* New Interface and The Old Days ...

I have no idea what's happening to my blog.  Since I posted last, the font has entirely changed and I don't like it.  Maybe it's time for a new look anyway  - just not that one.  OK, now I've complained about the new interface I can move on.

The old days ... ah yes.  It was 2001 and I joined my first art group on the web.  Exciting stuff.  I had a brand new mac, and I was a happy camper.  We swapped everything but the kitchen sink, and did round robins for Altered Books.  I had not been exposed to any of this before, but fell into it up to my neck and loved every minute of it.  Collage was Queen ... we were all gah gah over it.  Oh, you could go and buy rubber stamps, a few trinkets,  and some pretty paper, but absolutely nothing like it is today.

Today I came across one book where Carolyn Summers had been in the round robin as well.  I saved my pages and Carolyn's - the others went in the bin.  I'm going to bind what I have as a memory book.  I made some photographs of the book I called "Other Whimsey" - here are the pages I'm keeping.  You can really see the difference between 'then and now'.  It got me hooked on the web and this kind of art.  Been involved in something ever since.

I remember getting such a kick out of creating "A bad day at the house of Ylang Ylang"  Ylang being a beautiful smelling concoction which keeps everyone calm and mellow.   In this house, absolutely everything is in chaos, except for the horse with the boy on it's back sitting by the front door.  Just tickled my sense of humour and still does.

I'd spend hours looking for just the right images and place them in just the right place!  It kept me quiet anyway.  These are all single pieces placed into a collage.

These pages were Carolyn's contribution to my book.  I loved them then and I love them now.  When I looked through the books, I realized that most of the artists involved didn't have a clue what they were doing.  I didn't either, but I learned fast and enjoyed it so much, I got to be OK in a hurry.

This was the group I met Carolyn in.  She loves oriental arrangements and also did this beautiful page.

That's it for today my lovely's.  Hope you are all well and happy and creating fabulous art.  What would we do without it.  xoxo  Donna

"You get your intuition back when you make space for it, when you stop the chattering of the rational mind."

~ Anne Lamott