28.

for brother.
'out of the inside' series

H2O.
watercolor paint, salt, isopropyl alcohol
stability.
acrylic paint
halved.
acrylic paint
little air.
watercolor paint, isopropyl alcohol

27.

sound for jocelyn boggs

christmas 2010.

acrylic and sheet paper. ink and a frame.

26.

acrylic on 2x2 inch canvas

i made this as a study for a series i am going to do on these adorable little canvases

25.

ceramic tile, tulle, acrylic paint, flowers, clock decal, tape transfer, patina, glass and frame.

how does it make you feel?

24.

impromptu #1
'godspeed'
on cardboard with acrylic craft paints and debris.

A Sunday afternoon on a picnic table under a roof that almost burnt down with several other people and a lake next to me. A sunset of sorts. A parting gift for an off-the-cuff gentleman who will depart for the West coast in a few days. Here's to you C.B.

23.

there he is.
watercolor, pencil.

Painted for A.C.V one tired, wine-induced, sensational evening of solitude.

22.

pearls before swine

I had a discussion with a friend recently about proverbs. Then i made this.

gmb

21.

'untitled'
watercolor, pencil.

I wanted to paint something quickly. I wanted to use watercolor paints. I found a postcard. It had a black and white picture of a calf with the words 'would you want to eat this face?'. I thought, 'no'. Then I began painting. I painted for a half hour and stopped. That's that.

gmb

20.

untitled

I made this right after I read STIFF : The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. The topics in the book honestly shocked and amazed me. It was gross and stomach turning at times, but captivating and delectable throughout. The bag of doll parts I scooped up at a recycling center that had been sitting in my closet untouched for almost a year came to mind immediately. I stripped a doll of its limbs and cut a square into the chest. I placed the ticking heart I crafted behind a 2cm x 2cm acrylic square and adhered the torso to the light fixture for energy. Painted that with a few shades of gold and put the cog atop her neck to resemble a thinking brain. I covered the arm sockets with round jewelry beads and small mirrors to reflect the soul.

*gmb*

19.

I painted this one for J.B for Christmas. Years and years ago he asked me to paint him some sort of tree...literally almost 7 years later....

materials: watercolor, rubbing alcohol, sea salt, ink.

I painted her for N.S for Christmas. She is based off a Sylvia Ji painting as per N.S's request. I used similar 'Day of the Dead' face painting and the flowers in huge hair.

materials: acrylic paint on canvas, felt, glitter spray.

*gmb

18.

well hi!

Here's the story:

I began INSPIRATION art this past winter as a means to keep myself occupied in my new surroundings by submerging myself in something that I positively love. For several weeks I stayed true to my objective, which was to create a piece of art inspired by a single image in one week. It must have been mid June when my next assignment was a still from the Michael Jackson's Thriller video and my mind turned off. I walked away and came back to that image so many times hoping something would come to me. Nothing. I set INSPIRATION aside for two months. I almost felt like I was forcing art, which is never a good thing. Two months passed before I got inspired by an Xray sleeve I received at work with an image of the lungs on it. Which leads me to...

materials: wooden frame, paint, textured paper, tulle, jewlery, ink, crackling gloss, key, tape trasfer, colored pencil.

I received the lung image on an xray sleeve at work. At home I cut in between the veins and placed textured paper behind. I drew the heart, lightly colored it red and placed a tape transfer of chinese newspaper over it. I ink stamped the word "ENTRI" (Italian for 'enter') and placed jewelry beads around the lettering and poured crackling gloss in them. I rubbed the frame with a concoction of acrylic gel and acrylic paint of course...adhered the tulle and the key and here we go....now you have the key to my heart.....enter.

*gmb

17.

Hi.
I made this card for my friend Emilee to congratulate her. I chose a matryoska doll because she and I both enjoy them.

'congrats'

assorted papers, ink, lace.

*gmb

15.

Once upon a Wednesday night.....

We made hair decorations!

tuck your hair!
turkey feathers, peacock feathers, pheasant feathers, button.

untuck your hair!

wear it on the side!
peacock feathers, pheasant feathers, some standard feathers from some standard bird, ribbon, flair.

wear it in the back!

ooooooh boooy!!!!!

*gmb and cmn

14.

INSPIRATION ART

Week Seven
(c.n*)
april 27, 2009

the inspiration:

the result:

"nelle nubi: in the clouds"

wooden frame, paper, ink, paint, twigs, pine cones, grass, pebbles, satin flowers, beads, ribbon, tulle, plastic leaves.

A lot of my friends have expressed interest in helping choose the INSPIRATION each week, or they suggest certain images or themes. Some have even emailed me images that they think I will enjoy (and I certainly do). This week, I let my roommate, *Caitlin Nadeau choose Inspiration. Pasta. I immediately saw the birds nest shaped pasta and thought 'nature'. I thought it would be an easy task, but it took me three weeks to finally settle on something. I originally tried to transfer images of fern onto an Urban Outfitters bag, but it adhered too well and I had trouble getting the image to show through. I held the frame vertical at first and used leftover fern paper and cut out large block letters that read "NATURE" and used the pebble idea with cheesy red flowers at the bottom, painted the frame this purplish-pink-gray color and let it sit for two weeks. I also tried to crackle the frame using a base coat of gold and an overcoat of the purple concoction. I used Elmers clear glue and it didn't work to crackle the top coat. I have used carpenters glue before and it worked wonderfully....didn't have that on hand, so I used what I had and it failed. Now I know. The clear glue created dried paint and glue globs so I sanded it down, turned the frame horizontal, used different flowers, painted over the gray-pink mush and changed the background paper.... and I am okay with it. I made a girl flying out of the nest and wrote the text in Italian because of pasta. It reads, "Nelle Nubi: in the clouds" Put some pine cones in the nest instead of eggs and away we go!

**gmb

13.

INSPIRATION ART

Week Six
(a)
april 06, 2009

the inspiration:

the result:

front
('embrace')
back
('HUG')

wooden shadow box, moss, dried flowers, ribbon, wire, sticks, pearls, doll arms, wooden heart, textured paper, ink, paint.

tell me 'bout it: I was originally going to try to create a sculpture using a comb and some wire, and then I was going to try to paint with a comb (comb because the boy looks like he could use one). I settled on another shadow box when I discovered I still had one hanging around. I tried to create the field with the moss and the long grass with the dried flowers. The doll arms and the tangled wire represent the embrace between the two, and the crocheted pieces are clouds. It might be easier to see the smaller parts if you click the picture to enlarge it. This way you can clearly see the asian newspaper layered under the textured paper with leaves in it and the stamped word 'embrace'. On the back if you zoom in you can see how the box is painted with layered gray and metallic red.

*gmb

12.

in the meantime....

I'm not finished with this weeks INSPIRATION yet, but I wanted to post this little do dad I did a few months ago. I was at a flea market and saw some degarotypes (deguerrotype)...which led to me wanting to make my own version. I bought a frame at the flea market aaaaannnndddd....

metal frame, clay flower, metal hangy, glitter, rub on (that I kept the backing on so it wasn't so transparent), pearls (that aren't quite pictured, but I assure you they are hiding behind that flower).

Very simple. Kinda cute on the wall. My degarotype.

*gmb

11.

INSPIRATION ART

WEEK FIVE
(g)
march 18, 2009

the inspiration:
the result:

front

back

blown out side

tin box, nails, paint, beads, paper, dried flower, metal cross.

on the piece: The inspiration is a picture I took at the Boston Public Library. I looked past the lights and focused on the wood. It reminded me of the ceiling in the Worcester Art Museum that was in the medieval dated art room. This led to me thinking of a shrine. I researched shrines and came across 'nicho's', which are traditionally tin or glass cases that hold images of saints, or ex-votos (devotional paintings of thanks) for household alters. I distressed an altoids tin and a metal cross and ran nails through the holes that used to afix the lid to the box. I created a 'steeple' on top and did a tape image transfer of mother Mary over text. Before I decided to make her a tape transfer, I colored her lips and cheeks. The color remained even after I rubbed the image and set it in warm water....I thought that was neat. I thought I had a really fun idea to begin with, but it turned into a headache when I really wanted it to look a certain way, but didn't have the resources. I don't feel as if it is completely done, but it's good enough to post for now and I'm sure I will find a seashell or acorn...or a baby's sneeze and glue it on there to finish it.

Amber is taking a break from this little project due to her taking an altered arts course that has become quite involved, but she will continue to send me a picture when it is her turn.

*gmb

10.

INSPIRATION ART

Week Four
(a)
march 1, 2009

the inspiration:

the result:

front cover
'memento'
inside
inside left
inside right
back

small tin, doll arms, string, moss, mirror, clock parts, beads, embellishments, assorted papers, paint, tulle, ink, glitter spray, sticker.

on the piece: I immediately knew I wanted to use a container. I also knew I didn't want to use stamps, but wanted to maintain the travel theme. Trinket, souvenir, memento, memories......time travel! The trinket box came together as I sat and stared at it. It was a lot of fitting and gluing and ripping off pieces and walking away and eventually it came together and I was sufficiently satisfied with it. It's a trinket box from the fourth dimension, which I slip in and out of from time....to time.

*gmb

9.

INSPIRATION ART

Week Three
(g)
february 21, 2008

the inspiration:

the result:

materials used: gesso, paint, paper, tape, clock hand stickers on particle board.

on the piece: I chose a cross section image of a tomato for this weeks assignment. My initial thoughts were 'pin-cushion, fruit or vegetable identity crisis, mr. tomato head, soup...and finally, innards'. Innards became anatomy and birth. I took this opportunity to learn something new and decided to try image transferring as I have always liked the look and versatility of the technique. You can layer several images and still be able to see each individual part. I started with the particle board and adhered an image of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man". I then transferred text from one of my college Biology books on human egg development. The text at the bottom is a test sheet from the printer. The barely visible (although if you click on the picture, it will enlarge. I mention this as if you may not know because I only recently discovered this) fetus on top is from a series of studies done by da Vinci and the text behind it is from a botony book. I used tape transfers of a man and woman stripped of flesh. The same technique was used for the tomato. I then splashed it with some watered down gesso and gold paint and ooo la la! I'm really happy with this piece...a nice recovery from last week.

*gmb

I posted a few days early because I finished the piece in two days as it was fairly easy. Amber will have both last week and this weeks assignments done for Tuesday at the very latest.

8.

INSPIRATION ART

WEEK TWO
(a)
february 16, 2009

the inspiration:

the result:

materials used: oil treated paper (made in 5th grade at natures classroom), napkin, velvet, various papers, potpourri, doily, brads, paint, cardboard cutouts, glitter.

on the piece: I had a really hard time with this assignment. I immediately wanted to use a girl with big eyes, inspired by the toy frogs eyes and have her be the focal point while the background is out of focus (also inspired by the original photo), but something very different occured. I made the girl's head and made the frog prince and could not piece together anything for a background, for they are the very bane of my existence! I finally put him on a branch and then just started gluing mindlessly and this is what I produced. I'm not too crazy about the real twigs and flowers against flat paper shapes and fake flowers. It's not at all what I wanted it to look like, but it was fun anyways!

*gmb

-amber had some trouble with this assignment as well. She basically melted hers and has to start over. I'll update with her link when she has completed it.