Doodles Are Wasted Time? NOPE!

Doodles are a way to pass time when you are waiting for an appointment, traveling, or chatting on the phone.  How many of you have phone books filled with little doodles? Or your napkins at dinnertime turn into mini doodle canvases?  Now don't run off....... doodling can help you in a classroom setting....even in science!  NO....you are not tuning out.  Just the opposite. Want to have better retention and higher levels of concentration?  Studies show that you gain more from class discussions when you doodle!

Click on this link to see why doodling is important.  

Our presidents were doodlers all the way back to George Washington. Yes, it's true!  Click here to see this article. 

Doc Angi is conducting a doodle challenge this month (April, 2014)   in her group, Authentic heART.   While you are there check  out all the groups, workshops and challenges . .  . Something for everyone. 

My group at this site is called Studio A B See. This group is geared to inspire artists to be more productive.  Consider this an invitation.   Would love to have you join in the fun!

My First Whimsy Doll

Meet Betty Boop Ballerina!  I did not intend to make a Betty Boop, but this ballerina reminded me of her when I finished her.

Hair, face and body are made from an old cassette tape and tape case, with glass pebble eyes.  Old brittle paint hardened brushes make her legs.  Arms are a casino lanyard with hands cut from casino cards.  I had the material scraps laying around in my studio.  

I began two more whimsy dolls today using vintage school photos...date intact.. of children from the 50's.  I did not know what I was going to do with these photos when I saved them from the garbage after my aunt passed away.  She was a school teacher for many years in Sand Springs and Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I believe most of the photos I inherited are from Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary in Tulsa.  If I am not mistaken this school no longer exists, but I am convinced some of these children are still wondering around in Tulsa, posing today as the elderly.  LOL  I even know the names of the children that my aunt wrote on the back of each photo.   If you know anyone who attended this school sent them my way, as I would be happy to share the photos with anyone who may know the "children." I have enough to make many many dolls.  

More whimsy dolls to be born in the near future...I've discovered a way to put a dent in my stash of my found objects. And I love every moment.

Hello, Dolly! A video link for you...

Helllllllloooooo, Dollllllllly!  

I watched this video when I should have been sleeping.  It is so inspiring to someone like me who has drawers of found objects.  My stash is divided into metals, plastics, cloth, natural items, paper, old photos, and unidentified.  I want to use these so I will have an excuse to find new ones.  When I viewed the video above, I thought I had everything except the faces.  I pondered whether to cut faces from magazines and glue them on the sculptural pieces.........but NO!

Ever have an ah-ha moment? 

My aunt was a teacher for almost 39 years.  She passed away at age 99 a few years ago and I rescued an entire set of photos of her fourth grade students from the 1950's.   Someone had tossed these precious faces into the trash after her death.   I did not know then what I was going to do with them...but now I do.  

Won't those sweet faced children from a time gone by make adorable dolls?   Oh I just cannot wait to get started.

Joint Compound Strikes Again!...another YouTube fin

This video that I found on You Tube also shows joint compound techniques similar to the ones that I like to use in my work.  I also like his framing method.  Something that I do not own the tools to accomplish, but perhaps I should investigate.   Hmmmm.....

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Experiment with Tulle

Title: Spring Dances.

 Media: ink, watercolor, pastels, graphite, and nylon mesh.

 This is an experiment to see what nylon mesh,  properly called tulle, looks like when added as a layer over other media. 

Contact Linda at studioabsee@yahoo.com for price and details.

I learned that to make it lie flat on the surface that I need to let the Mod Podge dry a little to become more adhesive and then smooth the net back down onto the page. I like the results and will most likely use more of this media, particularly in my abstract works.  It adds a very soft layer of color and a nice texture.