The Summer of Color - BROWN

"Nodland"

8 x 10 Journal page

{This page was inspired by the vintage sheet music - a lullaby entitled "Bye Bye Land" - which serves as the base of the collage}

Yellow fever!

Another wonderful week was had with Yellow. Although some of us initially expressed concern with the color, we tackled the challenge regardless and succeeded in producing an amazing amount of beautiful, inspirational pieces based upon the signature hue of Summer. Thank you once again for sharing your heart and art with us here and with one another on Flickr and Facebook as we continue our colorful journey together . . .

Did you hear?

The winner of last week's Yellow drawing (pictured in the post below) is . . .

YOU

Please Email your address to kdvanvalkenburghatmsndotcom and I will get your goodies right out.

Now, welcome to BROWN week!

Your color prompt for this week (Monday July 11th to Sunday July 17th) is to create anything your heart desires inspired by color Brown. Your Bonus! challenge is to incorporate a bold shot of color somewhere in your work. As always, please (A) link your work in the widget below so that others can find you, (B) leave one comment if you created a Brown piece and (C) leave two comments in you completed the Bonus! challenge. 

And did you see all those vintage pretties?

This week's Brown giveaway will include a lot of 'em . . .

The Paper Company Flourish rub-ons, several (okay 6 ;) large vintage ledger pages, several pieces of vintage sheet music, Distress Ink in Pumice Stone, one distressed tag, a few sheets of mica, Stickles glitter in Cinnamon and Copper and a sprinkling of bronze Swarovski flat-back crystals

And what is next week's color prompt?

RED

(Monday July 18th - Sunday July 24th)

"Red protects itself. No colour is as territorial. It stakes a claim, is on alert against the spectrum."

- Derek Jarman

Is there a Bonus! challenge with Red?

Yep. Should you decide to take it on, next week's Bonus! challenge is to incorporate something - anything - winged into your work. This can be taken literally or figuratively, the choice is yours.

Have fun . . .

Kristin xo

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

Altered 5 x 7 canvas panels

"Conceiving"

"It was True"

I've had a hankering to do a piece on Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath for a while now. It was a memorable high school prerequisite for me - the story of the Joad family who were forced to travel great distances in order to make a better life for themselves in the midst of the great depression - and I've found myself referring to it's message of humanity and survival quite a lot in the last couple of years. I think it's concepts are as timeless today as they were when the American classic was first published in 1939. 

So I started by picking out a few quotes that really spoke to me. I found two that inspired me and based the 5 x 7 canvas panels that you see here around them. . . 

These were created by first adhering a page from the book (which contained the quote I wanted to use) with matte gel to the canvas panel. I wanted a worn, messy look, so I set the page slightly off center and then sealed it with more gel. When dry, I used petroleum jelly on the bits I wanted to highlight and then covered the rest of the panel in a light wash of copper acrylic (to represent the Oklahoma "red country"). When that layer had dried, I wiped off the jelly to reveal the text I was after. Charcoal (both white and black) and sandpaper were then used to further distress the piece before stamping the sides with foliage and swirls meant to represent grape leaves. I then pulled out some period pieces, ephemera and photos in an effort to describe the passage. Final touches included "painting" the leaves with two colors of fine glitter and highlighting the vines with a gold gel pen.

"Conceiving" features a piece of broken tape measure, chunks of mica and wire, a photograph from the 1930's and the following quote: "For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments."

"It is True" incorporates some of the same elements in addition to a vintage photograph of a man (meant to represent the character who spoke), a piece of a vintage receipt book and several vintage glass tubes tied with wire. The quote here reads: "Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an' all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit - the human sperit - the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of."

Thanks for looking! I'm now on to painting again - I need to get my "girlie" fix . . . 

Kristin xo