Ice, mist and journal play

Hi Everybody!

Another week has flown by, it's Thursday already,

I need to do some dreaded housew**k,

it's cold and grey outside,

and not much better inside!

I made a cover for the second journal I got as 

a present, so now it's all set up

and ready to go. I painted the A4 cover with some 

blue/green metallic paint, which changes colour with the light,

 and added some soft white in 

the middle before stamping into the wet paint

with the swirl and script stamps. I don't need any ink on the stamps,

The wet paint gets picked up and transferred. 

The floral part of the design 

was made with a paper napkin. When it was dry

I stenciled on the birds and added some

gilding flakes:

I was pleased that the underlying stamping is still visible

through the paper napkin:

This was before the napkin went on:

Then I decided to alter a paper bag to make a pocket inside the

journal. Here it is still on my messy table:

Then I used some new and old stencils to liven it up,

adding some white dots to highlight it:

The front page was quickly painted and then stenciled:

Now I have a journal to fill with dreams.

I am linking to Art Journal Journey, Erika's lovely theme

of 'Tell me a story' and to

Altered eclectics,

and to Stamps and stencils,  swirls, whirls and flourishes,

and to Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin.

And here are some icy and misty photos:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

A story from history

Hi Everybody!

Last week I made this collage. The background was an underlay page, and is somewhere between A4 and A3 size. It already had smudges of green and blue paint on  it, which gave me my colour scheme. There were also various stamps on the BG which I had been trying out. I once again used my (try)-to-clear-the-table-technique, and piled on as much as I could.

Then I decided to divide it into squares and oblongs

with a thick marker.

It still didn't look quite right, so I decided to sew over all of the

lines. I went over three of the squares with diluted gesso to knock them

back a bit, and then added some Hebrew alphas. I left the threads on the sides hanging, as the Hebrew texts and alphas reminded me of a

Tallith, the prayer shawl worn by men:

I am linking to Art Journal Journey, 

Erika's lovely theme of 'tell me a story' - 

there are lots of stories woven into this piece, and to 

Simon Monday challenge, square.

I was most interested to see the models of Kaiserswerth

in the town museum in Düsseldorf.

This is what our castle ruins used to look like:

And this painting shows a political event from about 1000 years ago.

The report is from Wikipedia:

'About the year 700 the monk Saint Suitbert founded a Benedictine abbey on a  werth, a river island that formed an important crossing point of the Rhine. The abbey was destroyed 88 years later. On that area there is now the "Erzbischöfliches Suitbertus-Gymnasium", an archiepiscopal secondary school with the old chapel and parts of the abbey. The former monastery garden is a meeting point for the upper school between lesson times.

The Kaiserpfalz which is a general term for a temporary seat of the Holy Roman Emperor was built at an unknown date but before the year 1016. In 1062, the archbishop of Cologne, Anno II, kidnapped the underage German King Heinrich IV from here and in this way obtained the unofficial regency of the Holy Roman Empire. At this time the island's name was changed from Werth to Kaiserswerth - emperor's island. In 1174, Friederick I Barbarossa moved the Rhine customs collection to Kaiserswerth. The eastern branch of the Rhine around the island silted up connecting Kaiserswerth to the east bank of the river. In 1273, the emperor pledged Kaiserswerth to the Archbishop of Cologne forming a de facto enclave within the Duchy of Jülich-Berg. In 1591, Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld was born in Kaiserswerth.

 Due to its strategic position the town changed regularly. The town was captured in 1586 during the Cologne War, and then occupied by the Spanish from 1589 to 1592. In 1636 the town was captured again by the forces of Hesse. When in 1688 the Elector of Cologne made an alliance with Louis XIV during the War of the Grand Alliance he gave the French access to the Rhine crossing at Kaiserswerth. This caused the Dutch and Brandenburg to lay siege to the town in the June 1689. The French garrison surrendered at the end of the month when their supplies were destroyed by fire. The French reoccupied Kaiserswerth in 1701 during the War of the Spanish Succession and the Allies laid siege to it again in 1702. After a long and hard struggle the town surrendered and the Alliance decided to demolish the fortifications.'

And that's why we only have the castle ruins today!

 I also found this installation really good. When the vaulted cellar
under the tower where  the Shipping museum now is
was  cleared, they found rubbishfrom ancient times
up to modern ones. The artist built the installation

using the found pieces and showing them in their layers:

I hope today's 'history lesson' didn't bore you all to tears!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

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!