1. go to http://www.unamerican.com/ and copy posters. some of the best are in the “old school” sidebar. (sometimes the links don’t work. if so, use my copies, below.)yes, there are lots of posters. some of them are tasteless, in the “something to offend everyone” category. some of them are brilliant, too.(don’t tell me about this, tell the guy who creates them.)
2. photocopy a bunch of your favorites
3. take copies, masking tape, and pushpins with you
4. place copies where they will be seen

Examples:

To see a larger thumbnail of the George Bernard Shaw poster–with full text–before downloading it, click here.

The background was painted black with Maimeri’s “Brera” acrylic paint. Then, I added the paper collage elements, using Golden gel medium as an adhesive (Liquitex will work well, too).

The dimensional elements include feathers, a plastic lizard, and a small, clear-lidded tin with glitter inside. I applied them with hot glue and with extra-strength craft glue.

(Click image to see larger.)

The first page of the first Harry Potter book and the book cover are originals, not copies. (Yes, I tore up a Harry Potter book to create the art.)

I avoided copyright issues by (a) not making this work for sale; and, (b) using only original images that were purchased (not reproduced) for this project.

At left, I’ve covered most of a traditional Ouija board with torn paper embellishments. I selected individual letters, plus useful and whimsical phrases, to use in divination.

The biggest letters generally came from the oversized fashion magazine, W. The phrases came from a variety of sources, but largely fashion and travel magazines.

(In-flight magazines often provide the very best phrases for use in collage.)

I used Golden gel medium as the adhesive (Liquitex or another brand would probably work as well). When the project is completed, I may cover it with a two-part self-leveling finish.

Altered Ouija Board - Egyptian (private collection)

This is a traditional Ouija board, altered to include elements from ancient Egypt. My inspiration was The Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

[left] A fake tarantula is perched on the platen.It is furry and realistic looking.The platen was painted gold, and embellished with jewels and beads, including dichroic-colored scarab beads.

Despite the heavy embellishment, the platen still functions if someone wants to use this Ouija board as an oracle.

Each side of the board is painted, collaged, and beaded. The beads include plastic and glass jewels, dichroic-style glass beads, minute “sand” beads, and beach glass.

The eye is on a painted wooden circle. The photo of the Egyptian figure is from a recent art exhibit. The beetle is a plastic cockroach painted with Lumiere metallic paints.

This is a one-of-a-kind altered Ouija board, and it was purchased for a private collection.

The Fool click image to see larger (33k)

The Magician click image to see larger (32k)

The High Priestess click image to see larger (32k)

Elements: Papers, acrylic paint, magazine images and text, printed text, thread, assorted gold leaf shreds. Applied with Golden Gel Medium.

1 Mar 02:

When I’m working on some art projects, the results can be very therapeutic.
Today was one of those days, working on cards representing aspects of authority.
My first attempts at The Empress and The Emperor weren’t cohesive, though there were
elements that I liked in them.

For example, on The Empress, I like the man in uniform saluting. On The Emperor
card, I like the dark, magickal images, linking him to The Magician but also contrasting
with the wholesome Prince William photo. But these cards didn’t flow well enough.

     

With a good break to think through what wasn’t working–which was focus–I produced
far better collages later this afternoon. Each page is about 5″ x 8″.

click image to see larger (32k)

click image to see larger (32k)

click image to see larger (32k)

I particularly like the nutcrackers in The Hierophant card;
when I was a child, I used to be terrified of the manic expressions on nutcrackers.
I never considered “The Nutcracker” anything less than material for nightmares.
Working with this imagery for The Hierophant–the kind of person whose authority
tends to intimidate me when I need to stand up for myself–helped me to understand my fears.

The Emperor card is simpler than I’d usually create, even for focus, but I like
how the images get larger rising towards the top of the collage. This is a subtle
reference to both the Shaker and feng shui principles that have influenced my art for years.

In general and in these cards, what works for me is getting back to simplicity.
That’s different from the austere; if anything, I tend to like Gothic and opulent imagery.
For me, my current approach is about focus, and having a clear vision of what I hope to
achieve with each collage. I’m pleased with these.

18 June 2002

Working on more cards! The next ones really flowed for me. I’m getting the knack of this.

The Hermit click image to see larger	Wheel of Fortune click image to see larger	Justice click image to see larger
Hanged Man click image to see larger	Death click image to see larger	Temperance click image to see larger
The Devil click image to see larger	The Tower click image to see larger	The Star click image to see larger
The Moon click image to see larger	The Sun click image to see larger	Judgement click image to see larger
	The World click image to see larger

(Santa Flamingo will be my primary online shop for original arts & crafts, ebooks, ezines, and other digital products.)

Here’s a little history:

For years, Aisling.net was my main website. After about five or six years of writing, I had so many webpages, even I couldn’t find articles that I was looking for.

Splitting the site into mini-sites worked better, but people didn’t always realize that they’re all my sites. To new visitors, I was, “Aisling… who?”

Even worse, visitors got lost when they were trying to find my older and more basic how-to articles.

My current plan is to restore all of the old pages at Aisling.net. (I’ve already started this, though the old pages aren’t indexed anywhere. I’m doing this for the people who’d bookmarked them, years ago, and then couldn’t find them.)

Next, I’ll be copying the best articles to this website, with links to my other sites for more information.  I’m hoping that the new domain name, AislingDart.com, will help people remember me as an arts & crafts resource.

Yes, this is a huge project. I’ll work on it as time permits. The long-term benefits are going to be worth the effort and the wait.

Vague guidelines

Version #1: Words on bead necklace thingies

Select words that you like. Cut them out.

You can cut just around the word so the foam board sticks out around it, OR you can cut the word to size including borders to cover the foam board. Stick the words on the foam board with ModPodge or your favorite paper glue.

Think in terms of refrigerator poetry magnets. Form sentences or phrases, or just select words that you like and string them together.

Use your needle and thread to attach the words together.

You can use trinkets and evidence (loose, or stuck on foam board) between the words, or at either end, with or without grommets.

Add an extra length of thread/ribbon at each end, and attach to necklace closure findings.

Version #2: Words on polymer clay

Choose words. Photocopy or laser print them backwards onto paper. Use gin to apply them to unbaked polymer clay beads. (See Gin image transfers.)

Bake beads. Use beads in jewelry and for embellishments.

Variation: Apply words to polymer clay rectangles. Bake. Add magnets to the back. Use as refrigerator magnets. (If your car is metal, they’ll adhere to your car, too.)

Version #3: Words on fabric

Print the words (backwards) on tee-shirt transfer paper and iron the words onto fabric. Cut them out. Apply to art… fabric art or your journal pages. (You can sew them onto the pages if you’ve backed the page with fusible interfacing.)

To copy your own page of words, free, visit this freebies page.

Homage to Dr. John
mixed media collage by Aisling D’Art

This is a collage to honor the music of Dr. John, aka Mac Rebbenack. It is the art that I used for the Homage to Music card deck exchange, hosted by Red Dog Scott.

Dr. John is probably my favorite musician, since I first heard his music around 1970. On an early album, Gumbo, he described his sound as “a combination of Dixieland, Rock & Roll, and Funk.” Add a little Mardi Gras and gris-gris, and you’ll get the idea. Not everyone understands his music; I do, and it inspires much of my art.

This collage took over a month in preparation.

I started with a stretched canvas that I’d painted metallic gold (spray paint).

Then, I began layering Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, and finally a black that I mixed using French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber.

Because I use oil paints for their depth of color, each layer had to dry for at least ten days. (In workshops, I use acrylics because the layers dry in minutes, not weeks.)

After the layers were dry, I began sanding them down for texture. Under the canvas, I place a wooden block the size of the stretcher-bar opening, so it was evenly supported while I worked.

I sanded different amounts in different areas.

Then, I began the collage.

My first layer was tissue paper, crumpled and “painted on” with Golden brand Soft Gel Medium.

Next, I “painted on” a piece of antique lace. Over that, I glued three strips of teal chenille yarn.

For small pieces, I use the Golden Medium as glue; for larger pieces, I use hot glue.

Then, I added feathers. Some were gatherered at the beach, others were purchased.

Next, I coated the entire canvas with Golden Medium, and waited for it to dry until tacky. At that point, I began applying Gildenglitz. For the larger areas, I increased the adhesion with a double-sided tape.

Almost finished, I glued on a dollhouse Parcheesi board, a plastic lizard, and a heart milagros that I had sprayed gold and highlighted with Dr. Martin’s calligraphy ink, in copper.

The final addition–when everything else had fully dried–was some highlights with Rub N Buf gold leaf, in antique gold.

This is the kind of piece you can expect to complete in my workshops that involve collages, and natural materials.

Generally, I like to work with rich & deep colors, gold leaf or glitter, and natural objects such as twigs, acorns, and feathers–natural materials, used flamboyantly.

This remains one of my favorite collages.

These historical diaries can be read online:

Martha Ballard’s Diary, features over 10,000 entries–from January 1, 1785 to May 12, 1812–in her own handwriting. It’s not always easy to read, but the diary is nevertheless a remarkable history.

Martha was a New England midwife who began keeping a daily journal, at first just notes about the weather, when she was 50 years old. Her story inspired the movie, The Midwife’s Tale, and her original journals are now kept at the Maine State Library.

More journals, online

There are additional voices of men and women in diaries (listed under “D” for diaries) at Documenting the American South, a project of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Women’s Studies, at the University of Pennsylvania offers several 19th and early 20th century diaries by women in the Northeast. My favorites at that website include the 1857-58 diaries of Elizabeth Cowperthwaite, who alternately talks about her interest in writing, and then worries about whether she should (or ever will) marry. Her handwriting is difficult to read at times, but she’s clearly talking to herself about several issues that were probably very challenging for an independent-minded woman in her era.

Prairie Settlement - Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters present a wealth of handwritten letters that serve as a kind of diary of Mattie Oblinger who–after successfully delivering three daughters in earlier years–died in childbirth along with her infant son in 1880.

Her husband moved to Minnesota where he married Laura, whose letters are also at this website. With photos to that provide us with faces of these people, the lives of these two women–as told through their letters–become especially real.

Camping with the Sioux: Fieldwork Diary of Alice Cunningham Fletcher may be one of the most complete, fascinating, and enjoyable women’s historical journals online. Ms. Fletcher was an unmarried anthropologist who, at age 43, spent six weeks with the Sioux. Her journals include sketches and photographs that bring the past vividly to life.

Other online historical diary collections include Library of Western Fur Trade Historical Source Documents, mostly books and journals by the mountain men, but also a few transcribed pages from the Diary of Mrs. Eliza Spalding, June 15 - July 6, 1836 and the Letters and Journal of Mrs. Narcissa Prentiss Whitman, 1836

Future online diary projects include the University of Wales’ plans to digitise the 26-year diaries of William Bulkeley, who described everything from the weather to his daughter’s marriage to a pirate in the mid-18th century.

How to create a Batragon - or any other mixed-images creature…

For this image–created for the Bestiary Deck exchange–I used the Dover book, “Old-Fashioned Animal Cuts” (out-of-print in 2007) and Adobe Photoshop.

I knew that I wanted a beast that would mix elements of a bat and a dragon. I was also inspired by photos of a very cute pet dragon owned by a friend.

First, I collected images. The foundation was the bat image from page 19 of this book:

Finally, I made a new layer of just the body-plus-branch part of the image (without the tale) and placed it on top of the tail layer, to achieve the sequence so that the tail receded.

Then, I flattened the layers again.

If you scroll back to the top of this page and click on the small finished image, you can see the results.