June Begins

My days are flying by and I can't keep track of what day of the week it is.  That will come to halt this next week as I have a 4-day Summer Institute to attend for National Board Certification.  I am looking forward to it except that it takes place at the Radisson Resort at Fort McDowell; this means it is a 45-60 minute drive.  That is the bummer about it.

I have been creating an artwork a day, all based on a single theme.  I cut up unfinished acrylic paintings my students had abandoned into 6" squares to work with for the base of the collage.  Next step is to add a magazine transfer that features a women, usually in a somewhat stretched out or other interesting pose.   Then I stitch on beads, following an interesting curve.  Finally, I add an old stamp.  This first one is titled "Post H".  I like the vertical aspect of this particular collage.

This one is actually a magazine image of Stevie Nicks taken from my More magazine.  I titled it "Black & Gold".  I followed the curve of her hair with the gold beads, which created more curves than were readily noticeable.

This is probably my least favorite of my current collages due to the fact that the figure stands out abruptly against the white background.  One of the things I am noticing with the transfers is how much they are influenced by the background color.  The black beads add to the boldness of this particular collage.  The white buttons sewn with black thread are a nice accent for the center of the flowers.

This artwork, titled "Halo", uses a collage of torn magazine pieces for the background rather than acrylic paint.  Once again, the image of the woman is very subtle and the beads follow the basic curve of the figure and then loop around her head creating the sense of a halo.  The stamp that I added was from France.

This is Today's artwork, titled "Hanging On".  I didn't use an acrylic painted paper, rather I just used some white paper with subtle flecks of color in it.  Using white paper allows for the image to show up quite clearly.  I used larger beads than I had previously to make more substantial ropes.


I have more squares with acrylic paint to use as well as some more images that are cut out and just waiting to be used, so I imagine the theme will continue for a while.  I wonder if I can make it last for the whole month of June.  That will be a challenge for me.  This coming week, it will be harder to find the time to make my collages, perhaps I should get a head start on them today.  Just a thought.