I am working on two Art Tag rounds at the moment - Decay - with the NCWCA group and Unravel - with the National WCA group. Both deadlines came immediately following the national conference in NYC. It meant that I had scant time to work on either of the pieces before and after the conference. 
Decay #1
I knew what I wanted to do for Decay, but it entailed a lot of sewing. A houseguest stayed with us right before my trip, which meant that I couldn't sew at all downstairs. While I couldn't work on Decay in NYC, I did do a lot thinking. When I got home, I spent half of Friday and all of Saturday working on my piece. As an alternative to the dress, my original concept, I had been thinking about making a boro-gi. I picked up some indigo-dyed paper at the Codex book fair right before going to NYC. I also had a funeral "kimono" made of paper from the Chinese funeral store. That klmono became my template. The assembled scraps of fabric felt unfinished. What made it decay? I remembered that I had a pile of old family photos given to me by my step-niece. Some were faded and stained. They were incorporated into the piece. I like it very much. 

Unravel
I actually conceptualized this piece first. Although I wished I could have created a Judith Scott piece, I didn't have the time to wrap and unravel a lot of material. My mind was fixated on zippers at the time...I had ordered some neat transparent zippers for my envisioned sewn piece for Decay...and among my rummage drawers, I found some cool 1960's style pull zips. The others - black feathers, old hand-made hammer, unraveled muslin snap tape, etc were simply things that I felt "went with" the black zipper.  

Our studio show this year is titled Artifact. It is a theme that conjures up shadow boxes and memorabilia. I decided to make some collages that involve difficult papers and sewing. Someone from Collagarama gifted me some Japanese papers in December. I used the smooth sheets to make Japanese New Year cards. I was left with thick, handmade paper that wasn't suitable for drawing or glueing. These are the base for my collage. I also had some heavily textured paper that looks like dried seaweed. And I had shell buttons, collected over many years. 
By chance I had lunch with Tanya this week. She was wearing a bracelet made with shell buttons and leather. They created the inspiration for how I wanted to put together the materials I had gathered. I had a roll of gimp cord in my studio but the cord was not easy to work with because it unraveled when threaded. It took me the entire afternoon to create six pieces. I took the pieces home with the thought that I would finish making the pieces a little at a time. Instead of gimp, I used waxed linen. It was sturdy enough to use without a needle. I managed to complete the rest of the 18 pieces for this project. Now I am considering how to piece these postcard sized works into a larger, cohesive piece. 
 

Inspired by Sherri's first piece, a video of twirling flowers. Reminded me of that feminine film, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg. I had images of false eyelashes twirling. Transformed a cheese box into an eyelash nest. The top of box was some old classic print and hairnets. The hairnets are there to prevent smudgy fingers. The print bleeds ink. The inside of the box is eyeball and layers of lashes. Thank goodness the lashes come with adhesives already applied. I was also reminded of a show I wanted to do called 49 lashes.

First Art Tag exchange with Sondra on the topic of "texture." I decided to build some interesting texture with rubber bands. If I had more time I would have made a larger piece, I think. The drying and curing took longer than expected.

My third piece was in response to a lovely painting of a mother breast feeding her baby. Keeping with the interior scene of Intimiste. My piece represents a nebulous creature fully wrapped in threads surrounded by baby hands and milk bottles.The box is approximately 3 x 4 x 1.5 inches.

This second piece speaks to the brief rivalry between Marthe de Meligny and Renee Monchaty over Pierre Bonnard. Based on the painting, "jeunes femmes au jardin," this diorama depicts the battle between the women over their lover, depicted here as a pathetic dog. It is a tragedy that the loser in this ménage took her own life. It was a time when the only desired option was to marry the man. it was that, or back to black.

Created a window diorama last night just in time for Independence Day. Much time was spent looking for material. Sadly paper dolls made six years ago had faded. I had forgotten how time-consuming it is to fasten all the body parts (I like articulated limbs) and then to cut out the clothing. I particularly love Uncle Sam figures. Paired him with my one faded Betsy Ross doll. Hung the window close to midnight. In the morning I washed the windows and voila!

I rejoined Art Tag after nearly a two year absence. The theme is fauve intimiste. I wanted to familiarize myself with the intimistes and came upon Pierre Bonnard in my research. He had lifelong relationship with Marthe de Meligny, whom he married after living with her 30+ years. Both exceedingly private and spent much time in the privacy of their home. He painted interior scenes and used her as his primary model. He painted her as a wanton nude and an exuberant bather. For this project, transformed an old knickknack shelf into a "madison du reclus." The details of the chambres include ornate framed images that I made from moldy postcards, veneer samples and trimmings.

A third Wind Traveler started, this time for China. Luckily I found my template pretty easily in my messy studio. Made a sample with funeral paper scraps.

I also made my first batch of messy calligraphy. Love the Basho haiku I used originally. My goal is to make as many of these breast pods as possible between now and April.