By Jove It's Christmas, Cards and wot not

When the call came that Reverse Garbage are holding another exhibition, this time for Christmas  called the  Festive Collective, I knew I wanted to do something.

The one catch? All the items must be mostly from recycled, reclaimed materials.

I love the challenge of using recycled things in my art... and that is part of how my Vintage lace and linen girls came about.

But what was I going to make that would be suitable for Festive Collective?

Then I spied a stack of old Joy Of Knowledge encyclopedias...you know the sort of thing 

mixed media, ephemera junkies, or paper artists buy at the op shop.  A stack for $1, and they've sat on my shelf ever since, knowing that ONE DAY I would have a use for them!

So,  I got to wondering, and this is what I've come up with ...

These cards are TOTALLY made from the paper, and images cut, glued and painted, from the Joy of Knowledge encyclopedia's...

two layers of the paper are glued, and trimmed to make the 'card'...

Once of my favourites!  'By Jove' Christmas card from recycled ephemera. Come see more!

 

Then images from the encyclopedia were carefully selected at random, trimmed to perfection, 

and lovingly glued!

 

 some, like this one above, have a watercolour 'tinting' added  (Happy PPF!  (Paint Party Friday)

 most of them have a quirky caption...

 

come see this and more at Etsy!

 I currently have a rowing collection of these - they were rather addictive to make.  I think at last count there are 16 completed cards, and a stack of others in various stages of completion.

Oh, and yes I am making prints to sell - they are too cute, and I want some too!
(this link will take you to the shop!)

If anyone was wondering - I've been off sick with a lovely 24hour explosive flu/cold/thing...
but luckily it does seem to be only 24 hours - weirdly  intense while it lasted - hence I've missed Illustration Friday & Sunday Sketching, AND my lateness in this post too :-)

anyhoo...
I have set myself a task to see what else creative, painterly, or collagey, I can make using this
(now shrinking) stack of paper!  I'm thinking some old brown cardboard might be in order, some acrylic paint, and a brayer...

Happy PPF!  (Paint Party Friday)
Love your comments!

On My Desk...Mail Art fun

On my desk right now...

Charlie & Max!

Other than the two boys deciding to come and visit me on the desk - this is what I have on my art desk...



Last week I decided to join in my first mail art swap that was on offer on one of the yahoo groups I am a member of.  From what I understand it is where artists send art in the mail to other artists.   Being a newby to the world of mail art I naturally googled it,  and even after some google time I am still not sure if there are any boundaries to this - as long as it can be posted its mail art!

I have to mail some arty fun to nine other people  all around the world, so the costs of postage will be a guiding factor.   I plan on heading to the local post office and checking on this today, but to start the process off ( as we need to post during September) I have started a series of postcards.

The first is a set of 4 largish postcards that I got in the mail to promote the current exhibitiion at the Queensland Art Gallery - beautiful masters from Spain.  (We havn't been yet but it's on my list of things to do before it closes!)

They were just begging to be altered, and as they were glossy they have been sanded, lightly gessoed, stamped, painted, and collaged... so far!  As this dear lady has such a solemn expression I added the word 'smile' - seemed appropriate somehow.   I spent an hour or so leafing through my old copy of 'What Kay Did', finding suitable quotes to add.  A bit more distressing and a glaze or two and these will be finished.

Next I used Cotman Water Colour Postcards, which I added watercolour washes, with drips and backwashes, and a quote.  Not sure what to do next - maybe some stamping?

And lastly, there is one little card, which is watercolour paper with shiva oil sticks on the outside, and a watercolour wash on the inside...

 Now, I just need to claim back my desk from the Boys, get out some paints, and get going!

I'm trying something new: linking in... I'm linking back to Effy's Swoon page  and also Paint Part Friday - so if you are visiting from either of those paces be sure to say Hi!   The art community is HUGE online, and its great encouragement to join in so many different groups and ideas :-)

Love your comments :-)

recycled materials

We drove out to visit Reverse Garbage today.   They have an amazing array of clean waste, scraps, and re-cycled material all rady for the aspiring collage, assemblage, or mixed media artist to go gaga over!  This was what I discovered today:
3 types of plastic waste: large circles, small circles, and a horse-shoe shape
fine tule
embossed wall paper (? or at least I think it was meant for wallpaper - it is uncoated however)
A large ply circle
A small square of some type of light weight building material
And a black metal display stand ( not pictured)
So - how will I use these in an art journal? Stay tuned!