The perfect perch: an ATC

I always try to make two entries for any swap I host. And my Birds in Hats swap is no different.

When I first considered the theme of this swap, I remembered I had purchased a metal stencil this summer at the scrapbook/altered art store I love: Mrs. O'Leary's. Joanie, the owner, attends a ton of trade shows, so some of you who live in the states and attend those shows might know her. She also designs her own stamps.

Back to the point (I'm easily distracted by art, my blog, and life in general this week), I decided that most people would focus on Birds that were wearing hats, but since I had this rather "cutesy" stencil I decided to use it in the swap. I began by adding deep purple Staz-on and 91% alcohol to the background. I can hear you now. Does she have any other background she can play with? Well, yes, but this one works so well, because the paper (card stock in this case) never buckles, something I really love, since it means I don't have to press the papers under a stack of books for weeks on end. Then I grabbed the stencil, some low tack masking tape, and Dimensional Texture, a product put out by Plaid. It reminds me of modeling/molding paste, but it is colored. I went to town on the stencil, and while the mask was still in place, I added gesso to the "snow" on the cap. This was a fun ATC to create because I got to play with my new stencil, my very first metal one.

A couple of days ago, Ravenpainting's Lori Saul made a digital collage in the style of artist Maggie Taylor. I had never heard of Maggie Taylor before, so of course I had to check out her web site. I have to admit, Lori has good taste. I immediately fell in love with Maggie Taylor's style which is, if I'm reading her web site correctly, now focusing on digital art. If you click on "news," you can see all the places she and another artist have a dual showing in places like Italy, San Diego, and Atlanta. They will also be lecturing at the end of this month at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City, MO. What I would give to attend. I'm sure you're going to flip over Maggie's art. Much of her art centers around Alice (in Wonderland) and the White Rabbit, but there are other pieces, too. Her art is contemporary, yet has that steampunk influence, which I am now drawn to. I hope you enjoy Maggie Taylor today.