and cocktail umbrella.

Why, hello. It's been awhile. My internet has been down, but after two hours (TWO HOURS) on the phone, conversations with FIVE different AT&T U-Verse representatives, and two PREVIOUS phone calls, I'm back online. Thank goodness! It's one thing if I choose not to write for a couple of weeks, but it seems like I have tons to share when I can't easily update my blog.

To while away the time, I have been employing both used envelopes and those handy dandy reply envelopes that come with bills and credit card offers as blank canvases for revamped envelopes. I love to write letters, but I know I do not put nearly enough effort into that art. The good news - my internet break allowed for a little extra play time.

See below for a sampling of my attempt to add a little homemade happiness to my friends' days:

This friend had a bad week at work -

Front & Back, with address marked out to protect the guilty. Materials: old piece of lined paper, letter stamps/stamp pad, part of a cocktail umbrella, scrapbooking paper, pencil and glue.

Detail of doodled flowers.

 And this friend had some health concerns -

Detail of penned note and bird.

Front & Back, with space for an address insert. Materials: notebook paper, wrapping paper, ink pen, scrapbook paper, and glue.

Detail of cut paper.

While a letter can't make up for a bad work week or health problems, it can bring a moment of joy to an otherwise rotten situation. What do you do (handmade objects or otherwise) to brighten your friends' days?

Glad to back,

Alison :)

Project Time

I have been scarce during the past week. Here's why:

Yes, I mistreat my yoga mat by employing it as a knee and bum pad when I'm working on art projects. I like to spread out on the floor when I'm working, and hardwood ain't comfy. And those "scraps" on the mat are actually individual blades of grass.

 

I've yet to add the subject to this background. The image is glossy due to the combination of magazine paper and Mod Podge.

I have been working on my latest cut-paper collage. These pieces are incredibly time-consuming, and they keep both my brain and my hands active, leaving little time for some of my other favorite creative outlets - meaning blogging.

Anyone seeing this piece who is mostly familiar with the work I did in undergrad or grad school might be surprised. My undergraduate work was process-oriented, primarily monochromatic and lacked narrative - aside from its conceptual back story. I "discovered" narrative during grad school, but the majority of my thesis work was digital, dark in subject matter, and the narratives were applied with a light hand. Its making was still very much inspired by process, specifically the processes of repetition and tool use (meaning anything from a pencil to cyborg-like additions).

I get real pleasure from making up colorful scenes like the one above.  I am definitely inspired by a folk art aesthetic, children's art and quilting. This work is still very much tied into labor-intensive processes - from finding the perfect colored paper in magazines to cutting the right shapes  (usually many of them!) from the paper. If I could do these collages easily or quickly, they just wouldn't be as satisfying. Figuring out how to express the idea of an object existing in the real world through cut paper is a challenge I enjoy. Creating "grass," for instance, is a good example of what I mean. In this piece, I am using long individual blades in the piece above, while in other pieces I have created grass quite differently - sometimes it needs to be short or choppy or windblown or ragged or... you get the idea. 

I get to tell stories through cut paper, while also exploring texture, color and shape. These pieces are so fun to make, and I could see myself expanding this way of working in several different directions.

Thanks for taking a look! Come back for updates - I will definitely share the finished piece. What are you working on these days? I would love to see...

Cheers,

Alison :)