Dark Corners for Dark Deeds

Tamara and Randy have collaborated on a book they call "Dark Corners for Dark Deeds."  The book invites the artists to delve into seldom shared corners of the mind--impulses rejected by mainstream society for one reason or another.

For my spread, I envisioned a woman, about to act on impulses she cannot deny and cannot control.  She knows her actions are wrong.  Society tells her so.  Yet, she takes that next step anyways--seduced by the fantasy, secure in the anonymity of the darkness--knowing that things will never be the same again.

She has now passed the point of no return and along with it comes a flood of sensations and feelings that take her on an emotional rollercoaster.  Anticipation...delight...excitement...thrill...sex...danger...seduction...lust...desire...passion...fantasy...infidelity...sin...affair...secrets...adultery...suspicion...lies...mistrust...deceit...betrayal...hurt...

heartache...fear...loss...pain...sadness...and ultimately, regret.

Zentangle Chunkies

I haven't really been a fan of zentangles because I am not a doodler.  I decided to sign up for this month's chunkies to give it a try.  Once I understood that a zentangle is built up in layers of complexity, I appreciated the meditative process.  Unfortunately, I rarely have the luxury of time to just sit and zentangle.

I can't really recall where my idea for my zentangles came from.  I knew I wanted to do a circular zentangle.  To add a fun element to my chunky pages, I decided to suspend a two-sided zentangle from a string allowing my design to spin.

If I had planned my layout better, I think I would have created a smaller circular zentangle.  My zentangles are 3 1/4" in diameter which pushes the edges of my 4 x 4" page.  You can see I had to create a half inch extension on the left side so that holes could be punched without interfering with my cut out.

I considered coloring in my zentangles but in the end, decided that I liked the simplicity of the plain black and white.  

Transport: Travel through Time With Me

Carolyn's theme is "Transport" and I knew immediately that I wanted to use string art to illustrate the concept of time travel.  For my background I selected some Citrasolv pages I had made awhile back.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found the image (on the left side of my spread) which looked like a couple locked in an embrace.  I loved how they look like they are dissolving into the background.  This would be perfect for my spread.  I then chose a complimentary page for the right side of my spread.  I glued both Citrasolv pages to white cardstock which served as my substrate.

Next, I adhered a piece of graph paper to the back of each page.  I then created the pattern for a spiral or vortex.  When I have made string art in the past I would use brads for each point and proceed to wrap the string around each brad to create my design,  Using the brads and wrapping string around each brad gives the page  a heavier, bulkier feel.  This time, instead of using brads, I decided to simply sew my design using a needle and string.  I found this to create a much more delicate look to my page which I really liked. 

I had no idea how much string I would need to complete my design.  Fortunately, that didn't matter.  If I ran out of string, I could tape down the end to the back of the page (graph paper side), cut a new length of string and start up where I left off.  You can see what the back of my page looked like when I finished sewing (last photo).  I knew the back of the page would be glued into the book and would not be seen.

I finished my spread with the words "travel through time with me" which I printed onto deli paper, colored in with gel pen and adhered to the page with matte gel medium.