framed individual moths & butterfly

I have framed five of the moth/butterfly watercolors that I painted for "The Little Book of Metamorphosis" - which is still just a possibility for a handmade book, not a finished item.

These five look quite nice all framed identically in maple wood with soft white matting. I have them hung in a vertical row in my kitchen right now, but look forward to putting them in an exhibit together at some point.

Beetles accepted

I found out this morning that my submission to the Marin Community Foundation exhibit was accepted! Beautiful Beetles will hang with 11 other pieces of art (each from a different artist) representing the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibit, titled COLLECTIVES, will consist of 12 pieces from each of 12 Marin art organizations. Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (Marin MOCA) has selected Beautiful Beetles as one of their 12.

The exhibit, from September 12 - January 3, will be located at the Marin Community Foundation: 5 Hamilton Landing, Suite 200, Novato, CA 94949.

There will be a reception on Thursday, October 20 from 4-6 pm.

Four Moths, One Butterfly, and their Caterpillars

"Four Moths, One Butterfly and their Caterpillars" is what I'm calling my newest project using the moth, butterfly and caterpillar images I've had in mind for a Little Book of Metamorphosis. This new piece might be considered an artist book, since it can fold up into a flat square. Really, it's more of a wall hanging of images without framing or glass.

Here are the steps involved:

First, I made color prints of four moths and a butterfly, then mounted them on 9.5x11 mat board squares. The moth/butterfly images have three colors of handmade torn paper around them: marigold, paprika, and natural. These torn papers are all glued on top of one another to create an interesting series of borders to the images.

Next, I glued three long pieces of translucent, natural colored ribbon down the backs of the boards. There's about 1 inch of ribbon showing between each board, so that they will hang vertically, separated by one inch.

Pale grey paper was then glued on the back of the boards, on top of the ribbons.

Lacy, natural colored handmade paper was glued onto the grey paper.

Color prints of five caterpillars, along with the common and scientific names, were glued onto the lacy paper.

I tore very thin (1/4") strips of the marigold paper and glued it around each caterpillar image to create a single color border. The lacy natural paper behind becomes the wide border. No paprika used on this side.

Finally, the ends of the 3 ribbons were sewed into loops at the top and bottom of the entire group, then trimmed off. This allows me to put a stick through for both hanging the piece and giving it a top and bottom "frame".

The front side is meant to be the moths & butterfly, while their caterpillars and identification are on the back of the hanging. It can be hung with either side showing, however.

Oddly enough, this project took MUCH longer than just framing the originals!

Juried Exhibitions

I found out today that both "Reflections" and "Phantom Memories" were accepted into the Poetry of Place show at Marin Society of Artists. I probably won't make it to the reception, since it's the same day as my concert this Sunday. However, the show will be up from August 14 - September 4, 2011.

The CA Watercolor Society's 42 Annual National Show will be hosted by Marin Society of Artists this year for the first time. (Their usual venue for the past few years has been the Officer's Club in the SF Presidio, which is unavailable this summer.) I'm thrilled to have "Basilisk, Orchids, Frogs" in that exhibit. The show will be open to the public from September 8 - October 9, with an Artists Reception on Sunday, September 18 from 1-4 pm.

Reflections

One of my favorite photos from the choral trip is of leaves reflecting in the turquoise waters of the Pletvice Lakes in Croatia. I had to do some digital work in Photoshop to get rid of an obstruction in one corner, but most of the image is exactly like the actual place. The lovely colors are not altered at all. This one, titled Reflections, is also printed on 11x17 paper and ready to frame for the "Poetry of Place" juried show at Marin Society of Artists.