Art squared

I have not been playing much the last couple of weeks. I have been uninspired to say the least. I did fling some paint around to make some new paper though. Blue acrylic paint was washed onto cheap watercolour paper then sprayed with Adirondack Color Wash (terracotta and lettuce). While wet I threw a handful of salt onto the paint and then lightly misted with water from a spray bottle. From that a couple of random pages evolved. Not sure what I will do with them yet. They might find themselves on the front of a card or two soon.

I have been playing with a few more ideas for inchies. I am working with a Jacob's Ladder type inchie at the moment. As a child I had a Jacob's Ladder that gave me hours of pleasure and frustration. I wanted to know how it worked. I was awful for that as a child. You should have seen the state of my Tiny Tears dolly. I wanted to know how she blinked and it ended badly for her. However, I now know how a Jacob's Ladder works thanks to the Split Coast Stampers web site (again). The inchie pictured here is a slider inchie. It is made with a small strip of plastic bag on the inside which makes both sides of the inchie slide out when one is pulled. I saw the idea on a craft show in greetings card form and decided it would work as an inchie.

Nature Journal

For the last few years I have been keeping a nature journal. When I find something new I do a few drawings - usually at home and from photographs I have taken. The book itself is a joy to work in. Smooth, cream pages bound in heavy board and leather with Latin texts and animals images on the cover. Not only did it seem appropriate for my animal work but the Latin is apt to my ancient history obsession. It was fate! I bought it in a posh London store called Aspinals that sells all manner of leather goods, from purses to books. It was in the sale so I had to have it. Plants, animals and fungi are dotted through the pages, a few words here and there describing certain aspects - names, colour, habitat, etc. Some are in black and white, some in colour. The text is written in pencil and does not show up too well but I have included a few pages here anyway.