HOUSES, BIKES AND SUN IN CALIFORNIA

I've been going through my collaged books and journals.

Here's 2 pages from 

BIKING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

To see all the pages and how I created this book, scroll through these posts of the process. 

Click on my web page to see the full accordion book and each page.

PARIS: A LADDER OF COLOR

I scanned some collage images today inspired by a glance through a glass doorway in Paris. My friend Martha and I were walking down a street looking for a reknown little sailboating pond, when we passed a very nice shop. There in the back of the shop was a ladder of colorful scarves.  I'm so glad I went back to capture that view with my camera.  This experience took place in September 2012.       Interested in our Paris trip?  Click on Paris in September for those posts.                                   

I put Kittykee in the 1st collage for fun.  Kittykee is the main character in the picture story books that my grandchildren created. (on the shelf) 
They painted the art plaque for me.

COLLAGING MY TRAVELS

For months I've put aside sharing the process of collaging my trips in 3 journals. 

Soon I'll get back to these 3 journals and posting the process.

creating-from top down:

• home in Rio de Janeiro
• shipboard - Alaska
• by fresco, Lucca, Italy

FRESCOING THE KOLO JOURNAL

Expecting to see frescoed paintings in Florence, I thought I would gesso on paper bags to give the blank Kolo Journal a frescoed look. 

photos: gessoing process & working on the first gessoed page in Lucca.

PREPARING TO COLLAGE IN ITALY

In May I went to Florence, Siena & Lucca, Italy with my friend, Marcia Carole. We both were excited about the possibility of creating on the trip. Before leaving home, I prepared journal pages for collaging, painted papers, and collected glue sticks, children's pair of round tipped scissors, small ruler & fine tip black markers.  

Little Boats Paris: KITTYKEE ON BOARD

from today: pages 2-3 Kittykee enters the story

Still working on pg. 3, but yes, Kittykee gets on a boat, named Marimekko.

Little Boats Paris: TACKING A NEW DIRECTION

We used to sail.  In our boat we'd sail against the wind, tacking our way across the lake. I feel like I have to sail into the wind making these collages and not settle design-wise.

I tore out the second collage! It was just not right. The sails on the little boats are not that shape. It would have been easy to leave it but no! I scraped the collage off the page!  Tacking a new direction, I took one of the photos and extended parts of the image with fabrics and painted paper.

Little Boats Paris: ABANDONING SHIP!

When I'm posting the process you are going to see what does not work. I was pretty unhappy with what was happening here-it went from loose to tight. Not what I had in mind. 

I decided to abandon ship and sail on. 

Be minimal, simplify and play!

So the small quilt went into the closet and moved the fabric scraps to the side.  

Out came the painted paper scraps onto the side table. I have given so many painted papers away, the assortment is way down. They're in France and Turkey and currently on their way to Greece! 

I brought out a Kolo journal and started. First little boat below. It's a process. The design shape will morph and change over the pages.

Little Boats Paris: SCRAPS AND HIGH CONTRAST

What is with the dark back ground you might wonder?  I was asking myself the same thing!  All I  can say is that I had to get the black and purple out of my creative system on this 1st one.  

Working off this pile of scraps, I started pulling out the black and purple fabrics.  What can I say. I like high contrast of black/purple against  hot colors.  

I stitched the dark fabric background down 'as is' - raw edges. Worked on first sail this afternoon. 

I'll probably use sky painted fabric background in the next one.