The Night Sky Incident

This is a case in which the receiver has no clue what's going on and since I've finally pronounced it finished then promptly mailed it off, my night sky piece is fit to be posted.

The first mention of this piece appeared in Snags and Cake, followed by another bit in Brain Drain (which you can go read or stay tuned because both pretty much dealt with the same problem -- I can be boringly fixated on subjects). The first time I stepped away from this creation, it was beyond obvious that it was boring as all hell. Thus generating two posts in which I chew to death my frustration over what to do to fix the complete snore fest that was my night sky piece (strangely enough night sky isn't the title but then again the person who receives this should get the point).

Anyways, in the end I added more "stars" and called it a day. I like it (not as much as googly eye Paranoia) but it has its place: a perfectly predictable melding of black, blue, red pastels with white pastel "stars" then glossied up with fixative (the glossy kind). Admittedly I may have over sprayed this piece with fixative but it ended up adding some character (and I survived the fumes!) so it's all good.

So this is Walk?.

It's simple and direct: one hopes the receiver of said piece doesn't completely trash it...and that they get it.

One of the best parts of living in the rural mountains of NC is the number of stars I can see on a clear night. Totally beats out Syracuse...so I win right?

Always Watching You

While Sleepless Night, Bedroom Ceiling (oh why did I make the title so long and annoying to type over and over again) was the first piece I showcased here at Amateur Hour, it was not my first creation. Since the friend who received the following piece also follows the blog (Hey, my first and only follower!) I didn't want to post it until after she got it in the mail.

At the begining of this new hobby I did a tour around the crafty section of the local Wal-mart (forgive me mother for I have sinned). I pretty much grabbed things that just appealed to me, I tend to shop that way often, and one of the things I picked up was an assorted pack of googly eyes. The kind you can rattle and will follow you wherever you go...

I knew pretty much from the second I picked them up exactly what I wish to do with them, hence...Paranoia:

(I just love this piece...again dubious artistic merit but come on, love the googly eyes..freaky and cool all in one with a dash of Sesame Street).

This is another Index Card Creation: I did a lot of scribbling with sharpie colored markers and then used a glue gun to attach an entire packet of googly eyes. Also, while I do enjoy the ease of using plain index cards (they were cheap too!) I am constantly plagued by the need to glue two together to give it some extra strength....(Oh and I doodled on the back...sorry no pic of that)

I finished this just before phoning an old friend (by that I mean a friend of long standing...heh) and after describing the project and my googly eye art she wanted this particular piece.

So I blame Fran for leading me astray from the general guidelines of mailart.

This remains to date my favorite work: I love the look of it and it matches well with the  feeling I was trying to recreate. The ideal that paranoia often includes an over-the-top sense that you are constantly being watched and any feelings, happy (red) sad (blue)..and so on and so forth, which you wish you could hide are always visible to others.

Plus, again, googly eyes are so much fun. There will be more: I have some that are all flirty and winky.