[-art, photography, poetry-]

NightSchool

Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

Today’s image comes from Maureen Shaughnessy, the talented photographer and artist who has been a frequent contributor to The PCQ. She continually explores deeper and deeper into the possibilities of photographic/drawn art alterations.

I asked Maureen about this image and she said that she took a painting of a “normal, boring fish” and digitally altered it giving the appearance of perspective and swimming in different positions…” Maureen was working with the idea of “taking a flat…almost cut-paper or 2-dimensional tapestry gradually…transforming into a 3-dimensional dream image as you go right.”

I love not only the image she came up with, but the visual, design and metaphorical exploration behind it.

To accompany her image, she includes the following:

Linking literary works to art - whether they are your own words or someone else’s - can add a further dimensionality that enhances both.

thanks, Maureen for an inspiring alteration.

This image is part of Maureen’s Alterations and Digital Collages set
Here’s a link to Maureen’s blog, Raven’s Nest
All Maureen’s articles on The PCQ.
Here’s a PCQ science article on Dimensions

Originally published in the original Practically Creative blog, March 2006

[-photography, process-]

Originally uploaded by tejana.

This beautiful macro taken at a beach, by tejana, reminds me of the impermanence of … everything.

Sand is one of the most malleable of substances. It’s constantly altered by the tides, the wind, even the small beings living within it. Whether a large wave, a sprinkle of raindrops, or a human foot, each causes a rearrangement and a new design.

Our lives, our creative efforts are no different.

If I had finished my novel last December, for example, instead of waiting until now to do it, the words I chose would have been different. I’m subtly rearranged from the person I was when I put the writing aside. Therefore, what comes out of me now, will be altered from what it would have been then. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is something to acknowledge. It might be a (well-needed ) reason not to put things off if we can help it.

Each new day, we need to attempt to put our mark on something in order to capture what and who we are on that particular day - the way tejana so beautifully preserved the sand’s essence in this spot on this day.

Thank you, tejana ~~~

Here are some links to articles about paying attention to the marks we make:
- doodles by Maureen Shaughnessy
- marks have meaning, about self-promotion
- marks have meaning, an art tutorial
- mark my words, a graphic reminder

Procrastination articles:
- Suze Corte - Mind Space
- a PCQ-QCP - The Imaginary Deadline
- a Practically Mperfect article - Collecting Dust

The other side of NOT finishing things:
- Karen Hatzigeorgiou - You, Me and Leonardo da Vinci

Originally published in the original Practically Creative blog, February 2006

[-art, photography, alterations-]

‘lingering doubt’

© 06 - 07 angela petsis all rights reserved

Today we have a wax collage done by Angela Petsis. She says that she’s only been doing collage a short while but it’s obvious that she has a natural affinity and skill for gathering, and the layered construction that collage requires. The transparency of this image - with words and background images showing through the figure - give it a dreamy quality. The wax she uses in lieu of glue gives it depth and an aged look.

I am always more drawn to an image when it’s been given an evocative title like this one. “Lingering Doubt” immediately draws me in. I look more closely at the woman’s image and begin to wonder about the look on her face, her stance, what she’s wearing. But more so, it makes me think about what’s going on within her. Both ‘lingering’ and ‘doubt’ are ambiguous words. They can lead to positive or negative outcomes, but they are evidence of an internal struggle that helps to give meaning to this complex image. The combination of title and image result in visual poetry.

- See Angela’s great tutorial on how to do Polaroid transfers
- Showcase of Angela’s Polaroid Transfer artistry
- Be sure to visit Angela’s beautiful website to check out what other kinds of art she’s doing: angelapetsis.com

Thanks Angela for your evocative collage!

Originally published in the original Practically Creative blog, February 2006; edited for re-publication

[-alterations, art-]

Jack

Originally uploaded by wireguy.

I love this construction from wireguy. Dare we call it PopArt?

He says of his “Jack” creation:

With all the waste in the office, this became the (obvious?) first prototype. It’s amazing what you can do with plastic junk. Drink up and enjoy.

Indeed!
I hope some of our readers will take us up on the Alterations Challenge. And once you have, show your work! to us, to everyone.

I’ve become slightly obsessed — okay, I’ll admit it - there’s no such thing as ’slightly obsessed’ — with thinking of household items that I can transform into art and vice versa. So far, I’ve made artistic items from dried up gelpens and useful items of old photos but that’s only the beginning. I’m thinking lamps (though I haven’t quite settled on what to use), clocks (a glimmering of an idea that came from a clock I bought that looks as if it’s made from a cookie tin), fans (women of a certain age will understand my obsession with this) made from my paintings that are sitting in drawers, photograph boxes made from photos, windchimes, suncatchers….. can you catch the fever?

What I’m enjoying is the twist of mind that this challenge has given me. It brings on a new way of thinking about e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I don’t regard a heretofore tossable bottle cap or cork or dried up gelpen as trash… I think of it as a possibility. What can I use if for?

On the other hand, I look at treasures of mine, things I never wanted to part with but had no immediate use for such as little bits of embroidery, or beads, or silk thread, or paintings I did years ago, or photos I took of museums or scenery from somewhere I can’t remember, or ones that are out of focus, or broken china or mirrors. What am I saving them for?

I guess I saved them for now. I’m not only happy to have some raw materials around to use for this challenge, I’m also thrilled to be using stuff up - whether it’s a stash of beads, or pens that don’t work or - like wireguy - plastic bottles.

Let’s turn the trash into treasures and the treasures into more treasured masterpieces that work for us instead of just taking up space in our drawers and on our shelves! Join me in my obsession. I guarantee that you’ll enjoy the creative buzz!

thanks, wireguy, for your Jack and your inspiration.

Originally posted in the original Practically Creative blog, March 2006

[-photography, alterations-]

The Patina group on flickr.com is for images of anything that has “a rich, interesting, complex surface sheen due to age and use.” At this writing, 101 photographers have contributed close to 900 photos, gathering, IMHO, one of the most gorgeous collections on flickr. Read the rest of this entry »

[-art, digital art-]

Meet Flik R, our featured doodler

Flik R - who chooses to remain in his flickr persona - does fantastical drawings with gelpens and Uniball Signo rollerpens. But rather than be satisfied with that, he keeps going, taking his art farther by using his drawings as the raw material for digital art.

Flik draws the design in pencil first and then erases the drawing so he can still see the outline of each shape. He then colors them in with gel pens.

Using his graphics program, he uses the “negative” command to do an inverse of his drawing with rather spectacular results.

Experimenting with this led him to do some drawings with the negative in mind.

Flik then began selecting triangles from his drawings and using a tile function to make kaliedoscopic patterns!

This drawing and its inverse were used to make all these different patterns.

all images © 2005-2007 flik r all rights reserved

Thanks Flik R, for showing us a couple of ways in which hand-made art
can be altered with our computers to make wonderful new images.

See more: Flikr illustrates, The Dread

about the artist:
Flik R is 35 year old male from the United Kingdom. He entertains himself with various creative, technical or abstract projects as well as enjoying animals, computers, and long walks at night in the countryside. When asked what he thinks about while doodling he said,

He says of himself,

My ‘favourite’ picture is of the horse, something calming in that, something impressive in a horse also. The picture was just something a friend gave me the idea to draw one lacklustre day many years ago. A few hours later I had this picture, tiny and delicate, and it brings me comfort and calm just to look at it now, well a copy of it. The original lives in Sweden now. Favourite may be a strong word, it’s really just one I like a lot.

See more of Flik R’s drawings at flickr.com/photos/flikr/

Originally published in the April 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations

[-photography, art-]

images and words by Angela Petsis

all images and words © 06 - 07 angela petsis all rights reserved

See Angela’s great tutorial on Polaroid transfers here.

About the author/artist:
Angela is an artist/photographer who has recently relocated from Florida to Washington state. Please feel free to direct your Polaroid transfer questions to Angela at venusthemuseatyahoo.com. Her beautiful new website: angelapetsis.com

Originally published in the April 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations

[-art, alterations-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

scroll/reset

Originally uploaded by Mary Bogdan.

I have boxes on my mind.

This week, I covered a small cardboard box in old photos and gorgeous, vintage gold paper I found in my late father’s art supplies. I lined the inside with beads and feathers. Fun!

That little project got me going on containers. Now I’m working on making a box out of a couple of my paintings that have been in a drawer for a decade or more. In bed last night, just before sleep, I came up with an inspiration for a see-through lid so that the painting-lined interior won’t be hidden. This is fun stuff and all inspired by our recent issue on Alterations.

Our image today is from assemblage artist Mary Bogdan. You can see more of her work here in our on-going look at Alterations.

Mary collects boxes and more boxes to use in her constructs. This piece, entitled “scroll/reset” is 19″w x 14.5″h x 6″d. This is what she has written about it:

Well, Mary, I wish I could touch it, look in that cigar box, ruffle the pages. It’s so *FULL*.

I ran across a fun site yesterday called Box Doodles. Whoa, is this ever right down The PCQ’s alley. On this site, people are encouraged to make quick things out of boxes, but that hardly begins to describe the outcomes. Take a look. You won’t be sorry. The box doodles and Mary’s decidedly more sophisticated box assemblage can’t help but inspire!

Here are photos of the boxes I mentioned above. The first is a craft store box that I covered with vintage paper and old photos and lined with beads and feathers.

This one is literally made from one of my paintings (acrylic) bent into shape and glued. The lid is made from a web of machine-sewn threads (done on tissue paper and later removed) sewn onto more of the painting paper with embellishments of beads and lots more thread in the corners.

thanks, Mary.

See all our Alterations articles
See New Again, an Alterations Challenge
- with more photos of my boxes -
See more of Mary Bogdan’s art: The Tide Series
See all our Collecting articles and surveys

Originally published March 2006 in the Practically Creative blog; edited slightly for re-publication

[-fibre art-]

by Nancy Waldman

Fantasy Forest

Originally uploaded by bevcraigwhite.

Today’s post is from Canadian fiber artist, Bev White.

Continuing on our Alterations theme, she describes this image as a

detail, showing slashing, hand and machine embroidery, quilting 2004, (silk screen by my friend Jane Geard).

It’s a great example not only of taking a piece of art one step further by altering it with your own creativity but also of collaboration.

Click on Bev’s image to see more examples of this and her other wonderful fiber artistry.

Thanks, Bev!

Find out more about our Alterations Challenge
All our Alterations articles
All our Fiber Art articles (more coming soon!)

Originally published in the February 2006 issue of The Practically Creative blog; edited slightly for republication

[-art, alteration-]

by Nancy Waldman

Eye Music

Originally uploaded by annieA.

This example of an Alteration is so simple and so stunning. It’s a collage using CD cases lined with painted paper inserts.

AnnieA created this in what she describes as a “humble offering in celebration of Mozart’s 250th birthday.” It’s a lovely tribute and clever way to re-use and re-purpose those plastic cases.

The artist tells me that she’s created one for her neighbor with a clever twist. It’s a puzzle to arrange. He took it one step farther by making a frame for the cases, backing it with metal and putting magnets on all the CD cases. She says it’s become a game in his kitchen. The painting can be reconfigured by anyone who has the urge! A great idea and collaboration!

Thanks, Rosanne!

Here’s another example of a similar idea that has been used in an elementary school. The cases are filled with clay “paintings’.

Way to go, kids!

Any other clever ideas for using those plastic cases?

Originally published on February 17, 2006 in the Practically Creative blog; edited for republication