Sweet and Feminine ATCs

I recently joined a few new ATC trade groups that are more mixed-media than fabricky, which is a direction I want to go in. I kind of walk with one leg in the painting world and one in the sewing/quilting one; I have been missing the smell and texture of paint and the feel of good paper. These ATCs might be surprising to people who are used to seeing bold, bright stuff from me, especially my self portraits. These are from my soft side.

I started with a doodle from my journal. Back in the fall there was a terrible storm in NY, and it took me about 5 hours to get [via bus] from the city to the tip of Long Island. I was in my world of iPod and journal, so it wasn't so bad [until the power ran out on my iPod!]. I did the doodle for these cards somewhere in Queens, surrounded by uprooted trees and downed power lines.

I scanned the doodle, reduced it and printed it on Japanese rag paper that I cut down to 8.5x11. I dyed the paper with coffee after printing--should have done it first since it made the ink run a little, but it added a softness so it was okay. I painted each a little differently, using watercolors, watersoluble oil pastels, touches of marker and edged it with pink acrylic.

Mad White Dog Blogs!

Please visit my new favorite blogsite, madwhitedog.blogspot.com to read all about the crazy adventures of Coconut J. Wyatt. He doesn't really quilt, can't be trusted with a pair of scissors or with glue, but he sure can write.

Hearts in Space

I can't stop playing with NevrDull. This time I took a National Geographic photo of outer space that had red tones, and cut some heart shapes from old removable floppy diskette labels. I had visions of doing something Valentine's-ish with it, but am not sure whether to chop it up for ATCs or reprint the scanned art and work from that. Or maybe I should make it into a giant card for my husband...but then, he would probably think it smells funny, which it does. Seems the best art supplies have the worst fumes.

Thinking Small in 2011

For 2011 I decided to embrace my love of small works. Not everyone is meant to do huge murals and giant artquilts that take up a whole wall. And I certainly don't have the time or patience for that anyway. So, I am going forward with my ATC addiction and will maybe do some small art quilts and even look for shows and/or galleries that specialize in small work. And of course keep up with my art-o-mat work.

At the end of 2010 I got some new thermofax screens from Lynn K. aka Fibraartysta. I had an ATC group challenge that involved felt and gold paint, so I printed them of several shades of felt and also on some purple crushed velvet. These are the early results. The multicolored ATCs are from some painting on fabric that I did with markers and alcohol, and for another ATC challenge involving markers and cotton.