Retro January Part 2

I spent some time a couple of weeks ago looking back at altered calendars of Januarys from years past.  Today, I pulled out some more and revisited them again.  Again, it is interesting to see what I was doing ten years ago in these collaborations.  Today I revisit 2004 and 2005.  The 2005 calendar base was Mark Rothko and the 2004 was a magnetic calendar with no particular theme.

I was quite taken with the juke box in the picture above.  So much so that I made it the focal point of that page and took a stroll down memory lane with what songs I would put in it.

 

Harlequin pattern still remains a favorite of mine as are chalk inks.  

A mish mash page that also includes some cold weather art by Sam who was 10 at the time.

 It's fun to see my old Christmas cards again. 

As always, water media dominated a lot of artwork I would focus on.  

 Hearts anyone?

Gymnastics was a part of every January for many years. I'm glad now that it's over that I documented the good, the bad, and the ugly.  It's a lot easier to look back on it now.  Thanks for looking with me. 

STENCILGUY For A Day

PSSSSST.... tell everyone.......................................
I am the Guest Artist on StencilGirl's blog today.  Everyone thinks it's my mom, Nancy Curry, but I am really the inspiration behind all of her best work or the power behind the throne.  You see, when my mom is in her studio, I am there by her side, encouraging, licking her leg, stealing scraps, wandering, chewing stamps, crunching the corners of canvas board, wandering, ringing the bell to go out, and then back at her side again as close as I can get. At times I even am on the desk to make sure things are going well.   My presence brings out the creativity in her because she has to focus hard to finish in record time before I get into trouble somewhere else. My brother, Tucker (the less attractive gray poodle pictured with me), is not nearly the muse that I am.  He merely sleeps in the family room whenever she heads in the studio.  He does not participate in any supervisory tasks so he gets no credit. I did allow him in the picture with me though.  He's the perfect contrast for my multi-colored locks.

I really like StencilGirl stencils.  They are so fun to take off the desk and run round with in my mouth.  I do prefer the 6 x 6 size. It's fits in my mouth better with less overhang.  I sometimes return them.  Sometimes............

I encourage all of you to check out the artwork that she created especially for StencilGirl.  You'll find it here.  I won't expect any thanks at all.  It's been my pleasure and will continue to be my number one task when I am not chewing my elk antler. Visit me on her personal facebook page or if you are all about the art and not about me, her facebook art page.  I'll be here relaxing (aka- plotting my next adventure.)  See you soon.   

xoxo,

Angus

It Was Never Random

It's Saturday night and I took some time for myself in the studio to put together a quick card for my daughter, Sam.  I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but she's transferring to a different college for the rest of her PT undergrad.  It was a difficult decision for her to make as a junior, but a brave one and we are tickled to death that she got into all three schools she applied to so she had some good choices.  She settled on our alma mater here in this household so off to PA we go on Tuesday to help her move in. 

I thought it might be nice if she got some mail fairly soon so I decided to pull from my scrap area and pull together something uplifting and whimsical, perfect for RubberMoon's wheelhouse.  I really went at this completely spontaneously, so it morphed as I went along.  I started with the Moon Unit house and my all time favorite sentiment, "Sprinkle Moondust Spread Magic" and a piece of leftover glossy polka dotted thinner cardstock that I thought would be perfect for the house.  I often do b/w work in the winter so why should 2014 be any different? 

Once stamped in black StazOn, I made a moveable door and cut out the windows with my X-acto.
 I stamped the sprinkle sentiment on pink cardstock and cut it out like a banner and began looking for other potential embellishments and stamps that could be used on this "moving" or "new beginnings" type of card.  

I settled on some paper florals with black pom pom centers that eventually I would draw white stems for to fill in the bottom and then added the banner raised on pop dots for some more visual texture.  A thicker gel glue or gel medium is perfect for this adhesion.  A pearl brad made the top window just perfect.  My card was starting to take shape. 

I began to work on the sky by stamping a moon (lt crescent) to hang, and then I stamped my own stamp, "It was never random." onto a piece of matching pink cardstock and cut each word apart.  Those of you who have seen my paintings know that one of my recurring motifs are the stars that hang on strings in the sky.  I used the same concept for the phrase on this card. I cut a thin piece of shiny floss for each word and used double-stick tape to attach at the cardstock.  As shown below, I then pulled used more tape and tucked the floss under the top piece of black glossy and the used more adhesive to put that piece down permanently. 

I added some gems at the base of every floss to punctuate them and called it a day.  This photo taken on a chair gives you more definition of the edges than the top one.  Black glossy is a bear to show depth at times, but it is a favorite of mine anyway.  I hope Sam enjoys this empowering card that's a commentary on my belief about life. I hope she can spread her own magic and, finally,  I hope you enjoyed my night of whimsy. 

Circle of Life

I've been working for a few days on an altered book spread for my collage group and was really excited when the gal chose an engagement calendar for us to alter.  Hers is a 2011 Kelly Rae Roberts calendar that lends itself to these changes very well.  I had the calendar for two months but took the month of November.  Bev loves quotations and words so I kept to her instructions and used some of my own stamps as well as others I have accumulated over the last 17 years.  This is one spread from the month.  The left page is a Citrasolv manipulated piece that I added black and bronze Golden fluid acrylic to with the new Red Rubber Palette from RubberMoon. The right page is folded and the skins from my studio provide an interesting center to the triangle shape.  The page behind that is cut to provide more avenues to see underneath.  Yes, I still love layers. 

SO.........................


I participated in an altered calendar exchange for 8 years and haven't taken them out for a few years to look at.  I thought I would revisit some pages online during January and early February.  . In these round robins we always started the month of January with our book so these will all be pages from my calendars.  ENJOY.....................  Today's snippets will be from 2005 and 2007. 



Our focus until a year ago was gymnastics during the winter.  17 years of focusing that way.  It's fun to look back.  My calendars always included season info, interspersed with the art.  My calendars were always viewed as my playtime so I often did work that had nothing to do with what I was doing in my studio at the time.  They were a great respite for me. 

Late in 2006 and the  year 2007 brought many changes as we were transferred from Cincinnati to St. Louis, but chose to stay in Ohio until Sam was done 8th grade.  Jim lived in St. Louis and commuted on the weekends.  The sale of our house was endless and all I thought of was the move.  What a year! 

It's so funny to look back and see what was trending.  My best friend, Charla, had just sent me my first taste of toasted almond coffee beans.  I can still remember how yummy the coffee was.  We were also excited to be taking a 12 day cruise in the Mediterranean with the same friends that summer.  It was a fantastic trip as well. 

That's all for this week everyone.  Stay tuned for some more ruminations throughout the month of January.