Feed My Soul

Green Collage, 5" x 5"
Mixed media on cardboard:
Watercolor on cardstock, gel pen, marker,
pastels, painted tissue paper.
Computer generated words.
Some of the Collage Fodder from
the previous post made it into
this collage...
Do what feeds your soul!

Collage Fodder

Painted cardstock to be used as collage fodder-
watercolor and gel pen.
These will probably be torn or cut
and applied to collages...
maybe art journal pages, atc's, moo cards,
or in whatever project they can add
some color and texture.
copyright Dianne Bishop Carey 2009

Mini Collage

Mini-collage, 3" x 5", spiral bound index card
"Savor Moments" 2009
Dianne Bishop Carey
scrapbook papers, acrylic-painted cardstock, watercolor,
hand-written words.

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

THE PROCESS-- Mixed Media Collage

MATERIALS:
Recycled cardboard
Gesso
Artist's chalk pastels
"Suave" max hold hairspray (or any inexpensive brand)
Scissors, glue, Sharpie marker
Papers, paint, fabric, ephemera
Hole punch, if desired

Recycle cereal box or other cardboard for substrate.
Cut to size & shape desired. Apply gesso, 1-2 coats.
Apply chalk pastels in desired colors.
"Fix" with inexpensive hairspray. (This is
to help prevent smearing of the chalk)

Choose scraps of fabric, paper, painted papers
to include in the composition.
Color contrast was a main consideration
for this piece. Lay out without gluing
and try several compositions.
Cut, tear, and overlap shapes.

Begin gluing shapes after experimenting with
color contrast, overlap, and how your eye
is guided through the page.
In the western world, our eye is usually
trained to "read" the composition from
(upper) left to right, top to bottom.
Try to guide the eye through the page
by the balance and movement
of shapes, colors, space & contrast.

I usually repeat some colors and shapes
throughout the surface, often using
something an odd number of times,
as in 3 times, or 5 times...
but it's not an absolute...
My process is intuitive.

"Connected" - Pink & Blue Collage

Often, it is difficult to know when the
composition is finished!
Some artists suggest that the artwork
is never "done" it just stops in
an interesting place...
I added layers of undulating lines
to suggest "strata" with
an extra-fine point Sharpie marker.
I used a hole punch to punch holes in this piece
to put into a "ring binder art journal."

Ingrid has been recycling cardboard
to create stunning journal pages in
a recycled ring binder. She has inspired me
to create my own version.
Please visit Ingrid's blog to see her
beautifully executed journals!

Portion Control

Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press
Street Team Crusade No. 28 is
"Portion Control."
The idea is that a portion of an image,
obscured, embellished, or cropped, etc.
is much more interesting than
the plain complete image
in the center of the paper.
Some of my supplies are
shown above...

These are my Art Journal pages
created with the goal of "portion control."
My previous post showing the
exploration of the primitive shape
of a bird is continued...

I used crayons & watercolor
for a resist, portions of poems
in my own handwriting,
hand-carved stamps,
black acrylic paint,
and both the positive and
negative portions of
my stencils.

Quick Sketch

Quick sketch while sitting
in a fast food restaurant...
not a fan of drooping britches.

Mixed Media Tag

A chipboard tag from a clothing purchase
recycled into art through
mixed media collage...
it was laying on the table with the
Sale sticker still attached...

The silver background on the tag and
my supplies still laying out from a
previous project just
begged to be made into a
quick collage!
Thanks to my friend Elizabeth,
I have some lovely handmade papers
that she gifted to me,
and I want to use each
tiny scrap, because I know
they were so time-consuming to make!
Used: painted fabric, acrylics
painted brown paper bag (gold)
hand-made paper (peach)
vintage sheet music
scrapbook papers
fibers

Respond to your environment

"Azaleas," Dianne Bishop Carey, 2009
watercolor, pen & ink
Artistic inspiration comes from many sources...
and generations of artists have fallen in love
with a particular geographical area or
culture...the way the light falls on the
architecture or plants--
the colors and shapes of the
countryside...the exploration of traditions...
the atmosphere of the place.
Georgia O'Keeffe found unending
inspiration in the light, colors
and shapes of the desert...

Hills--Lavender, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
1935, Georgia O'Keeffe

Frida Kahlo's images of pain and
self-examination nevertheless often
reflected the bright colors and culture of the
Mexican folk art traditions.
The environment that artists find
themselves in, or choose to respond to...
can have a dramatic impact on their work.

Self-Portrait "The Frame"
1938, Frida Kahlo

That is not to say that artists must travel
to exotic places to create---
on the contrary, it is vital that we create
wherever we are and whenever
we are able. But, a change of
scenery can inspire just because it
is different from what we
usually see...
Palm trees, white-capped waves,
cream-colored sand and sun-bathed
colors; as opposed to gray skies,
the sparkle of 'diamonds' on snow,
intricate patterns of leafless trees,
and graceful spruce laden with
heavy snow. One isn't better
than the other--just different--
and each inspires in its own way!

Mini Collage

Mini-Collage on spiral index card:
watercolor & acrylic paints,
hand-carved stamp
and paint splatters.