Handmade gift I made a family friend....

Here is a gift I made for a family friend. I bought a good quality flat frame from the thrift store and decoupaged recycled magazine papers cut into squares for the mosaic tiles. I then used glitter puffy paint to outline the letters better.

Second Update on Recycled Paper Mosaic Collage

Okay....I know this mosaic collage is going very slow. Changes in the kids' time schedule have now withered my free time to a mere hour during each day. Not much for personal time I know but I am not complaining. I love being there for and with my kids and playing with them 100%. Some artists might have different set of priorities, yet my art is always second to my time with them.  They are only this little once. 

I need to still finish the top....

Details of the unfinished bottom

Details of the yellow

My spiral work......I am just learning about all the cool possibilities. 

Update on Recycled Paper Mosaic Collage

I am halfway done with my 3'x4' recycled paper mosaic style collage. My step-dad who is a mason has been giving me hints here and there on how to deal with some spatial-related technical issues. All paper used is 100% recycled paper from all over the house. Very exciting process. 

I have begun filling in the center red spiral on one side. The bottom will be a band of orange and a band of yellow. I will then add green leaves to the tree. 

 Detail of the woman's body and the tree roots. 

 This is my paper sorting system. My daughter (1-year-old) and I spend hours punching out squares and placing them in these drawers. Well, I punch and she collects. She's very good at it. 

Update on New Works and Ideas

          I am currently researching all forms of mosaics by looking through books I ordered from my local library (see above). Looking at others' work is the one thing that inspires me to create my own work.  Some might think that restricts one's uniqueness, yet I feel it actually allows me to grow as an artist. To see other people's visions and interpretations always makes me want to create my own interpretation.  Inspiration can come from various venues.  It can come from a conversation, or a situation, or something as simple a a feeling.  

        This is a sampling of the work I am doing now.  It's not a tile mosaic. I am using paper and gluing my collage using the mosaic style as my inspiration. The collage is on a 3'x4' canvas. It will be of a woman turning into a tree....an image that haunts me lately. 
          This is a detail of my collage mosaic. I am using 50% recycled paper (magazines and flyers) punched into 1/2" squares. 

Obsessed with Fiskars Punchers

          It began with a curious new art toy I bought myself online.  I cannot even recall what was going through my mind when I bought it. Once I began using these Fiskars Punchers I was hooked. Oddly enough, I have a very hard time figuring out why I like them so much. It might be the million possibilities I come up with when I work with them or the fact that each perfect circle is similar to strange planets. I start each work with a vague idea of a pattern, a rule. I create boxes and circles based on my basic plan. I then paint the entire canvas either black, red or white. You can view or buy them at my etsy sites http://www.miriamsart.etsy.com OR http://www.mm72873.etsy.com. I am slowly moving toward ideas around paper mosaic on wooded furniture that has been previously painted black.  I have 4 chairs I found at a thrift store and will get started on them as soon as I decide whether to use recycled paper colors or buy paper in the colors I need.