Just finished this week's piece of Found Art! It is a lucky charm, I've had an idea of making charms for a while but I couldn't think of something interesting to make, until I found this small mint tin box lying around and then the "aha!" moment came.

I took off the lid and made a small collage with different papers, letter rub-ons and a little drawing with black india ink. I also used a date stamp of May 20 2008 (this last Tuesday's date). I added a ribbon and a tag with the Found Art Tuesday flick group address (just in case someone tries to find out more about it) and that little cameo thing is a button.

I sealed the collage with epoxy resin and since it looked so shiny and I wanted a more aged look, I tried to "age it" by scratching and poking it with a wire when it was just about set, then I added brown acrylic paint.

I have to say that the thing I like the most about it is the picture above. I used a "cinemascope" effect I found at an online photo editor called Picnik, (thanks to sk8ordiehard for the link!) that effcts makes anything look cool.

Here are a few more not so cool pictures. I am leaving this today at Starbucks! 

If by chance you live in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina, you might've found this in your doorstep this morning. If not you can read the story here and see some pictures (including two really big cheeks and two eyebrows in desperate need of some attention)

It's an interview made to me by a writer I admire. Renee Roberson is a freelance writer to a couple  publications online as well as to the Charlotte Observer. We met one cold January morning to drink coffee and talk about kids, art, graduate school, the city of Charlotte, and also Found Art Tuesday. I enjoyed talking to her, this project helped me make a new friend. This morning the article was published! I think she made a great job at getting the essence of what this project is... "to sow creativity by giving away works " there were some pictures taken in February by a professional photographer, and that was also really exciting! Gayle was really nice! I took some pictures too, the project was "Love"

(That's Ben's little hand saying Hi!) It was so much fun to be part of this! I've met so many people (in and out of the internet) that I am grateful for. Thanks everyone for your support and participation!!! 

I have this friend, Lucia, who is very dear to me and has helped me understand God a little more. She once told me she can't have any religious images in her house because her husband is Jewish, so for her birthday I thought of making her this notebook with an image of the Virgin Mary. Today we Catholics celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe to commemorate the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531

I used a Vatican stamp and an old document. I painted the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe with acrylics, color pencils and pastels.

This week's theme for illustration friday is CAPTURE. The first thing that came to my mind was a caged bird, but even more dramatic... a bird with his wings sewed shut.  This is a quick card made in a menu from one of my favorite cafes, Cafe Mia I love the gelatto! it's 5 x 5 inches.

I plan to leave this in one of the tables in the cafe as "found art" to find out more about found art, you can go here.

I used acrylic paint, pastel crayons and black marker, also I used a postal stamp from Mexico with a design of an iron gate, adding to the feeling of capture. The eye is a lens from a disposable camera... (I find inspiration everywhere!)

well, I left the card in an envelope in my local YMCA, in the treadmill I used.... of course I stayed and watched to see what happened when someone find it! I got really excited when this old lady hopped in the treadmill and stared at it. And of course she didn't open it, she must've thought someone had forgotten it, even tough the envelope read: FOR YOU! how much clear do you need to be? she even picked it up and turned it over, where it read: YES IT'S FOR YOU! OPEN! and of course she didn't and left it there again. She finished her workout and left.... bummer.... I'm sad

I imagine I'll find the envelope tomorrow in the lost and found bin. So what have I learned?

1. No more envelopes, it creates a barrier and people aren't comfortable opening someone else's mail (at least they think it's someone else's mail)

2. No more YMCA, I need a coffee shop or a place like that, as my husband politely pointed out:)

3. I need to write something in the back of the card, like.. "this is found art" or something like that, spell it out for them, they don't expect it and that's the point.... but I wanted it to be absolutely anonymous so they don't know why they found it or who left it there...

I hope I have better luck next time!

UPDATE: I looked for it in the lost and found bin in the ymca and it wasn't there, did someone take it or is it in the trash?? well, I'll never know, and I'm ok with that...

Ok, so you might think I'm a little crazy, but let me explain this first and then make any judgements you may feel necessary. This is a card (postcard size) I made that I plan to "forget" somewhere so that someone may find it and hopefully keep it (so it doesn't end in the trash). It's the first one I've made and hopefully they'll be more. This is an idea I've been playing with for some time, it's what I think art is all about, it's getting a reaction either positive or not, about something you make. This is a very quick card I made today, I know it's not perfect but that's really the idea, making art without thinking too much about the outcome, or how much you can get from it. I'm putting it in an envelope that says "it's for you, open" there's also  a tag where I wrote "Unexpected things happen everyday"

I feel so excited about this, it's like when I was small and I was doing something I shouldn't be doing and thought I could get in trouble! like a little adventure. Making art feels fun again!! what are they going to think about my work?? IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! will they like it?? I don't care!!

Isn't it fun??!!!