Thursday, June 9, 2011

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!

9 comments:

elena nuez said...

those are gorgeous, really gorgeous!!
congrats and greetings from Spain,

elena

Mick said...

I wonder why the price is $20.20; the cover looks marvelous ... and, thanks for the sparrow tattoo lessons. I have at least four, probably five.

Toyin O. said...

wow, that looks great, thanks for sharing.

Lisa said...

nice post Lisa! I just ordered a copy for myself and on for a blog giveaway as it looks too good not to share all of Alicia's hard work! love your featured piece.. beautiful!

Anonymous said...

you are ever so sweet, miss lisa -- magnificent post! and i thank you soooo very much for it!! i just LOVE this piece you've created for it. are you keeping or selling it? it's one of my favorites from you and that's saying a lot as i love all of your work. wohoooo! loveloveloved the sparrow story when i first read it and love it still now. you rock, lady!!

to mick, the price is $20.20 because those are the last 4 digits of my phone number and i'm a weirdo number girl. plus, after lulu's printing price and their 20%, it meant that i would get $2 and a couple cents for each one sold and that seemed fair enough (wanted to keep it cheap so people could afford it after lulu's high costs).

Pretty Ragged Threads said...

Wow just found your blog. Love your featured piece. Just ordered a copy of the book. Looks wonderful.

Caterina Giglio said...

fantastic work Lisa and big Congrats!! xx

Seth said...

A beautiful piece. Congratulations on being in such an amazing zine!!

rivergardenstudio said...

I love you work here, it is just beautiful, the bird and the stitching (!) and the new zine which I have already ordered! Thank you for sharing a preview of your artwork here. Happy June to you, roxanne