Thursday, January 18, 2018

Destination: The World


I'm once again joining Erika at Bio Art Gal this month's host at Art Journal Journey with her theme New Year, New Adventures. 

I call this Destination: the World, but it might be called Plan ahead.

Instead of starting the letters in the middle, I simply started and didn't leave enough room at the end.

Now I know lots of my artistic friends would have grabbed their colored pencils and gone to town coloring in this image I found in a magazine.  I, on the other hand, don't like to color (or even grip a pencil) that much, so what you see is what you get.

It's obvious I hadn't learned to center the two words here, either.


For this page, I started with the leftover wrapping paper that came off my friend Scott's gift.  Taking a cue from my friend Chris, who colored paper using a stencil and dye ink, I did the same.  I failed to secure the stencil, though, and it slipped as I was coloring through the stencil.  My words were written using a blue metallic Gelly Roll pen.

Because this entry is a bit wimpy, I thought I would share a few photos from what I've been up to recently.

First, last Wednesday

I went to our library.  I was early and decided to 

look around the used bookstore.  Unfortunately, I didn't find any dictionaries or foreign language books, the only books I'm interested in right now.

It appears this was a very popular topic and, even though I was early, there was practically no room left in the room.  By the time the lecture started, people were standing in the doorway because there was no more seating available. 

Once I was seated, I took a photo of the topic, the Spanish Flu.  Seems flu is a big discussion the world over right now.

Most of the talk centered around the virus that causes the flu.  I thought of my friend Erika who would have enjoyed this lecture.  There was far more discussion of the virus and its variants

than there was of the HISTORY of the pandemic, which I was expecting.  Unfortunately, there was only about three to four minutes of discussion about how this professor thought the pandemic started in south central Kansas.  He never explained WHY he believed that, just that there was evidence that some of the records he found showed patients in a specific hospital were some of the first in the world to contract the flu.  Also, no explanation of where it originated.  All in all, I was not very impressed with his talk.

On my way home, I remembered I was supposed to take a photo of the Minisa Bridge, a lithograph I gave to my friend Sally for Christmas.

I had to park about a block away and walk to the bridge.  It was frigid and my hands were already shaking.

As I got closer, I realized I was not going to get the perspective the artist had.

Even though I tried to get the bridge and Jack's Drive In, a legend in Wichita,

I realized I wasn't going to get it all in one photo.

You can see the artist removed some of those telephone and light/electricity poles to make his painting more enjoyable, albeit less realistic.

Then we got snow.  We actually got it twice, but this was the first time.

I took photos of the rocks covered with snow,

and as requested, a photo of my large mailbox for Chris.  However, there is really no way to truly show the size without some type of standard, so that will have to wait for warmer weather.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to the African American Museum and heard a lecture by this well known Wichita artist, Verlene Maholmes.

When asked (not by me) how she made these, she said she was in the process of writing a book detailing how they are made.

Upon closer inspection, I realized these were painted fabric or canvas that had been stiffened and stretched onto the canvas and framed.  They are nicely done, though.

There was also another artist whose work was being shown, but I will share the rest of the photos I took very soon.

Thanks for joining me today at Art Journal Journey and a look at some of the places I have been this past week (from Wednesday to Wednesday).  And thanks for your visit and continued support of my art.  I am so incredibly grateful to each of you. 

21 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

You got up to a lot this past week, a lot more than I did, for sure. I think you would have got the bridge perspective like on the painting only if you had stood in the middle of the road, which might have been a tad dangerous. Love the stretched fabric art, too. We had some snow yesterday but are waiting for the big storm to hit just now. Have a nice day, hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

You had some great adventures this week! I love your page - I always have a smile on my face whe you write about some little failures... I love this.
I can imagine that the Spanish flu lecture was a bit boring. I am impressed with this lovely artist with her cheerful fabric-paintings. I think you had to take the photo while standing in the middle of the street to get the same sight as the artist and that would have been DANGEROUS!!!♥♥♥
I had a dentist appointment already this morning, but everything o.k. with my teeth! I wish you a happy Thursday and looking forward to next week to see what you are up to.
Thank you for another super entry to the theme dear Mrs. Co-Admin!
oxo Susi

My name is Erika. said...

You have been doing some fun things. I love the idea of a library book sale (ours doesn't do that but has more of a donation flea market-which is mostly old fiction books). And those are some cool lectures. I think that the Spanish flu started at a chicken farm when the virus jumped from birds to people in Kansas. I may be wrong, but I read or heard that a long time ago. I think one of the next big break out was at Fort Devons in Massachusetts where there was lots of soldiers getting ready to leave for Europe and WWI. The artist made some cool art pieces.And I love your world traveller page. My lettering is rarely very centered or straight. The picture you used made me smile. And the background looks good. Nice idea to use leftover wrapping paper. :) Thanks for sharing slides and joining in at AJJ again. I appreciate your support. Hugs-Erika

kathyinozarks said...

Good morning, that is really good that you were out of the house doing some interesting things-unlike me not wanting to go anywhere our rural roads are covered with ice and snow so I have not even been driving to the post office this week it has been so many years that I had to drive in that I am not confident now.
I agree it sounds like the flu epidemic speech was not very complete, but the one with the artist sounded interesting. an interesting technique but I would have been disappointed when she said it will be in her book
I like your art piece as it is good to make art I am working on doing something every day that is creative-and I do not like coloring in things either-I am not good at it lol
sorry for the book I agree that the photo of the bridge was probably taken in the street so would have not been safe to do.
someone gave us a giant mail box to put up which would have been perfect for packages-but the kids here destroy mail boxes on our rural road at least once a year so we decided to go with a post office box instead. I love that yours is so convenient too.
sorry for the long post reply today promises to be warmer hope for you too Kathy

CJ Kennedy said...

You certainly had an adventurous and arty week. I like the lettering on your page. Starts out big when the destination is far away and gets smaller as you get closer to your destination. the lecture on the Spanish flu would have been of interest as both my parents were infants during that time. What a beautiful bridge, but you'd have to stand in the middle of the street to get the same perspective as the artist. Pardon me for scrolling quickly through your snow photos. I've seen more than enough snow. I like how you can put your mailbox on your front porch. Ours have to be on the street, and yours would be a happy target for the plow guys. The fabric paintings look interesting especially how she coordinated the frame color with the fabric. Enjoy your day.

pearshapedcrafting said...

First of all I would never describe your page as wimpy - I love how it looks almost like leather in your photo!
The lecture looks like a lot to take in but the building looks great! I am glad you didn't get the shot you wanted of the bridge as I think it may have been dangerous - did the artist also add some things as well as taking the poles away! Now!!! Yay! to the mailbox - maybe you could take a selfie beside it (only kidding!) I can actually get an idea of the side from your snow pic from the railings to your steps! Yes, that is big!! We have had a little snow but it is so cold with the winds we might well have had loads! Further North it is quite bad judging by the news reports! The exhibition looks really interesting so look forward to seeing more! Hugs, Chrisx

Cindy McMath said...

No matter how many times I learn that lettering lesson, I still do that every so often! It’s still a fun page though!

Sami said...

I've also been going to some lectures at my local library.
Love those interesting painting with twisted fabric, very original.
What a pity you couldn't get the whole bridge, but it's certainly a very interesting bridge.

Sandra Cox said...

You had a lot of fascinating items on the post, dear Elizabeth. Your piece was all sorts of fun.
That bridge is amazing. The architecture is breathtaking.
I love the artist's work, don't you?
I think we have more snow than you (at least in your posted pics), which is just sick and wrong.
Have a great one.
Hugs

Divers and Sundry said...

I love our library's used book store. A treasure! That sounds like an interesting topic. I have always heard the pandemic originated in China, but theories change through time as more research is done.

The fabric art is something I can see you doing with your rust-dyed fabric :)

Snow! Yours is pretty :) Ours hasn't melted yet, either.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Enjoyed all the photos, bt I certainly don't envy you the cold weather. Cold has always been hard for me. Meanwhile, I would have been so interested in the lecture on the Influenza Pandemic. It features in part of the novel I'm writing, although the novel is set in Sacramento, CA. Still, every little scrap of information is helpful.

Hope you had good holidays and a happy year a head.

Jeanie said...

You never have a wimpy page. Or post. Ever. The lecture sounds fascinating -- I remember hearing lots about it following WWI and recently saw a good American Experience on the flu.

So glad you posted the photo on the bridge!

da tabbies o trout towne said...

the bridge is really neat and Verlene's art is AMAZING !!!!!! it looks 3D; was it ? ♥♥☺☺

Meggymay said...

Gosh you have been out and about this week to some interesting places and talks. I can understand you being unhappy not getting the photos on the bridge that you hoped for. but they still look good to me.
Your page looks great to me, and the cut out you chose not to colour realy draws the eye to look closer, it had so much content to see.
Hope you don't get to much snow.
Yvonne xx

Jeanie said...

Hi Elizabeth, quick comment reply on YOUR comment on the chicken recipe -- I always use whole cut up or sliced mushrooms. I never, ever, ever use canned! The cooking time is based on that. The only time adjustment would be if you pre-made it and brought it out and just popped it in without leveling out the temp a little bit!

j

kathyinozarks said...

Thank you so much for your help Elizabeth, I think I understand it better now thanks too for the info on the ink pads for fabrics too

kathyinozarks said...

well I am still thinking about this-I took two pages and then put them together as described which I get now-but it seems like the months are not in order unless I pay attention to the sides of the pages? I am thinking I am going to take each page and fold in half and embelish the front and the back of the page and then do the blanket page around all the edges leaving the space in the middle and then stack these pages and bind--that should work? thanks

RO said...

My goodness you sure had a lot going on this week, and I love the pics that tell the story. I like your traveling picture without color because you can see it really well. Now I want to go to Vienna! (lol) The cloth artwork looks quite creative, and I wonder how long it took for her to get that done. I adore that large mailbox, and makes me wonder if you get tons of mail every day. We both had snow it looks like, but starting here tomorrow we can expect January weather in the 50's and 60's. So sad to hear about the flu news which seems to be everywhere and quite unexpected. Hugs...RO

Rita said...

Wow! Lots in this post--with great pics. Stay warm!! :)
(Sorry not chatty--sick this week.)

kathyinozarks said...

haha I woke up around 1 am thinking about my book and I finally figured it out it just did not make sense to me for sure til now-thanks again

Lowcarb team member said...

You've certainly had a busy time.
It is true flu does seem to be everywhere!
Nice lot of photographs again ... many thanks.

All the best Jan