A Piece of the Puzzle

The sixth & final challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from the world

& to include one or more of the following;

CIRCLE(s)
the words PEACE, LOVE, HARMONY or UNITY
wire, stitching, lace or ribbon
the colour WHITE 
a HOLE or OPENING
​

Throughout this tournament

I have been working in a small handmade paper book.

My piece is entitled

Find Peace

For the main part of my piece, I used a blank jigsaw puzzle.

I took a photograph of three Pocket Cards by Tim Holtz,
including a map of the world.
.
I printed it out on photocopy paper,
then individually cut out, adhered & sanded the edges of each piece.

Open the door to reveal the wording beneath
(using the white brad as the door handle).

The circle kraft resist card is by Tim Holtz.

I altered the jigsaw edging to create my frame,
using gold peel offs, crackle glaze with layers of gesso & acrylic paint.

I wrapped gold beading wire through the holes three times,
securing the ends under the World word.

The jigsaw puzzle illustrates that we each have a part to play
in this interconnected world.

It needs all the pieces to make it complete.

Wherever you find yourself,
may you find
your own Peace.

She was Independent

The fifth challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from America

& to include one or more of the following;

Shades of green
Something transparent or sharp, like ice
A large format feature, XXL size
An element suggestive of money and currency
One or more elements inspired by music and/or Samba
Decorations made of feathers, metal, leather…
​

Throughout this tournament

I am working in a small handmade paper book.

My piece is entitled

Independent

I used differing elements from Tim Holtz

to bring cohesion to my page.

There are shades of green in the map,

the birds & the decorative patterned paper.

The metal embellishment

has an image of a United States Postal Money Order,

which is also green.

The red star is transparent & has sharp points.

There are also feathers (on the birds).

The images of car license plates is to echo the red, white & blue of the flag.

I added some text from an old book

& printed my title word.

There is one final challenge yet to be announced.

The Spice of Life

The fourth challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from Africa

& to include one or more of the following;

Warm, bright colours 
Repeated ethnic patterns
Charms, pearls, metallic wire…
Words or text
Textures, cracks, rust effect...
​

Throughout this tournament

I am working in a small handmade paper book.

I decided to go for bright colours,
text & texture.

When I think of Africa I think of Morocco,
straight back to two wonderful visits there.

The inspiration for my piece were the photographs taken during those visits.

It felt good to browse through those images,
bringing fond memories back to life
& seeing others that I had forgotten about.

My piece is entitled

Spice of Life

Both visits to Morocco were in the month of September.

They were a doorway to a different world,

one full of colour,

with new tastes & exotic aromas,

from the dyed fabric drying overhead in the souk,

to the market stalls laden with produce,

the bright flowers in bloom,

the pyramids of spices 

& sacks full of vivid pigment.

Morocco

I created a digital collage from my original photographs,

splashed Distress Ink (spiced marmalade) over my page,

made a paper flower embellishment from another photograph,

added a piece of ribbon (to remind me of the blue skies)

& a word cut out from a calendar.

Grounded

The third challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from Oceania

& to include one or more of the following;

Patterns inspired by traditional symbols
Either monochromatic black and white or colours of the Earth.
Some sort of organic or natural material
Shapes inspired by traditional or indigenous art
​

Throughout this tournament

I am working in a small handmade paper book.

I decided to go for the earth tones,
& natural wood,
using a piece of dry bark found on my walk.

I always feel grounded when near nature,
listening to the birds singing,
the bees humming
& watching dragonflies dance around.

The place where I feel at peace most
is standing in the middle of my garden,
surrounded by trees & wildlife.

My piece is entitled

Grounded

The background is a paper collage,
using images found in a magazine.

 The bark has amazing textures
so I left it as I found it
& wrapped a length of brown paper covered wire around one end.

It gave me the perfect place to rest my shoes.

Calm

The second challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,
taking inspiration from Asia

& to include one or more of the following;

mandala inspired motifs

geometric shapes

tiles

flowers from the region

calligraphy or handwriting

faded or dyed fabric
powered pigments

Throughout this tournament

I will be working in a small handmade paper book.

My thoughts went to calming mediation,
breathing in & breathing out,
to fresh air,
blue skies,
& delicate flowers.

So in this rather crazy, mad world of today,
join me & take a few moments of quiet contemplation,
to focus on what is important to you,
on the good, the brave & the beautiful.

My piece is entitled

Calm

I decided to create a small collage piece,
using images found in a magazine of
cherry blossom in Japan,
a fabric sample,
& tiles.

I also used handmade washi-style tape
& a small charm.

Have a little Faith

The first challenge for #ITAC2017 was to create a piece of artwork,

using whatever format or techniques we wanted,

to include some of the following;

a face

papers 

letters &/or numbers

the colour blue

ribbon, twine, string or lace

textures 

something vintage & modern

Throughout this tournament

I will be working in a small handmade paper book.

With a theme of Europe, I began thinking about the decision

that the UK made to leave the European Union.

There has been much angst & worry about

what the future has in store for us as a country.

My piece is entitled

Have a little faith

I have used two different pieces of book text,
green abaca ribbon,
a piece of white cotton fabric,
two green buttons,
hand stitching with gold metallic thread,
a green skeleton leaf &
a copy of a vintage image from last week's newspaper.

There was no room to be blue!

Summer Tournament

Something new for the summer.

Click on the image below to find out more.

There are some amazingly talented people taking part.

Are you going to take part too?