Chic Chick

I started this more than a few days ago: Day 12 of AEDM to be exact.

I mainly started this to use some of the paint and glaze I had left over from starting the abstract I am still working on.

For this book cover, I started by laying down a page from an old telephone book.  I foresee these (phone books) as becoming obsolete one of these days since now you can find just about any phone number on the internet.  But for now, they make super backgrounds.  However, the background didn't really speak to me, so I let it sit a few days until I finally decided on a layout.

I began by auditioning various colors of my handmade paper to see what best went with the little girl I fussy cut.  I really didn't have a good match, but that didn't deter me.  I glued the little girl to the handmade paper and let that sit for another two days.  For some reason, this one just didn't inspire me.

I had saved a large piece of cardboard that didn't make it to my herb garden, so I tore two pieces and auditioned them.  Yet another day passed and I found the bird feather in my yard.  I thought it might look good with the little girl and her butterfly wings.

Then I remembered I had some really old (like from 2003 or 2004) Anna Griffin 3-D words I had never used.  Out the package came, and I decided on the word Chic.   I'm not sure I like it, but it's done, except for adding a black wire and a few pink and yellow beads I've picked out.  I didn't want to subject my scanner to even more scratches than it already has, so I decided the wire would come later.

Since most of the elements had already been chosen or assembled for this piece, I had time to take a long walk around my neighborhood before the cold and rain set in.  We supposedly had experienced a frost a few days earlier, so I wanted to see what damage the frost had caused.

It was a beautiful warm sunny day, and I was dressed the part in shorts and a sleeveless top.  It didn't take long to find a stunning maple tree that was just beginning to shed its leaves.   As I was taking this photo, I saw more color out of the corner of my eye.

Such a beautiful flowering bush,

although I have absolutely no idea what it is called.

About six blocks further, I saw this tree that was definitely losing its leaves.  Isn't the sky bright and beautiful here?  I walked a bit further, and the wind suddenly shifted.  Clouds that had dotted a bright blue sky were suddenly grey, dark, and foreboding.  The wind had brought a cold front that I was not aware of.  So I quickly headed home, not even thinking about taking photos

until I reached my street and saw my neighbor's yard.

They have done so much landscaping, I barely recognized their front yard.

By this time, my hands were shaking and I was definitely chilled.

Silly me still had to take a few more photos, like this dog my neighbor made (soldered from cast off metal parts).

Some of you remember I moved my trash can to show my herb garden a week or so ago.  Today I wasn't about to take the time to move it.

I got a bit closer to show how I'd swept leaves from the driveway into the herb garden.  This should mulch down nicely over the winter, although I still have some cardboard showing.

Although I was definitely a fool, and was totally under-dressed by the end of my walk, I was glad I took the time to see the color changes going on in my neighborhood.

This is Day 18 of Art Every Day Month, or AEDM.  I finally finished a mixed media book cover that I'm still not sure I like.  It's meant to be a Christmas gift.  I'll let you, my dear AEDM friends, regular readers, and followers decide if it's worth giving.

I also took a walk and photographed a few of nature's wonders in my neighborhood.  Amazing how quickly temperatures and skies can change.   At least today you got a two-fer in my mixed media art and my nature inspired photography.