Well, not literally too hot for art since I still managed to make an index card every day, but the last several days have been uncomfortably hot and sticky in my studio, and my cards reflect it.
Four of the seven cards were made on pre-printed backgrounds. Most relied heavily on the scrap basket.
The annual ICAD challenge completely validates my compulsive saving of every pretty little scrap.
It's also put me in the habit of wiping (scraping, rolling, printing) all leftover blobs of paint onto index cards, because you never know when it will come in handy. Without these strategies, I would probably give up on the challenge in the first week every year.
Here are my cards from the past few days.
This one features a gelli printed background (bonus prints from a session of envelope-printing last weekend), a scrap of text, and some scribbles with a pen.
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| 7-20-14 |
This next one was made around 12:30 AM, after a 5 1/2 hour reading session, in which I finally f-ing finished the last 250 pages of "The Goldfinch" just in the nick of time for book group. I was bleary eyed, and a little resentful.
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| 7-21-14 |
Tuesday brought another gelli printed postcard, with stickers from Gina, and a cool stamp cut from an envelope that had gotten wet in the mail, and made the ink all smudgy. For the text, I grabbed a large-print book, closed my eyes, opened a page at random and pointed my figure to the page. When I opened my eyes I was pointing to the word "good."
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| 7-22-14 (1) |
And since I had out my box of random stickers, I decided to make a whole index card using only stickers from Gina. (Thanks, G!)
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| 7-22-14 (2) |
Yesterday was the worst of the heat. I took the scrap basket down to the air conditioned living room and pushed bits of paper around in ways that pleased me, then glue-sticked them into place. (or would that be glue-stuck?)
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| 7-23-14 (1) |
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| 7-23-14 (2) |
Tonight: another gelli-printed background and some stamped tissue paper from my stash. Done in 2 minutes.
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| 7-24-14 |
Two more days until I am lakeside in Maine.
I expect it will be cooler there.
It will definitely be more relaxed.
I wonder how much of the car will be taken up with art supplies this year?
HA! I was looking for all those file folder labels the other day…! Just kidding. Love ALL the cards. MaineFunMaineFunMaineFunMaineFun!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do love your eye for composition. And I, too am fond of those 5 minute and under pieces, a lot of mine are 5 minute wonders too
ReplyDeleteGreat use of your gelli prints, love all those circles like you do. xox
ReplyDeleteGreat cards...interesting how the palette changed when you moved to the aircon.
ReplyDeleteToo hot for mail may explain why my incoming mail art doesn't seem up to my usual standards....Have fun in Maine and things are always cooler on vacation -- and by the water. We even hit 88' in San Francisco today --which is very unusual for us....I'm too hot to do much of anything myself...
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was sitting with me looking at these, oohing and aahing, and she said, "She's got a real eye for composition." You have a brilliant eye for composition!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep 'em coming, Karen!
xx
I'm impressed you can still be productive and creative in the heat - these are great. It's been brutal here just as I got my studio functional and of course it's the hottest room in the house!
ReplyDeleteI was listening to "The Goldfinch" on my ipod while doing art months ago, for what felt like 7 million hours, and it became such a slog I just stopped. Did you find it worth it in the end?
These are fun! Sometimes I feel a little guilty that my ICAD is done in just a couple minutes, but then I remember that it's supposed to be a quick, fun, warm up type activity and think - meh, it's good enough! I know how much you love your time at the lake and I'm sure it will be fabulous! Have a great time and I'll look forward to seeing what you manage to create....even in the wilds! :)
ReplyDeleteThat first one is my favorite ICAD of all time.
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed by your sheet productivity. I am still on number 44 of icad. Some things have been going on, but it's nothing like being a parent! And traveling! And packing and unpacking! And BLOGGING! I mean, it's not like I'm exhausted from DOING shit. It's just that...
ReplyDeleteI'm temperamentally phlegmatic.
But back to me. I'm impressed!!