Art supplies, mail art, & my new pocket

 Here's a pile of things I think I want to take with me. Some because I'll miss them if I don't, some because I always travel with them, and some because I don't want to buy new ones at 33% higher price. I'll be paring down in a couple of days for a much neater kit.

 I cut out a few things from the VMFA monthly news magazine before tossing it in the recycle bin. There's an exhibit on Mummies so Egyptian objects were plentiful in the publication.  I just had so much fun with this one. The background is from a design magazine from a decade ago. It worked so well with the figure.

 There was this large head on a page of the magazine. I wasn't sure what I could do with it, but was drawn to the eyes which had such a life to them.  In the end, I figured that a trip to Tiny Town was needed. Don't you think the residents just freaked out when this guy peeked into the town? Scary!

My friend gave me a piece of fabric remnant left from the valance she'd made. It's beautiful, with a sheen to it and a nice weight. I was able to make a new pocket out of it, which I'll take with me on the trip. The fabric is dense enough to make it somewhat water resistant. I like it a lot, it's a treat for me.

Hot Saturday!

 We awoke this morning to the news that the air quality was ORANGE ALERT, which is not good. The fire is still burning in the Great Dismal Swamp and the wind blows this way. 

Aaagh, I decided to stay indoors and make mail art and work on my Etsy shop.

 This is one of the Pockets (small purse) that I made for the festival. I decided to scan it and see how that turned out. I took photos of some of the pieces to post in my Etsy shop but I do like the way the scanned piece looks. I didn't have anyone to model a bag for me, wish I did. I think that shows how cool they look on the body.  I'll get one of my friends over one cooler day to model.

 More of my minimal mail art; old paper, circle and line.

 I'm finally making use of the brush tip ink pen that I got awhile back.

 This morning, I used some of the tracing paper that I'd been practicing line work on, as collage bits.

 I like the way these turned out. The transparency works great with the old paper and circles.

Friday, I brought a basket of my bags to my Spanish meet-up at the Science Museum coffee shop. One of my amigas wanted a bag but didn't have cash the day of the festival, so I brought that for her. Another amiga asked if my little Purse for Change could hold a passport. We thought it was too small but she bought one, then later sent an e-mail to say that it fit. Wow, now I can tell people they can be used as passport keepers. Cool!

An assortment of things.

I received this in the mail yesterday from one of the participants in my lunchtime talk last week. What a nice surprise! It was a Good Mail (Art) day.

I sold my really nice vintage tea towel Pocket from my Etsy shop today, popped it into the mail, to the afore mentioned Pam of the badly broken arm, and decided to finish another Pocket from vintage fabric. I put this into the shop just now. The fabric is so soft.

I met a couple of friends for lunch today at the VMFA. The large clay pieces by Yun Kuneko have been installed. Here's his big blue head. It looks like it wants to join the crowd of people.  The other sculptures are called Dangoes (dumplings.) When it's not so very very hot, I'll stay out longer and get some close up photos of these.

I really like four-o-clocks and have grown bushes of them along the side of my house. Some years, some are solid deep fuschia, some years they are white, this year there are buses with a mixture. I also have one bush with yellow blossoms on it. I really like the yellow ones and they seem so rare to me. Do you grow these? Do you like them? Do they remind you of your childhood?

Elflog + a new venue

My friend Andrea sent me some of her "found-art" to post on the shelf. This morning, I put her Weathergram (#112?) on the pole. Doesn't it look good? I love it on there and can't wait to see how long before someone finds it, and hopefully, checks out her site Found Art.
I put a second piece in my new venue. The other day, walking my dog on our usual route which takes us past a "field" in the middle of a block, I noticed something new. The "field" is enclosed by a chain link fence with pointy things at the top. It's been this way for years. Nothing much happens within this area. Well, the other day, there was a yellow sign attached to the fence - "POSTED no hunting, fishing, etc." Huh? In the next section of fence was an empty plastic sleeve/pocket secured with plastic lock ties. I went back there on my evening walk and, into the pocket, inserted a quick pencil drawing and a quote, just for the fun of it. This morning, I added one of Andrea's "postcards." Sorry, Andrea, I forgot to write down the number. I hope you have a record of the ones you sent. I have two more items, another "postcard 103" and a "book." I can't wait to see what happens with the "Pocket Gallery!" Watch this blog for more developments. For those of you in the area, the Pocket Gallery is in the alley behind Doctors' offices on Grove Ave. That's the clue. I'm smiling as I write this!!