Work in Progress

Work in Progress - often referred to as WIP(s) - I have plenty of these and as I have no finished art to share I am going to post about my WIPs!

The picture at the top is a progress shot of where I am up to with my 50 little houses for an exchange being organised through the upcoming Creative Soul Retreat. Once swapped we will all have a very long and cute little village to line up on a wall somewhere! The chipboard houses we have been issued with are of varying sizes and shapes but all the ones I received are the same shape. Mine are tiny - about one inch wide and two inches tall. The majority have a delicate little window cut in them so that immediately limited the collage options for decorating them!

So after giving the chipboard a couple of coats of white gesso (fiddly business I can tell you, especially around the windows!) I have washed them all with one of three colours of diluted acrylic paint. I have blotted some with baby wipes to get a mottled look to the paint to give a bit of variety. All the rest so far is doodling with a lovely black artist pen - a lovely zen-like activity after a long day at work! Next step is to put a contrasting colour behind the window (painted book pages probably) and add my delegate number above the window. Then of course I have to do the 11 houses that don't have a window - they will be a variation on the same theme - maybe with a door instead.

Another large WIP is my "Pocketbook of Dreams" from a workshop I took with the wonderful Nina Bagley at my first ever art retreat in 2007. I have my cover made (I adapted Nina's version to make a leather wrap around cover which I will post when the book is all put together).

A copper mesh pocket page with transparency pocket front and tag inserted.

The back of the mesh pocket page with tag separate (photo of paternal grandparents and children - my Dad is the baby in the photo)

The book pages are attached to thin signatures using eyelets etc and various pockets are included either as a page or as part of a page. I have made some non-pocket pages as well for a bit of variety. The intention was to make various sized pages so that it ends up looking interestingly cluttered!

Another double page - right-hand side is another mesh/transparency pocket with a miniature bottle wire wrapped to the side.

The other side of the double page showing patina on back of copper mesh pocket. Right-hand side is printed vellum over a vintage photo.

Another double page - collage style.

I had a burst making these straight after the workshop and obviously put it aside "for later" but of course didn't get back to it. I rediscovered it this week lurking at the bottom of a big drawer where I store all my painted canvas backgrounds (as I tend to paint backgrounds when I am not inspired to do anything else!)

The other side of the collaged double page.

Most of the pages below are finished although some still need "something". I have scanned them flat but they are double pages as they are already attached to the central signature section. I really have the urge now to do some more pages and assemble the book so expect to see more over teh next couple of months.

The start of another page - gesso on fabric transfer (from a workshop with Lesley Riley)

A stamped page attached to the signature - waiting for a page for the other side!

The back of the stamped page - quote printed on vellum

Another solitary page attached to the signature - waiting for a partner! This one is a tissue/napkin collage with a seed envelope as the pocket.

I am off to Wiluna again this week for work (will be back Thursday afternoon) so today I am planning on starting a couple of projects that I can work on easily while I am away - the trip involves sitting in a car for 13 to 14 hours and this time I am just a passenger so I can do some stitching. I have two small exchange projects that are due this month so this will provide a good opportunity to get them done.