






And here is a page with fishes - an element that I used on another page, but liked so much that I made several more... they all fit into that purple pocket! You can't tell at this level of photography, but the scales on the pink and brown fishes are all individually glued in place. Great texture! Those two silver birds over on the top left are my fave metal duct tape (Hello hardware store) over cardstock - but they just wash out in the light. I'd have to rig much more subtle lighting to get them to look metallic, not white.
And in keeping with my obsessive urges to use every scrap of paper on my desk (Earth Day, 1970, came at a particularly formative point in my life) these next two pages are filled with the artful (I hope) placement of some very tiny and pretty oddly shaped pieces of ... snipetts. One of them happened to be folded in half and so I just glued it down like that - then I realised that it was a little book! So I wrote in it and then started folding more and more papers and squeezed all of my thoughts behind these little doors. Among other things I was extolling the virtues of my children, which are legion, let me tell you. (As are the things that they need to learn.) But motherhood continues to be a deeply spiritual process for me and I am aghast most days at my childrens' ability to walk me right up the steps to the God/dess Of My Understanding. Where I remember to breathe. Where I weep.
God Bless The Children.
Last night our adoption group celebrated The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. These children, aged 5-12, about a dozen of them, ranged and caroused like puppies: running themselves ragged, glad to see each other again, eager to be called in for our potluck supper, thrilled to go outside again, tumbling back inside and settling like lambs to hear me read our traditional story about The Lady in the Moon, the littlest girl sitting in the lap of the eldest girl.
It's small wonder that I weep as I do.
So, off with us. Go make art that shows how much the children matter. And then start prepping yourself to vote in November like YOUR vote was going to make or break some child's life.
Because I guarantee it will.
And a close up of her lovely free motion machine stitching:
Another Grieving Angel. Their arms are embroidery floss wrapped sticks, and their hands are tassels of floss. For the soft touch I wanted, I think. I adore their faces.
This doll stands a bit taller than the angels, about 20" tall. Her body is painted muslin but her face is just the cloth. Her heavily patched robe has been burned. Think metaphor here. These dolls were all made in the early 1990's. And that party had only just begun.
This doll is angry. Her hands, her means of expression, are all tied in knots. She has a headache. She is screaming.
>sigh<
(I am exhausted just having taken their photographs. Such stories they tell.)
Thank you for having come on over to look.
I delight in the look of artists journals that are thick with collage and pockets with secret notes inside them, and have ribbons, lace, beads and charms dangling from their edges.
Well, it is ready for publication - just about. I would like to have a few people test it. My friend Iris has agreed to give it a try and I would like four more opinions. Here is the deal: leave me a comment with your address or write to me at robinsunne@robinsunne.com with your address and I will send Your Artist Journal out to the first four respondents. Give it a trial run for a week and then send me back the survey that I am enclosing. You get to keep your journal. You may blog about your progress, and if you send your blog address I will link you here.
Please only respond if you have time to do this within a week - time is a bit of the essence: I have a projected publication date of October 1st (presentation at an important venue) and I would like time to work in any suggestions that you all may have. 

And here is a little fairy under the arch at Children's Chapel (an outdoor chapel looking out over the georgous waters of Penobscot Bay). You can't tell, but the fairy is floating above the groud on her foam dot.
Again, in order to show the card in full I didn't shoot the angle to get the dimension: this next ATC has REAL sunflower seeds, and two layers of sunflowers. It is awesome in hand!
Here is a girl dancing to the band music - of course in 3-D!
There is a granite seal in Rockport Harbor: Andre. He (the live seal) lived here in the 1960's with a local family and there is a book about him, a couple in fact, that you can get at your library. Here is Andre. Can you tell how he is layered?
Here is a multi-dimensional Valentine:
Another fairy at Children's Chapel - I tell you, that is a very magical place! This fairy was hand-drawn with sparkle Gelly Roll pens (one of my fave brands) and set in with foam dots:
This is one I worked on. This is a photo of an embroidery I put on a jean jacket when I was about 15. See how the sun rises from behind the hills of rolling chain stitch?
Then, as I went looking in the office for our pre-cut ATC backs guess what excellent Librarian Jane left for us? CLEAR ATCs!!! Thank you, Jane! This is what I did with them: made a base ATC picture, and then made a bit of a borderon the clear ATC to hide some foam dots that set the "glass" above the picture. On the sunshine I redrew the sun with permanant gold ink, and on my valentine I drew with sparkly Gelly Rollers. We had a great night (except for the part about my daughter being given a ticket by her teacher for "reading while walking outside a library.") (Joke.)Our next ATC swap at the library is on Saturday, September 13th, at 2:30, with excellent Iris. See you there!


#2 Susannah, don't you cry - the quote reads: "It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry" - !:
#3 The treasure of our passion:
#4 Our Bounty:
#5 And now I'm found - Amazing Grace is one of my most favorite songs... I can't wait to learn it on my violin:
#6 How sweet the sound:
#7 Keep Going! - This is encouragement that I heard, and that I think has some merit, and that I heeded at Fiddle Camp:
#8 Strong Loving Peace - this is one of the cards that I made while I was teaching the ATC Specialty Workshop at Camp:
#9 Come and sit by my side - I enjoyed quite a bit of adult time! (That's a parent joke.) Old and new friends. Oh yay. Also I was in the "Hawk" group, I know, this is a Kestrel/falcon, but not all that far off:
#10 Skye Boat Song - Oh! My! I really like this song. It was the only one on the list that I learned before camp, and I learned it a bit off and so had to relearn it, but it is worth it. It is so beautiful. The quote reads: Speed bonny boat like a bird on the wing...:
#11 Your Heart's Content - reads: "Fiddle to your Heart's Content":
#12 You are the flower of Love #1:
#13 You are the flower of Love #2:
#14 Banjo Journey:
#15 Cello Celebration - You shoulda heard those cellos and basses. Wow! They have such a rich sound. The classes would play for us, only cellos or only basses, and the sound was fantastic!:
#16 Contra Dance Band:
#17 When She Comes - the quote says: "She'll be coming around the mountain":
# 18 'Tis a Gift to be free... - the quote on the front of the card reads: "tis a gift to be simple":
#20 Fiddly-I-Oh:
#21 Hot Fiddles! - the caution warning label came from some of our sparklers this past July, and you shoulda heard some of those fiddles at Camp!:
#22 Fiddle Travels - the background papers on these last two ATCs came from American Express credit card advertising that looks like luggage and passports!:
#23 Don't you cry for me - a fitting end to my Fiddle Camp ATC saga if you take the title another way ... all is well:

Clearly, whoever did that realised their error and at least returned all the cut pages to the tabletop, but she didn't apologise, and it was a surprise this morning to be flipping throught the cut up book and realise what had happened.
So, an open heart, and fun, and maybe some confidence, and some ouchies too. Ain't that just the way.
Sounds like a topic for a country western song...
Fiber and mixed media artist makes note of her days.