Serafina of the Lace Shawl and Abundant Jewelry

Meet Serafina, the newest addition to my studio. She is green and lithe and very fashionable. She is visually transparent and very easy to dress. Right now, she is wearing a lace shawl and many necklaces.
The necklaces are from the early fifties and are fine adornments, I do believe. Serafina is very proud to have been chosen to decorate this studio. I know I will have many pleasant times changing her wardrobe.
I found an antique mink stole in my cedar chest that she will probably wear when she tires of the lace shawl. And I also think she would look very snappy in denim with a piece of old costume jewelry on her lapel. Who knows what we'll find next. Tomorrow, I go thrift store shopping. Look out Serafina!! I'm sure I'll find something in your size.

Esperanza Makes An Appearance

Here she is again, my Esperanza (© 2008), the outrageous, artistic, "little bit different", figment of my imagination. I don't typically blog twice in the same day but since I'm not working for the next week, I thought I should take advantage of having extra time. This was a fun project to do and I listed it today on etsy. I began with a watercolor wash and proceeded from there, adding the drawing and collage embellishments. I especially like the bird in Esperanza's hair.

La Belle Isault Studio Muse

Newest of the muses, La Belle Isault is named for the character in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in which La Belle Isault and Sir Tristan fall madly in love after accidentally drinking a love potion.

This muse has been created from a photograph taken in the early 1900's. She has mesh and lace butterfly wings, holds a pressed rose to her breast and is the art from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. La Belle Isault has been very challenging for me due to her muted tones and piercing eyes.
(Listed today on Etsy; ©2008)

Anne and Gentile

Gentile (pictured above) and Anne (pictured below) join the Sisterhood of the Muses which began with Cecelia. Every artist should have a muse and these are made to be hung in the studio of each and every artist. I love creating these because they are a lot of art in a very little space. These inspirational muses are now for sale on my Etsy site.
(designs copyrighted by S. Gonzalez-Day; ©2008)

Cecelia, The Studio Muse

Cecelia is a three-dimensional collage angel created from an original vintage photograph and embellished with lace, a vintage flower, and and a Madonna stamp. Cecelia will hang in my studio on the knob of my supply cabinet to serve as my muse. I have several more in the works. I hope you like this new road I am traveling.
(design copyrighted by S. Gonzalez-Day; ©2008)

Writing As An Art Form

Each year, for the past three years, I have written a portion of my life story as the gift I give my three daughters for Christmas. I often wished that my own mother had written about her daily life experiences and so, decided to do that for my girls. The first two years I wrote with the humor that often comes when remembering the craziness of childhood and the recalcitrant nature of being a teenager. Last year, I moved to a more serious topic and discussed the events leading to the end of my marriage and the years of struggle with my mother's lengthy illness.

This year, I have decided to follow the advice of the author of the book, Thinking About Memoir, by Abigail Thomas. She suggests writing for about ten minutes on one of the topics she mentions in the book. The topics are very simple; or so they seem until one begins to write. The topics have titles such as: What You Wish You Could Still Do; What Was Left Behind: Something That Happened In Water, etc. I am continually amazed at the clarity and insight I have when I just allow myself to write freely. These topics seem so simple and mundane. They offer, however, a window into the everyday events of my life that I would never have thought to write about. Years from now, when the final page of my story has been written, I hope my children will know all about me...my joys, my hopes, my fears, my disappointments, the life lessons I learned, the people I loved, and that life itself is the finest collage one can ever create.

A Different Kind of Saturday Art

Today, LeeAnn and I continued our holiday tradition of baking cinnamon braids and cooking black beans for our Christmas meal. We have been getting together on a Saturday in December for many years to cook together. Today, I taught her how to embellish canned black beans so that they taste "made from scratch".
LeeAnn surprised me with her skill at throwing dough....a skill she learned in college while working at Domino's Pizza. With her help, our culinary artistic endeavors were accomplished with great ease. We completed a big pot of beans and six large cinnamon braids to give as gifts and freeze for Christmas morning.

And we musn't forget the Cook's Assistant who sat quietly by, offering support and taking an occasional nap. No collages for today. Just beautiful food and the continuation of a wonderful mother/daughter tradition.

The Dreams of a Child; Saturday Art

The Saturday project: The Dreams of a Child Are Limitless...Fly Little Bird.


Loved working on this. My first piece on ready-to-hang canvas that I painted first with acrylic paint. Will probably list on Etsy soon.

An Uncommon Combo

This art piece is a little adventuresome for me because it is rather random in nature. I used fabric given to me by a friend who is a master quilter and was fortunate to have color matches to complement the colors in the vintage card. There is something about this that is very pleasing to me. I think it's because I am basically an "abstract random" personality.

Friday Morning Art

I have a collection of Battenburg lace squares and have finally decided to use them as a base for textile collages. I found a postcard from 1912 at an antique store and have used it as the focal point for this piece along with an antique button from my button collection. The name of this little artistic square is My Heart's Gift and is for sale on my Etsy site.

Defy Convention

Once I make a decision as to what type of fabric or leather to use as a handle, my first textile collage will be complete. This piece has evolved over the past three weeks as I have considered what combination of textiles to use as an interpretation of my title, "Defy Convention".

Pictured here is one of my aunts, now deceased, who did not allow the conventions of her time to limit her in any way.

She was equally at home killing rattlesnakes
in the deep Florida woods as she was baking her wonderful pound cakes and Toll House cookies. She could grow anything with very little effort yet could give any of her seven brothers a good pounding when necessary. She was tough as nails while being the gentle family caregiver in times of illness.

This collage is fourth in my series, "Women On The Road".

Finally Finished

The altered book is finally finished. After weeks of searching for embellishments, I have finally put them all together and am very happy with the results. It took me a really long time to decide what to put on all the pages. I searched through many old relics; books, quilts, old cards and envelopes, sealing wax, you get the picture. On these pages are pressed flowers from long-ago trips, old birthday cards from when I was a child, pieces of an old quilt, and fragments of old lace. This book is about dreams. On each page is a quote about dreaming but there is also room on each page for private thoughts, wishes, and desires. I love this kind of art work. It takes much patience and the work evolves around found objects and new thoughts. It is a good discipline for me since it requires me to slow down.

Latest Pursuit

I completed this collage last weekend. I have titled it, "I Was A Schoolgirl Once". It is a study in reds and blues with vintage papers and music, old lace, and a wax seal. I continue to work on the altered book because everytime I think I'm finished, I add something else to it. Maybe it will be completed by the weekend and I can post the end product.

Oh and, by the way, the lady pictured in the previous post has a name. Her name is Esperanza. She will be featured in an altered assemblage piece very soon.

As Yet Unnamed

A new character has emerged from the point of my drawing pen. She made her debut one day last week when I was doodling around and completed her "coming out" today during a boring meeting. I began with her eyes and the rest of her face just evolved from there. I especially like her hair because it reminds me of the wonderful leaves and flowers in my garden. I don't have a name for her yet; I'm sure that will come just as her wonderful face did.

Monday Morning

Well, it is Monday morning and the artistic pursuits must be set aside for the working week. My altered book is almost completed and I will post photos of the finished product in a day or two. This being Florida, the weather outside is humid and heavy, even at the end of September on the first day of fall. However, we should have some temperatures in the low 60's by the end of the week and the leaves on the sycamores are turning. I spent time in the garden yesterday taking down some weeds and enjoying the birds. My porches and sidewalks are all freshly pressure-washed so I am ready for the change of the season and look forward to spending more time in the outdoors.

My First Altered Book

I have experimented this weekend with my first Zne, an altered book. It has been rolling around in my mind for a while and yesterday, I decided that would gather my courage and begin. It has been a wonderful experience. I decided to make my first altered book a book for dreams. And so, each set of pages has a quote about dreaming or dreams. I am new to art; only since the beginning of August. But it has me in its grip. I have so many ideas that sometimes they encroach on my daytime work and nighttime dreams.