I Am Woman (another funky artdoll)

I am woman, indeed!  It amuses me to view this piece of art I made a few years ago.  I seem to be in the mood to revisit some of my older art that was done before I started my blog, that has never been posted on it, and post it now.  Well, I admit that I haven't been posting nearly as often or consistently this year as I did last year.  In a way, I'm disappointed in myself for that, but in another way, I'm okay with that.  Life happens, it ebbs and flows, that's just the way it works.  I haven't been making a lot of new art lately, but would still like to post on my blog and keep it interesting.  Hence, for now, I'm posting some older art of mine.

Regarding this piece, I think it was one of my first ventures into using found objects in my art.  The frame was found at a yard sale, and was the kind that had no glass over the picture of flowers.  I liked that part, because I knew I could use it for art.  So I used some Paper Perfect by DecoArt painted over the picture.  It's very cool stuff, described as paint that creates the look of handmade paper.  It looks and feels like wet paper pulp in a jar.  I'm not sure if it's still manufactured or for sale, but I bought two jars at Joann's when they were on sale and being discontinued.  I still have them, and they are still good, the pulp is still moist.  That is rather surprising, and I should use them again before they dry up.  Anyway, I painted that over the picture for some interesting texture, then painted over that with acrylic paint.

The head is another painted papercast that I made.  For some reason, the expression looks rather angry and belligerent, which isn't the case with the actual mold.  I'm not sure at all why it came out looking that way, but it did.  Maybe it was the painting that gave it that look.  Or maybe gluing crystals into the eyes.  Then again, the stance, with hands on hips, adds to that impression.  It brings to my mind the anger of so-called "feminists" of the 70's, which was not my intent in this piece, but hey, I guess I'll go with that.  I find that rather comedic, and laugh about it.  This may have been a more conventional, attractive piece if I'd used an attractive face....but it is what it is.

I used rusted found objects (scavenged from my local truck stop parking lot) for the torso, arms, and legs.  And lace for the skirt, beads for the hands, and buttons for the feet.  That's a dangle earring on the front of the body.  Surrounding the woman (or rather artdoll) are pieces of a chain mail necklace and earring set found at a yard sale.  And last but not least is the poodle, Pierre, on the right lower side, a pin found in my vintage jewelry stash.  I used gold glitter glue around the edges of the picture.

I do love artdolls, and the idea of making them, but have made only a few so far.  But this theme is coming up for me lately, so perhaps my muse is trying to tell me something???  I really don't know.  I'm not always that clued in on what my muse is up to, ya know?  I guess only time will tell.  What I do know is that I love using found objects in my art, and that includes jewelry.  I have an interesting stash of old and not so old jewelry I haven't looked through in a while.  Who knows, that could be a start for inspiration.  Inspiration can be anywhere and everywhere, hiding or right out there in plain sight.  Here's to inspiration, any which way you can find it!!!

Funky Artdoll -- Puzzle Art

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot I made this.  I was browsing through my past art, and saw this piece, and decided to post it on my blog.  I made this over three years ago.  A fine lady and artist in our local art group was involved in an Puzzle RR, and her theme was Artdolls.  However, she had a few puzzle pieces left over and asked for volunteers to help her finish her puzzle.  So I jumped in and volunteered, although I'd never worked on a puzzle piece before, nor made an artdoll.  So all of this was new to me, but it presented a challenge I relished.

This is what I came up with.  The background was "grunge paper" we'd made in our art group at one of our meetings.  Totally love that grunge technic, which is in my labels on my blog.  The face on this was a paper cast I had made, and I just painted it and used crystals for the eyes.  The arms and legs were made from felt wrapped around a wooden skewer and zapped with a heat gun to melt it, as far as I can recall.  I'm a bit foggy on that technic.  I used beads from a dismanteled necklace for the hands, and rusted found objects for the torso and feet.

Gee, now that I've revisited this piece, I really like it.  Well, the idea of wild artdolls excites me, but I've only made three.  So maybe I should revisit that idea and theme???  Ahhhh, there are so many themes and choices out there for art -- it gets to be a bit overwhelming, does it not my dear artist friends?  Perhaps accidentally stumbling on this piece of art I made years ago can inspire me now to make another artdoll.  Well, God knows I could sure use some inspiration about now.  Who knows?  Will I act on this, or file it away for a future time?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece.  And if inspires you, or gives you some ideas, so much the better.  Perhaps sometimes visiting old art can be a good thing, a catalyst for renewal and new art.

Addendum:  Some people have asked about the size of this piece.  I don't still have this piece, because I made it for another artist.  So I'll have to guess about the size.  My guess is it's approximately 5-6 inches wide and 5-6 inches tall.  My particular piece to work on was more like a square, but of course not all the puzzle pieces were like that.  So, this was a large puzzle piece puzzle that was used for her Round Robin.  I'm not sure where these large puzzles can be purchased, but they're out there.  And probably also online.  And maybe at some thrift stores and yard sales.  I hope this helps.

Another piece of Nature Art

;Ahhh yes, another piece of nature art.  I love making nature art, and keep coming back to it often.  Why, I'm not totally sure....except that it's so, well, natural.  I think when I do nature art, I go into a different art zone, a free and easy art zone, with no pain or angst or planning.  It just kind of happens easily and spontaneously.  Beyond that, which is totally great, I can pick up nature items from my yard and use them in my art.  As in, gee, I don't have to make a run to Hobby Lobby or Joann's and buy something to use in my art.  Now, don't get me wrong -- I love buying art tools and supplies, when I'm in the mood to do so.  But I think I love even more using nature items, or natural items found outdoors, to use in my art.

I made this piece a few weeks ago.  I was in the mood to make art, but had no clue what I wanted to make.  So I took a stroll through my yard, and picked up the leaf and the seed items.  I don't know what to call them, but found them in my yard.  And thought great, I like these, I'm going to use them in my art.  Then I pulled out a piece of chip board, and got busy on this piece.

I also used fabric and threads that were on my work table, just because they were there.    I guess I made this piece because I wanted to make some art, felt the need to make some art, and for no other reason.  I had no plan, and wanted to keep it simple and easy.  I also chose to use a cool stencil I bought online, of various sized circles.  I just love that stencil, and I love using circles in my art.  I frosted over it with caulk, which I also love to use in my art.  It's so simple and easy to do that, and yet it creates great texture.  And I'm always about texture in my art.  Sometimes I think that's my main focus, above and beyond anything else.  I hope I don't overdo it, but I can't seem to help myself, when it comes to texture.

I mostly just glued various things down on this piece.  And the key  -- I love the key -- was a last minute thing -- I added it last.  I was on a vintage key quest for several months, wanting the old regular keys, the old unique flat keys, the old skeleton keys, and if they were rusted, the better.  So I bid on a number of ebay key lot auctions.  I learned that buying old key lots on ebay isn't cheap, and isn't easy to win.  I lost a lot of them, but also won a few of them.  And now, I have a fantastic stash of old vintage keys.  I mean now, I have over 100 of them, maybe over 200 of them, I lost count.  I've used them in my art before, on a number of pieces.  And then kind of forgot I had them, like duh!  So I remembered them when I made this piece, and chose to add one.

So anyway, this is what I ended up with, and I'm happy with it.  And I'm wondering, regarding art, what do YOU love making the most???  Do you have a special theme, dear to your heart, that you love making?  A theme you may keep coming back to, time and time again?  Do you love it when you make art spontaneously, with no real plan, or do you prefer to plan your art and stick to the plan?  And what is easier and more comfortable for you -- spontaneous art or planned art?  What kind of art causes you fear, pain, or angst, and what comes so naturally?  For me spontaneous unplanned art seems to come the easiest, and allow me the most enjoyment.  So what say all you artists out there?  Please chime in.