I decided to move my window bird feeder at my studio to the front window of my studio. The window I had it attached to was on a high window. I had to use a ladder to get to it.  These days I am not stable enough in balance to climb ladders.

Now I can fill it easily without climbing. I can watch the birds from my kitchen window now. I have lots of Cardinals who come to the feeder. Cardinals are known as symbols of loved ones who visit us as angels. I name my mail Cardinal visitors Henry in honor of my beloved French bulldog who passed 6 years ago. One of the Henry cardinals left a feather for me a week ago. I keep it on my desk. I solved the squirrel problem by switching to safflower seed. Squirrels won’t eat it.

Life is swell for country painters....

More paper Fun

Yesterday I was looking through some of the quick little drawings I do and decided it would be fun to use them to a new purpose. I folded some pieces of my handmade paper in half and glued the little drawings to the front to make Art Notes, little cards. I used 4x6 inch envelopes with them. It would be impossible to make the right sized envelopes for them without trimming the deckle edges off. The paper is never perfectly square unless trimmed. I love the uneven edges, so I used brown envelopes, large enough to fit the uneven edges in. 

I love finding new and re-purposed projects for my art. The other day I ruined a framed 16x20 painting that I was fond of. My hands slipped and I dropped a larger painting on it. It went right through the canvas making a jagged tear. I decided to make two smaller paintings of the undamaged part.  I was able to mount the two saved parts of the painting onto hardboard panels and reframe. Both are quite nice as smaller paintings. I cut the rest of the undamaged painting into a couple of nice bookmarks to give away someday. 

Recycling old paper has helped me make beautiful and new art paper. I feel very good about recycling materials. Some of the papers are really interesting after they dry. I can see all kinds of patterns and subtle color changes in them. I’ve been using mica flakes of copper, gold and silver in some of them and strings in others for texture. Yesterday a paper blogger featured my tea bag painting on her weekly blog. It was so cool to be recognized as a paper maker.

Life is swell for country painters.......

Being a painter is not always rosy. I have been sidelined with an RA flare up for about six weeks. My arms don’t work right now and I walk with a cane. I am to see a specialist in two weeks, after 2 doses of steroids. They help but it is temporary, helping for about a week. I have had RA since I was 32, with occasional flare ups, but never like this. It has been depressing to be honest, but I never give up on anything. I will bounce back with some help. 

Never give up! 

I’ve been learning some new mixed media paper techniques for the last week or so. I’ve used acrylic paint, ink, and colored pencil on index paper. I then use Mod Podge to attach various cover papers to the surface. I paint both sides so that one can use it as journal covers, or switching back and forth in the frame occasionally.

These papers are great fun to assemble. I bought some translucent heavier paper for the covers and it is very sturdy. It works quite well, holds together better than tissues or tissue paper. Using some of the edge designs that I used in my design classes in art school are coming to good use for these experiments as positive and negative components to these creations. They are more graphic than my paintings. I am really enjoying paper making as it’s own art form.  

Country painters have a wonderful life. .....