the Red Art Project 2008 - a WIP

Last weekend I when I visited Sabii Wabii (a.k.a. Tarisa) at Running with Scissors, she had posted about the Red Art Project.

Don't ask me why I didn't stop and think first, but I signed up to submit something that fits within the following guidelines:

The Theme is RED...somewhere there needs to be the color red.
Other themes need to be encompassing any area of the arts and/or the image of an umbrella somewhere in the piece.
Create a piece of art: Textile, fine, doll, sculpture, jewelry, etc.
It can be two or three dimensional work.
The size needs to be no larger than 18"x18".

So, what did I end up deciding to do? A canvas that's 18"x18" ... seriously, WHAT was I THINKING?!? My brain pictured something that I hoped my hands could reproduce ... it starts with a collage of some fine art pieces, a little music, some ballet slippers here and there (printed on 30 lb high gloss paper) all modge podged to the canvas:

Next I added some textile (simple way of saying bits and pieces of random fabric & a bitty crocheted piece). I really like the different textures that are starting to happen with the piece:

Last night I cut out the shape of an umbrella and used it as a reverse stencil sponging around the image in cadmium red - with the exception of the almost central umbrella, the umbrellas spiral outward:

That's where I am at ... next up I have some copper and bronze paint that I am thinking I'd like to sponge over the red paint (I am just not 100% sure, yet) - part of me want to keep the backgound images somewhat visible through the paint & part of me wants only to let the background show through within the umbrella shapes ... decisions, decisions ... and then there's this overthinking me that's been rearing it's silly little head ... it's wondering if my literal take on the guidelines is going to be seen as just too literal. It's a good thing there's a deadline to contend with or my second guessing nature would surely get the best of me!

OH! and if you are wondering, YOU can be a part of this project. Click on the picture at the top of this post for more details (or right HERE).

Also, you can click on any of my project photo's to see larger versions.

Red Checkerboard - redone

I wasn't happy with the results of the first attempt of the red/heart checkerboard ... here's the updated version:

Inspire Me Thursday - Wallpaper

Wallpaper - Thursday, March 20, 2008

This week’s creative prompt is Wallpaper. Look to your own favorite papered walls for inspiration of pattern and color… use wallpaper scraps in your art… design your own desktop wallpaper… or perhaps feature wallpaper somehow in an illustration, painting, collage or sketch.

For years my uber-spouse has been trying to coax me to embrace color (for I only worked with two colors at a time and one was almost always black). It's been a real struggle ... you see, I am afraid ... very, very afraid. As a general rule, my eyes don't seem to put colors together well. I thought the wallpaper challenge would be a fun way to play a little with colors and patterns. I wanted to do something bold and bright ... I also needed to stay a little safe by sticking close together on the color wheel ... here's what happened:

This was done with Prisma Color pencils on a piece of 4"x4" Bristol Board.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are most welcome. :)