Art math

Tea bags + cotton + organza + 

rusting + mono printing + stitching +

a bit of storytelling + a few what ifs =

 My Morning Tea Series © 2012 

12 collages

So far...

What a week

It's been a week of what if's in the studio. Major what if's. Breakthrough what if's, in fact. Yep. It's been that kind of week.

My Morning Tea, my sketchbook for the 2013 Sketchbook Project, is nearly finished. Just need to think about the cover design and what blurb about myself to put in back.

The pages...spreads really...alternate between marks and text. The marks are made of tea and rust using the tea bag my morning tea was brewed with on any given morning. The text is a memory from childhood regarding tea. More about the sketchbook once it is complete.

Pam's tip about ironing the tea bags on freezer paper to run through the copier worked so well with the tea bags that it was impossible not to try on...hmmm...

 a piece of rusted cotton or

 rusted silk organza.

[this is the breakthrough part, in case you're wondering]

Given organza's translucent qualities, it just begged for further exploration, don't you think?

 I did. A second printing was called for.

  And a third.

 It needed turning this way

 and that.

And then the tea bags were calling too. 

 They wanted to play with a canvas.  

 It became a bit of balancing act, needed turning this way and that, 

needed a bit added here and a tad added there.

In the end, all was right. A good balance of tea bags and rusted mono printed cotton.

 

And then...yes there's more...

A friend emailed to ask if I'd like her stash of DMC threads on a spool. She's moving and lightening her load in the process. I said I'd be happy to have them and promised to put them to good use. I'll admit my mind latched onto DMC threads and so was picturing DMC floss. 

What arrived yesterday from Joan was far more delicious than cross stitch floss! As I unpacked the box - oohing and aahing all the while - the patterns of the wrapping caught my eye. I'd never noticed how beautiful spools of threads are. 

Thank you Joan for the wonderful threads! One spool has already taken a good long soak in green tea with a rusty bit or two for company. It's now resting, airing itself in the studio.

At the end of partial week 2 of kindergarten, I can safely say that my brain cells are beginning to work again. And holy smoke Batman! does it feel good. 

In the studio

Still texting

and what if-ing 

with tea bags, rusted and monoprinted cotton on canvas.

2013 Sketchbook Project - texting

After laying out the text pages and playing with their arrangment, 

I began adhering them to my morning tea.

What do you think of page 1?

Philadelphia

I'm in Philadelphia for a weekend of relaxation, restoration and art. Yesterday was spent enjoying a quiet train ride down and then wondering around galleries and stores before dining at Fork.

 I loved this crocheted tree covering outside Minima on 3rd Street.

 Sculpture at Snyderman-Works Galleries.

 Murals abound in Philly. 

 Bricks.

The combination of text, circles and texture in this piece by  

Stepanka Horalkova at The Clay Studio caught my eye.

 I ventured upstairs to the classroom at The Clay Studio. 

A class was in session so no photos were taken, but the

it was the mosaic stairwell that held my interest.

After dinner at Fork, I managed to waddle back to the hotel...at 7:30 pm. I know...I'm a lightweight anymore. In my own defense, walking around exploring and gallery hopping for 5 hours wore me out. Add a very good dinner to the equation and I was very happy to relax in my room.

Today is the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. I'll be on total art overload by the time the train leaves tonight, but oh! what a way to overload.