The ICE exhibition is online!

Wahoo! It's April and that means that the International Collage Exchange is online! Cudos to Dale Copeland for the fabulous work she does for all the participants. You can see the ICE exhibition here. Make sure you  make yourself a cuppa first because there's 108 fabulous artists in this years exchange!

My image for this years exchange. Digitally altered photo of small stamp blocks in nest.

This image appears on the back of all the collages with a brief definition of this years theme.

Fragile. Society is a Nest. Series II

All of my collages (13 of them) are here on this blog but I've also put them onto my Lucky Dip ICE blog in one handy, uninterupted space. Things were a little crazy here for me this past year but I have to say I feel an immense feeling of satisfaction when I see them all together. If you've been thinking about joining the exchange but havn't quite gotten around to it then I seriously reccomend you do. It's a fantastic opportunity! There's now a whole year till the next exchange so you've got plenty of time:)

ICE storm!

ICE 2011 #8

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Respite 

Eucalyptus and fennel dyed paper, recycled paper and paper scrap, thread

We all need a little respite now and then to make us stronger, more capable, less fragile...

ICE 2011 #9

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Responsible.

Eucalyptus dyed paper, recycled paper scrap, thread.

The text says 'I don't want to be responsible for a broken heart and fractured beat" which is similar to a line in a song by Alanis Morrisette.

ICE 2011 # 10

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series.

Title: Freedom

Eucalyptus and fennel dyed paper, recycled paper scrap, thread, pencil

Even freedom is fragile.

The text says "Song of Freedom" inspired by Bob Marely (of course!)

ICE 2011 #11

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Wedding Vows

Marriage, it can be so fragile yet it should be so strong, if only we could always remember that we promised.. good times and bad. True acceptance of each others imperfections. It doesn't need to be perfect to be beautiful.

And Strong.

WAHOO! That's 11 done and 2 more fabulous collages to go! I actually haven't touched my art supplies in 2 weeks thanks to the kids going back to school and while that means more free time for some, it means busier days for me. I've got 2 of my children doing correspondence at home this year and it's taken a bit of getting used too, this new time commitment! It's o.k though and I'm sure it will be worth it, I just need to find some sort of new balance again! These collages were made between my last ICE post and the start of Feb, I was hoping to have the last 2 done by now but life's like that! You may have noticed I did do some dyeing with some delicious eucalyptus dye (incorporated into most of these collages) and I am pretty pleased with the results. Today I boiled up some walnuts and made ink and a post about this and the eucalyptus dye is on it's way...I hope!

ICE Time! Collages 1,2,3,4,5,6,and 7!

It's been a long time coming but here it is! My ICE update starting with the 2 I've already posted as it was so long ago now. It's also handy for me to have the first 7 all on one link to refer back to later:) The mounting card for all these collages is a warm white not the shade you see here. All the other colours are true though so I am not sure what's up with that! They look better in the 'real' and I am having trouble translating that to a photograph!

ICE 2011 #1

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: Seeds of Knowledge

ICE 2011#2

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: Bent not broken

This collage is a tribute to foster parents.

ICE 2011 #3

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: Every day

Recycled paper from books, envelopes and gifted paper. Coffee Dye.Thread.

ICE 2011 #4

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: Genetics.

The text says 'Genetics is only part of it.'

Recycled paper from books and envelopes. Painted paper scrap, coffee dyed paper, lino cut seed print, thread.

ICE 2011 #5

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: What goes around...

Recycled envelope, cardboard book cover, paper scrap, thread

ICE 2011 #6

'Fragile' Society is a Nest series II

Title: Synergy

The title for this one eluded me for several days. Often a name or a particular word suggests itself to me but not this time. It wasn't until I'd made 7 and 8 that the name came to me- Synergy. When I googled to define the meaning of the word I realised it was perfect!

Recycled paper from books, paper scrap, fennel dyed paper,thread.

ICE 2011 #7

"Fragile" Society is a Nest series II

Title: Truth

The text says "In the silence screams the truth" (which is a line from one of PINKS songs.) I heared it months ago and wrote the words down knowing that it belonged to the "Fragile" series. I have to say that I adore this collage. I love everything about it and I will find this one hard to part with! That said, I feel that this collage is a starting point for something else, a new stage of growth for both myself and my collage...and that is exciting!

Close up of "Truth." I was intially dissapointed to get lime from my fennel dye but there is is sitting perfectly on this page. I never knew I needed or even liked that colour but I do! 

Recycled book pages, painted paper scrap, fennel dyed paper, thread..

The papers I created seeking something new to use and a new path to follow.

ICE # 8 is made but not photographed yet and I'm feeling confident I can complete this series by early Feb so watch this space!

If your new to my blog then WELCOME! You can find out what my FRAGILE works are about by clicking on the International Collage Exchange page which will take you to the information glued to back of each collage.

Coming soon:>>> One World One Heart giveaway (Jan 30-Feb 17 so still time for you too play if you want too!) See my 'projects' page for details.

>>>Eucalyptus Dye. The bark is soaking as I type! Thanks for the tips and advice shared with me!

A sneak peek...

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been up to lately. I have been doing a 'piece' to submit for the Altered Bits Zine. The theme is black and white and although I did find it hard I enjoyed the challenge. I'd choose white paper yet it hardly ever still looked white when I put next to another white and the same was said for black...I swear that feather really looked black! Without giving to much away.. I will say I went back to my original concept of 'Society is a Nest' which was something I really wanted to do.

I've also been paper making again! It's drying as I speak and I'm trying to keep the cat off it. She's not to impressed that there's paper in her usual spot in front of the heater! It was a lot of fun dipping my hands into a paper making vat again...and I've gotten a book out on paper making and book binding from the library so I am rearing to go as soon as I've got a good stash of paper! Watch this space...