Karen's Muse and Musings

The Music of the Spheres

It has been art all day for me. After finishing my Garden Fairy Gothic Arch, I jumped right into Kelly's Stone Angels book. She chose a lovely little book to alter, and it's interesting that this particular book was one of my childhood favorites — O Ye Jigs and Juleps. I clearly remember my 5th grade teacher reading it to us.

Kelly's take on the Stone Angels theme was a refreshing change. On the title page, she wrote "The Game of Life." On the next page she wrote, "Spin. Move forward or turn to Stone." She has used lots of numbers, game pieces and several hymns on her pages. So inspired by numbers and hymns, I went to work.

What is that you said? You see the numbers but not the hymn? Oh, it's there if only by inference. This is the hymn, written by Maltie D. Babcock.

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres. 
This is my Father's world: 
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.

All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. Amen.

Garden Fairy

This week's theme on Gothic Arches is Garden Fairies, which is perfect right now since I've been gardening all week. This morning as I was admiring my hard work, a little chipmunk scampered in and out of the flowers, so he is the companion for my garden fairy. For the fairy herself, I used Nellie from my collage sheets. I love her smile — so sweet but with that look of mischief lying just underneath.

Wednesday Stamper — Insects

I was excited to read that this week's theme at Wednesday Stamper is "Insects". I've had this beautiful moth stamp by JudiKins for some time and have only used it maybe once or twice. I started by stamping the moth on a file folder and embossing with detail white embossing powder. Then I sprayed Tsukineko Eucalyptus and Terra Cotta walnut inks over the moth. When that was dry, I stamped "French Correspondence" by B Line Designs over it, cut it out, stenciled with Adirondacks Snow Cap Dabber through sequin waste, edged with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink, and layered it over handmade paper I purchased at Dick Blick.

Shades of White

It's Earth Day. I celebrated by collecting water in a bucket while showering, going to the nursery to buy some new plants for my garden and by creating this piece for the Colors round robin. It's for Andi's Shades of White project. She included blank canvases and pieces of wood to choose from for our substrates. I chose the wood, using Clara and her egg as my focal piece.

Romance Is in the Air

Well, at least it's in these gothic arches I created for Linda Eustace. It's my month to swap arches with Linda, and her requested theme is "romance."

I have to admit that at first I was drawing a blank with a design for these arches. I'm not sure I'm all that romantic these days! But then I remembered some papers and stickers I bought last year to do a memory book for stepdaughter Dana's wedding. Alas, the book hasn't happened yet, but those papers were just what I needed to start the creative juices flowing. Here's the second arch for Linda.

See the German text I used? That's a bit of a beautiful poem by Heinrich Heine, and it was set to music by Schumann. I used to sing it — in my more romantic days! Here is the poem in German, followed by the English translation.

Du bist wie eine Blume,
So hold und schön und rein;
Ich schau' dich an,
Und Wehmut schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.

Mir ist, als ob ich die Hände
Aufs Haupt dir legen sollt',
Betend, daß Gott dich erhalte
So rein und schön und hold.

You are like a flower,
So lovely, fair and pure;
I gaze at you
And wistful melancholy slips into my heart.

It's as though I ought to place
My hands upon your head
And pray God to keep you ever
So lovely, fair, and pure.

Heinrich Heine (Translation by Wendell Hall)

Gothic Arch — My Doll and Me

Just a short time to create and blog this morning. I have to prepare for my stepson's birthday dinner party tonight. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Here's my arch for this week at Gothic Arches. Thank you, Mandy, for the delightful theme, My Doll and me. Interestingly, I just acquired this photo of the the little girl with her doll and carriage this week from Christine at eBay.

A Gift for You

Thanks to all of you who take time to read my blog and leave such kind comments. I have something to give back to you now. Here are 2 vintage photos of children that you may use in your own art. Enjoy!

Pocketful of Friends

I worked on the Pock-et-FULL round robin today, this time in Lou McCulloch's book. Her book is made from a vintage accounting ledger — very cool. The instructions for her "Alphabet of Friends" book are to pick a letter page and build the page around that letter. For instance, her first page is A, and she created art about Anna, the artist.

I decided to choose K. (I wonder why?) As I started working I noticed the J was clearly visible on the left side, so I decided to incorporate J and K. This will make more sense when you see the photos below. At least I hope so.

The words across the top of the spread read, "Julia and Katherine were friends together in sunshine and in shade." I took some liberties with this line from a poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Sheridan) Norton (1808–1877).

We have been friends together
  In sunshine and in shade.
Since first beneath the chestnut-tree
        In fancy we played
But coldness dwells within thine heart
  A cloud is on thy brow.
We have been friends together,—
  Shall a light word part us now?

Oblivious!

My blog has been featured by TypePad! And I missed the whole thing! Between giving a dinner party this weekend and some very annoying internet troubles, I completely missed that my blog was featured on April 10. Oh well! At least it's still featured, just not at the top of the list. Here is the wonderfully kind blurb they wrote about me and my blog.

What’s a muse? One of the mythical goddesses of inspiration, creativity, and artistic expression – and one seems to have settled in on the shoulder of mixed media artist Karen, author of Karen's Muse and Musings. Karen believes that “music and song…play important roles in my art, since lyrics and musical terms frequently inspire or influence my art”. Indeed they do, as you’ll see in Karen’s posts, many of which feature her creations, such as Bobby, Boy With Goose, and Clara. Many of Karen’s pieces have a dreamlike, slightly Victorian feel to them and will add a fanciful, romantic touch to your rooms; a slideshow and collage sheets round out her blog, and her shop offers you the opportunity to buy many of her pieces.

So much for my minute of fame. Back down to earth. This week's theme on Gothic Arches is "We'll Always Have Paris." I was lucky enough to go to Paris in September, 2006, and it was a life-changing experience. It was part of a tour of France and Italy, and I really wanted to see Italy. I did not expect to love Paris so much, but fall in love I did. Warren and I especially loved roaming the streets, seeing the majestic architecture and the beautifully arrayed shops. We enjoyed stopping for a break at a sidewalk cafe, drinking coffee or sipping wine, and watching the Parisians go by with their loaves of bread under their arms or walking their dogs. So, I was excited to make my arch, hoping it would express my feelings for the city. I decided to do a triptych this time. When it's folded, here's the front — the door to my Paris.

Open up the triptych, and here's the inside.

Warren snapped a photo out of the plane as we approached the airport. I was amazed at how well the photo turned out, only a bit blurry, with the Eiffel Tower in the center and all the roads and building stretching out like a map. I decided to use that as the background of my piece, adding bits of some other photos we took plus some ephemera, acrylics and rubber stamps.

Remember ...

I have lost myself in Kathy W's pock-et-FULL book.  Her book is so gorgeous with a very vintage, elegant style. Kathy made such beautiful covers, and the other participating artists have done an outstanding job staying in that style and complementing her initial work. So, I'm in a Victorian frame of mind now. Here is my pocket page with the insert I made for the pocket.

Now here's my favorite part — the same page without the insert.

I used Hope's image from my collage sheets on both the insert and on the page, painting over the page with Liquitex's Baltic Green and Baltic Blue. On the side of the page is a bit of an old hymn that says "Remember All the People." I usually don't plan as I go and just let things happen. When I realized I had the ghostly image of Hope with the words "remember all the people" I thought it seemed very appropriate, and I was quite happy about it. Of course, I had to do the opposite side of the page which is sometimes difficult. It's one of those "what do I do now" moments, but here's what I did.

I love that little verse from Robert Louis Stevenson,

A child should always say what’s true
and speak when he is spoken to,
and behave mannerly at table;
at least as far as he is able.

I'm sure that these children that I call the Kringles always behaved well — at least as far as they were able!