Plans in my immediate Future

Just to let you know about future plans I have... I figured that if I commit them here, I will just do it.
1. I will be entering a piece in International Fluxhibition #3. This is a cyberspace exhibition of Fluxus art. If you google Fluxus, you can learn what this genre is . You can read about the exhibition here http://fluxmuseum.org This is another wonderful venture by Cecil Touchon, an incredibly productive and terrific collage artist. Here is Cecil's website http://touchon.com/ where there are links to his online museums. He prints actual paper catalogs for each show and they are available for purchase at reasonable cost. The exhibit is not juried and the deadline for entry is June 30, 2009 - so I better get my show on the road. And you, too, if you want to enter.

2. I will be entering work in The Book About Death. This is "1000 artists contribute 500 post cards each to create an unbound book about death." There will be a live exhibition at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in New York City, NY. The exhibit opening will be Thursday, September 10, 2009. The exhibition will go from September 10 - 22, 2009. You can read all about it here http://abookaboutdeath.blogspot.com/. On the site, you can also see some of work that has already been entered. The submission date is September 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time if you are interested in entering. The concept is brilliant and the brain child of Matthew Rose, a fabulous collage artist living in Paris, France. You can see his work here http://homepage.mac.com/mistahcoughdrop/Menu22.html Any one who is interested in submitting art to this exhibition should check out the blog where you can download a pdf file with all the details. The more artists that enter, the better. This is not a juried exhibition, so all entries will be accepted.

3. I have begun a book collaboration with an artist friend, Patricia Bronstein http://patriciabronsteinart.blogspot.com/. We plan to do a book a month over the course of a year. June is Month #1. I am up first and I have decided to make an altered book as the substrate. Haven't yet decided the theme. But I did pick up some suitable raw material yesterday from the $1 stalls at The Strand.

4. I have a surprise giveaway planned for my readers by the end of this month. So tell all your friends to keep track of my postings and doings.

5. I will be posting a photo of our lovely bush in the park either by the end of today or early tomorrow morning. Haven't visited with her since 5/11, so I am excited to see where she is in the circle of life.

I will be posting photos of all of the above as they happen - plus any new unplanned developments that grab my attention.

What I've been up to lately

Wondering where I've been and what I've been up to lately?

Quite a lot, actually. For starters... I have been doing some needle felting. I made a sweet little lamb for a friend who will soon give birth to her first child.

I also made a funky needle felted folk doll (my first one). I'm working on another and will
post it as soon as I get more wool (ran out).

I went to another "Lounge" at the Center for Book Arts in NYC . This is the greatest place. Once a month on a Friday night, for $10 ($5 if you're a member) you can take an interesting little 3 hour workshop. They supply all the materials, beer, soda and munchies. At the end of the night, you walk out with something terrific that you've made. I just love the place! Check them out

(http://www.centerforbookarts.org/

So here is what I made at the last 2 monthly Lounges. At the April Lounge, we made a Coptic bound journal. I made mine with pockets in both the front and back inside covers. The pockets and stitching were my own special touch to the model they taught.
Inside front cover

Inside back cover

Coptic binding - spine. I just love the way it looks and I love making it.

And at the May Lounge, a portable leather strop to sharpen the blades and knives you use for book binding. Everyone got to make 2 strops. The lecture was given by an awesome woman who is currently working as a book conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art .

The strop closed, The strop with one side open. The strop fully opened.

As you can see, the strop is like a little book and it is bound with book cloth over binder's board. It measures 6" x 3" closed. The black panel is #600 emery paper and the brown panel is suede leather. The emery paper sharpens the blade and the leather polishes it. Now I know how to make a cloth bound book. I love, love, love making books!

And speaking of books... I am participating in a Round Robin with 9 other artists in my Handmade Books Yahoo group. Here is my handmade journal.


My theme is "The Sea and Ocean Life. I am having the best time. I hope there will be future Round Robins with this group.

Here is my contribution to a RR member's journal. Jane's likes Outsider Art and subconscious content. This is a new genre for me. It's a story with an Outsider Art sensibility. I wasn't sure about it, but she really liked what I did.


Page1 Pages 2-3

Pages 4-5 Pages 6-7



And finally, here as promised, is a photo of the bush in the park taken on 5/11. If you remember I was documenting it's life along with my collage, The Measure of Breath, which I made for Seth Apter's Disintegration Collaboration. The collage is now off the terrace and waiting for its next life. Here is the beautiful park bush almost in full flower. Isn't it gorgeous!

Community Garden Tulips

Couldn't resist sharing these photos I took yesterday at the community garden a couple of blocks from my house. The garden was full of nothing but tulips in every state of bud to bloom and every color imaginable. One needs a bit of cheer like this on a rainy, dreary day in the city. Don't you think?

The Disintegration Collaboration - The final reveal

The first phase of The Disintegration Collaboration ended on May 1. Here are the photos. The flowering bush is just about at its peak. The Measure of Breath is singing its swan song for this life.

I've included some sections of the collage so you can really see the changes from the first post on 3/14 to today.



The safety pin, shiny and new, is now rusted. The fabric strips are faded and weak.

At the start, the key, rusted washer and shiny paper clip were all together on the chain. Now they have fallen and all are rusted.












So, now we are on to the next phase. I have decided to continue documenting the bush in the park as it progresses into summer, then fall, then winter.

This has been a wonderful thing to participate in. And I do believe we have not heard the last from The Measure of Breath. So... stay tuned.

Do check out www.thealterepage.com where Seth Apter, the maestro of this symphony of art, has been documenting the bundles from all 123 artists who are participating in this collaboration.