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!

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!

Looking up trees (again)

I enjoy looking up trees as much as I enjoy looking at them! These magnolia's are just so stunning they command attention. I was happy to oblige of course.

I was also fortunate enough to get some more butterfly photos which you can see here if you wish too.

Oh.. and guess what? Alicia from the Altered Bits Zine accepted my piece! Yay! That means I will do the full reveal of my piece when she's published the zine around the middle of September. If you havn't already checked out her site then please do so here you definately won't be dissapointed!

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...