Monday, October 17, 2016

Look to the Horizon


We're in the midst of full-on fall here in Arizona and the leaves are indeed a-changing. Nothing quite so lovely as Vermont sugar maples here on the homestead (but I can get my fix by running up to the West Fork of Oak Creek in Sedona anytime I get myself moving...). The mulberry trees that provide deep shade in high summer are dropping a tremendous amount of yellow leaves that turn brown before they hit the ground.

So when the Diva asked all the tangly people to use leaves for inspiration, I steered clear of the front of the house (and the thoughts of having to do all that raking!) and slipped out the back door to the citrus trees, which are evergreen. I used some leaves to create a stencil for some Eric Carle tissue paper and drew the veins in with my trusted Sharpie. The circles are meant to mimic the concrete walkway between the trees...and perhaps I'll color in the pebbles sometime soon.


That was just plain fun!

Then I used the same papers for the EIM. The word is "horizon." From our house, we don't see where the land meets the sky quite as we're surrounded on the east and west by 7000 foot mountains (that's over 2100 meters and we're at only about 2000 ft/610 m). Our view looks similar to the inchie on the left I made with tissue and the magazine cut-out on the right. The little artwork in the middle is meant to look like the ocean when the fog rolls in and you can't discern sky from the water, a view I miss from back East.

The word at the TwobyTwo this week is "quill." Originally, the thought came from porcupines and their nasty barbs.

Along my way through art challenges and such, I have met three fine quillers in the blogosphere: Zoe, Kia and Annette (and you should check out their work! I'll wait! Their work does a much better job of describing their craft than my words ever will).

Perhaps, I thought, I'd try my hand at that paper art. Let's just say I'll keep trying!

While researching for the TwobyTwo, I learned about quillwork, where quills are used to create functional art. I came up with an idea to kind of combine the two art forms--using paper strips instead of those barbs, which are in short supply around here. I don't know what to quite call this. "How to take 250 square inches of paper and reduce it to 4" probably doesn't sound very appealing. But, that's pretty much what I did.

Sunset with Wrapped Paper
All the same, I'd do it again. At least, I gained some insight into paper economy.

Be sure to check out the various art blog challenges and if the mood suits you, try your hand at the myriad techniques and ideas. There's still time to submit to any of these, particularly the TwobyTwo!
Thanks for stopping by and have a brilliant day!

31 comments:

  1. I just love your pretty leaves, and that middle inchie does bring back memories for me as well. Your last piece is really fascinating. I'm not sure I can quite grasp how you did it, but I like it!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed what I shared this week, particularly the memories. I'll have to try some more "quillwork" before I can share methods--it's a work in progress, for sure. c

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  2. I do like your leaves and the bubbels around them.

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    1. Thank you, Annemarie! It's hard to grasp fall when the citrus are brilliant green! c

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  3. Love those leaves!!! The colors! Love the horizons I live in the Ozark Mountains, so I know about not seeing the horizons too much. I really love your quilled piece. I dont have the patience or tension abilities to quill. Cant wait to see what you come up with next

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    1. Glad you like the Diva piece, but I owe the colours totally to Mr. Carle. It's his paper, after all. And tell me you don't have patience with all that beadwork! c

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  4. Beautiful leaf tile and the paper quiling was so interesting.

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    1. Thank you Lady Kate! I had a lot of fun this week! c

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  5. Thanks for sharing these techniques. I think I need to start learning how to branch out. (Tree pun only mildly intended). How did you use the tissue paper. Is it collage or some kind of color transfer? Whatever the techniques, the results are lovely. You live in a beautiful part of the country with so many micro-habitats close together.

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    1. Good pun, Suzanne! For all the goodies this week, I have just one word: Elmer's. And a LOT of it! And yes, Arizona has it all--every microclimate and biome--from frozen alpine to sub-tropical (only thing missing is tropical). It's quite a fascinating place. c

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  6. Lovely colors on these pretty "leavestile" and I have never seen paper quiling but it is very nice.

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    1. Danke, Carmela. I'm so glad you visited my blog. c

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  8. Such pretty leaves! We see no horizon in either Scotland where we are surrounded by trees or France where the same applies with mountains! We did have one when we lived in the Middle East though as we faced out over the ocean:-). Busy catching up on what I missed last week....

    Sally

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    1. It's amazing where you live and travel, all over. Glad you had a great holiday and are home safely. c

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  9. very nice inchies - I love the variety of different horizons - like your quilling too!

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    1. High compliment, indeed, Kia, that you would think my paperwork is worthy. Thank you. c

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  10. All the things and ideas are amazing-great inchies

    Love Chrissie xx

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  11. Love your tile with the colors you have used. The tipple around the leaves is a nice complement to them. Your inchies are all kinds of fun too. I also have mountains as my horizon, as I am a neighbor to the North, in Utah. Nicely done, all of your work this week.

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    1. Much appreciated, Lezli! I've enjoyed many a visit to Utah; plenty of new horizons yet to be explored there! c

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  12. Beautiful work, I love your inchie!

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  13. I love your diva tile with the wonderful colour in the back and the bubbles. And the quillwork looks very interesting - how do you did it? Just looks great :-)

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    1. Danke, Sandra. I'll have to explore more of the quilling before I can profess any knowledge of it and then, to share the methods. A lot of glue, for starters! c

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  14. Beautiful leafs & wonderful work!

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  16. Sorry, I made a real hash of the above post, so I'll start again now I have put the lights on and can see what I'm doing. Love the inches that show us what you can see from your home, and the tangled leaves are lovely.

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    1. Most gracious of you, Wendy. I know my view of the world is quite different, even from my next-door neighbors...and my general view of the world at large is, well, different. I'm glad to share it with you! c

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