Whisper from JacQ's book

JacQ's book was a hard one! However I finally decided on something, my page is quite busy and also overall, (at least on the inside), quite dark in colour. There are however some lighter/brighter areas, like the little piece in the above image! Once again there is a story, I used found text to create the story, the few lines of text were left over from a previous project! It's interesting to use found text to create a story and quite amazing how it actually seems to make sense and fit the theme in mind.
This is my last post for tonight! I have been on a roll and the computer has been behaving itself! Yahoo!!!!

It's only two nights until Christmas, so to all out there in collaborator's land, have a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends, may the New Year bring you health, happiness and creativity!
love, Peta

A Whisper from Kristin's book

I love to work in layers and I love using phone book pages as the first layer, I paint over the pages with gesso, in the above whisper I have also used a light wash of blue ink. On top of this I have used oil of wintergreen to transfer a toner photocopy of an image I sketched while on a train travelling to New York, the final layer was text using a zig pen!
Kristin has once again provided us with an interesting format for her book, I just hope I got close to the theme that Kristin had in mind, if not hopefully you like it anyway Kristin......I had a lot of fun putting it together!
Peta

A little peek at Peta's page fro Tracey's book!

I wonder what this book could be about? From all the clues it looked like.................so that's just what I went ahead and did!
There is a true story involved, which has a happy ending.....got the picture? or maybe not!!
Great pages Tracey, love the recycling that's going on in this collaboration!
Peta

Whisper for Jen's book

Hi Whisperers!
It's been a while since I've posted, however now if I'm successful I shalll post a couple of whispers up.
Jen, I loved the Turkish Map fold format of your book and also the backgrounds of maps and gelatine printing!
I hope I've worked out the theme!
Peta

Tamara's clue from Olley's book - a bit late.

Somehow I managed to miss posting this clue last month...Olley, here is a clue from Tamara's effort in your book.

I loved working on Olley's book - fun concept! Tamara's page had an almost ethereal quality to it. Just lovely!

Nanette's Book. Clue from Tamara's Page. Posted by Tracey. Check?!

Here's a little snippet from Tamara's page in Nanette's book...

I think this theme might not be straying too far from it's beginnings....I think...

Tamara's page was a bit of a hard act to follow. (As always!)

Clue Squares to Nanette's Book

Shelley's Clue Square to Lindesay's Book

Peta's Book

Where... and who... is the hidden house? So much fun working on your idea Peta, very inspiring!

A Snippit from Peta's Page for Kim's Book

For some unknown reason, (it could have been that I was in such a rush to post Kim's book to Sarah!!), I forgot to take a photo of the actual clue I did from Olley's page of Kim's book....so the next best think is a small piece of the page that I did for Kim's book.
I loved the challenge of putting something together for this very clever book.....I think the theme was obvious...or perhpas not, maybe I've taken it Kim's book in a different direction to what she intended???

We'll all just have to wait and see!!!!!

What is Lindesay's theme?

Here are some clues from Lindesay's Whisper. One from Sarah (the page I worked on)

and a bit from me!

Thanks Lindesay!

Sarahs Book, Jen's page

I put this off for ages, not sure what my approach would be, but once I started it was a lot of fun!

Peta's Book, a snippet from Tracey and another from Tamara

 I get kerflummoxed by whose clue is from whose page and by whom...anyone else?! But, I always seem to figure it out in the end... Above is a little sneak peek at the work I did on my page for Peta's book, below a snippet of the page Tamara did for Peta's book...

I loved the format of Peta's pages...and had fun with the theme (or at least, I think it was kind of the theme....!)

I've just tweaked the comments settings, in the hope that we can make this easier for everyone. At this stage, it seems to be working, but you may need to refresh your screen after your comment is 'published' to see it there. Hope that change makes commenting a bit more successful!

Have fun whispering....

Posts!

Unfortunately I still cannot comment on someone elses post. But I do love this blog so I will just have to comment by 'posting' until I get sorted - thanks for your help Tracey and Peta.

Shhhelley

Peta's Clue from Olley's Page of Kristins Book

Is it about 'expressing yourself'??? Yes! Of course! It's always about your own expression, even when working on someone else's theme! Kristin's book was a delight to work on, her actual 'pages' are very clever...and a bit nostalgic I think!!! I'm afraid I couldn't just stop at the page that Kristin had provided, I just had to add more! Thanks for a great concept Kristin I really enjoyed 'expressing' myself in your book!

Whisper for Shelleys book

....and it's not an elephants trunk, Jen

Whisper for Tamaras book

this is a tiny slither of a fun page

Fingers Crossed!!

Can you see this whisper? It's my clue piece from Olley's page in Lindesay's book.......I love Lindesay's style it's really uniquely him....however this didn't seem to help me when it came to deciding what his theme was......this book had me scratching my head for a couple of weeks....time was ticking by...what was his theme!!!!???? I'm not sure if I 'got it right', however I did enjoy the challenge and also the time I spent working on my page for Lindesay's book. Hope you can see the clue!!!!

Some clues from Sarah

These are clues from the work Sarah has been doing  on the pages she has had. (I think so, anyway!! Sarah - please let me know if I have that wrong!)

They really are lovely little pieces that are a bit of a tease.

I'm not sure which belongs to whom - maybe that's a bit more guesswork for us all!

Hope everyone is having fun with their June pages - I am enjoying Peta's pages this month...and have had what I think is a great idea (already! - it's not even halfway through the month!)

Happy whispering everyone....

Love
Tracey.

Nanette's adventures

Hello fellow whisperers . It's taken me ages to blog on but here I am. June 6 and 1 week late with my whisper. It looks way to tricky. I wish Lindsey would give me easier hints!!! Everyones comments inspire me to adventure and whisper but where do all the hours go? This week is very excitng for Peta and me as we head up to Mackay to Gargett Gallery for our opening on Sunday. Amanda won't be there but we'll enjoy our moments in the sunshine. See, I have been creating just not whispering. Kim's whisper is intriguing and a fanatstic structure to work with. What more can i say? Not sure so farewell until I truly master blogging... like how to add images??? Now thats a mystery.

Hello Whisperers!

As the month of May comes to a close I’m wondering how you are all going with your book for May, have you completed it? Maybe you are just putting the finishing touches to your page and will be posting it onto the next artist in a couple of days or so! Perhaps you have just received your book for June....how exciting it is to find a bookish type of parcel in your letter box.......do you open it up at once, or do you sit it on the kitchen table and savour the feeling of excitement until you have your usual opening ceremony set out before you.....or do you wish you could open it up but know that it isn’t the ‘right’ time as there are just too many demands on your time right now??? I’d love to know just how you each approach the arrival of a new book.

This is how it happens for me: It is late afternoon or early evening by the time I arrive home, Bruce or I look in our barrel mail box to see if we have any mail, (it depends whose driving, the person driving is closest to the mail box, so they get first look!), if I’m driving I give the bookish package to Bruce to hold whilst I drive up our hill to our house, if I’m the passenger, I will turn the parcel over in my hands, exploring every detail of the packaging on all sides, also confirming if it’s the next book by who the sender is, (Olley sends to me).....I place the parcel onto the end of our dining room table where it will sit while I prepare dinner and make phone calls or check emails....I’ll keep glancing at it every now and again, trying to imagine what the book will look like from the size of the parcel.....after we have finished dinner and cleared up I’ll make myself a cup of Nespresso coffee and settle down with some chocolate and salted cashew nuts in my comfortable chair and slowly and carefully open the package to reveal it’s fascinating contents....then my mind begins to click into gear, (most times it ‘clicks’ sometimes it just ‘sits’ in blankness!!) as I begin to work out what I think the Whispers and the full page are telling me!!

To help me keep track of where each book is up to I would also love it if you could each send me a short email letting me know just which book you are currently in possession of. I get a sense that we are all reasonably on track, except maybe for Jen who has been away for a few weeks! ( Jen, welcome back! I know you will be able to catch up in the next couple of weeks! I do hope you had a fantastic holiday!!)

Thanks to everyone for emailing me letting me know when you’re sending books off, I appreciate knowing whose got what!

Thanks also to lots of you for putting up your ‘whispers’ on the blog, it’s exciting and interesting to see these and to read what artists are thinking about the books and the types of techniques that are being used on your pages, keep it up! I have yet to phone Tracey to resolve my ‘disappearing images’ issue! If anyone is wanting some help with putting up posts on the blog then please contact Tracey for some assistance.

Also just a reminder, when you post the book with your work in it off to whoever you post to, to also remember to post the full page the artist before you created back to the originator of the book.......sorry about all the words.....it’s still a little confusing to me at times!


I’m off to the studio to finish my ‘whispers’ journal about my page for Lindesay’s book....I’ve completed the page and sent it off today....however, I’m feeling uncertain about whether I’ve got the theme right!

Take care everyone and stay happily creative !!
Love,
Peta xx

Sarah's Pages

Two clues today, from Sarah's book. First, my bench, just as I finished, and you can see a glimpse of the page in the bottom left hand corner...

And a clue from Tamara's page for Sarah's book...I found with this one that I couldn't really narrow down the theme (as I interpreted it) to a word or two...it was more of a feeling, a sense...bigger and broader than a couple of words. Tamara introduced some great textures to her page...I kept wanting to run my fingers over parts of it!

Bring on the next book!

Peta's Whisper - A Clue from Sarah's response...

Peta, I really grew into your Whisper. I wanted to "do another one" - and it was so hard to choose in the first place! Sarah's response was colourful and intense! This clue snippet doesn't really give anything away but does reveal the wonderment of the original theme. I love it! My response bubbled away for a while - I initially felt I couldn't create anything to support the concept, but then, with my usual flurry of "arts and crafts" towards the end of the month, my Whisper came to be and I sadly said goodbye when I sent it on to Tamara .... but not before I took 100 photos!!

Good luck Tamara. You'll have a lot of fun I'm certain.

Shhhelley

Hello from Dole in the Jura

Just to make you all really jealous, this is my view from the boat towards town and the view towards the park. It is so beautiful here and the food is amazing. A dream come true! Jen

Sarah's Sign In Page

Hello Whisper Collaborators! A taste of what's coming when Sarah's Book arrives your way! Note the distinct shape!

Documenting our impressions

Tamara posed an interesting question concerning the journaling/documentation of impressions, feeling and thoughts in regard to the books we are each working on. (see Tamaras post below.
I posted the comment below in response to Tamara's question and also decided that it was a good one for all to see and perhaps discuss, thus this post!

I am also documenting down my thoughts on receiving a book and also what goes through my head in terms of what I think the theme is about....the book I am using is a children's picture story book, I have painted some of the pages over with gesso or other acryclic paint, sometimes leaving some of the image or text showing and partly obscured. when I think my page is complete I write a bit about what I decided to do, the technique and materials used I also use bits and pieces of left over, paint, images and collage pieces from the actual artwork, this helps me to remember in a different way about what I've done!It is hard not sharing these words with anyone in the collaboration....perhaps we could each choose half a dozen words from our journals to 'list' with the clue, in no particular order? What do others think?
Peta

Shhh....Tamara's Page for Shelly's Book

Time for another clue...this one is of the page Tamara created for Shelly book... This one had me wondering for a while...but I think I got on more or less the right path eventually...not at all sure though!

I'm really finding it a challenge not to share these! I have a little notebook at my workbench where I write a quick reaction to the pieces as they arrive, and then another bit of documenting as I complete the page - is anyone else documenting in any way? And, we can't even share the words!!

My efforts on Shelly's page, which are now winging their way to JacQ, used mica sprays, gold pen, black pen and photoshopped image printed onto the page. I had to go on a mission to find a model to strike a particular pose for the image I wanted to use...thanks to the daughter of my good friends, I got exactly the expression/pose I was imagining!

I'm looking forward to seeing a few more clues up here in the next little while as this next round moves along!

*If you find you're having any difficulties with the blog - give me a yell and I'll do whatever I can to sort them out - it's lots of fun once you get the hang of it!

It's a brand new month!!!

Well, here I am again!
And here we are into another month!!
Are you like me? Are you eagerly watching your letterbox for another book to arrive? Have you completed your pages for Marchs' book? And posted them off already?
Perhaps you are putting the finishing touches to your pages? Or maybe you are stuck on the theme? I hope not!!!!
Whatever stage you are up to, I hope you are enjoying the challenges that the Whispers collaboration is offering you!
If you have the time how about uploading the clue you have produced for your March book.....I'll give Tracey a call and hopefully rectify my problem with uploading photographs....at the moment they are a little too secretive!!

Stay Happy and Creative!

Just popping in to say "hi" from Ballarat!

I have just completed a fantastic week of teaching at 'Fibre Arts Australia - Ballarat'.....I had a beautiful class of 7 students who worked very hard and lapped up what I had to offer. The week, (really 5 days), is full on with class time, fun times, exhibitions and lots of cross fertilzation between students and tutors alike.
Most of the attendees I have had conversations with come along to these fabulous events with the view to learning, sharing, being well fed, not having to do housework and doing what they love, creative arty stuff!
I'm now on my way to my creative sister in law, Nic's house, to do some work with JacQ on another collaborative project which is for the Blarney Book and Arts Biblio Award.....how much more fun can a gal have!!!!!

Hope everyone is steaming along with their current book!!

Cheers,
Peta

A Clue from Sarah's Whisper....

Here is something I thought would be a good 'tease' from Sarah's beautiful work (Sarah - if you think it gives away too much I shall remove it). Even though I have long moved on to round two, I couldn't go past posting this clue for you all to see. I have found myself looking at the images I collected during 'my time' with Sarah's work over and over. The more I look, the more I see and the more I want to keep exploring. Thanks Sarah for the intriguing sojourn! Shhhelley x

Giddyup

Its one of those ridey things, you know, they go fast, and throw people off into cactus bushes! So you have to spend the next three days on the kitchen table with no pants on, so someone else can pull all the needles out of your bottom. Yes, it happened to me!

A "Snippet" of Nanette

Nanette's first page arrived last month & I was so excited to open this first little parcel of creativity. It was colourful & daunting - almost confusing!!! And then it hit me - Oh My God - I am doing this again - it's torture looking at the pages for the first time & not having a single clue as to what you will do with it. It took me a while but I finally came up with something that I was happy with. (3 weeks later!) This is a "snippet" from Nanette's first page. This part is fairly obvious you may think, that is until you put the rest of the page with it! I have recieved Lindesay's page & Nanette's snippet last week & guess what?.?.?.?.? It's Ground Hog Day!!

Olleys Book

Here is my whisper of Olleys book. I loved the bright colours and also if I have the theme correct it is something close to my heart!

Clue from Shelley's Page

Is your imagination tweaked?

A stone I died and rose again a plant

What a fabulous idea JacQ. I think it was tailor-made for me on so many different levels. Here are a few snippets from my pages.

Clue from Olley's Book

Intriguing!? Yes! Fun and colourful? Yes! I had several thoughts about Olley's theme, there was quite a bit of information to work with, in the end I went with the first idea/feeling I had! I also think what worked for me in putting together my page for Olley's book was the pressure of time. Once I had made up my mind where I was heading, I got out my favourite resources and mediums and just went for it. I used collage pieces over layers of phone book pages, there is texture in the form of fabric and an interactive piece! I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill and challenge of completing this page....have I got it right??? Only Olley will know! And that will only be revealed at the completion of the collaboration!

A Lovely Creative Idea

I love Olley's idea of each of us adding Chinese ephemera to her postage box! Olley you are so creative! The ephemera I have attached came all the way from New York!

Tamara's Clue

Here is the clue from the page Tamara sent me for her book...On receiving the parcel and opening it a month ago, I felt pretty confident that I was on the right the track with her theme...except for one thing...the Big R....oh dang it! I can't tell you!! But, I wish I could! Because this one element has had me wondering if I'm missing the point altogether. Pretty much everything points one way. Except this thing. So, I've gone ahead and created my page as I first interpreted the theme, and included a reference to "the thing" in my piece. I also worked in a piece of machine embroidery, along with the watercolour paint, mica paint and coloured pencil.

How is everyone else going?

Ready for the next lot of pages?

Back to Reality

It's wonderful and exciting and fun to travel........ but also fantastic to be home again and back into things, like sleeping in my own bed, snuggling up to my husband, eating Aussie fare, giving my dog a pat and getting back into my studio and the collaboration! What have you each been up to over the past few weeks? Have you figured out the theme of the book sent to you for round one? Or are you scratching your head with bewilderment! because I knew I'd be away for most of this month I had to move fairly quickly with Olley's book, I wonder if I have 'read' it correctly? It was such fun interpreting Olley's theme! I could see at least two possible stories and also maybe a third......there was no time to dilly dally, so after considering my options I pulled out a selection of my favourite art materials and simply let my intuition and understanding of the theme guide me in piecing together my page. I know we can share some snippets of the books on this blog, so thought it would be okay to share with you an image of the postage box that Olley's book pages will be travelling around in. Olley has requested for each of us to decorate her postage box with Chinese ephemera.....what a brilliant idea! Oh Oh.....I'm a bit rusty on the uploading of images so you will notice that the image of Olley's box and my clue snippet image are above this new post...sorry!!!! (Maybe I can blame it on jet lag!!)

Its cold here !!!

This is what I woke up to this morning!!! Note the letterbox!

From Cleveland USA!!

I awoke this morning to a white wonderland.......it snowed during the night at my daughters house in Cleveland!! How beautiful everything looks when covered with a soft white covering...and how cold it is when you venture outside!! It's really lovely being here and seeing my daughter and my new grand daughter....Abby is soooo very cute! she is a very happy and contented baby giving us all lots of gorgeous smiles!
Everything looks so different here to what I am used to in Queensland, the houses are mostly painted wood, cream, white, pale greys and sometimes there is a deep red one! All the roof's are steep to allow the snow to slide off and not build up and cause the roof to collapse, the trees are mostly bare except for the fir trees of course.......and the letterboxes, they are quite large and made out of plastic!
Tonight we are eating out at a diner with Matt's family, this will be an interesting experience for Tate and I!
How are you all progressing with your books? Have you figured out the themes? It's very interesting to ask others what they think the theme is.....I asked two friends from work, they both saw different things to what I did!
I'm looking forward to seeing some blogs soon!
From your well rugged up coordinator!!

Tamara's Whisper

Its Febuary's end but my pages are in the mail making their way to Tracey. I'm uncertain of how I feel about my page. There are elements that speak to me but its a representation of the theme using images I don't usually have an affinity for. The process was very organic. I allowed the page to unfold itself without trying to sway it more to my ingrained likes. A big part of my stuggle has been the departure from my comfort zone with colour choice. It's more muted than I normally lean towards but once again it works for the purpose of the imagery. Maybe in time it will grow on me. Looking forward to your response to it Tracey. I wonder what it will say to your minds eye.

Cheers Tamara

An Exciting Week Coming Up!!

By now you will all be either putting the finishing touches to your 'whispers' books, or packaging them up nice and securely, (and maybe for some, decoratively!)
Tuesday is the 1st of March and the official starting date for Round One! So I imagine by the end of this week at the very latest you will each have a new book in your hands.......
What are you going to make of the themes??? What story will you visually tell??? How will you document the previous artists work in the form of a clue, (I have heard the clues being referred to in a few ways: fragment, square, piece, sheet....any other descriptors?????) Also what will you document down about the page you see????

As you know from my previous post, I asked Olley if she would mind sending he book to me a little early if possible....well she did! Olley delivered it to the school I work at, unfortunately it was on a Friday so I didn't actually get it until Monday as I don't work Fridays, (Fridays are my dedicated studio days!)....I was very busy on Monday, so didn't even try to take a peek until after I had arrived home and was able to give it my full attention and do the 'opening' justice.......I had two ideas about Olley's theme immediately...then a third one occurred to me a few days later....so, what did I do???? Well, I.............sorry, you will have to wait and see!!!
What I can tell you is that I have had an absolutely lovely day today working on my page of Olley's book, (I know I'm rather early but I really like to be organised..... and I won't have heaps of time when I get back from the US on the LAST Sunday of the month), so, back to the book.....I was up to my armpits in ink, shellac, gesso and some delightful collage pieces....I have 90 per cent completed what I need to do......I'll put the finishing touches on it when I return......I wonder if I have interpretted Olleys book correctly????

While I'm away I'll be checking into the blog from time to time, I'm very keen to see what's happening with all of you back here in Oz as well as to keep up to date with the collaboration!
I will also hopefully, put a couple of posts up about my trip.

Take care and have fun creating your pages..........your whispering coordinator!

Tracey's Book

My book is all wrapped up, ready to send to JacQ later today! Thought I'd share a shot of the work bench once I'd taken away the pages...Seems I have a big mess to clean up! This is really only one little part of the mess I've made...there is paper and paint and tape and gesso and newspaper everywhere.

I used discarded manilla folders, cut in half, papered with newsprint and covered in a light smear of gesso for the pages. There might have been a bit of walnut ink invloved, along with paint, stencils, packing tape transfers and some random found objects.

Can't wait to see what little snippets everyone has to share here as we get started. Next job is to write my spiel for the artist profile page here - so far there are profiles from Peta, Sarah and Tamara. I'll enjoy reading the rest as they come in!

Happy whispering!

I'm getting excited!!

Not long now folks.......till we begin this collaboration....only ten more days to the beginning of March, AND, Olley's book awaits me at TCC, (where I work)...I'll have it in my hot little hands on MONDAY!!!
Olley has been super fast at completing her book and has very kindly sent it to me early! The main reason for this is that it's also not long until I jet off to the USA, March 4th to be exact! I'm off to visit one of my daughters and my 6 month old grand daughter, Abby, who is very cute when I see her on Skype! An especially nice thing about this trip is that I will be spending 6 days in New York with JacQ!! We've often talked about being in NY together and now we will actually do it. Helen and Kristin have provided us with some great information, like places to see, things to do as well as where to eat and shop! Thanks so much guys!
My book is packaged up and ready to post, hopefully I will send it off on Monday, so watch out for it in your letterbox Sarah!
I trust you are all on track for posting your books off so they will arrive at their destinations by the beginning of March ?
Looking forward to following what you're each doing via this blog.
love,
Peta

Am I There Yet

I am a Virgin blogger so I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing?! I'll keep this short in case it's wrong. Finally worked out my gmail account so fingers crossed I'll remember my password and make it back here. Good to see/hear from you all, love kristin.

Olley's update

Hello my friends, I am excited to be back & sharing a blog or two. I gave a bookbinding workshop today & Tracey was one of my keen students. We talked about whispers & where we were up to - I have nearly finished my page - Tracey hasn't started. But hey who's keeping track?!? I was keen to get started way back in December but I was at work at the time & the only thing I could use out of my little studio there was some cereal boxes I had collected for book making. So I can tell you only that my pages are square, made out of cereal boxes, I couldn't decide between 2 themes so I have combined them, I have used ALL my favourite colours & I had a whole lot of fun doing it. I have a tinsy little bit left to complete then it will be all ready to send at the end of the month. I am really looking forward to this collaboration - I hope you all have as much fun as I did in creating my first page. Next blog I will post a photo of my new hairdo - there is not much hair left really - it's hot & hair is extremely over rated anyway! I start a new job on Tuesday - admin traineeship at the power station. Woohoo - can't wait. Take care, Happy Creating, Love Olley.

Hi from Jen

thanks Tracey for initiating this blog for our collective whisperings. As luck would have it my printer just died and I'm not ready yet... so there wasn't a lot of whispering happening here. No worries... bring on March and our first double page spread! I'm so excited. Here's a clue... its my desk top where I WAS working