Monday, May 16, 2016

ECHO Echo echo.....


I'm kind of house-sitting in Anthem, la-dee-dah; my biggest job is to NOT kill the plants. I think I successfully pulled a couple gardenias through a few days of 102, fainting violets, indeed.
Otherwise, my job is to produce frosty recreational beverages (we call them FRBs for short. It's our survival mechanism for surviving triple digits ourselves) served out on the patio and watch the sunset.
Such trauma.
In between, I'm trying to make sure my little farmette survives the heat, too. I thought how could I possibly have time to be creative? I'm hardly sitting still. Doing a lot of driving around. Here I am thinking I've been slacking.
And yet...!
For your enjoyment, I've a surprising bunch of stuff here. It's kind of all over the map, so I'll start with the work I did for my own challenge blog, the TwobyTwobyTuesday.
The word for the week is, "Echo."
First, the portraits. I had to hunt far and wide to find a picture of a face in a magazine that would work for this. In the concept of "Echoism," a person who has a more symmetrical face is considered more appealing. Split the face down the middle and create mirror images of each half. It's an exercise I remember doing in sixth-grade art class (I was ten.).

Myrna Dow
Winner, PPFA Contest
And unwitting portrait
Participant
Sigh, I'm not ten anymore. I think I did a better job back in grade school. It was hard working on such a teenie scale.

If you visited last time, I put in a teaser for my other answer. This is that project in its entirety:


I took the tangle "Echoism" across the entire page in my journal, created six two-inch tiles, mixed them up, drew each one, then put them all back together again. That was more fun.

While I was at it, I did a more traditional piece, same method, just one pattern:



In my garden, I've been nursing an amaryllis bulb for two and a half years. You know, the ones you pick up at Christmas and force to bring bright colours into your home in the dead of winter? Well, normally, they are quite happy in desert surrounds, so armed with that knowledge, I planted the bulb out in the garden after it bloomed. That was winter, 2014. This is now.
Isn't she pretty?


Which inspired:

I took a photograph of the string and I give it to you all for your drawing pleasure. You will find it under a new page titled, "G2H." You'll see.

Now, onto some challenges.
Last week's IAST was to honor Mom. Adele started us out with a big "M" and the instructions to fill it in. These are supposed to be "Hollyhocks." Hmm.


This is my doodling for the EIM, the word being "Three-Dimensional." I'm a "flat art" artist, always working two-dimensionally. I picked a variety of ideas for creating the LOOK of that third dimension.


I couldn't wait to give the new-to-me tangle, "3-D Room" by Dami Tang a workout and I took my chance on the Diva this week, where I gave it a more controlled grid to fill:


The call was to use more black. I used a LOT of black last week. All I wanted to get out of this week was high contrast; didn't want to over kill it. It's interesting.

I think that brings me up to date. Be sure to check out the various pages across the weird wide web, I'm sure you will find inspirations in abundance.
Have a brilliant day! c


33 comments:

  1. You certainly have been busy. This is just the time of year to say goodby to pretty things and be happy with dirt, rocks, and cactus! Your half drawn face is amazing, and I particularly like the tile with the mirrored stripes.

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    1. Thank you, Jean. I surprised myself with all these goodies. The stripey thing took a lot of focus and patience--looks simple, but...Yup, now all we can do is lounge in the pool and sip FRBs til November! c

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  2. Wow wow wow, what a collection of wonders, love the amaryllis tile....it's amazing where we can get our inspiration:-)

    Sally

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    1. You never know what life will surprise you with, but the amaryllis was patiently awaited. Thanks, Sally! C

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  3. Wow! You have been so busy and created such wonderful tiles!

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  4. You've been very creative! I love what you did in the Diva tile with the high contrast.

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    1. Thank you very much, Ilse. I'm going to have to revisit the more black idea, makes for very strong compositions, doesn't it? c

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  5. Much tiles you made, great and bezutiful, all of them.

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  6. I like your "half drawn face", very original!
    Your challengetile is also very pretty with nice black accents and subtile shadows.

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    1. Thank you, Maria. The half-drawn face isn't so new to me, but it did require a different mind-set, since it's realistic. I felt rusty sketching a face. Glad you liked my Diva response. c

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  7. My goodness, so much wonderful art. You seem to be having fun house sitting anyway.

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    1. Thanks so very much, YT. Ah, the challenges of the house: red or white? Cheese and crackers or shrimp cocktail appetizers? Do I sit in the big cushioned sofa or the lounge chairs? Decisions, decisions! c

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  8. wonderful work, I love the amaryllis, and great job on the high contrast Diva tile.

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  9. making 2D look 3D is always fun! nice inchies

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    1. Isn't it? I really had fun with all of these. I couldn't remember where I had some dice, so I had to wing that part! Thanks for keeping us on track, Kia! c

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  10. The FRBs seem to be doing their job! Great work!

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    1. We have margaritas down to a science. It's one of my life's missions! c

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  11. You have been much busier than I this week and turned out some great work. Always fun doing the 3D tiles. :O)

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    1. Thanks, Patty, for stopping by! I appreciate your kind comments. c

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  12. So much done, and sooo beautiful! Your diva tile is stunning.

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  13. So much beauty here! The flower is lovely, I would not be the kind to go near it, since I can kill plants just by walking past them. I love the tile you did for the flower, it is beautiful. I also love the inchie, so much work that you put into it!

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    1. Thanks, Free! I had a LOT of fun with the 3-D thing. The flower has been a lesson in patience, finally rewarded. The real test will be if it comes back next year, then I'll feel I've accomplished something. c

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  14. I'm going to have to remember your acronym for frosty recreational beverages. Unfortunately, our weather here in Philly has been too drearily overcast, rainy and cool to inspire consumption of said FRBs. Seriously, I am not happy about wearing my winter coat to walk the dog---in May in a Mid-Atlantic state.

    As others commented, your output is prodigious with quality to go along with the impressive quantity. Your response to the Diva challenge strikes me as hitting the proverbial nail on the head---i.e. you nailed it.

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  15. Lots of lovely work and I like the high contrast in your diva tile. Love the FRB's I will be using that one come summer!

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  16. Lovely blog, really like your amaryllis tangle - might try that one - in fact really good tangles love the last one and good work on ideas of 3D

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  17. Fabulous tangles, especially the amaryllis. Great ideas for the inchie.

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  18. So many wonderful work to see here! You´re so busy and creative! Very inspiring post!

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  19. Terrific post with great art and inchie ideas

    Love Chrissie xx

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