On one planet, it rained paisley.

"paisley"

I wasn't too enamoured of this week's IF topic of "paisley" at first. I prefer the very abstract themes. But after doing a little mind map brain-storming, it turned out that you just can't predict inspiration. I'm really rather loving my little alien, who seems to be turning up all over the universe. I have a sneaking suspicion that my subconscious produced this little purple-suited alien because I have some fellow-feeling for a being in strange new surroundings.

I think there must be several of them on that pink flying saucer and they're on rather a long holiday, adventuring round the universe. They stopped by Earth for some ice cream, and blew some bubbles as they left. Here, one of them is rather surprised by the form precipitation takes on an otherwise ordinary blue-green planet.


Photographs by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Some days are better than others

The owl and the pussycat

I struggled with this painting. It just didn't want to come out how I was picturing it. My sweetie was very helpful with some constructive criticism. At first my cat totally looked like a mouse. I did some fixing and now it sort of looks like a cross between a cat and a bunny. Oh well. In addition to the mouse-y cat, it was originally very flat-looking, so I added a defined horizon line and a bunch of shading to the boat. Later, I twiddled with the water, adding some more shading and a bit of green and pink around the boat. And I spontaneously added a fish to balance the composition. I decided that I was satisfied enough with it that I'd better quit before I futzed with it anymore. While I'm working on something is when I tend to feel most critical of it, since I'm focused on all the bits that aren't turning out how I wanted. Usually it grows on me later. And in any case, it's all good practice with my new paints.

Photographs by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

A ripple in the ocean

"ripple"

This week's IF topic was "ripple". I did a cheerful interpretation first, but then I learned about the Ripple sketches project, which is raising money for helping the creatures affected by the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill.

The idea is that artists create a small artwork on the subject and the works are available through the Ripple project for a mere $10 donation to The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies or The International Bird Rescue Research Center.

My art tends to come from a happy place, so I did not find a sad and depressing issue like the oil spill inherently inspirational. I wanted to contribute to the project, though, so I've done a watercolour and coloured pencil illustration of a brown pelican. The brown pelican is one of the creatures affected by the spill. If you want to help and get a piece of art in the mail, go see all the available works here.


Photographs by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Fragile Facade

Fragile Facade
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

So here is the first card made with some inchies. As usual, the paper bits come from that tatty old copy of Jane Eyre that I've been chopping up for my collages. There's also some pencil crayon, water pencil crayon, watercolour, and ink. The middle square is based on a doodle in my sketchbook from more than a year ago. All my inchies are one-of-a-kind... I find that I keep having new ideas before I'm even finished with the current one. I might play with the same themes, but individually, they'll be unique.

Inchies

a snowman in june?
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I've been working on little "inchies", which are inch-squared works of art. I will likely mount them in groupings on cards. For now, each is its own end. The snowman was one of the first that I finished. I don't know why, but I often catch myself singing Christmas carols in the summer for no apparent reason (on one notable occasion I was singing O Come All Ye Faithful in Latin in my husband's parent's kitchen in July!). I am loving that it's summer, but somehow, when I looked at the spotted blue fabric, I thought it looked like snow falling.

Read between the lines ...

Read between the lines
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I've listed a couple new collage/mixed media cards in my etsy shop: a string girls one and a woven paper collage one.

The latter was a bit of an experiment as a result of a mishap. I mucked up the alignment of my signature stamp on the back of a card, so it was essentially scrap. I started thinking about how I could use part of it to make a fun flap-door on a card. From there, I was thinking of hidden meanings, and the phrase "read between the lines" popped into my head. You can see the front of the card in my Papery set at flickr or click through on the etsy listing.

String girls and the philosophy of tangibility

A Walk in the Park
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I made this card on Earth Day and used that as my inspiration. The card involved repurposing some scraps of old fabric for the dresses and tree and the theme of the card was reverence for nature. How I imagine these two string girls is that they are a Mom and daughter in the park pointing at things they see like flowers and birds.

I recently sent a couple of my string girl cards in the mail (for Mother's Day). I wanted to test them before including them in a craft fair or at my etsy shop. They turn out to have no problem going as regular lettermail, though I did include a protective piece of bristol board so that no mail sorting machines could catch on the twine. While I know that people often give cards in person or along with a present, I want my cards to also be suitable for the mail. I think it's important to keep those ties to loved ones who are far away.

Email is very convenient, but I don't get the same satisfaction either sending or receiving it as I do with a tangible note that I can hold in my hands. While there are environmental reasons to try to cut down on paper usage, there are times where a virtual version can't and shouldn't compare to the real thing. I don't know anyone who displays emails on their mantlepiece, for example. A handmade card makes the thought more special. There are also some situations where a real card is the only appropriate way to express your sentiments (e.g. weddings or condolences). There's something about being able to hold a message in your hands and know that the sender also held it. That sense of continuity and tangibility makes the connection and sentiments more real.

String girls and the creative process

Fly with me
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
On Saturday, I was playing with some bits of jute twine snippings and out of that came these string girls. The first one was actually Sun girl because I started by making the sun and then I was experimenting with knotting the leftover bits of twine. It was quite an organic process as I just followed what the medium told me and suddenly, a form appeared. My creative method sometimes starts with a fully formed idea in my mind, which I then attempt execute. This can be a frustrating method when I can't achieve what I saw in my mind's eye, but it can also be very satisfying to conceive a vision, then make it reality. But there's a certain joy to the magic of just playing with things and letting one thing lead to the next. You end up with this sense of natural creation.... that it was meant to be that way.

Did you notice the pink tulips on the Sun Girl card? Those were a bit of the Petits Gateaux box.

These cards are difficult to photograph because of their three-dimensional nature. I've left the arms, legs, and pigtails free, so they have a lovely sense of movement in person... like they're reaching off the card.

petit assemblage

petit assemblage
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I've been playing around with some collage and mixed media works recently. I had to put them aside until I had the rest of the supplies that I wanted. I have now acquired some little 4x4 canvases and some finishing spray and I'm looking forward to finalizing the layouts.

The inspiration was a tatty old French translation of Jane Eyre that I found for $1.00 in a local bookshop. I just started out randomly playing with bits of words and paper... and then I happened across the word petit and the word assemblage. Fate.

(for the non-French speakers, "petit assemblage" translates roughly to "little collection").