Another "Happy"

My house looks like an explosion in a paper factory -- especially since while I am tearing and cutting away for collages I won't throw any paper out, no matter how tiny. You never know where that bit might be needed in a collage! This is an ACEO that I made last week and listed on Etsy.

It's been a difficult few years between extraordinarily challenging teaching assignments, and ill mother -- who died over Thanksgiving weekend -- and being the single mother of a teenager. Oh, and we moved, too. But all is good, things have quieted down, although I miss my mother terribly. Our new place is the smallest place I have ever lived, but I have carved out space for making art. Well, ok, I took over a good bit of the living room. Not traditional (one neighborhood girl walked in and, like a miniature adult, "Well, THIS is interesting!") but functional for me. My son can tolerate it. I have been making a lot of what I call "happys." The small collages that generally only use paper from my way-too-large collection of vintage and found papers. They make me happy when I make them, happy when they find good homes, and even happier when I sell them:) I have missed the blogging world. I hope I still have some friends out there.

Mark Bradford review: Paper pieces at 2 museums

Mark Bradford review: Paper pieces at 2 museums

Love these paper paintings by Mark Bradford.

The Hornet's nest

The Hornet's nest, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

My son has been posting things on Flickr and Etsy for me. Guess he got tired of writing:) This is another older collage that I have for sale on Etsy for $5.00. I love this collage (I know, I know, we aren't supposed to say that about our own art, right?) It makes me smile -- I think because the vintage insect cards were such a find. They've been great to work with.

Haircut

Haircut, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

tulip mania

tulip mania, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

point of collision

point of collision, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

SALE!

There is now a sale on all large collages. They are all selling for 5.00 dollars

Blue pie

Blue pie, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

This is an older collage that was living in a frame that I needed. So now it needs a new home! It would love to come live at your house! This will be listed in my Etsy shop today!

golden leaves

golden leaves, a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

another oldie but goodie

score | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

score | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This is an older ACEO collage that I am selling to make room for new works. The price is 10.00 dollars. It uses vintage papers.

Flowers Everywhere | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Flowers Everywhere | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Small mixed media work for sale on Etsy. It's been a long time since I've been able to work in my studio and I am grateful for every moment I have in there this weekend!

Something was a Little bit Different About Bobby that day...

Something was a Little bit Different About Bobby that day..., a photo by paperwerks on Flickr.

My newest collage. A little experiment with grasscloth and vintage book illustrations.

Two Coats of Paint: How-to video: Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh poured pai...

Two Coats of Paint: How-to video: Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh poured pai...: "'The team, made up of friends from Iepe’s chess boxing club, rented official German railway bicycles and rigged them with buckets at the..."

this is the coolest video! wish i had the nerve.

abstract monotype

one of the very cool things about working on a gelatin plate is the ability to work fast and make many prints quickly. but just like taking photographs, not all of them will make the cut.

school is almost over

the year is drawing to a close. it's been a satisfying one professionally for me as as a teacher, and a frustrating one for me as an artist. since my son is about to turn 14, we'll just leave the parenting part out of the equation for right now, lol.

i realized tonight that i only posted one monotype to this blog last time i wrote way too long ago. while i made some intentionally kitschy prints for fun and for presents, i really was interested in experimenting with more abstract concepts. i love working with materials accessible to anyone, hence my newest love affair with gelatin plates for printing. give me some gelatin, paints or inks of some kind and some paper and i am ready to go. don't even need a brayer. in fact, the pressure from the brayer tends to quicken the breakdown of the gelatin. this can make for some interesting prints, but i prefer to keep the surface intact for as long as possible.

all of this series is printed on vintage dictionary paper. of course the rejects i have saved for future collage endeavors:)

tea cup

tea cup one
Originally uploaded by paperwerks

one of my gelatin monoprint experiments from when we were snowed in this week. some of the prints are kinda kitschy, but most of those are intended for specific people.

blue baby

blue baby
Originally uploaded by paperwerks

i would love for blue baby to find a good home! please leave a comment if you interested in receiving this as a special gift from me!

the next give away

sorry that i made the last give away decision so quickly, but it was a no brainer! mel and i "met" on flickr, and now we are friends on facebook, twitter, and our blogs, and i think stumbleupon, too. so despite that we are hundreds of miles apart, i count mel as a good friend. PLUS -- mel so generously donated to my favorite charity for my birthday, it just seemed like a natural fit!

so, mel, you are out of the running on this one, friend:)

this square collage is four inches per side. i used handmade paper, some very old and delicate hand blocked wallpaper, tissue, found papers, and part of a vintage sewing pattern.

it is not matted. i've found some 8 x 8 inch frames with mats at target that look great with these collages if you are interested in framing it.

changes, changes

it's time for a change. change in my art, change in my life to make sure i have time to make art. the collages i will be posting/reposting are ones that need to go to new homes. i don't believe in having "sales" on art -- i'd rather gift a piece. in fact, i'd just as soon share my work with friends and family as sell it, anyway.

the past year or so has been a busier and harder than i would like. i returned to teaching august of '09 when i was offered a job teaching high school students with chronic and persistent mental illness. (i was out of the classroom for two years and worked as the disability program navigator for southeast tennessee.) i absolutely love teaching students with emotional/behavioral disorders. it's challenging, exhausting, and i'm very good at it. i love the fact that i get to use my creative side each and every day. in theory i should have plenty of down time as a teacher to work on my art but...

i also had to return to graduate school for two semesters to finish classes to complete requirements for my licensure. tennessee is horrible what it does to post baccelaurate intitial licensure candidates. so far i have taken 60 hours of mostly graduate education classes, and i still have three or four more classes to go if i want to get that m.ed. i'm taking a break to decide if i really want to put the time and effort and money into it. i have my permanent teaching license now, and i miss making art.

so...leave a comment and tell me why you would like to have this collage come live with you! i make no claims to have any specific process in place here! i have a good number of my smaller collages to send out into the world. i will post them as i am so inclined -- i make no promises what the frequency will be, lol. 10 minutes? 2 weeks? who knows? i've been incredibly erratic with my little blog.

as i post give away collages here, i will remove them from my artfire shop, but not imagekind. i am reserving the right to sell prints of the original works.

so tell me what you think! would you like some new art for your office or home? or something as a belated christmas gift? or how about a gift for yourself?

happy holidays!