Tiny little hint...(Collaborative Book Project, Laura)

Hello my Sweet T~

How are you? I am sending you a little snippet from the next book page that is on it’s way to you. I will post the full spread along with my thoughts when I know you have received it. Until then I will leave you riddled with wonder…xoLaura

Collab. Book Sneak Peek

Dear Laura, The collaborative book is on it’s way to you in the mail.  Let me know when you get it.  Hope you are having a great time up at Squam Art Retreat!  Tina

LOVE IT LAURA!  Now it is my turn ~Tina

A little, bitty peak...(Laura) click to enlarge

Tina, Here is a little, bitty peak of my new book page. You had left me with the word “begin” along with a simple black and white leaf to embellish and add to. See our previous post HERE. I have been pondering this thought. Where do we begin? I guess you will have to wait and see…xoLaura

click to enlage

Tina~ Here is the book with your full image posted. Girl, you really make me want to get busy experimenting with transfers! This piece has such a unique feeling that you just can’t get with a photograph alone. It is worth the time and effort you take to create it. We have grasses here in CT, but not exactly the same. This image has had me looking closer all of the beautiful textures around me, once again rediscovering “place” like we did in our 2008 series. Maybe this will be always be a reoccurring thread in our work. More to come your way soon…L

Laura, I have sent out the collaborative book in the mail a few days ago.  The picture posted below is just a hint of what I created.  I wanted it to be a surprise when you opened the box.  I created a photo transfer for this piece.  I scanned in the beach grass (seeds in the Fall from last year) into my computer, printed it, copied it at the copy shop, and then transferred it into our book with Golden brand Matte Medium. Would you mind posting a picture of the whole page when you receive it?  Enjoy working on your page next!

Collaborative Book Project sneak peek (by Tina)

Laura's new page in the collaborative book "Wish On A Dragonfly"

Dear Tina-

While working on the book I felt the hopeful wishes you have for your children. You are always ever present in their worlds and reflecting, which reminds me of the playfulness in life. A lot can be learned from allowing your imagination to win over your fears. Your boys imaginative game with the crane flies reflected this. It brought me back to my own childhood the fear my cousin Sarah and I had of daddy long legged spiders when we were growing up. When I would visit Sarah, we would get special permission from her neighbor, “Aunt Janie” to use her playhouse in the woods. This tiny, magical little house was set in the woods and we would imagine it was our “grown up” house. The only drawback to the house was that when it wasn’t used regularly other “creatures” would move in. The daddy long legs always made us squeamish. This memory made me wonder if we had created our own game about them.  What would happen if we made games out of our fears?

For this book page I was thinking about how linear I often am and how there are many “windows” into each of our lives, some more organic than others. Perhaps when we pause, we are able to find the marvelous, simple joys which lay beyond the strict panes of glass. Sending you dragonfly wishes…love you! Laura

This is what I have added to the next page for Tina to respond to.  Stay tuned!

Hello Sweet T,

The book arrived with much excitement as always, yet my attention was directed toward the final touches I was putting towards my art show. Only now do I have the quiet time I was craving in order to fully engage with the transformative journey of the book. I am posting the book as it arrived and will post another image as soon as I visually respond to it. 

As I looked at the page, I was reminded of what I had written in dragonfly pocket I put on the page for you. I wrote how I wanted to spread my wings to expand my idea of what love and kindness meant to me. I also wrote how I wished to be mindful of  the “here and there” of our journey together. We are both present with each other, yet each leave a different life in another part of the country. Your unique perspective always enlivens my thoughts.

I love how you added the words, “wish, wish wish on a crane fly..fly fly fly.  It was fun to hear how your  boys made up a game about  all of the crane flies that have flown into your house. You go onto explain, “if they touch the crane fly (on the opposite side of the window) they can make a wish.” I appreciated how they made something  scary for them into something hopeful, like you mentioned. Maybe we as adults make the world too scary by not seeing the playfulness in it. We create our own realities in a way and can choose how we respond to things. Today I will look at how I can turn something fearful in my life into something playful. xoLaura