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. 

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.