"Learn" Altered Book - Part 1

Welcome to the first of what I hope will become a series. The books will have a theme, of course, but each page will have a quote relating to the theme as the inspiration for the page. I just love quotes, and am really developing a love of altered books, so this seems like an interesting way to blend both loves!

This is the first page, and presented a bit of a creative challenge. I read and re-read the quote and just decided to put it in the back of my mind, and just let my creative juices just "cook". I ended up just playing with the vintage photo of the young gentleman, and thought about dropping back. I then sort of just felt that "dropping back" would look like fainter images of the original, and sort of went with that. Hope you like the result!

What a busy page! I decided that a quote from Stravinsky must have a musical theme to it, and so I pulled from sheet music (an obvious choice) and an old Sears catalog (hopefully, not quite so obvious). I chose photo images of two composers that are certainly known to just about everyone. Tags contained images of instruments and the quote itself.

I love this quote. Michelangelo can be considered a genius on many different fronts, and yet, he said he was still learning. Wow - perhaps the first person who truly lived the idea of lifetime learning. And, yet, to have full lives, I think most people will agree, on some level, that learning is a part of that full life - new discoveries, world events, and ourselves.

Enjoy....and more to come!

"Learn" Altered Book - Part 2

Welcome to "Learn" Part 2! Here's the rest of the book. This page (image above and below) is a multi-page page. The quote just made me think of some of the various stages of learning - from the time we're babies until we become our grandparents. I took some vintage photos that depicted the various stages of life, and thought of how different "learning" looks in these stages. Hope you agree!

I thought the four stages seemed pretty representative of many different philosophies throughout our lives.

The quote that inspired this page really spoke to me. How many times have you learned something from a teacher, family member or friend, and then it becomes "yours" to pass on to others? I was trying to do a transfer of a vintage photo, and I wasn't all that pleased with the result. Then, I glanced over at the base sheet that wasn't supposed to do anything except protect the table I was working on, and whoa! There's what I was looking for! I couldn't resist adding the little round mirror, since we were talking about reflections, too. The red buttons just seemed to balance the red checkerboard stamped image perfectly.

I spent a bit of time thinking about this quote and how to illustrate it in a page. I'm not quite sure why a travel theme popped into my head, but I do like to travel, so maybe it was a simple as that. I thought about visiting a new place and how I feel like I'm not sure about anything because I've never been there before, and then, on return trips to the area, I find that I end up becoming a mini-expert! The pockets on the right side of the page sort of depicts how you discover things by exploring and basically moving from the unknown to the known.

This last page is kind of a culmination of the book, and that's why I chose snippets of what I used on previous pages - vintage images and sheet music ties this page to the pages that preceded it. For the right side of the page, I decided to create a cut-out sort of shrine effect. The stone that is the subject of the entire page was found in our front yard. I just went outside and kept searching thru the rocks until I found just the right one. I toyed with the idea of putting something on the rock, but then I thought I'd leave it blank because over our lifetime, there's too much learning to fit on any stone.

Enjoy!

Abstract Art - Blue, Green & Purple

Check out these examples of some abstract art ATCs I just completed today for a swap.....

The base of the ATCs is acrylic paint that I swirled around using a baby wipe (instead of a paintbrush)......

And, then, topped with handmade paper in one of the 3 colors. I just love the free form nature of all of them......we should all be this free......

Enjoy...

What aSshow Nature Put On!

On Friday night, we had a spectacular show. Monsoon season is here in full swing. The layers of clouds (above) is just so cool. Some darker storm clouds, with white clouds and blue sky above them. Kind of an amazing sight....

The above image was really sort of surreal - the downward rays are rain, but the sky was rose-pink from the sun that managed to peek between the clouds.....

And, the coolest sight was just looking straight up, and seeing the sort of calm eye of the storm looking down on the other darker clouds. What a wonderful show we had!

Enjoy!

Breathtaking Sunset Tonight

"Clouds came floating into my life..."

"....no longer to carry rain and usher storm....."

"....but to add colour to my sunset sky." (Rabindranath Tagore)

Enjoy....

Front Yard Daylilies

Yesterday, I went out in our front yard garden and got some really nice images of the daylilies growing there. I think of the above shot as somewhat Georgia O'Keefe-ish. The coloring was just so pretty, tho, I couldn't help but want to just focus on that.

This next one was just the perfect yellow! It looked both vibrant and delicate at the same time. I'm so glad that daylilies do well here in the high desert! I thought when we left the Midwest that I wouldn't be able to have them in my garden down here, but as you can see, they do very well here!

And, this last image is one of my favorites, too! These two just seemed to pose so perfectly together, I couldn't resist the shot. How lovely.

Enjoy!

Good Morning!

A couple of beautiful sights this morning! Above, a not all that common morning rainbow! We frequently see rainbows in the evening, because that's generally when the monsoon rains happen, and create the perfect environment. But, this morning, there were some thunder rumblings overhead, and apparently enough moisture in the air to create one to greet the day!

And, this lovely sunrise helped welcome the day from our back patio. The clouds helped to create just the perfect screen for the sun.

Enjoy!

Sunrise, Sunset

Some beautiful views from today! I couldn't resist stopping and taking the above photo. I just loved how the clouds were highlighted by the sun coming up! This is the actual color the sky was - no enhancing!!

Tonight, the sunset wasn't the glorious sunsets we can get, but somehow, it was pretty all the same, with the smoky haze in the air and Jazz showing some spirit!

Enjoy!

Cats - Not Drawn or Painted - ATC Swap

This was a swap that was near and dear to my heart! The ATC swap was of pieces of art that involved cats, but they were not to be drawn or painted - good, 'cus I really can't do either!! The one above was an image that I pulled from a calendar page and then layered over some great wood veneer texture that I had scanned into my PC just yesterday!!

The little guy above, peeking out from behind a potted (fake) greenery was my own little Toutle kitty boy, when he was just a wee little kitten! He had quite the personality even back then!

Oh, and doesn't this just sum up how all of us feel every so often? This is my own little Tatoosh, just relaxing on the back of the rocker. She was just like a little wet noodle, kind of hanging on there, just totally limp and relaxed! I wish I could get that relaxed!!

Enjoy!!