Writer's Block ....

"I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if you sit down at the keys long enough, sooner or later something will come out."
~ Roy Blount, Jr.

Artists have writer's block too. I guess we should call it artist's block. I tried four times to create cards for an Alice in Wonderland swap. I went down dark alleys and returned to where I started each time. I started to feel stuffed up - nothing was flowing. It helped to share my frustration on the board group. What d'ya know? Others were having problems too. That actually made me feel better. I plodded on, took a couple of more wrong turns. And then I went back to the first set of cards I had started. They looked a bit different to me. I began to think, "what if I added more color? maybe some pen and ink ....". I went back to those cards and the spark returned. I felt the energy and excitement of creating. Such a fresh, green feeling. Like sap running in my veins.

`Oh, there's no use in talking to him,' said Alice desperately: `he's perfectly idiotic!' And she opened the door and went in.

The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning over the fire, stirring a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup.

She says yes ....

yes to joy, yes to adventure, yes to pleasure
YES to life when life asks "may I have this dance?"

Susan needs ...

Okay, Julie D. - I'll give it a try, lol. Julie says to type in your name followed by the word "needs" and list the top 10 listings. I tried "Suze needs" and I only got the same blurb over and over again about Suze Orman needing to go back to the drawing board. Must have been a bad review of her latest book! So we'll try it with "Susan needs".
Here goes:
1. Susan needs opportunities to practice literate speech
2. Susan needs to understand that she needs
3. Susan needs a tray, six inserts, center bowl and metal spinning rack
4. Susan needs a change
5. Susan needs to succeed in the face of and despite this madness
6. Susan needs your help now to prepare for election day
7. Susan needs an automatic gearbox
8. Susan needs to hear from YOU!!
9. Susan needs a lip, otherwise small things disappear forever...
10. Susan needs some new jewels

... I love it, it's so random!

The coronation ...

... what makes an artist an artist? Is it intent? acknowledgement? recognition? talent? or is it a decision ... to be an artist.

Mother and daughter

Niels and I bought a dusty old photograph at an antique shop in Woodstock last weekend. It's quite large and has a wide ornate tarnished gold frame around it. We got it home and my daughters said "another creepy portrait to hang in the house!".
I didn't see it as creepy at all.
I decided to scan it and perhaps use it in some collage work. It was too big to fit in my scanner, so I had to scan one side and then the other. When I opened the scans in photoshop, I thought it was so poignent, having mother and daughter in separate frames. I added some text and a background color. I may use these images in the Folie a deux swap.

It's funny, I started using "Suze" because there were so many Susans on one ATC group I belong to that it was the only way to tell us apart. I've always introduced myself as Susan. But Suze is starting to feel comfortable. Suze is the artist. Susan is the teacher. And Suzie is what my really close friends call me. LOL

New Business Cards

Good Art /Bad Art

What makes a card "good" or "bad"? I mean here I have two similar cards, same elements: Waterhouse images printed onto transparencies, English chintz papers from the Victoria & Albert Museum, dabs of Brass Lumiere paint, and bits of other papers. The one on the left is horrid, or at least nothing to be proud of. The one on the right is gads better. Why? I need to analyze this if I'm to improve my artwork. Let's see, the one on the left has rigid straight lines. That's probably not a bad thing unto itself, but it seems to be fighting the soft curved lined of the chintz and woman's dress. The one on the left also has a clear separation between figure and background. Almost like she's 'caged'. I've even exaggerated that line with a gold metallic paint pen. So what are some positives about the one on the right? I like the diagonal of the woman's bent head and neck. Diagonals are dynamic. I think I like the size of the figure too, the other seems too small for the card. The flowers are a nice touch too. They add "flow" to the compostition.
The funny thing is that the card on the left took me quite a bit longer to create. And it has more stuff on it.
So today's lesson: More is not always better. Good art doesn't always take longer. Unify all elements. Scale matters (not size, lol). Look for the flow.

Business card design. I used an atc card (left) and filled the rest of the space with overlapping elements of other cards I've made ...

Well, I realized today that even partial transfers are attractive. Wendy is right - why would we want a complete, whole, perfect transfer; wouldn't that just look like a cut out image pasted on ... just a bit transluscent? I like the decaying look of the partial transfers. I made some cards out of my experiments. This is one. C'est la vie ...

Closer!

Experiment #5:
Image: (left) printed on Staples premium double sided matte paper using an HP inkjet printer
Medium: I use Speedball gloss medium, brushed four coats onto printed image, letting it dry in between coats and three coats onto card, letting it dry.
Transfer method: I flipped the image onto painted card, rubbed first with my fingers and then with a bone folder.
Results: I'm very happy with this one. It's just about what I want. You can see on the edges where the image is still sticking to the photo paper, but the most important part of the image has transferred.
Comments: I shouldn't brush the medium all the way to the edges of the image on the photo paper. It tears, and besides, I need to only apply it to what I want to transfer over.

Detail of experiment #4

You can actually see the image lifting from the print paper here. The texture is rubbery and stretchy

Transfer experiments continued

Experiment #4:
Image: (left) printed on Staples premium double sided matte paper using an HP inkjet printer
Medium: I used Speedball gloss medium, brushed three coats onto printed image, letting it dry in between coats. I used two coats on the card, letting it dry between coats.
Transfer method: I flipped the image onto painted card, rubbed first with my fingers and then with the back of a spoon and then with a bone folder very roughly.. I noticed when I rubbed it hard, the paper began to move around a but - I think it was releasing from the card.
Results: The finished card almost got the whole image, but some didn't come over :(
Comments: I think I need more coats of medium and much more aggressive rubbing.

Transfer experiments

Experiment #3:
Image: (left) printed on Staples premium double sided matte paper using an HP inkjet printer
Medium: I use Speedball gloss medium, brushed two coat onto printed image, letting it dry ater the first coat, but leaving the second coat wet-ish. Then I put two coats onto the card, leaving the last coat wet.
Transfer method: I flipped the image onto painted card, rubbed first with my fingers and then with the back of a spoon and then with a bone folder. I lifted the photo paper off from the corner. I could see that the image had become elastic-y and stretchy. I could see it sticking onto the card, but it wouldn't all transfer over.
Results: Some of the transferred image looks great, but there is an are in the center where the image didn't come off.
Comments: I think I need to let the medium dry completely on the printed image and then put a wet coat onto the card to draw it over.

Transfer Experiments

Experiment #2:

Image: (left) printed on Staples premium double sided matte paper using an HP inkjet printer
Medium: I use Speedball gloss medium, brushed two coat onto printed image, letting it dry in between coats
Transfer method: I flipped the image onto painted card, rubbed first with my fingers and then with the back of a spoon and then with a bone folder. I lifted the photo paper off from the corner. It wasn't done, I rubbed more.
Results: The finished card came out better this time - the image is almost complete, but I'm still seeing the grain of the paper.
Comments: Maybe I need to coat the painted card with medium also to discourage the grain from appearing?

Transfer Experiments

Experiment #1:
Image: (left) printed on Staples premium double sided matte paper using an HP inkjet printer
Medium: I use Speedball gloss medium, brushed one coat onto printed image
Transfer method: I flipped the image onto painted card, rubbed first with my fingers and then with the back of a spoon. I lifted the photo paper off from the corner.
Results: The finished card has a pattern where the transferred image didn't adhere - it looks like the grain of the watercolor paper, perhaps.
Comments: Next time I will try two coats on the printed image and rub harder.

Transfers - step 1

6 cards, 140 lb. cold press water color paper, coated on both sides with gesso.
Then I use Speedball gloss medium mixed with several Golden fluid acrylics to paint
background. I added various stamped images.

Experiment #1 - Transfers

Today I'll begin my experiments
.... bwa ha ha bwa ha ha ha ha ....

Old photograph

I have such a tender spot in my heart when it comes to old family photographs. My heart just turns to butter. I don't buy these photos, I adopt the people in them. I take them home with me and treasure them. I look at them for a long time after I get them home. And I wonder .... "who were these people, what are their relationships? ... were they happy? Did they have hardships? Were they loved? ..."

I found this image while looking for images for a "Folie a deux" challenge. I think I searched for 'vintage twins' ....

ATC's with a "fishy" theme. My take was an homage to Rene Magritte. I used colorful scraps for background and then manipulated them with permanent markers, vivid acrylics, stamps and scratches. The bottom left one is the least manipulated. I like the juxtapositioning of the man and fish. Just like Rene ...

My baby has wings (top)
My baby over Paris
.... I love the scary yet attractive quality of these severed doll heads

"My Baby Has Strange Inner Power" ATC

I attempted a mandala in ATC size. It was very restricting. I made 3 or 4 for a challenge. Maybe I should try to make a large one and cut it up later, like a mosaic. But then that would be counter to what mandalas are all about - WHOLENESS ... lol

Alter Ego - what a fun concept ... except I found myself thinking a bit too much about these after they were done ... I mean picking the alter egos was easy and fast - Betty Page, Nancy Drew, Emma Peel, Mrs. Robinson, Wonder Woman, Gidget. But then I found myself fretting over what people would think when they saw them ... hmmm, I wonder what that means? Are they my alter egos or are they my SHADOWS, in a Jungian sense?

I made some new ATCs for a swap my sister Cheryl is hosting, called "A LIttle Birdie". I got off on a tangent with cupped hands and birds. I like the fragility of the image. And I've always thought of birds as spiritual messengers ...

My Studio

Everyone needs a place to work. I finally got my own room.

HANGING AROUND THE HOUSE MANDALA ... 14 x 14 " colored pencil and ink. I created this one while I had the flu. I wrapped myself up in a quilt and drew everything I could see around my house from where I sat.

ROOT CHAKRA ... 14 x 14" colored pencil with ink. Part of a chakra series I was working on. ... I got up to the heart chakra then stopped for some reason. Maybe someday ...

First Post

Never had a blog. I'm old... well, not young anyway. Having a blog makes me feel younger. Uh-oh, now I'm having visions of my Mom getting her first pair of "dungarees" in the mid 1960's.
I decided to create a blog to keep an art journal. Now I'll have to figure out how to get pics on here ...