Autumn Geisha

I went to the art store yesterday and spent lots of money on a ton of new handmade papers. I also purchased some transfer paper and did some experimenting. It definitely is a learning curve and I ruined a few images but in the end, my collage for this week came out pretty well. I used the transfer paper with a vintage Japanese photo and transferred it onto a Reader's Digest book cover. I also transferred the Japanese calligraphy but I put that on one of my new papers. The fan is a rubber stamp and I added a few more Japanese papers. Because I was experimenting, the nice pattern on the book cover got covered up but, win a few lose a few.

Collage week 39

The transfer paper I used is "Lesley Riley's TAP Transfer Paper". I like it because it doesn't leave a white background and you can use it with any inkjet printer. It tends to slide a bit while you're ironing so you have to be really careful.

LA Printer's Fair

Last year I did a post  about the LA Printers Fair at the International Printing Museum. This year, I'll be exhibiting instead of just shopping. If you're a letterpress lover or just a history buff, the museum is a must see. They've got working presses, some over 100 years old, and tons of letterpress equipment including wood type and presses for sale. The fair has not only vendors with finished printed items (I bought cards), but also sellers with supplies (I bought ink in tubes and a wood hammer for knocking my type in place) and misc cool stuff  (I purchased a vintage drawer handle from a Hamilton type cabinet). There are also demonstrations and you can try out some of the presses yourself. Who knows, you could walk away with a nice little table top press (or at least some of my cards).

You can check out the museum website here and info about the fair here. The museum is located in lovely Carson, California just south of LA. The fair is on October 4 from 9 until 4.

Week 38

I guess I like to work with red because my collage for this week too uses a lot of red elements combined with cream. Bits of vintage documents, handmade papers and a postage stamp all from my box of scraps and a few rubber stamped images finish off the design. I always forget to mention the size. This collage was done on paper and the image measures 6.5" x 4.5".

Collage Week 38

Three Red Flowers

I've been so busy that me head is ready to explode. And it's about 100 degrees outside and that doesn't help matters. But I do have a collage for week 37. Three Red Flowers is done on canvas and combines acrylic paint, handmade Japanese papers, vintage music and pen and ink.

collage week 37

Collage Cube 2

Way back in April, I signed on to do an art exchange. This blue cube for week 36 is the piece that I gave. I started with a coat of white acrylic and layered on patterned paper saved from the inside of business envelopes. On top went a rubber stamp and paint in blue. More patterned envelope paper,  handmade decorative papers and bits and pieces from old envelopes completed the cube.

Collage week 36