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While I was doing something else in my studio (and this is the story of my life), this collage began to emerge:

It started as something else, no longer important.  The background was paper towels, painted to look almost like leather.  I had edged it with black distressed embossing powder (while it was still something else) and decided to glaze over it in purple after Miss Violet made her appearance in the picture.  I really thought it was fine and it actually looked okay in person.

But seeing the photo convinced me (as it often does — I seem to see better when I look at a photo) it was wrong.  So I carefully pulled the collage off the background.  As soon as I have a chance to dye and paint some fabric that will do what I want, I will put Violet back together and call her "Violet Emerges From Her Shell).

Much better.

This is my entry for Illustration Friday’s red theme.  It has been a red week here.

Wednesday night was my second painting class.  I’ve got to say upfront that I’m never going to be a great painter.  I don’t see shapes and light right and I can’t draw.  But I really am enjoying this and I think it’s going to expand my collage horizons in a nice way.

For class two, Jennifer gave us a palette of blue, brown, and white, and sent us off to paint.  This is my painting, which I think is going to need to have some collage additions before I’m happy with it.

In other, decidely exciting, news in my house, Ollie, who is four, has finally succumbed to the allure of pooping on the potty.  In the lexicon of our rather strange household, this requires what we so nicely in our house call the "I pooped on the potty party," which means Mama dashed home from work in the middle of the day to bake the party cake.

I’m not sure why his sword was on the kitchen counter and I didn’t notice it until I was part way done, but it seemed appropriate.  I also discovered that child number two has been using an inordinate amount of sugar in his morning tea, so I had no white sugar.  For future reference, brown sugar and Hershey’s dark chocolate powder produce a wonderful cake.

 

As interesting as it was to race home on my lunch hour to bake, I have to say it was more than worth it to finally, after four children and sixteen years of cloth diapering (with a few years of breaks in between children, notably my darling daughter who potty trained herself at the age of two) to finally be through with that stage of life.

Ollie seemed pretty pleased with the entire affair! 

I am slightly concerned that I may have scarred him for life.  You see, I really don’t potty train.  I pretty much ignore the entire deal.  But the Judge announced he wasn’t changing diapers anymore, so I decided I had to get serious this time and pulled out Robert and Teddy’s old potty video (you haven’t lived until you’ve caught yourself humming "she is a super-dooper pooper" in a staff meeting) and bought a cute little potty seat. 

In a bad mommy moment, while trying to explain to Ollie why we use a potty (not a diaper, or a litter box like his friend Harry the Maine Coon Cat), I told him it was like Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and that if you didn’t poop you would swell up like she did and explode.  (I warned you it was a bad mommy moment).  He asked about it a couple of times, and I explained it was just an analogy and that her problem had been gum, but that your body would get uncomfortable if you didn’t poop.  I thought he had forgotten until he was proudly sitting on the big potty in the bathroom pooping and proudly informed me "I’m not going to blow up like Violet did!"

Thousands of dollars in therapy, right?  All in all, I have to say that I’m happy that this stage in our lives is over!

In the comments, Rita asked:

Question for you… what makes something an ATC? Can you give us non-collager/paper artists a little lesson? I’m curious.

Rita is one of my oldest online friends, and an amazing knitter. (I need to take out the sweaters she knit for Ellie & Ollie a couple of years ago and photograph them for you to see how amazing she is, and I promise to do that later.) The answer to the question is pretty simple: ATCs are tiny 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" pieces of art, created by artists to trade (never sell) amongst each other. They can be portrait (vertical) or horizontal (landscape) in orientation, although vertical is more traditional. The can be painted, drawn, collaged, graphic, or any combination of these media and can be done on paper, fabric, metal — there are no limits. Think Pokeman or baseball cards for artists, and you have the idea.

ATCs are meant to be fun and are a great way to experiment with art.  One of my all time favorites is a very simple card with a small iris painted in watercolor.  Some cards are like miniature jewels.  I’m especially partial to Linda Koch’s beautiful work.  Belinda Schneider‘s work is really wonderful too.  And you could get absolutely lost in Karen Owen’s soft, delicate artwork.  The joy of these little cards is to have fun, enjoy yourself, make art, and make friends.  They are meant to trade, and if you are interested in starting out, I know you will find lots of artists in our swap who would be happy to trade with you and help you on your way!

One of my favorite artists, Bernie Berlin, has a brand new book out on ATCs.  It’s a fantastic book full of inspiration and techniques.  Bernie also runs a wonderful shelter for lost & abused animals, so if you purchase the book, you help her with a wonderful cause!

A final note, Claudine Hellmuth did a collage portrait of my children.  I adore it and I have to share it with you.  Claudine posted it on her blog and I encourage you to go take a look!  She even included some of our pets.