I made a pie...

I loaded the kiln this morning and did a bit of housekeeping but for the most part dedicated time for making escaped me on this full summer day.

Then I remembered that part of this project is to expand my ideas around making...so today I made a pie!

Here it is beside some of the bounty of our garden. 

Art adventures and making space...

Today the kids and I visited the National Portrait Gallery.  We found their Art-o-Mat machine.  My collages sold there in the past but there weren't any there currently.

We also went to see a new installation at the Hirshhorn by Linn Meyers.  It is marker drawings on the walls all the way around the second level...

Pretty amazing the way the lines create flow and a sense of movement...

This evening I led the Sanctuary Studio at St Aidan's.  We listened to a story from this conversation with Rachel Naomi Remen and responded to the imagery in the story with collage.

Finally at home I tried making a few touchstones with red clay.  I look forward to experimenting with glazes on these...

 

Art-o-mat packaging...

I started the evening with a plan to package my 50 art-o-may collages...

...when I laid them all out, it turned out there were only 48, not 50.  I either misplaced two or miscounted.  Anyway, here are the last two....

I packaged about half of the labyrinth touchstones and will continue boxing and labeling tomorrow.

Sorting...

I began my day sorting new packets of collage paper, specifically looking for new greens and blues to refresh my palette...

...the sorting continued as I cleaned off bookshelves, moved furniture and set aside books to give away. 

This evening I built frames for the new collages.  One is a new version of a piece that sold...

The second one is a new image, working back on top I realize the photo transfer is almost entirely hidden now by collage.

Completing these makes room to start something new tomorrow.

Making, community and knowing when to stop...

Today was a full day.  We celebrated our son's 13th birthday (more than 2 months late) with a great group of boys.

In the afternoon I led a labyrinth making workshop.  

Part of our discussion focused on knowing when to stop working.  I thought if that this evening as I continue to work in these recent collages....

I'm hoping with a good nights rest to feel more decisive in the morning and get these completed and framed.

Layers...

I work in layers building up the image over a few days.  Here is the collage on top of yesterday's photo transfers.  It's all a bit muted with the acrylic still wet.

I'll have to wait until the morning to see how they really look when dry and what next steps will be.

Transfers complete...

These sat by the kitchen sink today and I worried away at the paper in between other things.  By the second day the image is securely in the acrylic and I can remove the last of the paper by scrubbing with a rough sponge.

Next step will be more collage over the transfers.