This and that for Monday and Tuesday

Hi Everybody!

Tuesday is Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday,

so I would like to welcome all of

the nice ladies of the T gang, and of course,

anyone else who comes by!

I have been playing a bit in my arty kitchen, using 

corrugated cardboard, scraps of paper napkins and some gilding 

metal. I have to keep pausing in between, as my fingers

are not behaving as I would like them to!

I painted the cardboard with cream coloured 

soft acrylics before adding the scraps. This will be the
cover for one of the new A4 journals I got
for my birthday. I am linking to Art Journal Journey,
Erika's lovely theme of 'tell me a story'.
And the story - flowers, butterflies and birds to
brighten dark and wintry days:

When it was finished I placed it on some ancient and

rusty linen, that was once part of an erosion bundle, and then

onto a piece of crumpled brown paper taken from

a parcel, and stitched it all together, trying to get a grungy look.

On New Year's Eve I drank a glass of pink

pro-secco:

But cappuccino is still my fave drink!

 Recently I went to the Altstadt (Old Town) of Düsseldorf and visited

the town history museum, which has heaps of wonderful

things to see, so  I want to go again....and again!

I loved this view of the old lanterns with the

post office tower in the background:

The ship is the sign of the 'Schiffchen' pub:

I started in the basement of the museum, and discovered these

wonderful, ancient brick walls, which were built over

when the palace, which now houses the museum, was built in the 17th century:

Harald  Naegeli, the famous 'Sprayer of Zürich'  has a video running

which shows his painting process and who and what

influenced him, and I was able to speak to him - that was fun!

Robert Schumann played on this grand piano during the 

last years of his life when he was hospitalized:

And I just love these drawers taken from an old apothecary's shop -

wouldn't they be wonderful for crafting goodies?

The painting on the left shows the Kunsstpalast museum in the 'Ehrenhof',

where the glass and art museums are.

Friday was bright and sunny, then the sun packed

its bags and went on holiday:

 We had no snow, but freezing, icy fog, which was so thick

on Sunday evening that it was not possible to see anything.

There were many accidents with pedestrians falling on the ice

and cars skidding and crashing, so I'm glad I stayed home!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Tell me a story

Hi Everybody!

It's cold and icy here, but is supposed to get better soon.

I stayed home today, I don't want to risk falling on the ice.

For Art Journal Journey, Erika's lovely theme of

'tell me a story', I have  a hybrid piece made using

old photos. The background is a photo from the beginning of the 20th century,

placed on a grungy paper using a mask. I added some of my torn paper fragments. The lady on the right seems 

to be the shopkeeper, and the scowling boy perhaps an assistant? 

In the shop doorway there is a lady, half hiding. 

and on the left side is a man's face in the window - 

I think he didn't want to be seen.  

My Mum has been placed on the step, and is looking at the 

world around her. And Mr Umbrella Man? I think he is a time

traveller.

(typewriter image from Mischief circus)

 Last week I showed this page, and asked people to tell the story,

and got some great answers!

Here are those I liked best:

Erika: The first idea that popped into my head after seeing your page is that she is the head raven in a sci fi world where the ravens are magical spies. They report back to her and she gets to decide where they go, depending on what gossip she wants to know. :) 

Sarah: My story is that it's lady Gaga in disguise as she's fed up with paparazzi, and thinks she won't be recognised!

Yvonne: I am in overdrive to think out a scenario for the page. However, I think she is wondering about the smell of the birds, how dare they enter her space. Don't they know that someone who is as beautiful as herself has a sensitive nose for these things, even if they have tales to tell, they should a least wash first.

Chris: "Darn it…here I am all dressed up and my specs STILL keep falling down my nose!"

CJ Kennedy: very steampunk. very cool. the four blackbirds with their serious expressions, maybe body guards for the queen. She has a crown so I assume she's a queen. All the senses are represented in your piece. Large goggle glasses to see, a hand for touch, a hand covering the nose, maybe not so pleasant smells, birds for sound, and the hand coming from the mouth for taste and comfort as in sucking one's thumb to self-soothe.

Donna: In the "House of Daybreak, Midday, Eventide and Twilight", the Ravens of the Sun operate a secret society. They travel by starlight, incognito, saving lost souls. Last evening, just after sundown, they stumbled upon the old Dowager Queen of the Forest whose heart has turned to coal. She can no longer speak or see and wanders in darkness, lost and alone. The Ravens lift her by the goggles high into the night sky. In flight, under the new moon she glides back to their House of Restorative Magic. Special twigs, logs and herbs are set alight in the mystical place of fire. A most beautiful ornate chase lounge is brought where she is laid to rest, covered by the golden blanket of stories. Gently, the goggles are removed and to their astonishment ..... to be continued.

Sheila: The four birds, who look rather naughty, are her servants and I am a bit worried about what she wants them to do next.

Gill: I think the hand is replacing her tongue which extends a bit like a Chameleons one..very useful for eating and as a weapon. The crows are her spies and are invisible to all non believers of her power.... the end.. :)

Sandy: recovering from plastic surgery on her nose - The Princess of Nonsense decides to go to the ball in disguise. "Nevermore quoth the Raven"!!!

And I say -- never let the raven poop on your parade!!

Thanks a lot for joining in the fun!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Fragments of the past

Hi Everybody!

The big snow storms thankfully didn't strike here,

but it is very cold. Today we had sunshine and blue skies,

the ground was frozen hard, and lots of

hungry birds were hopping around.

For Art Journal Journey, Erika's lovely theme of

'Tell me a story', I have a double page in my 

New journal number 2. One of the things I 'inherited' 

from one of my old ladies was a box of torn

up photos and letters, with the instructions, 'Do what

you like with them but don't give them to my brother!'

Here I have used some of the fragments of photos

and  letters, and a part of a Hebrew text. I interspersed the fragments

with scraps of  paper napkins. A thin coat of gesso

knocked some parts back. I used soft wax crayons

to add some colour, and some random stamping.

I am also linking to Paint Party Friday:

I took some dry bread with me when I went out,

and it was enjoyed by gulls, ducks and the fishing raven, who 

was looking rather bedraggled today:

The gulls swarmed around, it was rather a Hitchcock moment:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Tags and heads

Hi Everybody!

Time is flying by again - it moves more quickly

than I can!

For Art Journal Journey, Erika's lovely theme of 'Tell me a story', and for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin, I have a

hybrid piece made from 2 large tags I made this week. 

I scanned the tags into my computer, and with some digital magic

I put them into two of my heads and grunged them up a bit.

I placed them on a background made from another collaged

tag made this week which I will show another day. I changed the

colors to black and white in one of them and

added the sentiment:

For my mixed media pieces I used 10" kraft tags. First they were painted with olive and blue metallic paints, then stenciled using some new stencils Annette sent me for Christmas - thanks so much! After they were dry I used my 

clear-the-table technique

to collage them with all the UFOs flying about, and then used more stencils to draw the figures. To finish them off I added some white stenciling and some dotted highlights on the figures. I had fun making these, I haven't been able to do much lately as my fingers are not being very cooperative.

As I have used my new stencils I am also linking 

the tags to Simon Monday challenge

and to More mixed media

anything goes

These were the backgrounds before I pasted everything onto

them:

Recently I visited The Kunsthalle art museum

in Düsseldorf. I have a season-ticket which gets me into all

museums without having to pay, but I would have 

been very disappointed if I had paid 18€ to view this

'wool and water' exhibition:

And this exhibit really takes the biscuit -

this is not my idea of art:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!