LAW 102: August means the end of ICAD

August is not only the harbinger of the first harvest, happy Lammas, only a little late to all of you. I hope you are enjoying the wonderful fruits of the planet. August also means the end of the annual ICAD art challenge. It is a pretty simple challenge on the surface, make a piece of art for 61 days on an index card. It is an opportunity to play, to experiment, to take chances and to not be afraid of failure. Mungo and i both participated this year. He did a really cool, very much appreciated project, a 'writer does art'. He laid out, and mapped out an image that was gridded out over all 61 cards. Than did free form writing around the marked out image. People read the art every day, and waited impatiently for the image. I imagine he will get around to posting it on his blog real zoo now.

Here are the last two pieces i did for ICAD, you can see all of them, sequentially at my art page, https://www.facebook.com/theartofgailelwell13/

For Those With Eyes to See

Let the Day Begin

Although i was a pretty consistent every day art maker before the challenge, i am also a 'butterfly', with many different projects going at once. Once i settled into small format collage as my medium of choice for ICAD i found the daily ritual was sharpening, focusing the way i was approaching the ideas and challenges of collage. This was/is too cool to give up. Tammy through Daisy Yellow of course encourages us all to continue with the daily practice, particularly through art journaling. This is of course a very good idea, but felt unsatisfying to me. The practical/ambitious  part of me wants to make things that i can show or sell.  So i hit upon a hybrid of sorts. I am already a book maker, i've played around with the idea of 'artist' books before, so the idea of a  daily collage journal came about.

My hope is to sustain this project for an entire year, i'll be happy with completing August and will see what happens after that. The project is called Kalends; the format is 4.5 x 6", so it is roughly the same size i was working during the ICAD project. Each of the books will have between 14 and 15 signatures, each signature will have 8 pages. The paper is a heavy weight, wet or dry media, Canson 9 x 12". By folding and tearing i will get one signature out of each page. I am creating four pages every day; each signature contains two days of collage. Due to the nature of hand book binding the four pages of each day do not always flow together. A design continuity challenge to say the least.

Here are the images for the first signature, in the order you would see them bound in a book.

 

I will share more later with you,

Morgainne, aka Gail

P.S. Images of Mungo's piece

LAW 101: Let me introduce to you…..

Mea Culpa! No, i have not been on vacation, no, i have not died, no, my computer has not broken down….. So what is my excuse?


Aahhhh, it's been hot? Summer fun?? Politics???? I've been busy making art????? A little of all of the above, but really, no excuses. I've fallen down on the letter writing side of my life as well.

Under the Hot Summer Sun, ICAD 55,  7/24/16

Okay, so we've been experiencing some of the hottest summer weather i have seen here on the bay, yesterday's 'real feel' topped out at 117 F. And no, we do not have A/C on the boat. Up until this past week i would have stoutly insisted that it was not necessary.  Yesterday….. not so much.

Our most adorable ship's cat, Magellan the Magnificent, has earned his third name. May i introduce to you, Captain WaterPaws? Alright, it is kinda cute when he drags his water bowl all over, and i do mean all over the boat; at least in the summer……but, come winter time i feel a little less amused. Literally he will stick one paw after the other into the bowl, moving it about six inches with each paw stroke until it is just the right position, than drink. Until this past week. During the heat wave he has added to his Esther Williams routine by tipping it onto its side once he has the bowl properly situated.

I've been busy on the art front. I started making paper in mid June, but had to take a temporary hiatus, due to the extreme temperatures. I've started adding plant matter to the mix, which all though interesting adds at least two more steps in the process, one of which includes cooking the plant stuff in a caustic water bath for several hours. Just what i want to do when the temps are as high as they have been, and yes, of course i do it outside.

…Toward an Uncertain Future, ICAD 55, 7/25/16

The ICAD 2016 challenge is winding down, just a few more days. I find that i have begun to use the daily routine of making index card art as just a little bit of therapy, a chance to direct some of the anger and hopelessness generated by the current state of American politics. All ICAD collages are hand cut and are 4 x 6".

I See Clearly now, ICAD 56, 7/26/16

More later,
Morgainne

LAW 100: Milestones

Okay, so i have been away for most of the month, sorry about that. I caught a nasty summer cold than, being the sweet, gentle, sharing kind of girl that i am, i shared it with Mungo. Duh! Wouldn't you think after 30 plus years we would be immune to each other's diseases, apparently not. But truly that was not where i wanted to go with this story. We've experienced some wonderful food, i am truly in love with the whole Vietnam carmel protein thing. We've done bluefish, amazing, and last night chicken thighs! Oh my! Hopefully when we try this on pork ribs(real soon now) i will remember to take pictures so i can share it with.

ICAD 22, "Dividing Between"

But, just to tantalize your tastebuds, take about 3/4 cup of brown sugar, a 1/3 cup each, fish sauce, rice vinegar, a big bunch of  minced garlic and ginger, along with a couple of minced shallots. Take 3 or 4 chicken thighs, bone in or not as you choose, just remember to adjust your cooking time, and sear them in about 2 tb oil, your choice, i would use coconut here, add about 1/4 of the sauce that i forgot to tell you to make with the above ingredients, duh…… and continue to braise at a fairly high heat, spooning the carmel sauce over the meat. Depending on the size of your chicken, bone in or not, this could take anywhere from 20 minutes to almost an hour. Patience is key here; you are looking for both a color change, from golden brown to almost black, but a consistency change as well. The carmel sauce will bubble along merrily, way to liquid and then, presto, the alchemy of heat applies and it is a wonderful thick, unctuous sauce. It is time to drop a bunch of sliced green onion, jalapenos, and basil on to the chicken, and dinner is ready.

ICAD 24, "Screen Test"

We had company for dinner last night, the evening was topped off by a rainstorm and a beautiful double rainbow.

Rainbows from the stern deck

Yeah me! i have finally hit the magic number of 100 posts for this blog. i can't imagine making a commitment to writing this every day. i have however managed to participate in the 2016 ICAD challenge: a piece

e of art everyday or the months of June and July. We are coming up on the half way point with that and i'm stilling with the program. I have for the most part gone of prompt, and am making collages that mostly resonate to the theme of the Divided Mind. So, here are a few from the last week or so.

ICAD 23, "Question of Identity"

I will update my gailelwell site with more in depth info about the work. Happy 100 to me!

ICAD 25, "Seeing with a Blind Eye"

more later,

Morgainne

ICAD 28, Cats & Dogs, "True Nature"

LAW 99: ICAD 2016

So, through the good offices of a Facebook friend i was introduced to the world of ICAD. Which is quite simply a lovely 61 day art challenge. The challenge, to make a work of art on an index card every day for 61 days. There are daily prompts, weekly themes and an over arching element that ties everything together; if you choose to go that way.

ICAD 1 mixtape

ICAD 2 PYRAMID

For some people the prompt is an unbelievably useful tool, providing a much needed trigger for creativity and inspiration. For others it can be a road block to getting things done. Whether you use the prompts, or go off into the wild blue by yourself, either way, or some combination of both it's all cool.

ICAD 3 SNOOPY

The point is MAKE THE ART, experiment, play, take chances. Post your work, get positive feedback, and it all is, meet interesting people, make friends.

ICAD 4 OFF PROMPT

Get the drift? It's a no brainer, no lose situation.

ICAD 5 CLOUDS

I started thinking that i was going to play across the board, particularly with materials; a week and a half in i can tell that i am probably going to stick to collage. The smaller size, 4 x 6" is a challenge in and of itself. I intend to use as much painted background and drawing techniques in the collages as i  can force myself into. I've always been something of a purist with my collage work. Along the way i will set myself daily challenges, as well as tempting to work to the daily theme. This is definitely outside of my comfort zone. I have always felt that my strongest work is improvisational in nature.

ICAD 6 TOP TEN

Sitting down with a blank piece of paper and a folder of random imagery is my favorite way to get started. Perhaps this challenge comes at a fortunate moment. I haven't added to my portfolio of collage materials in some time. I'm getting pretty familiar with what i have, so it is getting more difficult to surprise myself with new juxtapositions.

ICAD 7 PINBALL

ICAD 8 ISLAND

My intention is to build separate  page here on Life Art Water for the ICAD challenge. I plan on doing updates weekly. So if you want to check it out……

ICAD  9 COMPASS

More later,
Morgainne(that would be me, Gail)


PS: Will do these weekly from now on so you don't have so much to look at at once.

ICAD 10 COBALT BLUE

ICAD 11 BASEBALL

LAW 98: Know thy Farmer!

Oh yea, summer is in full swing. There are many signs and portents, ticks, mosquitos, more boats in the marina, parties every weekend; but best of all the sudden explosion of fresh, ripe, local food!

Friday we went down to Zahradka's, knowing that the strawberries were at their peak. We were not wrong. Upon entering the farm stand and zeroing in on the aforementioned strawberries we were offered the opportunity to pick our own for half the picked price. How could i go wrong? Mungo was a little leery, with his only pick your own experience being many years ago in the snake infested fields of Florida. I prevailed.

Strawberry Booty!

A short drive, i think it would have been easier to walk, through the fields part us to yes, Strawberry Fields forever. Strawberries as far as the eye could see. With only one other person for competition. Well there were chickens and Guinea Fowl, but they were only interested in the bugs. Yes, we get our eggs here as well. Nothing better than eggs from a happy free range chicken. Half an hour later we had barely scratched the surface of one row of strawberries, but we did have a full flat of berries. Now, what to do with 8 quarts of strawberries?

1. Eat a whole quart just sitting around watching the water.
2. Use two quarts for a killer trifle for the party on Saturday.
3. Eat another quart for breakfast and snackies because they are so awesome.
4. Slice and freeze three quarts for later use.
5. Use the last quart to make the most killer awesome, no churn strawberry ice cream i have ever had, I kid you not!

Yes, radishes as big as… great for pickles!

Mungo does not know what to think, as i have made dessert twice in a row. Definitely not my usual mode. Aah, but they were so good! We actually started with dessert at the party as we were pretty sure that it wouldn't last. It didn't.

bucket of green goodness

Our friend Catfish joined us for dinner last night; Seafood Gumbo, divine! We finished the night off with two helpings each of the Strawberry ice cream. We didn't want it to languish in the freezer. My hats off to the site, dishinwithdi, i admit to being skeptical. i didn't think that a no churn ice cream would have an acceptable, much less great texture. It did. Try it, easy as pie, well easy and worth the few minutes of effort it took.

strawberry ice cream ready for the freezer

I could go on and on about all the great food from this weekend, but, really, i don't think you should be forced into attempting to eat your screen.

More later,
Morgainne

PS, don't forget to check out The Floating Empire and WildShore Press.

As you can see Magellan loves his scratcher.

LAW 97: Another commission complete!

Wow! What a relief to have finally finished this commission yesterday. It is at once a relief and a letdown. Over the Thanksgiving holidays my good friend and most excellent American poet, Brian Felder, commissioned me to create two journals out of his 'retired' Marine dress uniform, one to go to him, and one to a good friend he made while in 'Nam.

The parameters i had to work with were, the material itself. We decided to use the lining of the 'blouse' for the front and end papers. His shoulder insignia would be the decorative element on the front cover, and the binding had to replicate the background colors of the Vietnam service medal, which is also the colors of the ARVN(army of South Vietnam) flag.

Brian's second book, spine view

The original idea was to find a paper of the correct yellow, and of a sufficient weight to stand up to 'field work'. No such paper seemed to exist, so we comprised on a ribbon 'binding' on the spine of each signature. This actually worked quite well, providing a substantial degree of protection for the paper along the binding edge. As an FYI, it also makes it much, much more difficult to bind. I will do it again, if someone asks, nicely, and of course agrees to pay a significant premium for this service.

This is first time i have done a multiple color binding up and down the spine of the book. I was resistant to the idea as i knew that there would be technical issues that would annoy me. But like a good little artist working on a paying commission i did do what the customer asked for. If any of you out there have done any book binding using the Coptic or Saddle stitch you will immediately realize why i did not wish to go this route. I will admit however, that it did work, and although the additional tie offs in each signature added bulk, it was not as bad as i feared. Yes, i would do it again. Yes, for an additional $$….

Inside front cover, what fun to cut out!

The idea was to use these lovely silk paintings for a decorative element, as a front piece. The paintings come from 'Tourist' Christmas Cards sold to the American GI's, usually at the PXs. It wasn't until i actually was about halfway through the second book that i realized that i could easily cut up, down actually, the frame around the silk painting. I couldn't see using the card as is, as they were too large for the space. So i rather laboriously cut out the dragon and inner frame. It is really pretty amazing what you can do with a little patience and an exacto knife.

Inside back cover, functional pocket

Altogether i am pleased with the result. The back inside cover has a 'breast' pocket attached. I sure that it will  useful element of the book. Any how, another commission done, i took the day off yesterday. I lounged about, read, allowed Mungo to make supper for us, and finished the day off with a sunset cruise in the Dharma Duck. Magellan, the most magnificent ship's cat went with us for the first time. I am please to report that he had a lovely time, didn't freak out. We are looking forward to many more cat accompanied sails in the future.

Magellan, as figurehead, yes i know it's usually a woman!

If you are interested in seeing some of the other books i have made please visit LAW's 49 through 55, where you will find most of them. Or if it rocks your boat you could always talk to me about making a special book, just for you.

more later,
Morgainne

LAW 96: Memorial Day weekend.

Finally the gods of sun and rain have cooperated, allowing for a beautifully hot, brilliantly blue weekend of water fun. People actually started rolling in well before the weekend officially started; boats were being splashed with abandon and the party began.

Friday dinner, oh amazing!

Our weekend started with an amazing dinner on Friday evening. Tuna kabobs, cabbage salad in the Syrian style, grilled sweet corn and fresh green onions and radishes. Yum yum yum! I did the tuna in a hybrid style, Mediterranean in concept, Malayasian in flavoring and execution. Instead of skewering fresh lemon quarters with the fish i used some of the preserved lemon that i made about a month ago. Preserved lemon is amazing, and easy to make. I can not imagine not having them in the frig! Syrian style cabbage salad is hands down our favorite, it does take a little prior planning as you do need to salt the shredded cabbage for about an hour. After that you rinse the cabbage, make a dressing of lots and lots of finely minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and about 1/4tsp dried mint. Heavenly!

Can you spot the amphibian?

Today in lieu of a walk to the grocery store we went out to Marshy Point Nature Center and hike the Vernal Pond trail. As it's name implies it is a temporary springtime pond. With all the rain we've had lately the pond is still beautifully full. The tadpoles we saw brimming in the pond late last month are now hopping merrily about after their transformation. Frogs and toads galore out on the trail.

UFO's on the horizon

We both thought that the cloud formations were very odd looking, rather UFO ish!

Reflections

Magellan, most beloved ship's cat went swimming for the first time on Friday evening. We aren't sure, but think that he mis-judged the jump from finger pier to boat. Mungo was on the phone with a friend, i was up in he loft reading when a splash was heard, and shortly there after a very wet kitty was at the door. It is very reassuring to know that he can get back onboard by himself.

well, sigh, it is clouding up, tropical storm Bonnie is moving in and we expect to see rain in a couple of hours. Sigh.


More later,
Morgainne