Nowhere Nomad

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“Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.”

— Unknown

Again, I have wandered off, and yet gone nowhere except to exotic locations in my own mind.

In these uncertain pandemic times, I have indeed found myself in the middle of nowhere, nowhere being my house and my office. That is the extent of my worldly travels. Point A to point B. Rinse and repeat. And it’s just fine by me. Because, as the above quotation states, I’ve found myself and, more importantly, I have found what matters most. I’m sure most of you feel the same way.

I have given my latest painting the oxymoronic title of ‘Nowhere Nomad’. I have visited an imaginary local in my mind without traveling outside of my art studio. Instead of desert sand in my boots, I have India ink on my hands. I imagine the stool at my workbench is quite a bit more comfortable than the precarious perch of a camel’s back.

Building layers with collaged papers, acrylic paint, ink and stenciling has become my current art room passion. This piece is on an 11 x 14 birch panel and is embellished with copper pieces.

I added a polymer clay accent to the center of the stenciled ‘Decorative Medallion’ image (designed by artist Gwen Lafleur for Stencil Girl Products).

Thank you for stopping by today. Who knows where we may ‘travel’ next.

Leslie

Focus On Time Travel

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“Of what use are lens and light to those who lack in mind and sight?”

— Anonymous

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How many of you have traveled to 2560 BC for the ribbon cutting ceremony at King Khufu’s place and forgotten your camera? Or wound up in 1905 at the little dinner party over at Albert’s without taking one selfie with him? Your photo album is filled with missed opportunities because you didn’t get a picture of Salisbury Plain before those big massive stones were added, nor did you capture a shot of that baby T-Rex hatching.

Never miss another memorable moment with the new TimeTraveler 6000! You won’t forget it on your next trip to the Iron Age or to Victorian London or anywhere you roam because it will take you there! That’s right, the TimeTraveler 6000 is not just a camera, but also a time travel machine! Just refer to our handy 9000 page reference guide and dial in your destination of choice. It’s that simple!

Hello Steampunk fans, Leslie here. I was so excited to be invited to be a contributing artist for the Steampunk Blog Hop! I love upcycling and assemblage art, so I accepted the invitation immediately and start sorting through my stash of goodies. When I came across an old camera I had gutted for parts and a cork screw, a time travel machine seemed just the ticket. Doesn’t everybody think time travel when the see a wine opener? Perhaps just me, haha.

I wanted to keep the glass of the lens, so I covered it with paper and masking tape before my many layers of black gesso, paint and glue were applied. I love to include a ‘hidden pictures’ aspect to many of my creations, some more obvious than others. This camera has a ‘receiver’ made from steamer basket pieces, a cork screw and toy parts. The ‘time traveler lens’ is the wheel from an old Demo Labeler. Plus, there are lots of gears, a drywall screw, clock parts and an eyeball I made out of polymer clay.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed my contribution to the Steampunk Blog Hop.

We have 16 prize sponsors for our Steampunk Hop - we're proud to say these are small businesses run by artists. Let's show them some love! 

1) A Vintage Girl (https://www.avintagegirlshop.com/) - $20 prize package

2) Angel Dream Crafts (https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/AngeldreamCraftsKim) - $20 gift certificate (shipping not included)

3) Linda Israel Art (https://lindaisrael.com/art/) - $50 gift certificate (shipping not included)

4) A Matter of Crafts (www.justamatterofcrafts.com) - $20 gift certificate (shipping not included)

5) Expressions Craft (https://www.expressionscraft.com/) - $25 gift certificate (shipping not included)

6) Nellys Artistic Creations (https://www.instagram.com/nellys_artistic_creations/?hl=en) - original artwork (see link for examples of her work)

7) Gecko Galz (https://www.etsy.com/shop/geckogalz) - $25 in digital products

8) Creative Embellishments (https://creativeembellishments.com/) - $50 (shipping not included) 

9) Emerald Creek (https://emeraldcreek.co/) - $25 gift certificate 

10) Electric Pandemonium (Etsy.com/shop/electricpandemonium) - choose a $45 original artwork piece (shipping not included) 

11) Thompson's Craft Supplies (https://thompsonscraftsupplies.com/) £20 (approx $25)  (shipping not included) 

12) It's Oddly Appealing (https://www.pinterest.com/itsoddlyappealing/its-oddly-appealing/) - original artwork (see link for examples of her work) 

13) The Funkie Junkie Boutique (https://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/) - $25 gift certificate 

14) Hobbilicious (https://www.hobbilicious.com/) - £15 (approx $19) (UK shipping free) 

15) ITD (https://itdcollection.com/) - prize package worth £25

16) Stamperia (https://stamperia.com/) - a pizza box prize pack

To have a chance of winning one of the 16 coveted prizes, leave a comment on this post, along with your email address or social media contact (IG, FB, etc) and what country you're from, from now through Monday, 22 June. Sixteen winners will be picked randomly from all comments left from all of the artist's participating! The winners will be contacted via email/social media so it's important you leave your address/social media contact! Good luck and enjoy the hop!

It's Oddly Appealing - [https://www.itsoddlyappealing.com/2020/06/steampunk-man.html]

Ink Stained Roni - [https://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com/2020/06/creatively-curious-steampunk-blog-hop.html]

Electric Pandemonium- [https://electricpandemonium13.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html?m=1]

Crafts From The Fairy Den - https://craftsfromthefairyden.blogspot.com/?m=1

Chaitali Dekhtawala - [https://mycreativecolorpalette.blogspot.com/2020/06/its-time-to-fly-canvas-steampunk-layout.html]


Nellys Artistic Creations - [https://youtu.be/-O-0TGJi9U8]

Jane Austin - [https://islandcreativity.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-hop-yay.html]

Priya Mishra - [http://quillingbypriya.blogspot.com/2020/06/dragon-steampunk-blog-hop.html]

Archana Sehgal - [https://youtu.be/4hn9zesZRK4]

Bhavani Balaji - [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBzf2GOfCe10TZqgzGpcIQg]

Cassandra - Scrap Savvy Creations - [https://scrapsavvycreations.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]  (if posting on IG can tag me at @scrapsavvy )

Monica Longard - MonDo Creations - [https://buffylongard.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-steampunk-style-i-got-invited-to.html]

Shraddha - [https://youtu.be/JJJrIYNsIL4uA]

Amy Love's Designs - [https://amylovesdesigns.blogspot.com]


Kanika Jain- [http://youtube.com/c/HandmadeByKanika]

Empire of the Cat - [https://empireofthecat.com/blog/2020/06/19/the-curious-case-of-the-time-travelling-cat-steampunk-blog-hop]

Shwetha's Art - [https://www.youtube.com/c/ShwethasArt] /  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMiHfy6V4o]

Sonika Agarwal - [https://youtu.be/5iUVNmnF6Q8]

In Search of my Creative Side - [https://insearchofmycreativeside.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]

The Journey is the Start - [https://thejourneyisthestarthere.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]

Crea-Red- [https://youtu.be/aRVAjouXzQI]

A Vintage Girl - [https://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/2020/05/steampunk-blog-hop.htm]

Orquide'art - [http://orquideart.canalblog.com/]

Juli Loves Paper - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00nRK-X33E]

Kim Slade-Fuller  [https://angeldreamcrafts.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]

YOU ARE HERE. Leslie Lineberry: [http://www.artfordinner.gallery/blog/2020/6/focus-on-time-travel]

Linda Simpson: [https://lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]

Jessica Larios - [https://youtu.be/LN8ikGhbCc8]

Riddhi Jani - [https://youtu.be/Zx8nDVUloTA]

Lynne Joncas  [https://scrappysquirrelsnest.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hopgypsy-time-machine.html]

Zoe Bateman [http://zazzcreative.blogspot.com/2020/06/steampunk-blog-hop.html]

Pooja sharma [https://youtu.be/CFDE7c6rtnI]

Nicole Palos - [http://fiveluckyclovers.blogspot.com/]

When

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I was reviewing my last post which was written on December 30th, 2019. It was a whimsical post about the futuristic vibe of the year 2020. And now, here we are, several months into the year and who can have imagined the life we’d be living. Our vocabulary now consists of words and phrases such as pandemic, self-isolation, quarantine, lockdown, and supply rationing.

I am truly stunned by what all the people of the world are going through. I ache for those suffering from the illness (many in isolation) and those who have lost a family member, friend or coworker. I feel a mix of enormous respect as well as pain for our healthcare workers who are overworked, exhausted and risking their own wellbeing. And we mustn’t forget the other heroes: law enforcement officers, grocery store workers, postal and delivery personal and food and supply services employees. And of course, concern for those struggling financially because of lay-offs, reduced wages or job loss.

I have worked full-time for decades, but in the best interest of staff and community, our office made the wise decision to shutdown in response to the current situation regarding COVID-19. Fortunately for me, I have my de-stress therapy of creating in my art studio, where I have been daily since April 3rd.

I would like to share my Mixed Media Assemblage, ‘When’. Not a question, but a statement. A statement of hope, resourcefulness, healing and community.

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I love creating layers upon layers incorporating numerous mediums, paper, ink and paint. The final layer on this canvas is my found object assemblage which is composed of bike chain links, pop tabs, tent anchors, other bits and bobs and some wonderful copper I found cleaning out my Dad’s garage. I hope you enjoyed seeing my picture journey of ‘When’ and as always thank you for visiting me at Art For Dinner.

Take care everyone.

Leslie

2020: A Space Odyssey

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“There was awe, and there was also incredulity—sheer disbelief that the dead Moon, of all worlds, could have sprung this fantastic surprise.”

— Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Here we are at the cliff’s edge of 2019. The year 2020 sounds so ‘sci-fy-y’ to me. I half expect George Jetson and his lovely wife Jane to move in next door. I’d see them out walking Astro their dog and invite them in for a cup of Decaf Teleportation Tea. Then we’d laugh about the good old days when we had pizza delivered to the door by a teenager driving a Ford Pinto (instead of having it arrive in our Supersonic Fast Food Tubes). Kidding aside, It is amazing how far technology has come in a relatively short time; Mars, iCloud, Roomba, that snoopy chick, Alexa… Luckily, many predictions have not happened. For example, in the early 1950s, the magazine Popular Mechanics predicated we would all have a helicopter by now. So that teenager in the Ford Pinto above, might have been the kid in the beat-up Huey who just wrecked in your elm tree and dropped your pepperoni pizza on your landing pad. By the way, I checked the price for a used 2014 Huey - 26.2 million US dollars, just in case you were wondering.

So, with only a few days remaining, I felt compelled to create something surreal. My 2020: A Space Odyssey is the result of just playing with paint and finding out what would happen.

This painting is done on Fabriano 140 lbs cold pressed watercolor paper size 11’ x 14”. Prior to laying down color, I primed the paper with DecoArt Media White Gesso and a palette knife to give it some texture.

Additional structural interest was achieved by adding torn pieces of newspaper over the gessoed surface.

Colors were added and subtracted in multiple layers. My acrylic paint of choice was DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna, Prussian Blue, Quinacridone Red and Yellow Oxide and DecoArt Americana Acrylic in Black, diluted with a little water.

I cut an open circle template from paper and pounced diluted DecoArt Media White Gesso with a sponge to lighten a section of my background into an orb shape. I defined the edges with a black Stabilo pencil and feathered the edges with a water brush.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful end to your 2019!

Boho Soul Book

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“A book’s a strange thing. It’s ideas, feelings. It’s fragile and complicated.”

— Etienne Davodeau

Have you heard about the new course at Mixed Up Creative Academy? It is called ‘Beautiful Books’ and it is all about creating your own one-of-a-kind books! If you like to sketch, document your travels or keep a daily journal, ‘Beautiful Books’ is a must have tutorial compilation which includes 8 lessons, both video and step-by-step.

My contribution to the ‘Beautiful Books’ course is my Boho Soul Book. In the classroom I will teach you how to create your own unique fabric-paper pages. Part two of the lesson will show you how to bind your pages with a technique you may not have tried before.

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“There’s nothing quite like working in a book you’ve created yourself, whether it’s an art journal, a travel journal, a sketchbook or just an everyday notebook for your shopping lists. This course contains eight great book tutorials, with something for every level of ability. Make small folded books that can be completed in a hour or spend a day creating a real showstopper! In this course you’ll learn to make one sheet sketchbooks, an altered book journal, an envelope book and the most adorable tiny wearable journal, plus get to grips with saddle stitch, pamphlet stitch, and piano hinge binding.”

— Mixed Up Creative Academy