Graffiti Giveaway

Graffiti Wall 2010: a collaboration between Julie, Lynne, and myself.

It started with this...

painted and altered paper

...and this...

stacks of ephemera

...and turned into this...

my contribution: lost and found

...and ended up here...

photo shoot for somerset studio

...and landed here...

Julie's contribution on the cover

...and could now be in your hands...

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GIVEAWAY

Now that the issue has been released, Julie and I find each other with extra copies of the March/April Somerset Studio to give away. To be eligible to win a copy from me, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post by Tuesday 3/15. I will post the winner's name on my Facebook page on Wednesday 3/16. Please make sure I have your email so I can contact you if you win. And don't forget to visit Julie to leave a comment on her post and double your chances of winning.

The Great Wall

In 2009 Julie Prichard, Lynne Hoppe, and I collaborated together on a project we called Graffiti Wall. You can read all about it and see images here. This project was so unique, fun, and inspiring that we decided to collaborate again on Graffiti Wall 2010. We each created our own hand painted papers and mailed these to each other along with assorted ephemera. Using Graffiti Wall as our theme, we were then free to create whatever we wanted, in any format, using the papers. We did not share what we were creating until the pieces were complete.

I am thrilled that this project is currently being featured in the March/April issue of Somerset Studio. And I am even more excited that Julie's part of the project is the cover image.

My project is called Lost and Found and was inspired by the layers and layers of graffiti that were such a large part of NYC in the early 1980s.

(click images to enlarge)

The palette of my piece reflects the darkness that seemed to permeate the city at that time. The triptych represents the three of us in collaboration. And the Lost and Found is reflective of the journey that the graffiti, the city, and I have taken.

Thanks to Julie and Lynne for being the perfect co-collaborators. And a thank you to Christen Olivarez, Director of Publishing at Stampington & Comapny, for allowing us to share this project with so many others!

Muse Flash

I am happy to share that my artwork from the Graffiti Wall collaboration that I completed with Julie and Lynne has just been published in the March/April issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

It is part of the Muse Flash section, which spotlights "a-muse-ing tips, tidbits, and tales from our editors and readers."

Sending out a thank you to Barbara Delaney and Jenn Mason at CPS for this opportunity. This issue is the first under the helm of Jenn, the new editor at CPS. Look for an even better magazine with her in charge.

Brick by Brick

Way back in February I had begun a collaboration with Julie Prichard and Lynne Hoppe. Called Graffiti Wall, we each created hand painted papers which we mailed to each other in two rounds. Then we got to do something that at first didn't come easy but quickly became fun and freeing: tear all the papers into pieces! After that, we each began our own project interpreting the theme Graffiti Wall. You can read about and see pictures from the start of the project in this post.

I chose to create a literal brick wall, on a 3 foot by 3 foot canvas. The canvas was covered with torn vintage book pages, slathered with a light coating of gesso, and inked with multiple colors. This would form the mortar between the bricks. Each brick, over 90 in total, was then collaged from the torn art papers.

As often happens however, life got in the way. Long after Julie and Lynne completed their projects (click the links to be taken to their final postings), mine remained a work in progress. And it still is. But...I am making headway. Here is my Wall as it stands today...


And some details of the brick work...






The face of the wall is complete. I will next "brick" the sides and, following that, will add my own graffiti to the surface of the wall. Stay tuned...

The Writing's on the Wall

Work continues on my Graffiti collaboration with Julie Prichard and Lynne Hoppe. My Graffiti Wall is being built slowly, brick by brick, on my 3 foot by 3 foot canvas.


Each brick is collaged using papers altered by Lynne, Julie and Myself.




In the end, there will be 93 bricks in this wall. And once completed...the graffiti will begin!

For inspiration, I recently went to an exhibit at the Helen Beck Gallery in NYC called Whole in the Wall. The show highlights the work of American and European street artists from the 1970s to today.




My favorite part of the show was a room mixing urban street art with ornate, antique furniture. The contrast packed a wallop and yet blended seamlessly.




Sharp: Juice Got Juice

Henry Chalfant: Kel/Crash

Sharp: T.C.B.


Blek Le Rat: detail from Urban Angel

Daze: detail from Untitled 2007

Blek Le Rat: detail from Homeless in NYC

Daze: detail from Journey Part 2

Just Another Brick...

All in all we're all just bricks in the wall...


My Graffiti Wall collaboration with Julie and Lynne continues. Click the links and scroll through their posts to see their walls. I decided to interpret this project differently and very literally. I am building a wall, brick by brick.


As can be seen in these images (click to enlarge), I am collaging bricks with the beautiful papers made by Lynne and Julie. Building a wall, one brick at a time. 91 bricks in all. Then...on to the graffiti!






P.S. New Text Tile completed in between bricks!

Continued


Ingredients: cardstock, acrylic paint, watercolor paint, calligraphy ink, pigment ink, marker, dry transfer, rubon letters. approximately 3 1/2" x 2 1/4". click to enlarge.

Available for purchase in The Altered Page on Etsy.

Sold. Thank you!

Peak Week

Some weeks are good. Some weeks are great. And some weeks are peaks! This prior week was definitely one of those in terms of art!

1. Received my copy of Cynjon's new zine, Varietist Muse. I was lucky enough to have a number of pieces of my artwork published in this issue, including the artwork pictured below. This inaugural volume is the "You Say You Want a Change" issue. Click this link to see sample pages and to buy this gem.




2. Worked on papers to send to Lynne and Julie for our Graffiti Wall collaboration.





3. Completed the Global Guerilla (k)nit in with Jill from Jazworks and didn't have to "post" bail! Thank you grrl & dog for sponsoring this cool collaboration.




4. Received Jill's book to work in for the Inner Works Altered Book project. The book is already spectacular and the theme, Designs in Nature, is right up my alley. Here are a few details of Jill's stunning pages. And the last two shots are details from one of my pages in progress.






5. Worked on some other art projects, to be revealed soon.

6. Finally got around to photographing an amazing package of treasures I received a while ago from Karen Cole from Artsortments. If you are not familiar with her amazing copper and acrylic pieces, run right now to her blog! Thanks KC!