All Hallows Eve

There is a secret hour of the night

when the goddess rises in the moon,

the great queen of all humanity,

full of power and majesty.

She shines on us, and all of us

are enlivened by her. All of us:

animals, both wild and tame,

and plants and trees, and even

rocks and clouds and oceans,

for everything has its rhythm,

everything has its ebbs and flows.

Whether in the air, on earth, or

beneath the sea, everything is hers.

- Apuleius

This is a digital collage I made to honor Samhain (Halloween) - the night when the veil between the worlds is at it's thinnest and the gateway when the old year ( now fully harvested ) and the new, must begin. There is an eclipse as the goddess receives the moon's light and the candles are lit for those who have passed on. This is my entry for the Darkness Inspiration Challenge.

Barnyard Blues

This is my entry for The Three Muses challenge this week (Chickens). My Rooster is a Coucou bleu (Holland Breed) . I blended the image over the background (artist paper-Creative imaginations- Christine Adolph), and used multi layers of coloring but tried to keep the feathering intact. I then added a 'Difference' gradient filter for a 'batik' look. There are an amazing number of beautiful breeds of chickens - I always enjoy going to the county fair here in the summer and being blown away by some incredible 'fancy 'breeds that you don't see on the common farm.

Vintage Hallowe'en Postcard

This week I wanted to try and re-create a vintage type Halloween postcard for the SPA challenge. This is a digital collage made from artist papers (Christine Adolph) for the background, (Dover )copy-free clip art and 4 layers of color filters and textures in Photoshop. I digitally added the 'old' spelling of Hallowe'en . I love the revival these past few years of the old vintage Halloween art that is showing up in art and decorative items in the market. The newer things for sale can't compare. Happy Halloween to you all!

Immortal

This is my first entry for Theme Thursday "Faces" challenge. I had just finished this piece yesterday as I was working on creating a Vampire piece. Old Goth meets high fashion digital collage! Mixed in Photoshop artistic filters/shadows added. This Vampire also works for the TGIF theme this week!

Long Ago and Far Away...

I couldn't help thinking and seeing those giant words "in a galaxy far, far away" (Star Wars) when I saw the prompt for The Three Muses challenge this week. You can't

really go further back or farther away than space! I layered a spiral galaxy onto a black canvas and used gradient coloring for depth. I know that time doesn't exist in space but I added the image of the old clock to represent looking back in time (as everything we see in space is from the past) through its portal, and the human face represents consciousness but not yet fully formed.

Papillon

This is my entry for dans ma maison il y a un papillon. This is a hand painted journal page with a house made from assorted artist papers, rubber stamping , bamboo and mixed ephemera. The butterflys are from Dover, were cropped and placed as if exiting from the opening to freedom.

Boheme

This is my entry for the Gothic Arches challenge this week "Ris-que". The image is from Luna Girl and the background is a photo of a vintage Moorish building. I added feathers and beads to the arch. Background is from mixed artist papers layered and hued in Photoshop. I added a spotlight for an old photo quality.

Spirit House

This is my 4x6 digital postcard for this week's theme at SPA "Gothic Grunge". Grungey indeed with lots of shadows and spooky spirit faces peering through the windows! Dover images, artist papers, Artchix vellum all mixed in photoshop with artistic filters, (fresco, grain and gradients).

Maidenhair

As I write this post, the first storm has hit us here on the coast of California bringing lots of (needed) rain but wow this is more like the middle of January! It is however cozy and conducive to making some art. This is my entry for this week's challenge at The Three Muses - ( Hair). I made a digital collage using a face image from (Dover), assorted snips of artist paper and my maiden's hair is made from some antique fern images that I cropped, colored and arranged . Organic hairstyling! I added gradient filters for a "mossy" feel to the piece.

Blackbird's Halloween Ball

This is my digital 4x6 postcard for the Sunday Postcard Art theme (Blackbird). Artist paper was used for the background with 3 different layer filters added. The blackbird and mask are rubber stamped images (Character Constructions) on white paper (background erased out). I added swirls , pumpkins and made bats digitally for fun!

Time Traveler ATC 9' ner

This is my entry for the SaWo challenge ATC 9'ners. I used travel and time for my theme dividing it into 9 interconnected ATC's . Fantastic new challenge for me- I hope to work on some more!

Gothic Theater

I was very excited to be asked to host Rosie and Linda's Big Art Adventure challenge this month where the theme is ( Make A Theater)! My inspiration for this piece came from both a love of paper dolls and all things Gothic. So I began by searching for wonderful artist papers and images that lent well to my theme. I used the box dimensions to trace and cut out the "wallpaper" so to speak. I took the cut pieces and spray glued them to the box dimensions - I like using the spray adhesive (like a photomount product) that goes on clean and stays tacky for a while. Once the paper is down; use a rolling brayer to remove any air bubbles. After all of the box surfaces were covered, I glued the removable doors to the side of the square box to create "wings" to the stage.To create the roof trim details I cut out Gothic designs and affixed them to heavy water color paper for sturdiness and glued along the perimeter of the box and wings. I supported these roof designs temporarily until they were dry. I then had fun adding trim (footlights), stickers and cut out my paper dolls (actors) and made a paper stand (attached to their backs) to make them stand up.

I totally had a blast making this theater and it was not too difficult as I had a stong idea of what I wanted to see. I went with a theme that appealed to me and used elements and techniques that I was familiar with.

Materials used:

1 6x6 unfinished wood craft box (with sliding removable doors-lid). Mine was from Ben Franklin Crafts.

Assorted artist papers. Copy -free imagery scanned or copied to size.

"Aleene's" spray tacky glue. "Jewel-it" clear fast-drying glue.

Ruler, scissors, rolling brayer.

Colored pens and pencils. Decorative trim, stickers.

Water color paper (40lbs.)

Sacred Geometry

This is my entry for The Three Muses Challenge (Numerology). It depicts how numbers bring order and form to design and function in our lives. Numbers afford us balance and accountability in all that we do; paving the way for creativity to flourish.

The background is made from ruler paper, over- layed with architectural renderings (artist papers). The scholar's face and compass are dover clip-art. I experimented with different artistic filters and then inverted the layers and added a gradient hue which gave the piece a "blueprint" look.

Mind Mapping

I'm still in a bit of a Zetti mode and decided to do a digital collage for the MMM theme "Maps". I used some antique maps for the background along with a vintage botanical palm tree image and Dover image for the face. Dreaming of travel and maps (someplace tropical in mind) !

Anatomy Journal

This is my digital 4x6 postcard for SPA ( Skulls and Skellies). I made it to resemble an old , stained Anatomy class type journal page. The background is made from scanned artist papers and an overlayed antique skeleton image. I then scanned in my magnifying glass and played around with the image until it became "see-through" as if to magnify the bone section.