Cabinet of Curiosities: Prompt #2 {Curiosity}

Wow, the pages you are all creating are simply stunning! Great work and so much inspiration:) Sharon was nice enough to post this wonderful tutorial on starting an altered book using a children's board book. Go check it out! I'm posting this prompt a bit early, because the baby shower is tomorrow and I wasn't sure I'd have time to post. I can't wait! I'll be sure and take lots of pictures.

Now on to prompt #2......

cu·ri·os·i·ty (kyr'ē-ŏs'ĭ-tē)
A desire to know or learn.
A desire to know about people or things that do not concern one; nosiness.
An object that arouses interest, as by being novel or extraordinary: kept the carved bone and displayed it as a curiosity.
A strange or odd aspect.

As artists, we all have an innate desire to create. I know that my artistic curiosity is piqued when I see a piece of art that I really love and I wonder how it was made. I especially find myself baffled when looking at mixed media art that has so many wonderful layers and dimension and it almost feels like magic in how it all came together to make the finished piece.

Are YOU ready to make some magic?

For those of you that are lucky enough to have seen Sally Jean Alexander's fabulous new book full of eye candy and curiosities, Pretty Little Things, you may have tried some of these techniques already. Even if you have, the fun part is that your art will turn out different every time, depending on the order you do the steps. I first chose my color palette for the project. I was inspired by this picture in a magazine. I didn't use the picture in the layout, but it helped me to gather my supplies that all had the same feeling and mood that I was getting from the picture. Supplies you will need: pen, paper to work on, acrylic paints and brushes, gel medium or white glue, pretty papers that you love, old books (for text), magazines (for text or images), photograph, ink, chalk or oil pastels, baby wipes, pencil, rubber stamp and ink pad, sandpaper, scissors, 3D objects (flowers, buttons, ribbon, etc.) and charcoal pencil. Now write the words: PAINT, MAGAZINE, TEXT, PAPER, CHALK, PASTELS, CHARCOAL, PENCILL, STAMP, SCRATCH, WIPE, INK, PATTER, 3-D, WRITE, PHOTOGRAPH, SMUDGE, DRAW, SAND, SURPRISE onto a piece of paper. Cut out each word individually, put them in a bowl and mix them up. First, layout a piece of cardstock, watercolor paper, or canvas that is the size of collage you wish to create. Now you will close your eyes and pull out one word at a time and do that task on your paper. You can preset your limit (do the first ten tasks you pull out of the bowl) or do them all. The first word I picked was write. Write anything, a word, a phrase, or a single letter, any size with pencil, pen, ink, crayon, whatever! I chose to write a little bit about curiosity. Next I chose paint. Apply acrylic paints haphazardly on your canvas. Mix the paint up; don't worry about getting multiple colors on your brush. Next I chose picture/photograph. Tape, glue, stample, or whatever way you wish, attach your picture or photo to your page. This image is from Anahata Katkin. She sells some wonderful books with images to use in collage through her PaPaYa shop.Paper. Use gel medium or white glue to apply torn scraps of text, pretty or antique papers randomly. Use a paper towel to wipe off the excess gel medium so that the paper doesn't wrinkle.

Magazine. Tear a part of a page out of a magazine. Use gel medium or glue to adhere it to your collage. Wipe with baby wipes to remove areas of paint and ink. The more you rub the magazine, the more ink comes off and the more distressed it appears.
Sand. Sand the surface in various spots to remove layers. Select the grade of sandpaper you wish to use. Be sure and sand when the paint is dry.
Text. Tear a page from an old book. Use a sentence with at least three consecutive words from anywhere in the text. Also, create a new sentence using individual words that you cut from the page and rearrange.
Pattern. Create a pattern with any medium. A pattern is something repeated at least three times.
Chalk/oil pastels. Use randomly to color areas or create lines and shapes. 3D. Add a dimension object (or two..or three..) to you page. Let your imagination run wild!
Charcoal. Create depth by sketching, outlining, drawing or shading with a charcoal pencil. Rub it on the edges of the torn paper. I first used charcoal pencil on a piece in my class with Carolyn Peeler at Silver Bella. She said she had learned it from Sally Jean. Wow, what amazing depth this gives. I love it!!!
The final slip that I pulled out was stamp. Choose any rubber stamp and any ink and stamp as many times as you like. I stopped here, feeling like my page was complete. The remaining slips are: Smudge- wet your finger and wipe your artwork to create smudges. Draw- use pencil, pen or ink to outline something already on your collage, or draw a new shape. Scratch- scratch your artwork using a awl, craft knife, scissors. You may scratch randomly or a pattern in the surface. Surprise! This is a freebie, you choose the task. Do something you've already done or something you've never done. Explore!
That's it! Here's my finished piece. Have fun and let your curiosity run wild! Be sure and post your link in the comments so that we can all take a peek at your wonderful creations. We'll see you over on Bonnie's blog on Thursday for prompt #3.