Seven Day Covenant: Day 2. A Gratitude Tag. Original Art. Collage. Photography.

Day 2.
Eco-collages.
Paper and threads.
Tags, string and triangles.
~Ally.

Artist's Journaling and Collage.

After completing a short course recently on Artist's Journaling with Sally Cooper: I'm also starting to make some small Eco-collages: Which eventually will pave the way for other pieces that will incorporate drawing and painting.

For now, these Eco-collages are more like 'warm-up excercises' for me and they'll be pasted into my personal Artist's Journal. However, the intention here is also to develop them as another product to add to my Homesteaders Co-op Store.

Eco Curios.

My Homesteaders Co-op Store will be called Eco Curios and it will offer eco-friendly artifacts and curios such as baskets and containers, magical wands and hats, poles and small sculptures, and eventually small figurines: All handmade with natural and biodegradable materials.

A Gratitude Tag.

A Gratitude Tag is my first very simple Eco-collage that has been made in recognition of the pure joy that can be felt in Silvia Beneforti's artwork, on Steemit and now on her Homesteaders Co-op Store: VUMAP.

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About Silvia.

Silvia lives in a small green area in Tuscany, Italy, where everyone in the community respects Nature. From the time she was a young child, Silvia was aware of the importance of taking care of the environment: Taking simple actions to reduce waste such as only purchasing durable products. And as an artist, she loves to repurpose and recycle materials as much possible in her artwork. Source: Silvia Beneforti. VUMAP.

Silvia's Handmade Pocket Journals.

Silvia's handmade pocket journals feature her own dreamlike illustrations on the front cover and every page is cut and sewn by hand with a cotton embroidery thread.

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Synchronicity at Play.

I wanted a VERY special notebook as a way of giving myself further encouragement to begin creating my Eco-collages and so it was incredibly timely to see and purchase one of Silvia's pocket notebooks. I chose her Camu Robin pocket journal blank notebook.

Sylvia ships her products internationally from Italy and her estimated shipping time to reach Australia was 3 to 5 weeks. So my first happy surprise was that her parcel only took two weeks to arrive.

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Camu Robin pocket journal blank notebook.

I'd already taken the string off by the time I photographed the notebook ~ But I have to tell you that it was beautifully tied.

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And some lovely 'add ons.'

A postcard depicting one of Silvia's wide-eyed innocents was also included. Along with her VUMAP card and a handwritten Thank you on a tag.

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Starting Point.

• A piece of Arches Watercolour paper, cut to the size of the notebook: 140 mms x 95 mms.
• A background layer of handmade and torn paper.
• Silvia's Thank you tag.
• Silvia's string: Now knotted.

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Next stage.

The shape of the fine leaves in the paper reminded me of waterlily pads and the flecks of pink in the paper enticed me to include something pink. So a small piece of pink rice paper was pasted over the bottom of the tag.

At first I tried a few flat images, roses and lilies, but felt the piece needed something more 'abstract' with some texture and a little height. I had in mind wildflowers when I placed the 'circles of threads' but later I felt they could also represent nests.

'Nests' were bound to appear in these Eco-collages.

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Golden Triangles.

The final touch: Three small gold triangles. Which more than likely will reappear in future Eco-collages.

Even though I used 300 gsm Watercolour paper, under the burden of being continually wet with the paste, it buckled.

This may not be the final stage of this piece yet: Will have to look at it again in the morning light. But when it's finished I'll dampen the paper on the back to flatten it and then paste it into the notebook.

A final note for now.

I make my own paste for all my baskets and wands from organic tapioca flour and white rice flour, adding Celtic salt as a preservative and a few drops of Oregano oil to prevent any mildew. So you can actually eat my paste.

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Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
SONY Mark2 A7.

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Another Current Project.

Feathers that have been incorporated into so many of my art pieces from collage work to ephemeral arrangements are also a prominent part of a range of eco-friendly products that I'm in the process of developing. They'll be available soon from my Homesteaders Co-Op Store: Eco Curios: Magical wands and hats, poles and figures as well as small baskets and containers.

And eventually, images inspired by these curios will also be available in my MakersPlace Gallery.

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Magical Wands.

Just a glimpse of my first Magical Wand: With all the feathers freely given by the wild ducks at the Roseville Lake.

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Imagine.
All the wonderful things.
That you could wish for. If you had:
A MAGICAL WAND.
~Ally.

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A heart that is holding infinite possibilities.
A creative who is learning to trust the mystery of what will be.
A spirit that is willing to fly into new creative realms and share the journey. ~Ally.

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Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
SONY Mark2 A7.

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