it’s a zine peek!

oooh, things are getting so very close!  i have to jog my memory on what zany settings lulu wants for the pages files for the zine, then export 50 or 60 something pages, then it’s ready!

see what wonderful artists are going to be featured in this newest issue:

and want to see a peek?  if not, you better close this window fast ’cause i’m sharing.  please do note that these are only a portion of what you’ll find in the next altered bits zine issue… there is sooooo much great art it may make your head spin.  it makes mine spin, at least.  love it all!!

more soon.  🙂

going on an art diet, nudes and ancient books

omg, the zine is almost done!  i have a couple/few extra additions to add this week, bios to do, then it’s done.  i had to take a break from it this week though because my studio is a shit hole.  i’m sorry, but it’s true.  it was so messy and cluttered that there was literally a path to the desk and i had to hoist myself over boxes of bones and doll parts, canvases and other junk just to get to the other side of the room.  not cool.  so, it’s almost all the way tidy now and a clear space makes for a clear mind… and the ability to do MUCH better design/layout work.  want a peek of another one of the pieces?  here ya go (betcha you could never figure out who created this piece):

during the whole cleaning and crap excavation, i realized that i do way too much.  seriously.  there are only so many hours in the day and when i cook a bare minimum of 18 hot, nutritious meals per week, do a load of dishes or two a day, home school for 6+ hours per day (more like 8+ when you take breaks and attitude into account), do web design for existing “old” clients as needed, tend to my shop (that’s kind of a lie — i don’t think i’ve added anything in a year), do the zine, have two art groups for aspie kiddos (one for homeschoolers, one for public schoolers)… it’s just all too overwhelming.  and that’s not even the half of it, but you get the gist.  when i have “free time” or force free time by neglecting laundry, i love to create my weirdo assemblages, make handmade books, paint (i’m not that good at it but i LOVE it so who cares), make journals and cuffs, collage, art journal, etc.  too much.  so i decided that i need to go on an art diet.  i’m hereby no longer making wrist cuff bracelets or fabric art journals unless by special request.  instead, i’m limiting my art to painting, assemblages and books… and collaborations, but only one at a time (jilly!!).  there is only so much time in my life and only so much space in my studio.  i’m also nixing my ancient desire to learn to knit and crochet.  as a result, i’ll probably be getting rid of about 472 pounds of fabric and yarn… and crochet hooks and knitting needles.  et cetera.  i’ll save the good stuff for give-aways here.  🙂

cutting out the excess time-suck stuff means more art time and just as exciting, more time to catch up on what everyone else is doing!  it’s going to be like blog christmas, or whatever gift-giving holiday thing you’re into.  i miss my arty peeps (and nights of a full 8 hours of sleep).  slow down, alicia!

on the painting note, i love paint!  last year or so i started wanting to learn to paint portraits and figures “right” so i could start doing them wrong… i love the odd and disfigured for some strange reason.  my people often look dumb still, but it’s so much fun creating them.  anyway, i was recently commissioned to do a nude portrait, which scared the crap out of me.  recently is also a lie — it was over two years ago but he reminded me recently because i gracefully “forgot” due to fear.  so i created one this week and was a little surprised by the fact that i didn’t totally hate it.  the face is wonky, the limbs are uneven (love that), the hands are deformed (intentional), and her hair is abnormally red (among other things), but i don’t hate it, so i’m going to keep playing.  i can only post a peek because  he who commissioned me to create it hasn’t seen it yet.  i’ll share the whole thing at a later date if anyone is interested in seeing a weird naked lady painting.  i’ll take good pictures once the recipient has received it so you can see all of the texture.

i’ve also been getting about an email per week requesting more art tutorials, namely texture techniques (without the use of chemical art supplies), recipes for my inks and dyes since i’m allergic to 98% of the universe and often create my own goodies, and some of my strange books and bindings.  so, i’ve started a new “two story book®” tutorial.  i haven’t written it yet but the steps are all photographed and ready for me to create some free time to compose it.  this one isn’t super decorated, but one of the couple i’ve recently created (click to enlarge):

here are some of the inside [coffee stained] pages, all deckled and purdy on the outer edges

and here is some close-up detail of my binding.  i’m totally binding illiterate when i read other people’s instructions so i just make up my own, clearly.  looks like an ancient book to me.

once the zine is complete and i’m working on the tallest handmade book project, i’ll be whipping up this tutorial for all who are interested.  and painting lots more nudes.  i think i’m obsessed.

working away on the zine — for real this time

gotta love those weeks of high energy and little sleep!  i’ve worked my ever-lovin’ arse off on the altered bits mixed media art zine and have managed to design 49 pages in the past week.  all i have left is fill a couple of blank spots (you may be able to help here — see below), finish the absolutely amazing artist interview (have all the info, just have to lay it out), add artist bios in the back, then complete an article that you will LOVE and ADORE (it’s not by me — but one of the pages appear to have been lost during my computer crap-out last february when i lost all the pages i’d already designed, blah, blah.  i will fix this or contact the amazing artist who submitted it… but i’m not telling you who it’s by ’cause surprises are good).

(above is a tiny little peek at one of my pieces in the zine… category: artful retelling of history)

so, here’s the deal.  due to many things, such as my inability to properly count, someone silly submitting a piece to two different categories and me trying to add it to both before realizing the error, and my OCD-like need to have all new category sections starting on the right side of the page, there is still a bit of room.  not a lot, but a bit.  if you would like to submit super late for consideration of the zine, please do so by wednesday 10/24 at 9 PM (USA — PST).  i will need: high res photo(s) of you piece(s), your bio, your URL to site or blog, your location and an optional write-up on the piece(s).  and title of piece.  you can submit up to 3 pieces per person however space is HUGELY limited.  email to hi (at) altered bits (dot) com.

this is what’s left:

one half page (portrait orientation) in cabinet of curiosities
one full or two half pages in artful retelling of history
one half page (landscape orientation) in handmade/altered books and book pages (journal pages allowed as well)
tattered and torn is full unless i get two pieces i die over and must include — it would be a pain in my arse, but potentially worth it

i am also working on the tallest handmade book in the world project but i’m too ADD to talk about it right now — very focused on the zine.  i have not forgotten about it and now that school’s back in, art groups are back on.  super exciting news to share, etc.  but soon… this is zine time!  🙂

if all goes all planned, this zine WILL be ready for the holidays to but as gifts, etc.  also, i’ll be giving away at least one to one of the contributors and probably another to a non-contributor.  we’ll see once we get there (gotta save my pennies for little man’s holiday gifts first, hah).

UPDATE (about an hour later):

there is now only half a page in handmade/altered books and pages/journal pages
and half a page in cabinet of curiosities

scratch that (i’m dumb)

only have a sec as my guys are taking me out to eat right now but i’m basically a moron and want to openly admit this fact (thank you, patty!!!)

the zine deadline is actually march 1st.  where the hell did i get february 18th?  (it’s my birthday today, and maybe i’m so old now that dementia has kicked in??)

ALTERED BITS ZINE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS MARCH FIRST.  🙂  (not this weekend)  i can now breathe again.  phew.

pleases and pleas (regarding the zine)

over the past few weeks i’ve received several emails with requests to extend the deadline for the altered bits zine.  so, i’m going to.  but not just ’cause i’m sweet, but because i haven’t done my pieces either as my focus has been elsewhere for quite awhile now.  plus, although i’ve had lots of submissions, i don’t think it’s quite enough for a four-themed zine.

so, that said, the NEW deadline is march first.  if you were hoping to submit something and didn’t, now is your chance.  i will cry if there aren’t enough entries, but not too hard since i’m just as guilty.  hah.  BUT i’m going to work on it this week.  the wheels and gears are turning up there in that whacky head of mine trying to figure out which of the two themes i will be doing.  kidding — i’m doing cabinet of curiosities and an artful retelling of history.  and i even know what i want to do… just have to make the time.

ALL OF THE ORIGINAL GUIDELINES PERTAIN AS OUTLINED IN THIS POST IF YOU’D LIKE TO READ IT. THE ONLY CHANGE IS THE NEW DEADLINE OF 1 MARCH 2012. >>

i have to also be honest and say that i have received two or three more entries the past week and i haven’t gotten the chance to look at them yet.  i know who you are though so know they are gorgeous!  will look and respond soon — had been dealing with some big things the past few weeks and am just now resurfacing.

happy new year and lots of hugs to all!

 

it’s a lulu sale

i just got this great coupon code from lulu — 30% off all lulu purchases including the first altered bits zine.  just wanted to share in case you had any items on your holiday lists from lulu.com.

(click the image to be taken to the first print edition of the altered bits zine)

 

i have tons of great news to share soon: i’m starting a non-profit art group for kids with aspergers (and have had some fun art adventures with some boys on the spectrum) and i have lots of gorgeous pages to share from the tallest handmade book in the world collaboration (it’s still very, very short though).  🙂  more soon — it’s a little busy around here!

re-announcing the altered bits print zine

re-announcing, the altered bits print zine! 

i’ve gotten lots of emails stating that i haven’t posted info about the zine on my blog other than the themes so yeps, i’m a huge jackass.  apparently i’ve just spewed off a bunch of empty promises to post about it… so now i’m officially pulling my head out and posting the info for those who are new to my zine or wish to get additional information.

after going through the suggestion and voting process, we came up with four themes for issue two of the altered bits zine.  the themes are as follows:

cabinet of curiosities ( i’m actually working on a piece for this category today.)
tattered and torn (i’ve gotten the most submissions for this category so far.)
an artful retelling of history (this was my choice, so of course i’m quite excited — love the merging of art and history!)
handmade & altered books and pages (this is a super fun one too!)

feel free to interpret each of these categories as you please and use your imagination.  EACH ARTIST CAN SUBMIT UP TO THREE PIECES.

here is a peek at some of the submissions so far.  i’ve muted the color a bit so i don’t give everything away.  i promise you’ll still want to see the zine in the real.  it’s going to be gorgeous!!

the deadline for submissions 21 December, 2011.  i have had to extend this a bit due to all of the recent chaos in my life… so hopefully this will work for everyone.  if you need an extension, please let me know and i may be able to work something out, though i cannot make any promises just yet.

what you must submit to be eligible for inclusion:

• send high resolution photos of your art piece (or photography), at least 300 dpi, no smaller than 6 inches on the shortest edge (at 300 dpi, 6″ = 1800 pixels).  please attach to email rather than inserting into body (some email programs shrink files when you do that).
• indicate which category you are submitting each piece to so i don’t put it in the wrong place.
• PLEASE don’t send small photos.  use name files like this so i’m not confused: lastname_firstname-artpiecename.jpg (you can send jpgs, pngs, tiffs — no gifs or bitmaps — those don’t work for print).
• a short bio in odt, txt, rtf, doc or pdf format.  please DO NOT SEND DOCX files — i can’t open them and don’t want to buy ms word.
• the url to your  website or blog
• optional: a short write-up about your piece and/or your inspiration (these will be space permitting)

what you need to keep in mind:

• kind of a no-brainer but i’ll say it anyway just in case: do not submit anything with copyright restrictions.  for example, don’t use egon schiele’s “standing nude young girl” in a collage or whatnot — i don’t publish copyrighted content as that could ruin it for all of the responsible participants.
• please ensure all of your images are royalty free or have commons licenses.  there are great places to get images like that (flickr commons, wikipedia commons, etc.).

when it will be published:

i will be working on layout and design over the winter holidays and the start of the new year.  i’m shooting to have this published and ready to order by late february or march.  i’ll keep you posted though — if you sign up for notifications on my blog, you’ll be insta-enlightened when i post about it.

extra bits:

if you are interested in submitting an article or tutorial, let me know — i’ve never included one before but think it could possibly be fun to have one in each issue here on out.  if you are interested in advertising in the zine, go to my website to find the rates and info that i will be soon posting: http://alteredbits.com/artzine.php (or email me)

send everything to hi [at] altered bits [dot] com.

thank you so much, friends and fellow artists.  if you haven’t submitted yet and you plan to, i cannot wait to see!!!

zine theme results tallied for issue two

there were an astounding 215 votes for the next altered bits zine themes and the top four are the winners.

the next altered bits zine will have four themes:

cabinet of curiosities (if you know me, you know this thrills me beyond belief!)
tattered and torn (this one actually surprised me)
an artful retelling of history (this was my choice, so of course i’m quite excited — love the merging of art and history!)
handmade & altered books and pages (you know i love this too!!)

i was a little sad that assemblage and dolls/doll parts didn’t win but then i realized that i could still do assemblage for any of the non-book themes, and of course include dolls or doll parts if i so desire… which i probably do!)

submissions are now open!  deadlines for submissions is october 31, 2011 (that’s halloween so you may not want to wait until the last minute).  limit three submissions per person, with one main shot and up to two detail photographs of each piece.  you can read all of the submission guidelines on the altered bits website on the zine page.  please read the submission guidelines VERY carefully as it  is a huge amount of work to follow up with people if they’ve sent improper files or missing information (and i may not have the time to get back to you, thus you may not have the opportunity to be included, sorry).  i am very open to helping if you have any questions prior to submitting so always feel free to email me if desired.

free “altered bits mixed media art zine” giveaway winner… and stuff

i am pleased to announced that i placed all zine participant’s names into a hat (a really, true life hat from my sweet friend rainey in dublin) and this is the name that popped out:

i sure wish i thought about photographing the paper before hand — i would have written nicely.  sorry!  and i guess you get a peek at yet another project in the works under your paper. 

woohoo, miss jill, you are the winner of a free issue of the altered bits zine!  i shall order it up and have it sent directly to you around mid-week, and you should have it in about a week’s time from then.  i sure hope you like it!  here is a secret sneak peek of your page and a half:

i LOVE the brightness and vibrancy of your art, lady and am sooooo honored to have it in “my” little zine.  (the monster is my son’s, but that is not the focus of this post — i shall share that stuff another day.)

also, i wanted to share that the altered bits zine can be found not only on lulu.com, but now it’s also on amazon!  how cool are we!?!!  🙂

if you haven’t done so and wish to, take a sec to vote for the next zine themes in the post just before this one (last i checked there were already 130 votes!!).  i shall snag the results mid-week and post the top choices as our next zine themes.

voting for the next zine theme

i’m super-zine-happy and already thinking about the next issue as the altered bits print zine will now officially be a yearly publication.  i have compiled what i felt were the top 20 suggestions both from the last issue recommendations and emails, facebook inquiries, etc.  this poll should allow you to add your ideas if you have a suggestion that isn’t here.

you can pick up to FIVE answers.  the next zine will have four themes, so the top four winners are it!  you pick!  🙂  once voting is done, submissions will be open until october 31st, then the second issue will be available early 2012… but i’m getting ahead of myself.  i’m kind of like an addict right now, so pardon me for getting overly excited here.

there will also be a super special artist spotlight… but i’m shutting up now.  i know who i want to invite but we shall see!  that is far into the future.

voting will be open until june 15th, possibly longer.  in the event of any potential ties, re-voting may need to commence.

xx