I love doing these exchanges. Usually, they’re pretty small but this time, each page is a 10 inch square. There’s no theme this year, only to work in your own voice. This one is on it’s way to Sandy Donabed – hope she likes it!
Change of pace for today! Actually, I took a bunch of new pics but my camera battery died and I’ve (once again) misplaced my battery charger! So…I thought I’d share some of what I’ve been doing in a Book Art Collaborative that Janice Paine Dawes is hosting. I love doing these for a variety of reasons. One, because you can try out lots of mediums and ideas you may not have other opportunities for. Two, because the small format makes it easier to become elaborate if you want to. And three, because you get to receive the artwork of others and see many different interpretations of your theme, as well as the themes of the other players, at least online.
This is the beginning of my book. Theme: Seeds & Pods.
There’s also an inside cover, the backside of the front cover.
This, A Fern For You, I made for Martha Ginn, who loves embroidery, especially ribbon embroidery, which I haven’t done in ages! But I really enjoyed doing this throwback to my early fiber art – crazy quilting! It began as an eco-print as is all the rest of it. Martha’s theme is …LEAVES, TREES, rocks, water, anything nature-related.
First life for this page is a photograph of trees that line Main Street in Wakefield, MA, alongside Lake Quanapowett. Nanette Strucinski Zeller’s theme is See the forest for the trees. I first played with the pic in PS and printed it out on cotton. Then I did a fair bit of hand embroidery on it.
Another photo play for Gabriele DiTota’s , Earth, Wind and Fire and I chose to play with fire, embellishing the photographic hot licks with lots of fire red free motion stitching!
For Joani Share, aka Pearl, I, aka Ji, indulged myself with the fantasy of taking a journey along the ancient Silk Road. Included in this “scrapbook” of sorts are a number of treasures, mementos of our trip for her People, Places and Things theme. Of course, there were a couple of truly lovely kimonos among these!
Inspiration for this idea came from a wonderful book set in the early twentieth century, Women Of The Silk, a first novel by Gail Tsukiyama, a story that drew me in all the way, as good fiction should. I didn’t want it to end.
More the next time I lose my mind!
