How Do I Look?

Art Journal Collage featuring a 

photocopy of a vintage fashion drawing 

done by my Mom, circa early 1950's.

I used to draw these types of girls

when I was in high school too...

could it be genetic?

Some days I feel like drawing,

but other days I want to paint

or collage. Not to mention quilting,

cross-stitch, photography or scrapbooking.

 So many options,so little time!

More vintage illustrations combined

with my own doodles and painting.

I enjoy using every type of pen, 

even fluorescent highlighters.

 I dug out some of the stamps

I've carved from erasers, and added 

stamping to my pages. It creates

borders, interesting divisions of the space

on the page, and makes repeating

a design easy.

Do you ever think about how we

perceive beauty, and how much 

we 'buy into' the stereotypes of 

our society?  People have an unfortunate

tendency to judge others by their

appearance.  I try to resist that tendency,

but I'm not always successful.  This

page reminds me to see the

Beauty in everyone and everything.

 Well OK, maybe not creepy crawlies.

I am not a fan of bugs or snakes...

I will admire their natural

beauty from a distance!

I like fashion magazines, (especially Vogue)

simply for their artistic flair. I don't 

consider them realistic in any way 

for a Midwestern woman of

 my age (ahem!) as a model

for what I should wear or how I should 

look. I just want to be healthy and happy,

and make some art.  Can I love drawing

fashion models without caving in to 

society's expectations?

Linking up with Art Journal Every Day

over at Balzer Designs.

What creative pursuit have

you been enjoying?

Re-Posting a Favorite: T is for Tuesday, Q is for Quilt

Elizabeth invited us to look for 'buried treasure'
within our T Tuesday posts of the past, so I
am sharing an old favorite about the quilt I
made for my daughter and son-in-law.

I began working on this quilt in the summer of 2012...

A gift for the newlyweds, which they'll be lucky to receive

by their first anniversary in 2013!  (They did)

When I'm working on a quilt, I am careful to keep my

coffee cup (or any beverage) far away from the quilt!

The pattern is called Merry-Go-Round,

which I completely hand-pieced, and
 also hand-quilted..

It has bright happy colors, and includes many fabrics 

from the bride's past:  vintage fabrics from the bride's

great-grandmothers' stashes, fabrics from clothes 

that I sewed for her when she was little, and many

fabrics from the numerous baby quilts I've made.

I set the quilting frame up in my parents' home, as 

they have a bit more room, and it gave me an excuse

to go visit them and quilt!

My quilting stitches aren't exactly perfect,
or even tiny, but I tell myself that it's
 part of the 'charm of hand-made.'

I do attempt to keep them uniform in size.

In the block above, the red gingham was a dress that

I made for my daughter when she was in grade school.

A couple of the fabrics are from my maternal grandmother's

scraps, and one is even from a guitar case that I 

made in high school.  Yes, a quilted fabric guitar case.

Weird, I know. But I liked it much better than the

black 'cardboard' ones that you buy.  (I used

pre-quilted fabric on part of that guitar case, wasn't up to

hand-quilting in high school! and no, I don't

 really play guitar any more)

The cable quilting designs are marked in pencil and

then stitched.  The triangle and rectangle shapes are

just 'eyeballed.'  So they aren't always perfect...

It's challenging to get your shoulders, arms and hands

to 'turn' in the right direction to follow the quilting design.

I find I have to pace myself so as not to get sore muscles.

Many quilters have their quilt tops machine-quilted these

days, but I really enjoy hand quilting.  I don't exactly know

how many hours I have in this quilt. At least 500 hours, 

at a guess.  If I kept an accurate track of how long it takes,

I might never make another!

Here's how I have my morning 'mocha' coffee...

to your coffee cup add 1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder,

a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of vanilla, sweetener to taste,

(I use any Stevia sweetener)

and a splash of fat-free milk.  Yum!

Visit Bluebeard and Elizabeth at

Altered Book Lover

to see what others are doing on Tuesday!

Perhaps they are having Tea on Tuesday,

instead of coffee, like me...

•  ♦  •

Documented Life - On T Tuesday

Here's a reprise of some tea cup art

for T Tuesday...

Joining the T party over at

Altered Book Lover.

Week 18 of The Documented Life Project 

was to include a quote on the page. Since my

tip-in page that week had used some ledger

paper, I felt a quirky collage was in order...

Supplies: Ledger paper, Loteria card, diagram from

a book of science experiments for kids, illustration

from a vintage vacation/travel booklet, rose image

cut from cover of sticker book, and a tiny scrap

from a Shorthand textbook.

I feel gladsome that you dropped by...

but  "I aim to misbehave."

•  ♦  •

Drawing ~ Documented Life Project

The Documented Life Project:

Week 13. Have someone draw 

on your page.  Finish it.

I didn't strictly have mom draw directly

on my page. This is a copy of a fashion

drawing that she did around 1950 or so.

(Below) She drew with pencil, then

inked with a dip pen and India ink.

I had a copy made on card stock, 

then watercolored it and added the

quote by CoCo Chanel.

Don't you love her drawing?

Thanks Mom!

Week 14.  Write your name. Decorate.

I was inspired by graffiti on railroad cars.

(Below) Sketched in pencil, then

Sharpie pen, then watercolors.

I am having so much fun doing art journals

that not much is getting done around the 

house. But a person has to have priorities...

Above, a page in my Eco Green Smash Book.

When I find bits of art projects that I am 

not sure what to do with, it has been ending

up in the Smash book...if I can make it fit!

Hope you will find time to make 

some art today!

Altered Bottles on T Tuesday

Altered jars that I created for gifts.

Materials used:

Burlap, lace, ribbon, buttons...

music paper, scrapbook paper, vintage paper,

shabby fabric roses that I made, 

charms or vintage-style keys,

 beads, twine, silk flowers, and 

basically whatever I could get my hands on!

Some of the lace borders I actually crocheted myself.

I used a white and cream color palette for a vintage look.

I put tea light candles in them, but you could

fill them with buttons, clothespins, thread spools, or

art supplies in your craft room.  They were fun to make

and no two were exactly alike.

Above, an art journal page

with a Degas quote and various

flower motifs. Sharpie pen and watercolor.

I am still depending on color to warm

me during this cold, snowy winter!

Enjoying my coffee with a bit

of cocoa powder on another

cold morning.  Minus 11 degrees F!

Linking up with Elizabeth's 

T Tuesday blog hop.  Hope you will visit

her to see what other artists are

doing this Tuesday!

Collage

"An Eye For Flowers"

5" x 7" collage

Painted papers, vintage ephemera

on watercolor paper.

"Adjusted"
5" x 7" collage
Painted papers and vintage ephemera
on watercolor paper.
Brown paper has touches of gold
mist which does not show in the scan.
(Click on any image to enlarge)

'Vintage Wedding' Sketches

I've been busily making silk flower
bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres
for my daughter's wedding.  I originally was
going to post some photos, but then realized
the bride might not appreciate my revealing
them prior to the wedding...

so here are some sketches of some of the accumulated
items for wedding flowers and reception decorations.
(It's beginning to feel like a bridal warehouse around here)
Assorted vintage glass jars and vases will decorate
the reception tables. (I love these,
once I started buying them,it is really
hard to stop!)  A few will be altered
with burlap, lace, buttons, flowers
and whatever embellishments I can devise.
Pinterest is full of amazing inspiration...

We'll use canning jars for votive candles on
the reception tables.
So far I've made a lot of flower items:
6 Bouquets
7 Corsages
9 Boutonniers
1 Cake Topper
Assorted altered jars~
and that's for a bridal party of 4 bridesmaids and groomsmen,
which is not as large as some weddings are!
Flowers still to go:
8 Pew Wreaths, decorations for
Gift table, Head table, Candy buffet,
Wishing well for cards, Guest book,
and whatever else comes up!
It's going to be a busy month.
Counting down to October 6th....
So far, I'm enjoying the process.
We'll see how it goes the closer
we get to the event...!

Fifties Fashion Tribute

copyright A. Janet Burggraf Bishop

Drawings by my mother, 

when she was in high school.

Pen and ink on paper,

with crayons or colored pencils.

Another post of my mom's
drawings is shown at right
in Popular Posts sidebar:
"Fifties Fashion."

 

 Drawn from magazines or

dress patterns.

Click on any image to enlarge.

You can see the quality of the

lines. She used a pen nib

dipped in India ink.

Even in the fifties, it appears

that the models were extremely thin.

My mom always supported my desire

to make art.  I drew paper dolls

and 'girls' when I was growing up too.

Thanks Mom!

Fifties Fashion

circa 1950, copyright A. Janet Burggraf Bishop
Pen and India ink, colored pencil on typing paper
Fashion drawings done by my mother.
She is not sure how old she was when she did these,
probably a freshman or sophomore in high school.
Apparently I inherited some artistic genes
from her. I remember that she often
doodled eyes and lips when she talked on the phone...
not faces, just the face parts!

My mother's drawing is above, my art journal drawing at the bottom. Mom's is in India ink and colored pencil, mine is in ballpoint pen. She drew these models from magazines and clothing patterns.







I attempted to draw the girl in the sweater on my art journal page...the profile is not quite right in my opinion.




A. Janet Burggraf Bishop, 1950

Dianne Bishop Carey, 2009