Perplexed Lizard

2010-07-13T11:08:00.001-07:00

I should have called my blog Procrastinating Lizard instead of Perplexed Lizard.

I just finished stitching a couple of books that started out to be a very simple project. I was wasting time one day on YouTube when I came across a video titled Coptic Binding on Boards. I thought the method Jim was using for the coptic might be easier than the method I was used to. I also liked the idea of recycling cardboard. I had a large stack of cardboard at work that would be perfect for this type of book. Or so I thought. There was a large stack sitting in a box in the back room for a long time until I decided that it had been there too long and I still didn't have a use for it so off it went into the recycling bin. I did manage to find a couple of pieces that had recently arrived so I brought them home. I was all set to start making a very simple book for practice when I decided I need to paint them first. Of course this process took me some time, mostly because I have no room to work in my studio (that is another story that I won't get into.

Anyway I gessoed the boards first and then added some light weight spackle, imprinted a few patterns and lastly painted the boards. I already had some paper torn down for another book I was going to make but decided to paint some of the inside papers first. I usually use 4 sheets for each signature but this time I thought I would just go with 1 white, 1 painted and 1 kraft. The main reason for this was I had just enough pre torn pages for this scenario.

In the end I didn't use the coptic method from this video. Well I did to begin with but I had to take the first one I stitched apart after almost finishing the book and when I started again I just automatically started stitching from the first signature.

Artfest 2010

2010-03-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

I had another fantastic time at Artfest. The festivities started early this year with Donna and I leaving here on Monday. We stayed with our California friends, (the blonde and the other one) at the blonde's timeshare at Discovery Bay. They actually do have names, the blonde is Nancy and the other one is Debbie. We met them five years ago at our first Artfest and have been sharing a house with them at every Artfest since. They are two of the best people you could ever meet. We had a lot of fun exploring (and yes shopping too) the shops in Port Townsend and Poulsbo.

Artfest itself was fantastic as usual. I don't know how Teesha and Tracy manage to pull it off every year. This year was a little different as the band Surrealized played after the opening welcome by Teesha and Tracy. On the Thursday night we were entertained with an Iron Artist competion with most if not all of the instructors participating. It was quite amazing to watch these artists create such wonderful art in such a short time and with the supplies they were given. These creations were donated to the raffle that is held every year to raise money for tips and this year a scholarship. I was lucky enough to actually win one of these pieces of art. I won the bunny made by Stephanie Lee and I absolutely love him. (He will fit in very nicely on the same wall as the creature I made in Elizabeth McGrath's class the first year I attended Artfest).The bonfire was also going on at the same time and for the first time in the five years I have been going to Artfest I wandered down there. Friday night was of course vendor night where I lusted after many beautiful things. I did buy a couple of things and will post those later. Saturday night was Show & Tell where we got to see all the incredible artwork created at Artfest. This is a great opportunity to see the end results of classes you may be considering for another year. We arrived a little late and people were starting to take their art away but we still got to see a lot of awesome art.

I had three wonderful classes with three great teachers. The first class was with Richard Salley where we made a letter opener with copper and faux bone. The faux bone was fun to work with and I do hope to work with it some more. The beautiful bead on the end was a trade from one of my class mates Loretta, from Black Creek.

My second day was with Susan Lenart Kazmer where we played with resins, papers and metals. Unfortunately I did not get my piece finished but I will. When I do I will post a picture in the mean time here is a picture of some resin papers I made in class as well as some bezels I resined and the start of my little book pendant. Susan is a great teacher and I have learned many things from her over the past few years.

My third class was with Julie Haymaker Thompson where I made Steam Punk Lily. This was a fun class with another wonderful teacher. Julie was so energetic throughout the whole day. In this class with played with a few different mediums. We collaged our eggs, we used pewter for our birds and we also sampled with paperclay and faux finishes.

Well I guess that is about it for now. There really is a lot more to say about Artfest, in fact I could go on for days about it. If you get the chance to go, go for it. Artfest is fantastic.

Journalfest 2009

2009-11-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Exquisite Corpse Mica Book

Daniel Essig's class was a blast. One of the nice things about this class was there was no tearing down of paper as Daniel supplied the book blocks all ready to go. This was very helpful as I needed the time to concentrate on putting the book structure together.

The book was made with eight sheets of composite mica. We sandwiched an image in between two layers so each piece was double sided. This left us with four, two for the front and two for the back. After the covers were all assembled with a Jacob's Ladder structure it was sewn together with a fairly easy exposed binding.

I hope I can find some more of this composite mica as I would love to make more of these books.

Handbook of Elements

I loved Stephanie's class. She is so much fun and an extremely talented teacher. She is very generous with knowledge, supplies and time. Don't ever hesitate to take a class from her.

The first step in making these books were to prepare the plaster gauze pages. These take a while to dry. The next step was to melt the solder on the brass sheets. While the solder is still fluid we embedded the embellishments.

An Octopus's Garden

On the last day I was in Ingrid Dijkers class. In this class we mostly just worked on painting pages and getting started on stitching the washers or buttons in place. This project will be a work in progress for some time to come. Ingrid provided us with some images in the kit and had lots of templates for us to copy. She also has an awesome collection of collage sheets we were able to purchase from her.

ARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!

2009-11-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

I have been without my computer for about a month now and it is driving me crazy. I know I spend too much time on it but I miss it terribly. You would think that I would have accomplished much in the last month without my computer - nah ah - not much of anything.

I did finish the two books I started in Stephanie Lee's class at Journalfest. Stephanie is a fantastic teacher and if you ever get the chance to take one of her classes, go for it, you won't be dissappointed. Pictures will come later when I have my computer back.

The Mica Corpse book I made in Daniel Essig's class was finished in class. I also love this book and would not hesitate to take another class from Daniel. I do need to find a source for that mica though.

The work I started in Ingrid Dijkers class is a work in progress and will be for quite some time I imagine. I only have a few pages painted and one with some collage work on it but it isn't finished. I did manage to finish my wooden page with all the gauges and clocks wired to it. I had come a long way in class on this part of the project but when I got home I did not like the way I had wired everything on so I took it all out and started again. I am pleased with it now. Again when I get my computer back I will upload some pictures and tell you more about Journalfest.

I have also been catching up on my reading. Lori was reading a book while we were at JournalFest that looked very interesting. She really enjoyed it and as luck would have it I had already put it on hold at my local library. I got notice that it was in about a week after arriving home. The book is called The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. It is a story about a man severely burned in an auto accident. He is visited in the hospital by a beautiful stranger who insists they have known each other of centuries and were once lovers. I am loving this book, thanks Lori.

What I did yesterday.

2009-09-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day. Started out with breakfast at Pluto's with Suzanne, Christiane, and Charmaine. We were priveliged to see some incredible work done by Christiane in a paste paper workshop with Martha Cole. Christiane made a fantastic journal with samples and recipes from class. She also showed us a little journal she made. In the journal was a wonderful little poem she composed and wrote in her own beautiful calligraphic hand.
After breakfast Suzanne and I proceeded to Island Blue where she was teaching a Lutradur journal class and I was one of her students. The class was great as usual, Suzanne is an awesome teacher and hands out extremely clear handouts. It was fun experimenting with different mediums on the Lutradur. I wasn’t really very happy with any of my pieces after they dried but after spending some time on burning, melting, lacing and embellishing I was very pleased with the outcomes, especially my finished journal.