Daybooks

These little books are perfect for experimenting - I'm working on several to take to Kathleen Sommers' shop on Tuesday. I start with a small (5x5) pre-bound journal and create a collage on the cover. This particular one, finished tonight, really mixes the media and metaphors - Peruvian textile photo, Japanese Noh mask, African beads, clay face shard. But somehow it all seems to work.

Faces and More!

Look at this totally original use of one of my shard faces from Linda Moody - she and her sister make my work look good! Thanks for the photo, Linda - this is wonderful. I love the industrial look of the screen and rivets with the softness of the face.

Kathleen Sommers and Shards

Kathleen Sommers, the best-known upscale clothing boutique in the city, had a call-out invitation for artists and designers to bring in their work for possible inclusion at the shop. I took some Scent Shards, some pins and some day books (see below). They really liked the work! Kathleen bought a piece for herself and then ordered some Scent Shards immediately and will be selling the day books in this fall. Best of all, I've been invited to participate in a five-artist exhibit and sale there in September. I am so excited!! Scent Shards are movin' on up to the top :)

More ShardFace Creativity!

Another great piece using one of my shard faces, this one from Cindy in Elgin, Il - I love the simplicity of this and the way the little face floats at an angle, kind of like a moon goddess. Thanks, Cindy! Lovely work.

What fun!

I opened my new shop on Etsy a month or so ago (EarthShards) and already I love it because I'm offering the little shard faces to other artists and crafters. I received my first example today of one of my shard faces put to creative use! Look!

The little copper wire loop at the top is great - I like the whimsy and the colors. Many thanks to

Linda Moody from NeeNeeandCheeChee for sending the pic. Be sure and take a look at her other creations in her Etsy gallery. Thanks, Linda - this is great.

Continuing . . .

I made contact yesterday with Dr. Ellen Baird, an art historian who answered my email with amazing promptness and with much excellent information about the Otomi books and Sr. Tellez. She wrote:

"I also have a book by Sr. Tellez that we included in an exhibit that I co-curated on the Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico at the Newberry Library here in Chicago (http://publications.newberry.org/aztecs/)."  

She went on to tell me about her contacts with other scholars who have researched this somewhat obscure area of folk art. The research is almost as much fun as the collages!

Here's the newest one in the series.  She represents an offering to the Sirena Mala, the Bad Mermaid.

 This is one of the pages I just scanned in from Sr. Tellez's book - I think it's going to be my next collage - not too subtle? It's amazing what spells and emotions can be conveyed with cutout bark paper.

Progress on the series

The more I explore this subject, the more complex it becomes. My friend, historian and scholar Dora Guerra, is translating the Spanish descriptions of the paper spirits in the little book into English for me. It was written by a curandero from San Pablito in the early '70s. Here are the first three pieces in the series. At this point, I plan to do seven more.