Tea Tuesday with Darcy

I want to begin by saying this post almost didn't happen.  I am having all kinds of trouble with Blogger and logging into my blog.  But so I don't whine anymore (or whinge as my British friends say), let's get this show post on the road (or the dining room table, whichever is closer).

I'm a sucker for a good challenge and this one had my name on it from the time I saw it on Donna's blog.  Darcy at Art and Sole is having her yearly art challenge and I've decided to join in.  After seeing how some people created their altered postcards from Darcy's challenge last year, I kicked myself for not joining.  This year will be different.

Darcy challenged us to read a book each month for 12 months, then make a piece of art that reminded us in some way of the book.

Darcy asked us to show the books we would be reading this year, with six being the minimum to get started.  So I made a cup of hot chocolate, deconstructed a failed collage, and set out to find 12 books.  

If you could see my library which is housed with shelves and shelves of books (16 to be exact, eight on each side of my computer desk), you would notice that one floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcase is filled with research, statistic, methodology, and human factors books, while the other floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcase is filled with math, calculus, physics, and engineering books, you would wonder if I ever read anything other than dry, boring stuff.  I seldom reference these books anymore, since I've taken up art (mixed media) in a perverse way.

In fact, I had to borrow a few of the books I will be reading.

One of the books is a mystery novel, two are non-fiction, and nine are art books.  In no particular order, here they are, since you probably can't see them due to my excellent (NOT) camera:

The only one I know when I'll be reading it is this one: A Puzzle in a Pear Tree by Parnell Hall.

If I've counted correctly, that should be all of them, Darcy.  Finding and/or borrowing these was harder than reading them, I can assure you.

Then I reread Darcy's FAQs and decided, even though I had never actually "READ" Scraps, I had perused it.  It was not fair to start with a book I had already seen inside before we started.  So, before we start, I will pick a mystery novel, possibly from the library, and I will show it at the end of the month when I read my first book.  As for my first ARC entry, I decided I would begin with Decorative Stamping, because any long term reader of my blog knows I don't stamp, and when I do, I usually make a mess of things.

Now I'm off to drink my hot chocolate before it gets cold.  What's that, you ask?  What is my cup sitting on?  It's the deconstructed board I will use at some point to make a piece of art to accompany my monthly book review.  I have no idea at this point when that will be, but remember that in addition to reading a book each month, I must also create a piece of art that in some way reflects the book I've read.  So why not join me for something warm today (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, where iced drinks are in vogue), pick out a few books, and join Darcy's ARC, which is short for Artful Readers Club.  To learn all the specifics, please visit here.