Happy New Year 2013

I started this year out with a cold so my energy level was pretty low key, but after a visit from one of my best friends the creative juices are flowing again. And to add a little boost to my creative attempts for this new year I just received confirmation that I've been accepted into two art shows this month!! YAY!

The first is the Anton Art Center's Michigan Annual XL.

The accepted piece -- Deciduous Hopes -- is a small bound art book with a tree theme. I combined found papers and word phrases with some of my pictures that were digitally manipulated into silhouettes and printed on transparent film. Natural materials were used to create texture. The back cover was made by scraping mat gel medium through a brass stencil. Once the glue dried, I painted over it and rubbed oil pastel into the branches.

The second show is the Grosse Pointe Art Center's Urban Edge.

 
I created a 3-D cityscape using found urban detritus -- if it was smashed or rusty, it made it's way onto the pages of this book. By turning the pages, a viewer can take a tour of the city and encounter the grit and grime that when isolated becomes visual texture with it's own form of beauty. I'm always picking up bits and pieces off the ground, so I was glad to find a venue that could appreciate what normally is overlooked.

The City Never Sleeps

I am a little bummed that I won't be able to attend either of the show opens because they are both on Fridays which from now until the middle of May are reserved for the class I'm taking to learn more web skills! Call me crazy but it is really fun doing that stuff.

Happy New Year!