Altered Bits Print Zine

The Altered Bits Mixed Media Art Zine #1 is available now!

If these images look familiar to you it's because I posted them as 'sneak peeks' waaaaaay back in November! I can't believe it's been that long!

Alicia has been a very busy bee and she's put together an AMAZING zine available in either print or as a download. What's inside? Wow! Where do I start?

There's an artist interview with Lisa Jurist whose art never fails to be completely inspiring!

AND

 There's art glorious, wonderful art, click here to see who the artists are.or preview the zine and you will find the contributors on page 3.

AND

There's a 3 page PULP REDUX spread!

AND

There's this.....

My contribution to the 'Letters and Symbols' section.

 A long time ago when only sailors got tattoos the humble sparrow was an important symbol. From what I have read the sparrow was tattooed onto a sailors as a talisman to keep them safe. The only time sailors saw sparrows while they were at sea was when they were close to land. The sight of a sparrow would tell a sailor that they were nearly at their destination and had survived their long and dangerous journey. Sighting a sparrow was a reason to celebrate!. The tattoo of a sparrow became a symbol of a sailors desire for safety, home and well being. Over time the use of sparrows became interchangeable with other birds such as swallows and bluebird.Another reason sailors chose sparrows was because of the belief that sparrows took the souls of people to safety (based on an ancient Egyptian belief) and that should they not make the voyage then at least the sparrows would take them home. This is thought to be how the tattoo of a small bird, such as a sparrow, carrying banners with a loved ones name originated, Incidentally, swallows in tattoos were originally used to commemorate the achievement of 5000 nautical miles at sea. If a sailor had 2 swallows it meant he had sailed 10,000 miles. Both swallows and sparrows were used to symbolise love and loyalty as both these birds mate for life.

Mixed Media: photography, thread, paint, found metal, rubber, beads, fabric, lace, re purposed book spine, paper scrap.

Special thanks to the wonderful Alicia  for all her amazing-ness! You rock Alicia!

Letters and Symbols

I've been busy these last few days working on a piece for Alicia's Altered Bits Zine. This is another great opportunity to take part in an online project so if you havn't signed up yet make sure you get over to Alicia's blog and check out the themes and guidlines. I chose Letters and Symbols to work with and have had a lot of fun doing so!

Recycled lace, silk fabric, recycled paper,beads, reused button...and that red wire I am loving so much!

A few small peeks...but enough to show the nautical theme I have chosen. I've never worked in this theme before and it took a bit to find myself with it. However, the nautical side is a very important to this story so after a bit if playing around I came up with a combination I like and the story behind it all is below.

V is for Voyage...

A long time ago when only sailors got tattoos the humble sparrow was an important symbol. From what I have read the sparrow was tattooed onto a sailors as a talisman to keep them safe. The only time sailors saw sparrows while they were at sea was when they were close to land. The sight of a sparrow would tell a sailor that they were nearly at their destination and had survived their long and dangerous journey. Sighting a sparrow was a reason to celebrate!. The tattoo of a sparrow became a symbol of a sailors desire for safety, home and well being.  Over time the use of sparrows became interchangeable with other birds such as swallows and bluebird.Another reason sailors chose sparrows was because of the belief that sparrows took the souls of people to safety (based on an ancient Egyptian belief) and that should they not make the voyage then at least the sparrows would take them home. This is thought to be how the tattoo of a small bird, such as a sparrow, carrying banners with a loved ones name originated,  Incidentally, swallows in tattoos were originally used to commemorate the achievement of 5000 nautical miles at sea. If a sailor had 2 swallows it meant he had sailed 10,000 miles. Both swallows and sparrows were used to symbolise love and loyalty as both these birds mate for life.

Bonsai. 

We just watched the new Karate kid movie, hence the name Bonsai for our foster bird! 

As you probably noticed Bonsai is not a sparrow, he is a thrush! (we think!) and he's our latest foster bird. He's a lot older than the previous two as he feeds himself (messily!) and can perch. It's hard not to feel just a little attached so fingers crossed Bonsai will have a happier ending than Ash and Ang!

Pulp Redux Chapter 3

I was on my way to drop off the kids to school today when I passed the courier...and guess what he delivered? Alicia's book! Yaay!  I had a feeling he would and could hardly wait to get back! It's hard to open a parcel slowly and carefully when you're just about beside yourself with excitement and joyful anticipation!

Above: One of Alicia's pages. Below: One of Debrina's spreads. You can see posts on all the books on the Pulp Redux blog.

Below: The pages that will become my spread in Alicia's book. Watch this space!

The theme for this book is "The Museum of Forgotten Things." Obviously I don't have anything done in it just yet but I have been madly brain storming and I think I know where I will go with this already.Alicia started a story with characters (the main character Hester, is woman scorned, she does something terrible and then spends her life riddled with guilt and burdened by the secret.) and Debrina has carried the story on (Hester died at the grand old age of 97 and Deb's has revealed one of Hester's other secrets and displayed some of the treasures kept by Hester until her death...she was a soft hearted romantic behind the guilt...) and that's where I come in! But first I t have to be disciplined and get back into my collage groove! The ICE deadline is not far away and I certainly don't want to miss out!

Today has been a GREAT mail day...not only did Alicia's book arrive but so did these lovely artworks from Moon Mama! Jen was my partern in the Cards swap organised by LaWendula. You may remember the altered cards I sent her? These are lovely wood and paper creations about the size of an ATC. Just lovely! (No pun intended!) I need to go and find a link for Jen's blog...

I've also been sticking to my art goals for the year, the top pic is my bead stash, some  are hand made by moi, the rest are mostly  gifted or gleaned from a second hand shop. The silvery-grey pendants and beads were made from modelling clay last night while I spoke on the phone. Easy as that! I got bored very quickly rolling balls for beads hence the heart pendants! These will look great dressed up with a little paint or threads and fibers. I think it's something to work on anyway:)

The Black and White Zine's online!

The wonderful Alicia from Altered Bits deserves a medal for putting together another wonderful Zine. You may remember the sneak peak of my entry that I posted about a month ago. The Black and White Zine is now on Yudu and on Alicia's blog. Please go and check out the zine and the art from artists who wer!e lucky enough to be able to take part. Alicia has done a great job

This is the front and back of my submission. Created using 2 old book signtatures as the base I am not quite sure if it is a pile or a collage! I went back to my original nest concept...of society being a nest, which you can read about in the zine if you wish!

Also online is the TLC Xpress Newsletter for which I have written an article about blogging...it's called To blog or Not to blog so please go and check it out here. My article also features the work of John Mora and Mick Mather....thanks to both of them for allowing me to borrow their images!