ABC page: B for Balance

I have completed my second page in my ABC altered book. I used the word Balance for my B page. Besides a dictionary definition of the word I included several different images for the various meanings. I have a gymnast on a Balance beam that I made from a popsicle stick and painted. I have added round beads to my picture of the game of equilibria. And I have added colored buttons to represent the algebraic equation on the balance scale.

Portrait Series

Today in Red 2 we started learning about portrait drawing. We started out by drawing an oval shape on the paper. We then measured 1/2 way down the shape and made a mark. From there we measured 1/2 way between those two marks. This would help us with the placement of the eyes and bottom of the lips. We drew a line from one side of the oval to the other where we were going to place our eyes. We then learned that the space between one side of our face to the other is equal to 5 lengths of our eye. This helped us to get our eyes centered on the page. After the eyes we learned about the nose placement. From there we worked on our lips and that they were the same length as the distance from the center of one pupil to the center of the other pupil. We added our eyebrows next. We learned that our ears are the same length as the distance from the bottom of our eye to the bottom of our nose. We then learned the difference between drawing in hair on a male or female. By the end of the class each student had completed a portrait drawing.

ABC Altered Book, letter A

Our high school library was getting ready to throw away some books that are no longer used. I brought 3 home as I think they will make great altered books. I have decided to do an ABC book with the first one. I prepared my book by ripping out the extra pages I wouldn't be needing, and then gluing the rest of the pages together. I now have a book that has one two page spread for each letter of the alphabet. I chose to do angels for my A spread. I added the dictionary's definition of the word and then added pictures, my own drawing and a few added items to finish out the page. I am looking forward to starting on the letter B. I have chosen the word balance to use for that spread.

The Scream

The kids in my Black 2 art class have been learning about "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. We created our own versions of the scream. I choose to use oil pastels for my media on this project.

Lavender Roses For Erin M.

One of the girls that works for me wanted me to try my hand at painting lavender roses for her. She is into music, movies and the roses. I did this as a watercolors painting. It is my third attempt at watercolors painting. I'm calling it "Lavender Roses For Erin".

Continue the Line

In my Red 2 class we were working on a Continue the Line project. We found a picture in a magazine and cut out a section. We then glued it to our page and continued the line on out onto the page. I found a really cool picture of an old log and shrubs in a snow bank. We also added a small amount of color to the picture to add interest. I choose to add the color to my snow.

February challenge

One of the altered book clubs I belong to has a monthly challenge. February's is to add more layers to your work. I made this attempt, but still feel I could have done a better job on the layering aspect. I have a journal book that I have dedicated to the monthly challenge for the 2006 year. This month being Valentine's day I went with a love theme.

Cubism Unit

In our Black 2 art class we are studying Cubism. We took an image from a magazine, cut it in half, and then cut one part out. I chose the head of a woman and cut her mouth out. We then started tracing around the edges of our pieces onto our paper. We had to place the part that we cut out at least three times on the page. We worked at trying to make it look like the items over and lapped under. I then cut out the letters to form the words "The Kiss" to title my project. We used our color pencils to color in our pieces.

This is the front cover of a Valentine's Board book that I made my husband. It celebrates our spending the last 27 Valentine's days together. It started out as a Sponge Bob board book with windows that open on each page. I covered the pages with three colors of mulberry papers. He was very pleased to get this.



















This is the inside cover and shows a picture of Jim and I celebrating our first Valentine's together by attending his formal at Fort Hayes State University. Inside the windows are a picture of the first roses he ever gave me, and the top window has a clip from my dorms society chat letter about the two of us dating.


















When Jim and I were dating we went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. We took the old fashioned picture there. We would often go to the lake for the weekend. This is a picture of us there.






















Picture from Jim and I's wedding. The ring is one from his Grandmother Currier. It was the first ring her ever gave me. The velum is a copy of our wedding vows, and the bottom picture is from our wedding invitation.




















Jim and I in the early years, and the I.D. bracelet that I gave to him.


















Jim and I before we were married.




















Jim and I in the early years.



















Note card from flowers that Jim had sent me. Heart pin that he gave me one Valentine's Day.




















Quote I like by George Sand and the "key" to my heart.

















Fun stuff and my "heart" in the window.


















On this page I included a poem I have always liked by Ben Johnson. I added one of my school photos and the earrings that say I "heart" James that I bought at Worlds of Fun when we were dating.





On this page I used a card that I had given to Jim one year as my background. I included what I wrote in the card under the first window and placed a picture of Jim under the second window.













This picture is showing the last page open with the window open to reveal the latest picture of Jim and I. The next picture shows the last page with the window closed.