Stacks of Magazines

Today, I took one look at the stack of magazines on the floor by our sofa and said enough is enough … I started ripping out quotes, meaningful words, slogans, images and tossed these into a clear plastic container.

Afterwards, I remembered purchasing a couple of blank journals a while back, so I decided to collage the covers with the magazine scraps, tissue paper, acrylics, watercolors, ink, etc.

It’s a creative way to reuse old magazines and it’s fun! I love giving journals as Christmas gifts to friends and family.

The Mermaid Journal – Tomorrow I will be adding sea shells, ribbons, metallic watercolors, etc.

“Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting is often very difficult.”
Julia Cameron

Birds of Sorrow

A friend of ours has recently died, and we just heard about it today. We were very sad to hear of his passing. Our deepest sympathy to his family at this sad time. He will be sorely missed.

Phoenix Rising

The Phoenix is a mythical bird which upon it’s death, burst into flames and rises again from it’s own ashes, so it’s a perfect metaphor for how I have been feeling over the past few days.

I started another canvas today …  splashing, scraping, pouring and ripping paper to collage onto the painting as I thought about why I have been procrastinating about starting a new piece of work.

Lately, I have been spending much of my time reading, taking photographs and working in the yard, which I guess is another way of gathering ideas and stimulating creativity.

Phoenix Rising – Acrylic/Mixed Media – 8 X 10 inches on canvas

Happy Halloween

There are a number of amazing Halloween events happening tonight and I hope everyone has a great time.

Celebrate …  laugh … Dance … Sing … Make Merry … and stay safe.

Halloween – Digital Collage – 3 x 4 inches

The mask I am wearing is made of paper mache, acrylics, metallic ink, and lined with soft leather.

Demeter & Persephone

For the past few days I have been working on my new blog site at Gaia’s Garden and I’m having a lot of fun updating and writing new content for the blog and the original website.

Today I am working on ideas for new images for the website and came up with the image below for Gaia’s herbal section. I still have a long ways to go before it’s finished.

Demeter & Persephone – Digital Collage

“O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.”
-   Robert Frost, October

Autumn Offerings

I found this old digital collage I did in the fall of 2005 when I was in the process of learning how to make my own digital backgrounds etc…

I had forgotten how much fun these were to make. I created the background by layering rice  paper, golden acrylics with mica chips and then scanned the end product into Photoshop.

Next, I used Painter 7 to create the Goddess image and the background spirals. I finished by adding text around the border.

The text reads: “Earthly Offerings: a stone, a feather, a flower, a sea shell, a rainbow, a butterfly’s kiss. Sisters of my heart, I weave a cloak for you, for we are on a journey to remember that we are spirit in body.

Autumn Offerings – Digital Collage – 9 X 10 inches

Work In Progress – Book Cover

Today I was able to work on the altered book cover from a previous post. I started by painting and collaging some art paper, tree bark, and attached a porcelain head to the book cover.

One thing led to another and the piece started taking on a life of it’s own. Although it is not as I first envisioned it, I sort of like the direction the work is taking. The woman’s dress color will likely be altered, and some mysterious creatures added to the mix.

My overactive imagination has swept me into the magical realms of the deep forest where all sorts of mythical creatures dwell. Where will it all lead?

It’s Friday!

After a full day of painting, I decided to clean my studio, and get ready for the month of June. So here’s to a new month of new beginnings, inspiration, and creativity.

Have a Great Weekend!

Angel Of Love by Rose Arizmendi (c) 2008- Collage/Combined Media

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
–Joseph Addison

“Most of a woman’s depressions, ennuis, and wandering confusions are caused by a severely restricted soul-life in which innovation, impulse, and creation are restricted or forbidden. Women receive enormous impulse to act from the creative force.”
–Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.”
–Linda Pastan

Inspiration

I spent most of the day working in the studio and managed to get quite a bit done. I prepped a new canvas, and layered in more color on another work in progress.

As I was working, I kept thinking about the meaning behind the word “inspiration”. To inspire, bring about the arousal of the mind to unusual activity or creativity. What inspires creativity? Is it learning something new? I’m not sure what inspires creativity, however, when it strikes I feel excited and passionate about expressing it through color and line.

This evening the inspiration bug hit, and I worked on the digital collage below. The background was created by laying in some watercolor on a blank canvas, then I began painting the figure on a separate layer with watercolor & pastels. Next I merged the painted layers and added text.

Divine Mother by Rose Arizmendi (C) 2008 – Collage/Combined Media

“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air – explode softly – and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth – boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn’t go cheap, either – not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with their imagination.”

- Robert Fulghum

Images For Collage

I love making my own collage images with my digital camera and photoshop, because it’s easy and fun to create a one of a kind image. I also love using commercial rubber stamps but sometimes I need something unusual or a little different.

The first place I look are thrift shops and antique stores, usually it is there that I find a treasure trove of objects to take home and photograph.

As soon as I return home, I grab my camera and take a photo of whatever it is I want to make a stamp of, then I take it into photoshop to retouch and clean it up.

Here is an example of an antique watch I just made for a collage I am currently working on.

Antique Watch Photo Retouch #1

Antique Watch Process #2

It is at this point I decide on just how much more I want to add or take away from the image. If I like what I see I go on to the next step.

Antique Watch Stamp

Once everything is finished you can either print the image and add it to your collage or make a rubber stamp.

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