i collect...art

Linking up with Beyond Beyond, where Kim prompted us to photograph the things we collect. Sometimes I have to mull over a prompt for a day or two. Not this time. I discerned fairly quickly what I was going to do and how I was going to proceed.

I am a collector of many things, but above all, a collector of art. Media. Techniques. Methods. Over the years I have amassed a collection of art techniques so that I might be able to express what's in my creative soul...and have the means to do it.

Fresh from a visit to our new History Colorado Center in Denver, where I re-discovered my attraction to those museum displays of artifacts, I thought it would be fun to create one of my own.

This is a group of tools representative of the many media I have employed over the years, both individually and as a Mixed Media Artist. In myself, I see it as a sort of Artistic ADD.

My motto: The right tool for the job can mean the difference between success and failure.

Each item is representative of a collection on its own. i.e. I have an assortment of brushes, scissors, cameras, etc.

1. Paintbrush. A treasured tool from my days studying art at the University of Denver. I majored in painting, and have always considered myself a painter at heart.
2. Scissors. These are actually embroidery scissors, but representative of the many and varied scissors/shears/cutting tools I employ.
3. Eraser. I erase and re-do often. I am happy to say that I have relaxed this tendency in recent years.
4. Sandpaper. I often love to distress/rough up my stuff. I love the well-worn look.
5. Seam ripper. I use it like an eraser. "If you don't love to rip...don't stitch," I used to tell my quilting and embroidery students.
6. Tweezers. Attention to tiny details frequently demands these. And I have fat-finger syndrome.
7. Butane torch. For metalwork/soldering, as well as heating/melting other stuff. I actually have only two of these.
8. Edge distresser. For roughing up edges of paper. Representative of my many scrapbooking tools.
9. Pliers. For jewelry making/wirework/metalwork or just plain grabbing things.
10. Wireless mouse. Representative of all things computer-related, including my iMac,  iPad, iPhone, Photoshop, Lightroom, and the internet in general.
11. Colored pencil and blending stump. I've always loved to draw and color. I still have a few of my all-time favorite - Prismacolor - from my art school days. The blending stump is for charcoal, colored pastels and smudging in general.
12. Thimble, needles, pins. Hand-stitching and embroidery were my passion for many years, and I still like to incorporate them into my work.
13. Sewing machine foot. I've had the same Bernina sewing machine for over 20 years. It's got a lot of miles on it: quilting, machine embroidery...stitching all sorts of things. Even mending clothes.
14. Measuring tape. One of many rulers/measuring devices.
15. Glue stick. I have all sorts of adhesives. People often come to me for repairs because they know I probably have just the right glue for the job.
16. Canon Rebel T3i. One of a small collection of cameras...or else how could I take a picture of my own camera? I am indeed spoiled.

***

For all you B2 folks:

I laid this little makeshift bulletin board on the floor and arranged everything to my liking, propping up dimensional objects as needed. I put my other Canon SLR on a tripod and photographed from above.

A little tweaking in Lightroom, including Lens Correction (for distortion mainly). Then into CS6 for a layer of kk_gentlewhisper (Soft Light 40%) to kinda soften/lighten things up.

The b&w diagram was fairly easy, thanks to this YouTube video. I just googled 'how to make a line drawing in Photoshop 6.' (I flattened the layers first.) Finally I added 16 text layers so I could precisely position each of the red numbers.

xoxo

Cindy