Making Art

I've been lacking on the blogging lately.  Since I've been home, I have been slowly unpacking and making art.  Believe it or not, I still have my camping equipment in my car.  Everything in due time, I suppose.  As you may know, I have a hard time relaxing.  I am not one to sit back and relax and read a book.  I've read a few books in the past few months but they have to grab my attention for me to continue reading.  I need to be learning something new each day and doing something with art to fulfill my creative soul.

That being said, I have been spending a lot of time working on some pieces for a few shows coming up.  I will be one of the artists at "ALLOW" this Saturday at the Avia hotel in Long Beach and my work will be included in the Sipology exhibit "Urban Pets"opening this Saturday and continuing through early February.

I've stepped out of my comfort zone of mounting and framing photographs in traditional frames to mounting them on wood boxes.  I spend a lot of time first working with the box by sanding and treating it so it's a nice smooth finish before I mount the photograph and complete the finished piece with a matte coating of acrylic paint over the entire piece to give it texture and durability.  It's been a learning experience for sure.  I've done a lot of 4x4 boxes with photographs I've taken with my iphone (for sale on etsy), but the larger boxes are with photographs I took on my big camera and I spend a lot of time on each one to make it perfect...at least in my eyes.

Even though I am not out traveling the country at the moment, I am still trying new things at home.  I don't think I am one to ever stay still so who knows what will happen next.  I try to enjoy each moment while I can.  If you are still out there looking for gifts for the holidays, perhaps try something new and make art.  If you don't have the time, www.Etsy.com has several hand made goods that would make a great gift.  I hope to see you at one of the shows if you are in the area.

Handmade iphone Photography Photo Art Boxes

I tend to get bored easily.  I am not one of the many people that can grab a book and sit on a beach and read all day.  I am excited to report that I have read two more books from beginning to end to complete my, "5 books from start to finish" goal this year.

Another goal of mine that wasn't on the list was to put together art boxes from the photographs I've been taking with my iphone on this journey.  I am happy to say that I completed this goal.  Sometimes I get ideas in my head that I have to follow through and complete before I obsess too much about them.  This project was one of those ideas.

Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE to take photographs with the other cameras I have and will continue to upload portraits, events and landscapes to my photography site, but there is something about the iphone hipstamatic app that I just love.

I had these 4x4 photographs printed on archival paper and I mounted them on 4x4 wood blocks after I hand sanded them and applied primer  with several coats of paint in either black or white.  After I mounted the photograph on the finished block, I then applied several layers of non toxic clear matte finish to give the boxes a nice texture and durability.  I am pleased on how they turned out.

Since these are my first round of boxes, I have them up for sale on etsy in my shop that you can see here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlisonTravels

Each box is signed on the back and I also put where the photograph was taken.  Many of the photographs are featured in an iphone photography slide show I put together that you can view HERE.

I will continue to write about my travels but wanted to mention what I've been up to.  I look forward to sharing more photographs of my adventures here soon.