Too much art, not enough blog

Sorry to have been MIA for so long, but I was kidnapped by the Muse and a few various health things, so I became very single-minded and went right to creating whenever I could. In fact, I'm still into it, but the shame of not having posted a blog entry in 14 days {the horror!} has made me atone my sin.

I have such a big backlog of art to share now, and I need to link a few of them to other sites from the blog, so I'm just going to dive in and share what I'm needing to link right now, even though they are out of order in terms of when I created them. Shall we begin?

*Carnival Knowledge* Altered Vignette Triptych

This altered vignette triptych is something I've been working on intermittently for over a month. And I am so so proud of it. Not as much for the artistic elements as for having successfully taken something from my life history and applied it to an art piece. It was conceived for a Fairs and Carnivals challenge over at the Paper Traders blog, but while planning it my daydreams took me back to my senior year in high school, and I had my vignette.


A look at the base - painted, stamped, and collaged with deli paper, then stamped over again...multiple muted layers of color and texture. 

 Our senior choir trip that fall was to the Texas State Fair. I was a pretty sheltered 16 (I graduated a year early). One of the other girls, Tina, was in drill team with me and she and I buddied up to enjoy the fair during our free time. (We were forbidden from walking around alone.) She was older, more mature, more experienced and more attractive, so I was basically along for a warm body required companion.


Beginning to collage on top of my yummy mixed media base...

Within 15 minutes of us leaving our group to go exploring, Tina had attracted 2 pretty nice-looking guys to pay for our rides and food. We were 20 minutes late getting back to our group and got the bawling out of a lifetime, but I didn't really care because I had a blast and felt wicked and grown-up...for the first time in my young life. I'd let a strange boy kiss me and I had kissed back! That was the first and last time I ever made it to the Texas State Fair, but it sure wasn't boring!

Peeking thru the fibers to see the left panel...

Now, who would be interested in an art vignette about kissing a stranger? Not many, so I took some poetic license and spiced it up a bit. I thought up a play on words with the title of the movie Carnal Knowledge, which is about wife swapping / swinging / marital infidelity. But, I just could not resist. It's sitting right in the middle of the word Carnival if you take out the i and the v.   So, no, the transfer of memory was not literal. In fact, the implication is a huge leap, but still, that is how ideas begin sometimes.

Peeking thru to see the center panel up close...

And the right panel...

This was so fun to create, and I am finding that all of the challenges at Paper Traders blog are feeding my creativity by not limiting me to any size, medium or style. Each theme is about as unrestrictive as it can be, as well. I think the Muse and I are both happiest when we have that kind of freedom within a bare-bones structure. So, I am very much enjoying choosing to create their themes for art that I'm usually making anyway.

*Ancient and Modern* altered post card, with a mixed media painted base and collaged with various papers and printed Google images. The Columbus image in the center is a packing tape transfer, which is why you can see part of the map through his neck...looks really cool up close. 

Another challenge piece for Paper Traders is this collaged 4x6" altered post card. This theme is Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue, meaning you need to have a boat or ship in the piece. I keep wanting to call this Master and Commander, lol. winkwink. I literally foound every single image, including text, on Google. I had a cut-out left over from a Sizzix frame diecut that I cut apart and rounded the cuts, and those are the light purple brackets at the top and bottom. The papers are scraps, and the base is thin chipboard that I had painted months ago. I colored the boat with pencils. The winged angel charm reminded me of those ornate figureheads adorning a ship's bow. I'm thinking, close enough to fake a cigar, eh? winkwink

This was created with a friend of mine in mind who is in the process of buying a camp and moving across the country, uprooting her usual life and relocating to a strange new place. So, I thought the sentiment was perfect. I've noticed that I have 4 or 5 online friends who are right now finding themselves in the very same boat, so to speak. I'm constantly amazed and admiring of their courage and resolve, because a couple of them are not sitting on good times to boot.

Well, enough for now. I'm tired and so are my fingers. Please consider joining in on the fun at Paper Traders blog. All you have to do is take a chance and try something new and fun, and no one is judging or critical of anyone's work. Until next time (I'm going to try and make that tomorrow!)........

xoxo,
Aimeslee