Collage Experiment

cleo's
Originally uploaded by fun_is_always_in_style.

I covered this thrifted post/screw style photo album with dress pattern tissue, painted over that w/some gold glaze & acrylic color for shading. Other collaged items were silver origami paper, an old felt flower & a glamorous fashion image from a 40s style booklet. I think I used a sharpie to highlight & finish the setee & mirror. Unfortunately the picture is too dark to see the felt flower, paper flower pot & silk bow, the fine black glitter highlighting folds in her skirt & some red on her teensie little lips. Viewing the 'large' image on Flickr reveals these details. That's about it. Components were thrifted except for gel medium & acrylic paints. & sharpie. & gold glaze.

International Chair Day

Teak side chairs and Papa Bear armchair designed by Hans Wegner.

It is important that this 'holiday' conceived entirely at my whim be an international one, because some of the best examples come from Germany, Japan, Denmark, & France.

How better to initiate International Chair Day than with these two fine examples. What can I say other than 'really nice, Hans'.

For those of us who have never actually been in the presence of chairs like these, the feasible object of desire is instead; slightly silly mid-century copycat chairs. A perfect example of this concept is the Danish modern swivel type armchair with red Naugahyde upholstery owned a fellow chair loving friend. According to her story, this chair remained available for purchase at the end of the garage sale day. This purported fact, casually stated, only adds to the rescue aspect of this find. (Some of us view these purchases as our responsibility; we're archiving elements of the 20th century). Did my friend circle the garage sale all day? If so, she earned the chair, because this type of wait requires nerves of steel. Someone could arrive who knows a good thing when they see it. Would the chair have been hauled to the dump the next day had my friend not purchased it? It makes me cringe to envision the chair flying through the air, then landing with a splintering crack amongst the nasty stinky garbage. Perhaps her statement was made in an effort to distract me, or to devalue the chair in my estimation. It didn't work. I asked directly 'Hey, can I have your chair?' - she was quick to reply 'uh....no.' She thought I was kidding.

Coming Events:
International Bowl Day

Tentatively:
Mitten Day
International Lamp & Lighting Fixture Day

Miss Flite's Birds

This is the first in a small group I envisioned. In Dickens' Bleak House, there is an old woman, a minor character; Miss Flite. She frequents the proceedings at the law courts & in particular her interest is in the protracted case 'Jarndyce & Jarndyce'. She has squandered her lifetime waiting for the settlement to come & in that process she has lost a portion of her sanity and other valuable attributes & resources. She keeps a large number of birds with allegorical names like Hope, Youth, Beauty, and Words, Confusion, Jargon, Plunder, Precedent, Despair, Ruin, Sheepskin, Spinach & Gammon to signify the consumption of all things by fruitless law cases.
This little birdcage is 3 - 4 inches tall, made with steel wire, tart tin, chain, a bit of mirror, bell, etc. The bird 'Despair' has escaped although the cage has no door. There was a tiny feather in the bottom, which must have blown away! I'm working on another, similar, but not identical. I'd like to try making a mobile of them.

Phantom Tollbooth Book Club

Later today I'll meet with my book club. We (a group of 5th-7th grade girls & myself) are reading through The Phantom Tollbooth. How fun! We're making this notebook using a file folder, colored paper, & parts from several disassembled thrift store books (College Spelling Text & Map of Santa Clara County 1976) . Inside there is a booklet for vocabulary words, a spot for listing homonyms, synonyms, antonyms & similes, another spot for listing characters according to whether they are 'helpful' or not (uncertain about this categorization), another spot for discussion questions, & a place for three small booklets entitled Threadbare Excuses, Monsters of Ignorance, & Time-Wasting Tasks. The little booklets are fun to make because they're made using a single sheet of paper.

Singing the Praises of the Public Library

I like to peruse the 'New Non-Fiction' shelves first thing when visiting the public library. There is a fiber arts enthusiast on staff at my library; consequently, the craft section is being well tended. In the last little while, since crafts publications have been flourishing, (higher interest level = more book sales = better book prices relatively speaking) the library has kept decent pace with the addition of quite a few new titles. One of these newly acquired titles is the useful Stupid Sock Creatures. We've checked it out twice so far, this time we put together our own stupid creature. He's not completely stupid, however. Our stupid sock creature is mostly stupid looking, which is entirely different than being stupid. He was out in the garden yesterday, & since it was such a nice day he let me photograph him. I think I got some decent candid shots - he's pretty photogenic!

Unlimited Imagery

I have been on Flickr lately. It's like mainlining creative inspiration. Although I've never mainlined anything, & I'm not completely sure just how it's done. I have the idea that it involves shooting something into your veins with a needle. Flickr is a more abbreviated exposure than going to a blog & since I'm mostly there for the images I like it. It's been a bit like when I discovered Ebay. Only free. I can interact with other people who dig the same things I do. Since Flickr is so huge it gets very specific. It may even encompass what my goals were/are in blogging. I am going to keep trying to get comfortable* posting here though.
Blogging goals:
1. Sharing images (projects) -getting some input.
2. Sharing process (projects). Maybe joining some type of group project(s).
3. Documenting my projects, reviewing my favorite books & uh, other stuff to be expanded upon later.
4. To stay abreast of trends, access current technology, remain relevant. hehe.
5. Having my own kingdom.

*since this is the real reason for not having posted more than 3x in 2 months.

shown above: miniature accordian book documenting our summer garden.