A Collaboration

I like collaborating with others. I think sometimes it can be scary. What if that person who asked us to collaborate won't like our "stuff?" What if we mess up? What if they say there are no rules and you end up altering something the other person really didn't want altered? What if............ I've collaborated twice over the last several years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Most recently I've been collaborating with a woman who's in my mixed media/art journaling class that I lead most Saturday mornings at my local AC Moore craft store. Connie called me one day to find out more about the class. I hung up the phone with her thinking "she gets it. She gets this art journaling thing. She gets me." I did not know if she really would show up and if she did if she'd keep coming back. She did and she has. So we've been passing our Strathmore 5.5 x 8.5 inch water color journal back and forth to each other. Connie's and my style is totally different which is what's cool about it. What's interesting is the blending of our styles to create something totally new is so interesting. So, we will exchange our books not knowing...... we agreed no rules, we agreed to trust each other, be respectful and trust the process..... she might start a page and I then might add to it or start something on the opposite page. We have jumped around a lot. We don't really know if any of the pages are really finished yet. Connie's and my choice of colors or color palette is very similar except for this orange she "threw" at me. I mean how was she to know that orange was my least favorite color to work with unless it is around the Autumn season? So I took up her challenge and tried my best to celebrate orange. I think the neat thing about any collaboration is that collaborators bring their own stories to the canvas, which then can spark new ideas and opportunity to play in a different way so the art takes on an entire new feeling. Does that make sense? Seeing these images on the screen looks and feels differently than in paper form. I am reminded by Julia Cameron's words: "The courage to create is a courage to make something out of what we are feeling." You can find more of Connie's work by going here I am linking to Paint Party Friday where there's a lot of courage and creativity going on. And thank you Connie for our collaboration, for being who you are, and for "getting me." Thanks for visiting. Until next time.

Betsy Harting

About a year and a half ago I ran into Betsy Harting. I found the name Betsy Harting on some one else's blog list one day while surfing. I went to her blog but I wasn't convinced that it was the same Betsy Harting I'd been in college with back in 1975. (I am dating myself here). I studied her profile picture. Still not convinced. I thought the only way I could be sure was to go back to the beginning of her blog postings and sure enough there was mention of where she had gone to college. I immediately emailed her and we have kept in touch ever since. We shared our love of dance and choreography in college, and to discover each other many years later, both doing art and both having a blog, was pretty cool. I found a small 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 envelope from Moleskine, the kind that has a flap and three pages so you can close it up like a little journal. Perfect for mail art. I started it and sent it to her. I think we floated it back and forth for about 6 mos or more. Seriously, I don't recall but it has arrived back to me, as we have decided it is done. This is the product of our mini collaboration.Here is the front and back cover. I didn't remember to take photos every step of the way but I did get a few. The best part of it was the anticipation of it's arrival and opening it up to see each other's additions. Great fun! Good stuff. Thank you, Betsy! You can see more of Betsy's wonderful art here. Thanks for stopping in. More of ICAD in the days to come.

Another Garage Side Collaborative

A couple of years ago MY MAN and I brought home a couple of pieces of plywood from Home Depot. We tacked them to the side of the garage. We went back and forth each on our own pieces and then switched. After several days this is what came out of that. With some editing and cropping we got this. I should stop and tell you that MY MAN had never picked up a paint brush since he was in grade school. I think he figured if he was going to spend some time with me he might want to join me in my creative endeavors. I came home one day and discovered he had painted a light switch. I think I knew I was in trouble. This giant collage is 6 feet by 20 inches hangs in the corner of the den. Here are some pictures of that first piece we dared to do together. Because the piece is so large and the corner of the room is dark, and I wanted to show you the piece in its entirety, I had to do some editing with my not so great Sony digital. Here are some better close ups of part of the piece. We called this piece I Hear it When it Breathes. The weather this weekend was perfect for throwing some paint down again... outside. And while we don't have the van anymore to bring home large pieces of plywood, we made do with a smaller piece. Again, we went back and forth. I won't bore you with every single picture but I did take a few good shots of how it changed in a matter of two days. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. I hope I didn't bore you with this long post. Thanks for visiting.

Still in Progress

Still working on bunches of projects. I want to finish some of them this next week when I have off from work. It's going to be a wonderful staycation with lots of creative stuff. Remember the tree collaboration with MY MAN? It's on a 40 x 50 piece of plywood. It's coming a long quite nicely. Last I checked no one was able to figure out what the tree/branches were made with. Thanks for stopping in...............................xoxoxo..........................jo

The Discoverer Journal is Finished

Intermittently, I've been showing you pages of the Discoverer Journal. It is an upcycled, recycled journal made by a person who gifted this to me. She planted the seeds, they rooted, and I have filled it. It has blossomed. I thought I would show you the journal from front to back. Thanks for letting me share this journal and journey with you. Wishing you peace. Thanks for visiting here.........................................jo

What I Want

Yet another page from the Discoverer Journal. There's only a couple more to show you and then I can say I have actually completed a project without getting sidetracked, which is more my nature. But I decided to really buckle down and try and stay focused. I'm so full of it. I just wanted to say I finished something before starting something new. If I told myself I was not allowed to make anything else before I finished this it seemed to somewhat motivate me into doing it. It worked for a day until I started and finished this. lol. I know I am not the only one who has many projects going on at the same time but do you also get sidetracked with other things in the middle of working on a project and start something totally new? Is that considered a mental disorder? My work table can get so cluttered because I have not cleaned up after working on something; I want to create art but I am so distracted by (or drawn to at the same time) all the clutter, I find myself getting sucked in to something totally different. That probably sounds like I have no idea what I am talking about or what I just said. Somehow I am quite sure you do know what I mean. Please tell me you also have this malady........... ha ha ha. Seriously, thank you for spending a moment or two with me.................. I am looking forward to a long weekend, hopefully much of it in my pjs in my studio. I hope you will, too...............................p.s. Thank you, Betsy for showing up here. And, guys, let me tell you, there's a story to share about this person who showed up here. Stay tuned.............................................................................jo