"Standing on the water's edge...

reverse painting on acetate with alcohol inks, college ephemera
stamp by 100 Proof Press


standing on the water's edge,

reflecting,

some things seem larger than life.

All you have here my friends is merely a re-exploration of a medium I had forgotten about, alcohol inks. Some time ago I had worked with these inks on heavy glossy paper and really liked the results. This time around, I thought I try them on acetate and enjoyed the result. I didn't want to throw my test away, so I made a collage around it.

I leave you with this thought:
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again."

I wish you all many experiences and that you will continue to grow and prosper through each one.

For you collage fanatics, blog to note here: Ezequiel Eduardo Ruiz

Thank-you for your kind words and visits, as always- Andrea
My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

OnLy WhEn I Am fOuNd, CaN I bE Me

9x12x1.5 mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas
Golden Fluid and Heavy Body Acrylic, molding paste, collage material

My contribution to Illustration Friday's pick o'tha week "Theory"

My theory is "only when I am found, can I be me". so where am I? am I hiding from myself? or am I hiding in plain sight? These are the thoughts I ponder.

What about you? Are you lost or found?

Here's a cool site to see what other's have found while they were out looking:
www.foundmagazine.com created by Davy Rothbart and some of the great "Found" books by the same author here .

"Found is an uncommon tribute to and commentary on everyday life-- a collage of disparate "found" items sent by readers across the nation, ranging from love letters to doodles to shopping lists"

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh, at yourself"

Now quit lingering and go find yourself!
xoxox my other side "TheWay I See It"

on the road less travelled, I will choose ...

11x14 journal page

This week's contribution to Illustration Friday's challenge "Choose"

..the fork in the road.

I was on the road less travelled when I came upon a sign that read, "Fork in the Road ahead". The road meandered for some time past this sign, I'd say about 1/4 mile or so, when all of a sudden there was a fork in the road.

Now this was no ordinary fork in the road, like you read about...some diverging path. This was a real fork, the kind that would complete your table setting. What do you suppose this meant?

Was this fork a metaphor for something in my life? There it stood firmly planted in the ground with four shiny metal tines, were the tines representing the parts of my life I needed to acknowledge?

What would I see next, a spoon, or a knife? Was this to remind me that I am part of a set? Am I looking to complete myself, would I be made whole? Would finding a spoon feed my soul? Would the knife cut my journey short?

...so many questions on the road less travelled. I am a non-conventional thinker. I will continue on my journey, welcoming change, mixing things up, looking for new interpretations of the old . I will relish the opportunity to take more chances, for the only regrets in life we have, are the chances we never took.

I leave you with Robert Frost's poem c.1920

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Happy Trails!

Thank-you one and all :
for your visits,
for your kind words,
for making me laugh,
for making me smile,
for making me cry,
for making me think, for this I am grateful.

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

the JoY of PlaY:invitation response

My contribution to Sue O'Kieffe's : Invitation to Play at Sacred Circle Mandalas

Sue O'Kieffe and John Mora Typos.Daylight.Fate have recently begun to collaborate on some of their creative efforts.

John's original image "stay" can be viewed here where he sampled a lovely photo from Babaloo here. Sue's mandala, is a collaborative work with John can be seen is here .

Thank-you to Great Grannie Bobbie for suggesting this round robin challenge.

"No images have been hurt in this creative exercise, only my ego as I struggle to learn the tools"

All rights to these images belong to the original artists who are extremely talented and whom I am grateful to have met through this venue. Thank you for your permission to *play*

Have a wonderful day! My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

The Year of the Rat ...*fink*

pre-gesso'd black journal paper, Golden Fluid Acrylics- Interference green and gold, Cobalt Blue,Quinacridone Magenta, and my favorite Nickel Azo Gold acrylic paint on asian stamp for initial background texture.

The rats are cut out of paper towels I had used to clean my brushes and saved.
chinese coin stamp and asian lady stamped with Stazon black on acetate.

My contribution to Wednesday Stamper's theme for this week "Asia"

Happy Chinese New Year! "The Year of the Rat" note the years listed on the right on my collage are 'rat years', which occur every twelve years.

Are you a Rat?

Characteristics of Rat:
smart, magnetic, well-liked, problem solvers, self-sufficient, quick-witted, surreptitious, selfish, protective, calculating hmmm...

Right now I'm thinking my husband is a rat, but now he was born in '61.
Is it possible to be on the cusp of rat?

This city girl, (who now lives in the country) is pining for her husband who abandoned her early this week for another country, not another woman, but another country. Italy. 'Povero Bambino!" This is where the *fink* part comes in as in *rat fink*. and he took our good digital hence crappy photos.

I needed to drown my sorrows, so I decided to mosey on over to the Barrel Room a local vintage wine bar and bistro to meet some friends. Here I opted for the 'champagne and caviar dreams package' a.k.a. glass of "J" Cuvee from J Winery in Sonoma. We cracked some bread, peeled back some prosciutto, and nibbled on baby lamb chops. We laughed, we people watched, and we laughed some more and I still wasn't feeling like I was any where nearer to the Trevi Fountain. Another "J' please, and can I buy a vowel? Like a "U" for u rat fink.

I'm just joshing because I'm actually delighted my husband had a chance to get away to such a lovely place and have it paid for by the company.

So city girl heads back home to country, tired and lonely for her traveling man. Now mind you it has been raining alot up here this past weekend, it's been frigid cold in the a.m. 27 degrees with frost all around. Our yard backs up to the Cleveland National Forest, (no we don't live in Ohio) and the wildlife is restless. Our little birds are tapping on the bedroom windows, I'm feeling like Tippi Hendren in "The Birds". There are the frogs, what sounds like meeeelllions of frogs, croaking away, pining for bug bites, coyotes pining for the moon, and the barn owls that nest in our trees pining for the rats! So I cozy on up to the sounds of my wildlife friends and ring in the New Year.

P.S. Here's a real pic of Rat Fink (anyone remember this hot-rod character by Ed Roth) from Kustom Kulture. My husband used to have these trading cards.



Thank you for visiting and your kind words, as always-

"Enjoy yourself it's later than you think"
My other blogspot: The Way I See It"

Buddha in the Northern Light

My contribution to this weeks 2things challenge Night/Light.

"Enlightment must come little by little---- or it will overwhelm us."

Namaste.

("salutatory gesture," 1948, from Hindi, from Sanskrit namas "bowing" + te, dat. of tuam "you" (sing.). Used as a word of greeting from 1967. )

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

WS-Charms

single pendant charm- each side
asst'd. collage snippets, 7gypsies rub-ons, Stamper's Anonymous cube stamp

My contribution to this weeks Wednesday Stamper challenge "Charms"

"No man is useless, while he is a friend" Thanks for stopping by!

My other blog: "The Way I See It"