Hello and welcome to my Universe. It occurred to me that perhaps a few of you don't really know who I am, although I've been writing blog posts for years and creating a lot of art along the way. It might be time to introduce myself to the new folks and re-introduce myself to those who have followed along.
My name is Cindy (Larason) White. I grew up in New Jersey in a sweet town by the Delaware River: Lambertville. It has changed a lot over the years, but my memories are set in and around the late 60's when I would walk across the bridge to New Hope. I loved this place (still do!) and found a whole world of art, theater, scents of incense and smells of the mossy covered trees by the water with a bit of a fish smell to it. Shad live in the river and they are a big part of the vibe. There were/are candle shops and restaurants and clothes, pottery and hippie shops. These walks around the town helped create who I am today. Here I am standing by the celestial and peace walls. A favorite spot in my room.
I always made something with my hands. From an early age, I remember trying to knit. My Mom did her best as a right-hander to teach this left-hander how to knit. But I never caught that wave. I also tried sewing on a machine, another favorite important thing my Mom did. Nope. There was a small foray with string art, hammering away at a board with nails for hours until my step-Mom yelled I needed to stop. The repetition must have driven her nuts. Not my intention and I did make her a few gifts as an apology which she truly loved, much to my delight. Kits for this craft are still available if anyone is interested in giving it a try. Here's one I thought was very cool - wine pouring into a glass made by stringoftheart. Nifty.
Somewhere after that I got busy with graduating high school and working as a secretary or typist in various jobs. I still managed to do a little bit of art but it was mostly doodling in lined pads using pens and colored pencils.
Once I got established in a job, I lived with my Grandmother and Uncle Bill for a few years until I found my own place to live with roommates in North Jersey and I got involved in dinner theater. What a trip that was. And there's not one photo showing I did it. You'll just have to take my word for it.
From there I moved to California and again had roommates. I met my ex-husband while working at Disney Studios and we had two beautiful daughters moving to Nevada to be near his family. After six years of a strained marriage, I moved back to Pennsylvania with my girls in tow and only what I could carry in a few suitcases to be with my family. One suitcase had a few clothes and essentials in it, but mostly it was filled with cross stitch magazines and supplies. I had my priorities straight.
At that point, it was a blur of family and activity raising my daughters with much help from my "village". I'll always be forever grateful for that help. I had a lot to learn about who I was besides a Mom and daughter myself, but I was slowly finding my way toward art once more.
I learned embroidery but only really the basics in high school and after my Mom passed away when I was a teenager, I didn't do much art at all. I did try, but the muse was too sad to do anything other than breathe.
Fast forward ... once I discovered cross stitch (both on cloth and plastic canvas) I found something I could do when the kids were playing, sleeping, eating. Every chance I got, I was making something in cross stitch.
When I broke a Blue Willow plate given to me after my Grandmother passed away, I had to find a way to save it. As I cried sweeping up the shards, I was determined to find a way to salvage at least some of these pieces and make something with it. That was in 2005.
It's now been 20 years in my mosaic journey. I've slowed down for a few reasons but I'm still making them and still enjoy the Zen time it provides me while I am sitting with tools and tessera in my hands studying a substrate. I like to share photos, so here is a tool, tessera and substrate.
I'm now 70 years old and my poor hands are tired of repetitive work using the nippers. I did discover dot painting and although I have tried a few different proper tools for that art, I have found the other side of a paintbrush and toothpicks work just fine if not better for me.
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| The large crescent moons are dot painted on hand cut cardboard. The center circle moon and stars was done on a jar lid. There's a few tins, water color and mosaics on this wall. Along with a wooden cheese board my Dad made around the time I was born. He gave me all he had (about 6) and I put mosaics on every single one of them. He loved it! |
Now, giving myself something else to do during the week and concentrating on making mosaics Friday, Saturday and Sunday has helped my hands heal. And my heart still loves mosaics work. In this way, I can still do what makes me happy and keep my hands from pain.
Finding another outlet for mosaics was easy. Every evening I started drawing using black ink on everything I could find from cardboard box pieces to scraps of junk mail years ago. Streaming something while doodling was a way to relax. As time went on, I started exploring the use of alcohol ink markers and "real" paper in pads which produced some fascinating art. The colors in alcohol ink are amazing.
I added some doodles and photographs using the website Zazzle creating mugs, throw pillows and tote bags. I haven't made a lot of these items but what I do have you can find on my website.
I've been making doodles for years and have made my own books to store them, placed them in folders, left them in the pads I've doodled on (both sides of the paper usually).
After scrolling around YouTube, I discovered the world of junk journals. Wow, what fun they seemed!
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| This junk journal was about 80-90 pages. I haven't done another one exactly like this one yet but I hope to do more in the future. |
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| This page is a favorite. I added a coin purse that holds a small watercolor painting inside. |
That led me to start making my own stickers using magazines and my doodles. I'm still creating what I call "Sticker Doodle" books. It really is fun! Sometimes I dedicate a color, other times a subject.
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| Just a few (seriously) stickers I've made from magazines. |
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| One of the best pages so far in the Sticker Doodle book, adding stickers and well ... doodles on the page. | |
In January this year, I found a free online 5 day collage paper making class through Instagram taught by the amazing Catherine Rains. If you're interested, this free course is still available to take. Believe me, if you've ever been interested in collage or how to make some really interesting designs on paper, Cat can show you way to make fodder you'll use for years!
I have to say, this part of the journey was life-altering for me. I found I could add paint both in watercolor and acrylics to paper with some really cool designs or just different colors blended or separate and make fodder to use in collage. This was mind blowing. My hands appreciated the break from using the mosaic nippers and I was still creating art similar to mosaics. Kind of.
I've given myself a challenge to make a small collage for 100 days. I was keeping track of it on Facebook but I didn't continue with sharing that. I don't love each page I make but I am having fun using papers I've created in interesting ways. I'm learning the colors I really like and those I'm not crazy about. I'm leaning toward red and yellow or gold more than I thought I would. Of course earth tones are still a favorite and lots of blue gets added in almost everything I do because I love the color blue! It was my Dad's favorite color as well and now that he's gone, I feel like a little bit of his spirit is in the blue papers I create.
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| Day 66 using ink stamped paper, roller paint off-casts, circles/dashes I drew on paper and acrylic paint in metallic gold using a bottle cap for the circle, piece of credit card for the lines and end of the paintbrush or toothpicks for the dots |
I also purchased a Gelli plate that I have a love/hate relationship with. I am trying not to spend too much money on paper, so using what I have can be challenging. The better the paper, the easier it comes off the plate. I'm still in the very early stages of learning how to use this plate. Paint is also a thing ... I don't know that I'm using the best ones for a Gelli plate but I'm using what I can afford. It'll have to do! Sometimes I get some amazing pulls from it, and other times ... not so much.
I just started painting on old pieces of junk mail I collected thinking I'd use some of them for journaling. Instead I am using them for collage. Nothing is wasted! Not even the mail we used to put out for recycling.
I'm using cardboard (cereal boxes, pasta boxes, etc) to cover in collage as well. I even have some cards/tags I'm making using an old deck of tarot cards with some missing. These appeal to me as does making mosaics on empty wine bottles, microwave plates, tin can lids. Reuse/recycle!
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| Old tarot card with collage - "In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity" |
I've shared my art journey here daily recently and really try to represent all the things I love to create art to the best of my ability. Each day I do something, some times I do all of the things. It's fun, rewarding and exhausting. Some of the things I shared in this post, will be seen in other posts. It's okay to skim or skip any or all of these posts if you are not into reading them. Just look at the pretty pictures. 😊
It has become a nice routine to do art daily when I'm feeling physically well enough, we just recently had a fight with COVID. Now that kids and grandkids aren't needing me as much, I have time to play!
I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into who I was and who I now am.
Enjoy the journey.
Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics
https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com
