B is for birds & butterflies: a wall collage

A recent visit to a friend's house inspired me to get going with my vision for hanging a grouping of items together on a dining room wall.

First step was to take the stack of dusty picture frames that had been sitting around since my discovery of spray paint back in the fall and decide what art to put in them. I framed a page from a paper brochure, a page from an old Picasso calendar, ordered an old photo off of Snapfish, and designed a piece with a few favorite Bible verses. Then I gathered together bits and pieces from other rooms of the house.

Next was the arranging. I laid everything out on the dining room table, parallel to the wall it would hang on so I could easily envision the space I had available and how things would look next to the butterfly print I already had hanging. After a week and four or five arrangements I was ready to go at it with a hammer and nails. Actually, to be honest, I have my husband do that part for me! I just art direct!

Once everything was up a few days passed and I had the inspiration to tuck in my favorite bird nest (sideways so you can see the different layers within) and a few feathers. It was just the textural and sculptural touch it needed. Voila!

fabulous book on creativity

I am reading Creative Is a Verb: If You're Alive, You're Creative by Patti Digh. It was mentioned on one of my favorite blogs, The Artful Parent, and I requested that my local library buy it and here we are now.

It doesn't teach a specific skill as much as it digs into what is holding you back and how you (yes, you, everyone) can be your most free and creative self.

My favorite passage so far:

My "ordinary" is unique to me. But because it is just how I see the world, I discount it, minimize it, believing there must be another, faster, better, more clever, quick, and funny way to see the world. We compare ourselves with others and in that single action, we are lost to our own creative spark, the one that exists outside the world of measurements against others.

 There are also periodic "creative challenges." Like homework! The nerdy student in me loves it. My three-year-old was in the mood to "do some arting" so we got out the recommended index cards and some collage supplies. It was fun for both of us!

If you need a creative reboot or a nudge to discover that you are indeed creative, I would recommend checking this book out.

artist Maureen Nollette

This artist is going to be at a UICA event soon so I ended up with a link to her website in my email. Her work is very interesting to me – a bit on the strange side for those unfamiliar with art perhaps.

She does large installations, which I always find fascinating. How do you begin to conceptualize doing a piece of work for a particular space, time, and place? I am very curious about what kind of thought process an artist goes through.

At any rate, I was browsing her site and enjoying her work when I found a series that is inspired by the curves and lines created by man-made structures like sidewalks and curbs. Her compositions are beautiful crops of everyday scenes reduced to a lovely geometry. The grass is represented with green tissue paper. These pieces are very simple and clean, and, true to my heart, remind us to see beauty everywhere.

bits, pieces, and a nest

Here is an interesting collage piece by Kate Rivers. It's rather large and it is made of paper scraps plus pieces of books – all from her own life. She discusses how the nest is a metaphor for home, which she has lost due to her frequent moves as an adult.

I can't fully explain what it is that attracted me to this. I like the texture. I like the use and re-use of items that would be mere trash independent from each other. I like the concept of "nest" and "home."