Paying Attention

With my last post, you know that part of my my being AWOL on the blog has been due to company. Not just the lovely time spent while they were here, but also the not so lovely time picking up my messes and cleaning. The guest room is also my office, where I have spread out all the family photo albums and letters and documents for scanning and researching. So I hurriedly scanned a few more things before gathering everything to be stowed temporarily in a closet. It is also the room where I do my taxes. I still had a box with a year's worth of bills and receipts to shred. It's a mindless but time-consuming task so I had put it off. Now I was prodded into action.

Not long ago, I picked up a book new to my library, The Little Book of Book Making by Charlotte Rivers and was totally mesmerized by the handmade books it included from so many artists that make this form their preferred outlet. One using the insides of security envelops particularly caught my eye. Could there really be that many patterns out there I wondered? I was pretty sure the security envelops coming my way had only a couple of relatively boring patterns on them. I made a mental note to pay more attention to the ones showing up in my mailbox. And then I promptly forgot.

That is, until I started pulling bills to shred from their envelops and sorting for recycling the envelops with plastic windows from the ones that were all paper. Oh wait. I was going to look at the security patterns, wasn't I? What I found in that year's worth of envelops quite surprised me. What a haul of envelops I had once I was done. And because that's just the way I roll, I decided to carefully release where they were glued so they would lie flat exposing the patterns, and then sort the patterns into piles.

These were by far the most common pattern - I think they reflect the credit companies I do business with.  The printing was often uneven across the paper and the saturation varied from envelop to envelop. And most of the envelops were designed this way - basically rectangles with narrow extensions to close up the sides.

These were one-offs. You may need to click on the pictures for a larger view to see the patterns.

Most were printed with black or grey ink, but a few were blue like this one. My camera really didn't like figuring out what to focus on with some of these patterns.

One lone envelop was not the usual business envelop size but a nearly square one which will give larger pieces to work with.

Here's a close-up of that stripe. Eye's going batty yet?

Some return envelops had windows but some did not. These will give me the larger areas to work with too. There's that crosshatch again but the ones on either side are different from the rest.

Then I ran into envelops constructed in what I consider the more classic manner - set on point before folding in the bottom, sides and flap. Yet another pattern.

And two more patterns in blue from that style of envelop.

I've saved the best for last, or so I think. Yes, it looks like another crosshatch but this version has some interesting patterning going on within the crosshatch.

I'd be curious to know why this is as one really wouldn't notice it unless opening the envelop flat.

I guess that's the thing about humans and design - we just can't help doing more than is necessary or even seen.

Some of the patterning continued onto the flaps. These can be trimmed to narrow strips. Oh, and above the torn-off flaps, there are small pieces that I cut from an envelop that had a snowflake and lines on it. Definitely art journaling fodder.

I envision using these envelops in my book making as well as art journaling. I've been puzzling over what to line my recycled box covers with and this might be it. While it is exciting to find a use for these envelops, I fear I may have triggered an unstoppable obsession. Where once I could toss that envelop into the recycling bin, now I am hesitating and tossing it into my art journaling supplies. I'm paying attention!

 

Reverberations Has A New Home

Me with my goddaughter and her husband - garden wedding 2013

I had a visit this week from my goddaughter and her husband. When they were married almost two years ago (yes, they are barefoot in the picture), I offered as my wedding present their choice of one of my art quilts. Their plans for visiting last summer fell through but not to worry; that just gave them more art to choose from when they finally arrived!

I probably would not have offered this if I hadn't known in advance that they liked my work. (The goddaughter's parents have several of my works in their collection and she informed me that she blog stalks!) In fact, they mentioned hoping someday to be able to afford to purchase a piece. Not to worry - you've just solved my gift giving dilemma!

Still, I work in so many different styles, themes and colors, and know so little about their own preferences that it made sense to let them pick and choose. I was very curious to see what would appeal to them. Over the course of their stay, they narrowed it down to three apparently, with "Reverberations" being their top choice. I couldn't be more pleased, in fact found myself hoping that perhaps it would be the one. It's a favorite of mine, but not so much so that I wouldn't be able to part with it. It's such a good feeling to know it will be enjoyed beyond my own walls, in the home of a couple so special to me. 

Reverberations by Sheila Mahanke Barnes ©2014

Auditioning Beads

Look at all those dishes of beads!

I fear I haven't made much progress on adding beads to Masks. There have been distractions aplenty, and some days when I just didn't have it in me to decide on the next steps and methodically start sewing. But there have been days as well when I stood and stared, tried to envision, scattered a few beads here and there, consulted my beading books for ideas, tried to think my way to proper solutions. The mask on the right is starting to look like it is receding to me - standing just a little back from the one on the left and I like this, want to capitalize on that. I also thought to pick up the bit of green in the fabric by using green beads to outline what I see as the hat at the top of the mask. And don't forget, there may be a need to pull a few red beads up into this area too for overall balance.

When you merely scatter beads, particularly over a quilted surface, you really can't get the feel of what those same beads will look like stitched down. I finally admitted I must start "stringing" beads, trying various combinations and repeat sequences. In this case, I stacked the beads on a long glass-head pin. These will probably outline the "chin" area on each mask.

The hats have an oval "center" that calls out for a bigger decorative element. Could only find one such thing in my stash - an antler button with a turquoise center bead that I originally bought to add to a tote flap but now want to use on the forward mask. It is the perfect size and stylistic feel. Was not originally planning on giving that mask a green hat, but going blue seemed like too much since the rest of the mask will be outlined in a blue trade bead. Also thinking I don't want a solid line of green so am considering breaking up the line with an off-white bead as you see with these beads stacked on a long straw needle.

The upper receding mask was becoming a puzzling problem, suddenly solved when it occurred to me to try mixing in red beads instead of off-white. Was interesting to feel my whole body spontaneously relax when viewing how this new thought looked in place. (One of my meditation classes had us focusing on how different emotions make our bodies feel physically - otherwise, I might not have noticed the connection between satisfied in my mind and my body backing that up.) And I may be able to "build" a bigger decorative object for this hat with an old yellowed button that reminds me of aged ivory (or I suppose it could be bone as it comes out of my grandmother's button box). It has unusually large holes for attaching which emphasizes the effect of looking like a face. I think I will secure it with a red bead over each hole and add more red beads around it, perhaps creating a slightly oval shape. I'm also considering dangles along the front edge of the hats, but again - which colors, which sequence? I'll probably have them copy what I do in outlining the hats. The rest of the outlining of the mask on this one will probably be what you see strung on some thread on the left, an alternating of small groups of the blue and off-white trade beads. I did a quick estimate of how many it will take to go around that section and there aren't enough of either color so mixing is my only option. Don't really want to buy more beads even if they are still available.

I feel the most sure about those green and red beads to outline the hat, so that is where I'm going to start, this very minute. Yes I am...

Options...

...like I need more of them. Actually, I was looking for something else when I found myself standing in front of a display of various decorative elastics and thought two things: 1) I can make my own elastic band for my sketchbook rather than wasting more time trying to track down one for a small instead of full-size notebook (that would be the package in the middle), and 2) now here's a thought for a padfolio or journal closure (that would be the faux suede cord package on the right).

And as I was looking at the other kinds of elastic, I was reminded that my friend Michele told me she uses elastic hair bands for her journals where one sewn into the edging on the back cover can loop over a decorative button on the front cover - much simpler than the way I've been doing it. But I never remember to go over to that department to pick up a package. But now I have (that would be the package on the left).

The irony of this is that as I made that last batch of padfolios, I asked myself if this was really how I wanted to be spending my time right now, and had pretty much decided no. The padfolios were going to the bottom of the priority list. And I'd had the same thought about making more journals. And yet, when I recently ran across a sale on the junior legal pads I include in the padfolios, I automatically picked some up because I had noted my supply was running low. And then, here I was, contemplating new and possibly better closure options for both, the subconscious apparently continuing to refine my product whether I like it or not. One could rightfully ask if I know my own mind, and I would rightfully answer, are you kidding? Of course I don't! I guess I'll let myself be comforted by this observation by Carl Jung: "The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." And these days, I appear to love a lot of different objects whether I consciously realize it or not!