Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A new Metrohead notebook


click on the pictures so that you can see the two beautiful glass-beads handmade by TAMMY ,their colors just being perfect for this project:)


(sorry I wrote this in Picasa, and it didn't want to let me put the text into a less upsetting visual version:)





I decided to change something in my Metrohead Routine, to make/keep
things interesting. A piece of painted cloth (acrylics and textile paints on silk) has patiently slept under my bed for more than a year, until the perfect use for it ocurred this weekend:

A NOTEBOOK.


I have thought about how I'd like to be able to frame each metrohead and let it
be a painting on it's own, and that it would be nice to draw and paint
them onto "classy" paper. I mean, I love the Moleskin paper but
I wanted to try something else, easier to put in a frame afterwards.

I cut very rigid carton into the appropriate size, then glued the painted silkcloth on it and left it to dry under heavy books. I had bought a bloc of ARCHE satin watercolour paper, folded 10 sheets in half and attached them (two by two) with blue thread, which I fixed with two handmade glassbeads (my friend Tammy Vitale makes wonderful glassbeads and beadwork, you should check it out !).

It's a bit of a rough finishing, you don't want perfect edges etc, but it suits me well cause I can pull the finished paintings out and put new paper in.. The size is ok (27 x 18.5 cm / 10.6 x 7.3) for "metroing", and a little bigger than the Moleskin books.

The ARCHE paper is something you have to get used to, it reacts very differently from the Moleskine paper. It is rougher and "drinks" the water greedily, then it makes the pigments form "dots" sometimes. But I like it.

OK, so here we are again with our Metroheads, sharing the summer ride in the (hot) belly of Paris...

click to enlarge the pictures






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12 comments:

tammy vitale said...

Oh Andrea! how wonderful to discover my beads on your metrohead's journal! They find themselves in such lovely company. And your work will make such a wonderful show now that you can take them out and frame them. I look forward to hearing when that happens. =]

Lynn Cohen said...

I like the emotion I see in the black woman...lovely notebook/sketchbook idea and how wonderful these will be framed later. Happy painting Andrea!

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Oh how fun. A new book with new paper. Your Drawings are wonderful. I am captivated by the black lady. Soulful looking. I can see the difference in the paper already. Makes you want to do your best too.

sukipoet said...

wonderful new metro heads and i love your notebook cover and idea and the wonderful beads. so much more personal than a moleskin notebook too.

Katiejane said...

Oh Andrea, I like this very much. And you are right, Tammy has wonderful beads! I always enjoy your study of people and this is the perfect enclosure for them.

ArtistUnplugged said...

Yea!!! I love your metroheads. The beads are really lovely on that. Look forward to all the work we will see in this new sketchbook!

aimee said...

i zoomed in on all your journal pages and really enjoyed reading the notes - you do such an amazing job of freezing moments of time with your metrohead notebooks!

klaproos said...

i like each and every one of the metroheads:-)

you are truly a great artist i think,

Martine said...

Your notebook looks great Andrea, i love it. And i can see the heat in Parish belly, your metroheads look very tired and hot.
Beautiful your drawings/text.
The weekend is going to be a little bit cooler i think, enjoy it.
XXXm

Anonymous said...

jolie présentation pour ce book. Ca change.

soulbrush said...

well i am a true fan of your metroheads, and this is a beuitiful book, wow, i will be back to follow it's journey through the belly of paris...

Andrea and Kim said...

Andrea, I am so glad you are doing this. The Metroheads really deserve this kind of attention. They are absoultely works of art on their own!

I also think your Metrohead sketchbook is a work of art...stunningly beautiful! The beads are fantastic!

This is great to see you are doing this!