Canadian Butterflies

On the Art Abandonment page of Facebook I ran across a fellow from British Columbia, Canada who made 2012 butterflies with the message "Find your freedom in 2012" on the back. They also have a magnet strip. Harry was running out of places to put out his little treasures so asked if anyone in the group wanted to help out.

Of course many of us jumped in and said we'd love to put some out there for him!

My batch of beauties arrived late last week. Today I set them free on the metal posts outside of the Trolley Center downtown.

I put them out on my way into my weekly "sit-n-knit" group. I was there a couple of hours and when I returned to my car over half of the butterflies had flown off to new homes. I am hoping the rest will have been taken by the end of the day!

Thanks for letting me part of your cool project Harry!

More Pieces

I got inspired by the art of Charley Harper I was finding on websites. I love all his stuff, but his birds struck a particular chord in me. It seemed to me that his cardinals, especially, were crying out to be captured on a bookmark using paper piecing.

Bear in mind that I haven't "grounded" them yet, so they feel a bit incomplete as they float in space. One person suggested perhaps a watercolor branch on which they might perch. That's a good idea. (It would be better if I felt any confidence in my ability to actually paint a watercolor branch under them!)

In Harper's art, the cardinals are often placed within the greenery of a conifer or on a snow covered patch of ground (onto which seeds from a bird feeder have fallen). As I walk by these guys several times each day, I'm leaning more and more toward that last one. I think I could draw some sunflower seeds and use markers to color them in. Little random specs of yellow could be crushed bits of corn.

We'll see, maybe I'll try 3 different things!

Not sure where I'll leave them. I heard that someone in the upper management of our local bookstore (from corporate offices out of state) wasn't too pleased to find the bookmark I left there. [Not sure if that makes me want to leave more....or just give up that idea. HA!]

I'm thinking perhaps one should go to the library and find its way to the section on birds. Perhaps another should perch on the shelf by the art books (especially if there's a book on Charley Harper, no?!?)

I haven't received any emails from any of the first pieces of art put out there. While I'm REALLY curious, and would LOVE to hear back....that's not the reason I'm doing it. As long as someone smiles or has a happy moment....that's all that truly matters.

Stay tuned, I'll have an update on CANADIAN BUTTERFLIES next week!!

Have a great weekend!

Pieced Together

Happy Monday everyone! What did you do over the weekend? It's been SO hot in my neck of the woods that we are trying to get all our errands and outdoor activities done before 10 am or so. We did hit a couple garage sales on Saturday.

What you see here is a little collage tag I made using one of my Saturday purchases. I found a puzzle for only a quarter, so I grabbed it knowing that puzzle pieces make nice parts for mixed media collages. (Here it is painted 1950s aqua to reflect the theme.)
I will be abandoning this one near some cookbooks I think....either at a library or perhaps a book store. Hmmmmm, we'll have to see!

Last week when I went spelunking at Goodwill I found a box of old poker chips for $1. Here's what I'm making with them:

Little fridge magnets with doodles and paint! I think they're cute and they will be fun to set free somewhere!

Let me know what creative things you've been doing!

Guilty of Abandonment

I have set free two pieces of art.

The ATC (Artist Trading Card) sized print on the right has a magnet on the back along with the note that it is free art to enjoy. My DD and I left it magnetized to one of the shelves in the Fiction section at our public library this morning!

The matted photo on the right was taken by DD on one of her road trips. There was this abandoned train out in the middle of Iowa with all these cool markings on it! She added the quote and it makes a really cool piece! We left this one on the table at the local java house where they will be having an acoustic mike night tonight.

I'm excited about leaving these out. I hope people will send an email in and let us know they took them.

Oh, and I found the two mats at the Goodwill for 50 cents each! The ATC cards were in the sale bin at Hobby Lobby--a pack of 5, self-adhesive "photo" ATCs--for $1.33. Who could pass that up?!?!

I also found a box of old poker chips at Goodwill yesterday. I'm thinking I will repurpose them into fridge magnets or necklaces for some more art to abandon.

Having a LOT of fun with this! Have a great weekend!

All About Art

The theme of this past weekend for me was "art". It started with the usual Saturday morning garage sale routine. At the first stop I found some teaching posters featuring paintings on one side and information about the artist, the painting, and the social milieu into which the piece was born. Already laminated, I think there will be countless ways to use these with students to encourage creative thinking/writing.

Later in the day I made a really fun discovery: Art Abandonment. If you'd like to read a full description you will find that HERE. In a nutshell, creative people all around the country and world are making art and abandoning their works to the wild for some random person to discover and enjoy.

(It's a bit like yarn bombing which I've participated in! But limitless in technique, size, etc.)

I thought this was such an intriguing idea...leaving works of art....be they paintings, jewelry, sculpture, mixed-media, fiber creations...anything goes!....for a random passerby to find. I love it!!

So I decided to join the Facebook group dedicated to Art Abandonment and jumped in with both feet!

I made this little 3.5"x5.5" watercolor & chalk using the stamp I hand-carved of the Cana Island Lighthouse in Door County, WI. I had a lot of fun making this simple little piece of art.

This morning my son had to have all four wisdom teeth taken out. When I was alone in the oral surgeon's waiting room, I put it into an empty slot in the rack of informational pamphlets they had displayed on an end table.

I hope someone enjoys it!