Thursday, February 21, 2008

I've been a good little "art do-bee"! Remember Romper Room?



Yes I have! What is a "do-bee"? Does anyone remember the TV show Romper Room from the 1950's? Remember Miss Gloria, the show's host? It was on here in Denver, I'm not sure if it was just a local show or not. Anyway, a "do-bee" was a good little kid, who got things done. Good things.

So I've been a good "do-bee" today, regarding my art. And getting a new art work done. Beyond that, doing something totally different from what I normally do. It's been on my mind lately, call it an urge, to do something with wallboard joint compound (JC), which is somewhat similar to spackle. Don't know why that "urge" cropped up out of nowhere, but it did. So today, I followed it. Beyond that, I didn't have a clue what I wanted to make.

But I was out in my yard, so I started picking up "nature" items, thinking I could use those in my art today. And so I did. I also used cheese cloth that I recently tea dyed. And I used walnut ink crystals in the JC, to dye it brown or sepia, because I didn't want to have to paint the JC.
That worked out well, although maybe I should've added more, to make the JC darker. Because once it dried, it came out lighter than I expected. I also sprinkled some walnut ink crystals on my piece, to make some areas darker.

And once I started on this piece, with the natural items to inspire me, my muse jumped in and things moved right along. The idea to add the cheese cloth to the back, and then wrap the piece with it, came at the end, out of nowhere. I do love using cheese cloth in my art though, and even more so now that I started tea dying it. Today I also put some in walnut ink, to see how that comes out. Hopefully, it will come out a little darker brown, whereas the tea dyed cheese cloth comes out a sepia color. But until recently, it never occurred to me to dye cheese cloth. However, I read a tutorial on the net that included doing that, so I tried it.
Sorry, I don't recall where I read the tutorial, or I'd give credit to that artist.

Anyway, as one idea leads to another, and one idea can inspire other ideas, this is where I ended up today. I chose a small piece for today, but hope to use this conglomeration of technics on a larger piece soon.

Regarding the Romper Room thing, as an aside here, I actually got to meet Miss Gloria when I was in my 20's. It turned out that a new girlfriend I made was her daughter. And so she took me to meet her mother. I have to say, it was a thrill to meet Miss Gloria, 20 years after I used to watch her on TV. And practice being a good "do-bee"!!! And never being a "don't-bee". (Like yea, right. I'm sure my own mother would have something to say about that!) Ahhh, the memories from childhood.

6 comments:

Babytreese said...

Very nice Val...thanks so much for sharing your nature collage with us and thanks most of all for the "do-bee" memory ;=)

Pink Elephant Soapery said...

This is "fabulous" Val!!! I must get back to nature myself now living here in NV. Nature in the desert is so different from NY.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane on Romper Room! WOW! That takes me back lots of years! I watched that when I was a kid back in Western NY. I did not remember her name. thanks!

Eastjewels said...

Val...I love your collage...remarkable... I like to use cheese cloth also..can't be the texture it gives. Your colors are all NATURE and fabulous...You are a very talented lady...Thanks for shareing techniques and your inspiration.
Linda (Okla)

Elis Cooke said...

Hi Val
Thanks for explaining the process behind these pieces! I find them lovely to look at, earthy, sensual and feminine... I want to touch them so they have those wonderful tactile textures which I love to work with too! Welcome to bloggerland! namaste Elis.

Sue said...

Beautiful, beautiful work, and so generous with sharing your techniques. Thank you.
BTW, I *do* remember Romper Room, but I didn't remember the teacher being Miss Gloria. You do realize that all day I'll have the phrase "Romper, Bomper, Stomper, Boo...Tell me, tell me, tell me do..." going through my head?

rosebudinnh said...

wonderful art! and Romper room, man I use to wait for my name: and never once,Did she see Rose in that mirror. my 6 brothers and sisters names were called.LAUGHING NOW... Now I cant get the darn song out of my head. LOL Rose

http://rosebudinnh.spaces.live.com/