Sneak Preview of show in June

From June 5th through July 5th 2011 my work will be showing at the Glenview Art Gallery in Rockville Maryland. It's a three person show and here's the line up:

Anne Nicholson - ceramics
Roger Doyle – oil paintings
Theresa Martin - assemblage

Here is a sneak preview of one of the collages I'll be showing:

 Full view - 14" x 18" Mixed Media Collage

 Detail

Detail

 I'm using numbers as an element in my new work. For my last show the magnifying glass was a main element and while it appears again in some of the work, this time the numbers are a repeating theme. Many of the figures have a 'halo' made from vintage bathroom scale dials. The new pieces are paper sewn onto paper with some fabric added. I'm using buttons and other 3D elements on them as well. I'll be sharing more about my process as well as posting more photos each month.  Hope to see you there at the show!

is the Guest Curator this week on Jenny Doh's blog: http://blog.crescendoh.com/crescendoh/index.html 
Each day this week there will be links to cool art websites that I've chosen to feature. Visit often and leave comments!

Published in Somerset Apprentice Magazine

Inside the current issue of Somerset Apprentice are two articles by me - one about the art made for the Disintegration Project and the other about a mixed media piece. In the articles I explain how I made each piece. It's in the bookstores now.

Mixed Media Dollhouse

Julie's Blog has a great story about the Mixed Media Dollhouse Book. Check out the individual rooms done by the class at Will Rogers Middle School, Lawndale with the teacher Marian E. Seiders- it's awesome!

Doll House Room - Secret Garden

Colin's gloomy room is visible from the front. From the side, you see Mary through a glass panel in the Secret Garden. Through a peep hole on the top you can see a glimpse of the sun in the Secret Garden.

Mixed Media Dollhouses by Tally Oliveau and Julie Molina

Coming soon to a bookstore near you!

Available now on Amazon 

Here is a sample of one of the rooms I worked on.

Here is a preview courtesy of Amazon of one of the dollhouses in the book. 

 

Tally Oliveau is a collage and mixed media artist and has been widely published in Somerset Studio, Belle Amoire, Somerset Memories, and Somerset Home. Tally is the president of Papier Studio, a greeting card company. Her artistic cards are sold in stores all over the country. She lives and teaches in Los Angeles, CA.

Julie Molina is a collage and mixed media artist. She has been published in several of Stampington’s publications including Somerset Studios Magazine and her work is included in 1000 Artist Journal Pages by Dawn DeVries Sokol. Julie lives in Los Angeles, CA.

 

I was fortunate to have been invited into a dollhouse group by Tally and Julie. They had the idea of getting a group of artists together to create several mixed media dollhouses. We chose themes such as an undersea house, and a castle among others. Each person was assigned one room of each house. We worked on this over the course of a year. Each month we finished our rooms and mailed them off to Julie. With hard work and determination Julie and Tally found a publisher - Quarry Books and it's about to be available in bookstores March 1. I can't wait to see it! Thanks Tally and Julie for including me in a project that was challenging and fun. 

Secret Sunday - Photoshop Tip

A reminder about Secret Sunday at the Altered Page:"Join the The Altered Page every Sunday for "Secret Sunday." Here the secrets of all your favorite artists will be revealed. It could be a technique, a product, a secret source, a little-known website, a hidden shop, an inspiration, just about anything!"

Be sure to check out the other secret's at the Altered Page. They are varied and interesting. Mine is not so much a secret, but a cool Photoshop Tip:

If you want to turn an image into a sepia tone, or any monochromatic color here's a good way to do it while preserving the color of your original image. With your image open in PS select Layer, New Fill Layer, Solid Color. Select a color you like. You can change your choice later. Then, go to the layers menu and select the Solid Color Layer and choose Color from the blending mode menu. It provides a nice color overlay giving your piece any monochromatic color you wish. You can select the color in the layers menu and change it to any other color or transparency. This way you have preserved the color of the original image and given yourself many options for a color overlay.

Click photos to embiggen.

Glass Pebble Collage

Paperwhimsy digital images collaged in Photoshop.

New Digital Collage Using Paperwhimsy Images

These are made entirely in Photoshop using Paperwhimsy's new line of hybrid images. Some are available on cards at Cafe Press. A couple of them are available as prints in my Etsy shop.

On the Newstands Dec 1, 2009

Disintegration Collaboration Project Reveal

full view of final piece

top view

Here is the link to the original PRE DISINTEGRATION photos and the initial REVEAL post. Today we have the final reveal photos - the finished product.

Hop on over to Seth's blog, our gracious host, to find the links to ALL the disintegration collaboration project reveals. Now that I've done this once, I have an idea about what I would like to disintegrate next time. Some of the papers I buried disintegrated into nothing and some were aged nicely. I carefully cleaned off the papers and put them in my freezer in a plastic bag to be sure there was no wildlife left in them.

I loved the papers stacked together, so I used most of them for this bundle/collage. I sewed onto one page a fabric paperwhimsy image using a piece of cloth under the page in order to keep it together solidly. When sewing through the old paper, it can cut it into two pieces as the sewing machine makes it's perforated line.

paperwhimsy image

little book inspired by Stepanie Lee

Inspired by Stephanie Lee, I made a little book out of some of the pages which is attached to the peace and love vintage ribbon. Since I love bling as much as rust, I added a row of rhinestones to top it all off.

side view of the stacked and aged papers

Next time, I will bury more components. I'll bury some cloth, and more string. And some rusty things wrapped in cloth. I'm off to collect and gather now - what will you disintegrate next?

side view of the stacked and aged papers
Thanks to Seth for coming up with the idea and hosting the project.

New Piece and upcoming DisCo project

August 1st is the date for artwork to be made for the DisCo project

(disintegration collaboration) The Altered Page

See the sidebar on Seth's blog for the before and after photos of the participants disintegration items. I will be working on my disco piece next.

On another note,I just finished a piece today (not a DisCo piece) and I leave you with a photo:

and a link to my etsy shop where this little gal is for sale. Thanks for looking!