Steamy Spring



It has been raining my entire spring break!  I usually don't mind the rain, but it is making for a very steamy situation!  I have been stuck inside making more steampunk stamples for Mrs. O'Leary's art store using Artful Illusions stamps. 

Here are some of the latest!

new projects

These are a few recent projects I have created
with and for my Altered Artist's group.

This was my response to an altered matchbox challenge.

The inside box nest is pulled down to reveal the inside.

The stamp on the inside is one of my favorites,
"Home is where your art is." from River City Rubber Works.
Then you can pull on the bird, and the nest box goes back into the house.

I had a lot of fun with this challenge. 
 It took a bit of paper engineering, but I love the results!

This is a book I created at my friend Jo's. 
 She was inspired after taking a class with Thomas Ashman.

We all fell in love with her book and we begged her to teach us how to create our own. The binding was a bit challenging, but I stuck with it and voila...a wonderful copper covered book!

I just love the girl and the kitty pic I chose for the cover!

These are two mannequin bust shaped pages for a book my friends Andi and Yolanda are doing.  They each handed out pages to the group members so that when they are finished, each page has its own unique flair!  The one above is the front of Andi's page.  I wanted to do a steampunk theme, so I gathered up my gears and stamps and embellished away!  To the right is the back of Andi's page.  I used some bubbly textured black paper, gears, and gold German scrap.

This is the page I did for Yolanda.  I used a bird, birdcage, swirls, and writing stamps and added a fluffy stringy trim. I love the heart that was already cut into the page!  Below is the back of the page, keeping it simple with a few buttons. 



























This is the second time I completed these pages.  Both of these pages were layered with walnut stained tags, which my puppy loves!  She tore up both of them shortly after I made them the first time.  She can be a very naughty dog!  Good thing I was able to get a few more pages and redo them!

Tree of Life



Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt, 1909

For this year's 8th grade painting collaboration, I decided to use Gustav Klimt's Tree of Life.  Twenty students each chose one of the pieces to paint when they were finished with their other painting assignments.  After the pieces were put together, I added a bit of gold in some of the pieces to pay homage to Klimt's use of gold in his work. 

To see more class collaborations see this other post. 
To see my own personal tree of life, you can go here.