An Invitation

Photo from the gallery in Ecriture Infinie 

I came across the Ecriture Infinie project over at the Black Eiffel blog. One of my reads.
I immediately fell in love with the idea, the project and the video of the artist Bili Bidjocka. It reminded me how words inspire me and very often come up in my work. I have a Friday feature called Word Paths. Three to Seven words processed and artistically presented to the reader. I take the reader from inspiration to the final piece. I thought this project and my work were a perfect match. I toyed with the idea of posting to the gallery.
Then I thought, it would be great to extend the invitation to artist and non artist alike to participate as well.

I am truly inspired by this project and I invite you to participate in this word and world journal. 

 The celebration of writing is presented in an art project by Bili Bidjocka and curated by Simon Njami, called Ecriture Infinie.

Ecriture Infinie explores the written word in a global fashion. 
There are eight giant-sized books made of blank, silent pages open and waiting to be filled. 

It has me so excited I might  just burst! 

Photo from the gallery in Ecriture Infinie

Meet the artist, Bili Bidjocka and the curator Simon Njami as they speak about their work. 

The gallery of Ecriture Infinie  is the perfect place to leave your mark. I love that no mater the language, there is  something to say, something to express. From post it notes to chalkboards, the canvas is ever changing as you travel through your day. In the gallery you will find a collection of images, a collection of words from sophisticated to childlike that will absolutely delight. 

The words  are written, painted, scribbled and scrawled and more importantly shared.

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Photo from the gallery in Ecriture Infinie

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Silence Without Words in Sepia              by Velásquez©2011

Get the word out. I am. I am going to leave my mark with,

 "There is only silence without words", the piece I shared in Friday's post of Word Paths.

 Join me, leave yours here. Visit the gallery .

Photo from the gallery in Ecriture Infinie

Word Paths • Silence

Everyone has a word path. One word leads to another.

Velásquez©2011

Word Paths, a Friday feature showcasing possibilities in written words, creative process and artistic pieces. 

The plan is to present three to five words or three to five lines. 

I may go to seven words or seven lines but probably not often, only if needed. 

Sometimes things just need to be said! Like today's piece.

I plan to work the Word Paths out artistically and process them to share with you here. 

                                                                                                                                                                                          Velásquez©2011

Keeping it simple with a pencil and an eraser on paper. 

The eraser was inspiration for the final piece of this word path as you will see. I enjoy using the stencil typeface because of its simple impact. I use this typeface often and the stencils themselves whether I am painting or printing tee-shirts. 

As I was laying out the stencils to prepare my word art I found that they made a nice piece of art as well. 

I love surprises like this while working. Designing by accident!

                                                                                                       Deborah Velásquez©2011

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 Here is my word path for today

Silence Without Words                                     by Deborah Velásquez©2011

Happy Weekend • Never be Silent • Enjoy the Language of Words

Steve Jobs

He did.

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He did

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 “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path; and that will make all the difference.” - Steve Jobs

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He did, and continues to do so.

IF: Hibernate

For Illustration Friday • Hibernate

She waits watchfully while the forest and fauna sleep.

Owls

Playing with and sketching owls today. I have a love of owls. 

The guardian, beautiful and wise.

They have such a mystique about them.

Symbolically they represent: 

wisdom 

mystery

 transition 

messages 

intelligence 

mysticism 

protection

and 

secrets

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I have made owl ornaments which you can find on my textile and handmade page but I have never put them on paper or canvas. 

I keep plenty of doodles in my sketchbook and have been meaning to explore other mediums. 

For fun I made a rubber stamp of an owl using an artist carving block. 

You can also use a linoleum block or a potato for this relief process of printing. 

This brings me back to my college printmaking class. What comes to mind is that the tools were scary and dangerous, but what they produced was pure beauty. 

For printing inks I like textile block printing ink. 

I did some test printing to see how it will look printed. 

I do love the beauty of imperfection so I am not going for totally clean edges, just a cleaner background.

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First test needs a bit of clean up.

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Final stamp after clean up.

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I love how this turned out. I want to make more art with this stamp. I am not done yet but wanted to share. Illustration Friday has a the theme of hibernation this week. I guess it makes sense that I am thinking about the woodlands, the forest, animals and birds. Come to find out that owls do not hibernate. I would love to work the owl into my illustration somehow. 
More exploration and art to make. 
If you have a love of owls stop by the My Owl Barn website, it is truly delightful. Enjoy.

Three Owls                                                                                                      Deborah Velásquez©2011

Word Paths • I Love...

Everyone has a word path. One word leads to another.

Velásquez©2011

My Friday feature, Word Paths is in it's second week and I just love this idea. 

So many artistic possibilities in written words, creative process and artistic pieces.

The plan is to present three to five words or three to five lines. 

I may go to seven words or seven lines but probably not often only if needed. 

My goal is to keep things in an odd numbered format. 

I plan to work them out artistically and process them to share with you here. 

 Pillow with sewn ribbon used for inpsiration  Velásquez©2011

Inspired by the sewn ribbon design on this 

pillow, I started to play with tape as a medium. 

I love how this inspiration lead to the realization of an idea.

Processing the idea on with tape on butcher paper.

 I wrote the words in marker then painted with strips of tape over them. 
I worked freehand as well but there was better control with a written guide. 
I played with the idea on butcher paper until I found my groove.

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 Here is my word path for today

I Love You Out loud and in Black and White                            by Deborah Velásquez©2011

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Happy Weekend • Be Passionate and Loud • Enjoy the Language of Words

Inspiration-A Visual Collection

Here is a Visual Collection of Inspiration from my trip to Anthropologie. I needed to get out of the forest.

An owl greeted me the door.

I was at home feeling antsy, I needed to get out and find some inspiration and change my visuals. 
Anthropologie is always a good source of inspiration for me because they do such a great job of putting creative visuals throughout the store. 
They all tie back to artist all over the world. 
Be it through the books, clothes, house and home, cards or stationery it never fails me.
When you step back and look at the store as a whole it looks like one huge painting.

Painted and stamped cardboard bound journal.

Good design inspires me so, I love that state of excitement. As an artist you see color combinations, craftsmanship, textures, design, displays, vignettes and or products that light you. There is a spark that runs through your creative soul and pushes you to make art. Your art becomes an expansion of those ideas that you brushed up against.

Powers of observation within the artist are pretty keen I find. We see things others do not. This power of observation is found in comedians as well. Ummmm. There is a saying I have never really liked ... "can't see the forest for the trees". I understand what it means but I always think to myself...  I see both! 
I process it differently.

Dyed fabric strips as wall display.

Texture • Texture • Texture

Crocheted birdhouse.

Textured pillow.

Burlap pillow for display only.

Sewn paper.

I have spent a lot  money on things that inspire me, the colored bowls, tea towels, floral brooches, a bit of kitsch from the flea, textiles, stationery, cards, books etc... you know what I mean. I realized two things. The first is that when all these things sit in my studio amongst my work and it all seems to go together. I believe that in the inspiration we surround ourselves with, has the same sensibilities and style as our work. 

I tend gravitate to the same things, in regards to color especially.

The second realization is that I am usually satisfied with a photo of the thing, the object. I can own it but in a visual way. 
This does save me a bit of money.

 I still buy the books though, I can never give up the books.

Wall display made of hangers.

Colored pencils.

New mag and new book. Letters from the flea market. Leaf from nature.

While there I picked Anthology Magazine. Love this substance and style mag started by blogger Anh-Minh Le. I also found this wonderful book called The Native Trees of Canada by Leanne Shapton that I just had to have. Her work and style makes you want to break out the paints. So beautiful and rich in color.

Color • Color • Color

Chartreuse color stories in jewelry and calendars

Appliqué lampshade

Painterly floral fabric

Graphic floral dress

Flowers for your year

Embroidered tea towel.

Painted canvas covered journal.

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The end of the day filled full with with browsing, photographing and devouring inspiration, brought an even better surprise. 
My husband bought me a great gift, Sibella Court's, The Stylist's Guide to NYC. I love her work. She is a props/interior stylist from Australia. She collects, creates and writes. She also owns a store in Sydney called The Society Inc. 
I hope to get there someday. 
I first heard of her when she was featured on Man Shops Globe on the Sundance Channel. The show follows Kieth Johnson, buyer-at-large for Anthropologie, as he travels around the world searching for furniture, textiles and decorative pieces. 
He also finds artist and crafts people who may find their work featured in the store.

The sepia tone photography invites you to walk through the pages.

Hope you were inspired as I was. 
Create • Imagine • Dream