Dark

Posted on February 22, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Inspired by the layered art of Nick Bantock.

Angry that crap art is seen as art, like McDonald’s is seen as gourmet.
The Emperor has no eyes. Jealous. Where is my recognition?

Telling my husband that he cannot vent on me. He cannot tell me just the bad that happened to him that day. I have my own burdens to carry.

The beauty of a circuit board, replicated. What is real?

(Details)
top right corner

middle left

bottom right

Ingredients:
Goldleaf.
Stamps.
Map.
Paper towel to remove paint.
Gel pens.
Art paper.
Decoupage glue.

Liquitex basics acrylic paint – Phthalocyanine blue, deep violet, copper, cadmium red deep hue

Strathmore art journal

Created 2/15/16

Signals and signs

Posted on February 12, 2016 by betsybeadhead | 2 Comments

What is message and what is mountain?
What is writing and what is river?
Is a road a word?
Is a map a manuscript?
Signal/noise
Unreferenced symbol
Un-received messages
Lost languages
The boundaries between mountain and lake are often the boundaries between cultures and countries.
Decay of transmission
There must be at least one who can understand for meaning to be transmitted.

Details –

(middle)

(top left)

(bottom right)

Ingredients –
Bought ephemera – Asian map, page of Asian writing
Paint- olive green, manganese blue, white, mixed with water. Dabbed on mixed very lightly with a smished paint brush and wiped off with paper towel.
Gel pens, matte medium
Strathmore art journal

Created 2-11-16

Convergence

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

detail

Thoughts that arose while making it:
Using old ways of measuring (understanding) with new ways of being (experience). Old wine skins and new wine. Abandoning the old that no longer serves. False measurements (weights and measures) – not even allowed to have it in your house (might accidentally use it). Government enforced morality. , overt and covert. What is up and what is down? Words raining from the sky.

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Bought ephemera (practice ledger paper) (Asian book page) (Hell money)
Distress ink. Matte medium, glue stick.
White gel pen. Stickers of shoe prints – two kinds.
Created 2/5/16.

Blue Ridge

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Fall is just beginning in the lower elevations. There is a dusting of snow on the mountain tops. The fields have been harvested and now lie dormant, resting through winter.

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Torn Art paper (K and Company designer paper by Susan Winget). Glue stick.
Created 1/31/16.

ONE

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Text reads:
Imagine if (when) the Body of Christ joins together, works together, as ONE, serving God in unison, ONE, as God is ONE.

No divisions, no denominations, no doctrines. Our only leader is God, who we all hear clearly. (May it come speedily and in our time. Amen)

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Bought ephemera (magazine page depicting a school of fish swimming in unison)
Silver sharpie. White gel pen.

Created 1/30/16.

Objects in life

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | 1 Comment

Objects in life are closer than they appear.

Thoughts that arose while making it:
Scale is important. Compare this to this. Otherwise you are lost, even with a map.
Everything is relative. How do you indicate place when a part of the frame or reference is missing?
The edges are there but the middle is blank.
How little rivers look like lightning.
When lost, follow the river. You’ll find people. (Are they good? Is this safe?)

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Matte medium, glue stick.
Map. Card stock. Distress Ink (rusty hinge pad, crushed olive spray)
Gel pen. Art paper (K and Company designer paper by Susan Winget)
Created 1/29/16.

Lost and found

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

detail

Praying the Lord’s Prayer at McDonalds.
A man who was lost/homeless/mentally ill/addicted/blind (any or all)

I went to McDonald’s to get “second breakfast” after attending mandatory substance abuse awareness training for my job (This class has to be taken every 5 years). This man outside the store asked for change.
I find it significant that panhandlers ask for change – not money. Change is what they need, true change.
I gave him money and said “God loves you.” He initiated the prayer. He held out his hand to me. It was grimy – grey/green. We held hands while we prayed the Lord’s Prayer together. It was beautiful. I remember my years of struggling with addiction and feeling lost.

Ingredients:

8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal

Map torn from a book, missing some of the reference points. Paper that reminds me of prison bars. Receipt. Matte medium. Distress ink spray (crushed olive)
Created 1/28/16

Occhiolism

Posted on February 7, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Detail

Created around 1/24/16

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Paper with a word from “The dictionary of obscure sorrows” depicting “the awareness of the smallness of your perspective.”
Art paper
Glue stick
Magazine clippings
Used stamps about peace and world harmony.

Ellipsism

Posted on February 6, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Entire piece

Bottom right detail

Around 1/24/16

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Paper with a word from “The dictionary of obscure sorrows” depicting “A sadness that you’ll never be able to know how history will turn out.”
White chalk pen
Distress ink
Art paper
Glue stick.

Search party

Posted on February 6, 2016 by betsybeadhead | Leave a comment

Full image

Right side detail

Top left detail.

Created 1/24/16. Our scanner broke so there is a backlog and I’m posting a batch of them. The images were taken with my cell phone. The colors are an approximation – they are a little lighter and less intense in the original.

Thoughts that arose while making it:
Framed. Blood trail. Tracking through the woods in misty rain. Hair clues. Musical notes. Organized search party. Tracks crossing water, trail washed out. Switchbacks, doubling back, retracing steps.

Ingredients:
8.5 x 12 inch Strathmore visual journal
Card stock (Pacon watercolor)
Tissue paper
Deli paper
Matte medium
Watercolor
Loose hairs from watercolor brush
Map pieces
Glue stick.