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Showing posts from February, 2011

ballerinas, digital collage and vapor guns

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I've resisted the digital playground, maybe because it seems like a galaxy within the galaxy of art. Like I might fall into a black hole and never pick up another paint brush - ha. I have, though, been taking photographs for decades (spent thousands of hours printing my own medium format black & whites in the days before children:) and my fascination with images remains embedded in my creative heart. I've taken a Susan Tuttle (extraordinaire) digital workshop, have a couple of books and adore so much of the work I see, whether it be collage or blog banner. Having a chronic illness does make working on the computer ideal but it took a disabled scanner, sewing machine 'issues' and a major roadblock at the art table for me to play with a couple of images. I am one of those who travel on a path and often freeze when I reach the wide open space. Most unfortunate. It's as though I have visions that I can't quite see, or I've learned enough to be dangerou

Can't Judge a Book by its Cover!

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When I started the Altered Fabric Book workshop , I couldn't imagine how 15 sheets of paper folded in half (three five-page signatures) could possibly end up thick and juicy like the wondrous creations of Nellie Wortman ! I've achieved bulk but I still have a long way to go! I've been prepping (60 surfaces!) and after a few rounds with a testy sewing machine, have managed to add stitching to quite a number of pages. Fortunately, the stitching isn't supposed to be straight, or even and the fabric is supposed to be gathered. I've mostly conquered the machine - winding thread along a very specific maze of knobs, hooks and levers, keeping the bobbin loaded and functional, not getting carried away or breaking needles, so now comes the fun part - attaching the signatures to the spine. Bookmaking has always seemed, well, complicated so I have zero binding experience. Should be quite an adventure! I had a fairly limited supply of fabrics and lace trims so I paid a