The above art is a wood plank that has been decorated with strips of my art prints. Once dry and given one coat of dull poly, a sharpie marker was used to make the loose line drawing. White areas were added with gel pen and then thinner black ink verse was handwritten on each row with a very loose and wild stroke.

Many of the words are a bit out of order as i’d occasionally skip lines and then come back to fill them in later. Still more of the words are obscured by the thick black lines of the drawing. i wanted a real and true stream of consciousness and emotion to be attached to the piece, but i didn’t want it to be obvious or read like a book. i pretty much wrote it in a way that forces the viewer to add their own experience and just take snippets from the actual thoughts and words. In this way, the entire piece is a fragmented self-portrait. My illustrations, cut apart and re-assembled randomly….and the same with my words.

i needed some time with my hands on some craft supplies today and it is just so peaceful and breezy in my workspace with the windows open and sun shining. My 4-year old and i set about making some collages. In fact, he learned what collages ARE today. He pronounces the word very seriously and with particular attention to the LL’s. He watched as i hackced up some dud prints…off sizes or ones where the printer burped a little extra ink, etc…and he carefully selected which sheet he’d give me next from the pile i set out. i LOVE when he is that interested. Next we sat side by side in our swivel chairs at my lightbox and mixed white glue with some water, dipped our paintbrushes then set to business. The results are darling. (Coop’s is on the right if you were wondering)

i think mine will first be scanned-in and added to my library of patterns. Then, in print form, i was thinking maybe i’d do many color variations and collage layouts in this same size and then add some hand-drawn capital letters to the center to make initial prints. As for the original on the wood panel….i’m not sure yet, i may do a head and shoulders portrait, cut it out and overlay it. i maydo some cut paper leaves, or real ones and add those like a botanical print…..or maybe just a lovely paper word bubble illustrated by hand and bearing one of my goofy turns of phrase? any ideas friends?

i suppose this piece has made the rounds on blogs? Because i found it on Share Some Candy and am eternally grateful! I Need it on My Wall!!!, but i can’t seem to find where to purchase!? i’ve written the artist, aphte. No reply yet, but i am hopeful. This piece just speaks to me! The crazy color, silly characters and vintage appeal of the old-school botanical drawings on parchement is just such a wonderful, heady combination! So since the piece and artist are elusive….i’ll just have to settle, for now, to have the loveliness grace my blog wall and not my office one. Aphte, if you’re reading this – call me! ; ) - signed, the (newly self-proclaimed) president of your fan club