Friday, April 9, 2010

Art Hangups or Slap Together School of Art

Happy Spring Y'all!  It's been an unseasonably warm week and is now cool and gray outside. But things are blooming and Summer seems once again possible.

I have been taking a clue from you and trying to create more art. My collage art sometimes gets too tight and too "perfectionistic," in which case it ceases to be fun and I don't make anything for long periods. My time after Christmas is usually a dry, non productive time. But I want to create and I want to keep up the momentum when I do! When this happens, I revert to the Slap Together School of Art. I created the "school of art" to help a hung-up-on-perfection friend, and it works for me too.

Cleaning out my studio in January, I kept kicking around a piece of cardboard that seemed like a perfect junky tag. I looked at it for a couple of months. I watched Diane Knott making those lovely tags every day and actually won a runner-up gift on her give-away. It was filled with sweet tagable scraps and clips, pieces of lace, and ribbon. I started with a small piece of background paper, a magazine card rose picture, printed out a sweet sepia girl and the piece started to come together. My idea here is to stop obsessing and just glue it down. So I did. It came out pretty cute. I call it "The Key to a Pretty Girl's Heart.


The next two were fun--little birds you gave me were cut out and placed over sheet music with feathers and flowers, On a roll~



I realized that the point of Slap Together is to not measure and cut too much, but to tear and distress everything I could. I like the wallpaper-type prints over the distressed cardboard. It reminds me of old lath and plaster under crumbling wallpaper. That brought me to make The Traveling Salesman using clip art from my blogger friends and an old picture from my family album. I found a train ticket and postcard picture in my ephemera and hung it from a Tim Holtz chained clip. As you can see, I make up little stories about them as I go along.


But my favorite so far are Sophie's Choice and Dear Edward. Don't you think they were made for each other?  The flowers are a little modern but I like the contrast to the distressed background.



Art is evolution. I think I will keep this up for a while. I like the raggedy ones the best. What do you think? Shall I keep slapping them together?  My goal for April is to open my own Esty shop. You will be the first to know when.  Stay tuned, dear friends!

18 comments:

  1. Hi Sherry, I love your art! Yes, the rustic ones are very pretty..just love them! Gerry

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  2. Absolutely!!! Keep slapping them together, you are on a roll!
    I found the same thing while embroidering - the ones that were carefully stitched weren't nearly as interesting or artistic as the ones where I just trusted my instincts and went for it.
    So, go Sherry go!!! Keep them comin'!
    Hugs,
    Zuzu

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  3. Sherry your tags are absolutely wonderful!! I love the shabby grungy look!!! I get so much pleasure out of being in the studio crating and I'm sure you do to so I say... Keep slapping them together girl!

    Karen
    My Desert Cottage
    Valentine Design

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  4. Sherry, these are wonderful!! I love the addition of the corrugated paper!
    Diane

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  5. Hi Sherry,
    WOW!!! They are all beautiful pieces.
    Debby

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  6. I like them, I can see them used in scrapbook pages and in mounted frames, collaged in with other stuff, momentos of years gone by. Keep going Sherry.

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  7. They are all so lovely... You absolutely should keep "slapping them together!"

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  8. Sherry, your pieces are wonderful! Yes, by all means, you must continue slapping these together. Such a cute term, but to look at these pieces, a person wouldn't think they were slapped together..they have rhythm, continuity, and a feeling of warmth to them.

    So glad to hear you'll be opening an Etsy shop. Don't forget to give us a shout-out when you go live, okay.

    Hope you have a lovely weekend.
    Blessings, Joy and Friday Sunshine, Terri

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  9. Sherry, this is gorgeous! I love it, love them all! You are very talented and I love the way you put it all together, as the pieces fit so well. It is rustique and very endearing.
    I also love your header picture.
    Have a lovely weekend, hopefully the sun will return.
    xo
    Zuzana

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  10. I love how these turned out. Your slappin' art is really good. Each one just got better and better. I'm looking forward to seeing more at your etsy shop.

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  11. beautiful and unique!

    slap on!

    xo
    elyse

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  12. Hi Sherry, hope all is well with you. I love the tags and artwork you've been making. I had some corrugated board last week I wanted to save, but I am running out of space to put things so let it go. Now I come across your lovely creations and wish I had it back. HA! I think slapping them together has worked nicely for you. And I love your shabby chic all purpose room. The colors are fabulous for the "daybed" and surrounding artwork. Gorgeous! Hope you are enjoying nice weather in your corner of the world. Blessings, Tammy

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  13. I would have tossed that piece of cardboard right into the recycling bin. You have created wonderful collaged tags from it. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love them! I'm liking the "slap together school of art" Of course, it takes talent to be a member of that "school".

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  14. Wow, I love your "slapped together" methods and especially the ones with the little birds...I always love the birds...keep going and don't forget to share your creations! Hugs - Julie

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  15. Sherry: For the tomatoes, I used Romas since they are not as juicy. I prefer the ones I get at the summer market but got these at the grocery store. I cut them in half and marinate them for about a half hour in balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper and a little sugar. I drain them and put them in a 400 degree oven for about forty minutes. I just watch them until they start to brown. I usually do a lot and put the leftovers in a jar and refrigerate them to reheat later. We really enjoy them.

    I don't agree that it doesn't take talent to put together those wonderful collages!! They are fantastic!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  16. I forgot to add that I also put a little olive oil in the marinade.

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  17. I love your projects. The slap together approach is really working for you. I should try the same.

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