Postcard Challenge Week 20~ WEST AFRICA

West Africa, the land of so much turmoil , famine and poverty. Darcy really left this week up to every one's decision; by letting us pick one of 15 actual countries that make up West Africa .  So not knowing which one to chose I literally put all the countries names in a basket and  drew the country of BENIN. Which in the end was a great choice; Benin is the land of voodoo, beautiful women with tons of intricate beads woven into their hair. They also make the most gorgeous baskets out of the grasses that grow in the Savannah. Of course the Pendajari National Park is part of Benin- so safari's are a good source of income for the country.  So I incorporated all those attractions into my weekly page and postcard. ENJOY!

Front of Card

I found this image of a Benin women with all her amazing bead in her hair-

printed and cut out- then I used my Posca Paint pens and detailed the beads

(which made the photo dimensional)-The background is a watercolor of

the amazing basketry made in Benin (By the way this was done using

an set of watercolors I recently got from England from the ?1950's)

Back of Card

 Correspondence:

"My Dearest Melite,

So sorry for the delay in writing back to you!

I left town suddenly to attend to some

charity work in Benin, West Africa.

In the past you asked me about my job,

well I'm in the telecommunications

industry. That's why I travel so much;

seeking new clients for our company.

As far as your visions, when we

were together in Austria , we walked

the events we attended together.

Hope this helps- By the way

Benin women make gorgeous baskets.

                                                                       Alexander"

Page in Book

This page is based on an image I found online (I believe it is a painting) First I

sprayed the background with 3 shades of Dylusional, Lindy's and Rain Mist sprays

(the sun was the original base color in sky-placed lid over the area before

other sprays were added).The original image had a family walking in the sunset,

but I only wanted the mother & child, so I outlined them first-colored in with Black Pitt pen-

had to base coat colored areas with Gesso , since the sprays kept mixing with

acrylics.  Added Bahoob tree and elephant images in Black Pitt pen.

Added country name with stamps.

Page in Book with card







This is how the completed  book  looks.

Enjoy and Happy Creating

Fotojoy/Joyce A.

















POSTCARD CHALLENGE WEEK 19~BULGARIA

Hello and welcome to week 19 of the postcard challenge - off to Bulgaria we went! I struggled a little while with my subject matter; but decided that a  religious Icon would be my main topic. Next I found several great works of art; but more amazing were all the gorgeous Frescoes in the churches. So I tried to recreate the Archangel of Michael fresco found in Rila Monastery.This Eastern Orthodox church has been in existence since the 15 th century . It was placed on the UNESCO Heritage Site in 1983 - Additionally Pope John Paul II visited the monastery in 2002.


Front of Card

Image was downloaded from Internet- then printed in coloring book

outline-then drawn onto Neenah white paper.

All areas colored in with several colors of Copic  markers and high lights

added with black Pigma pen and white highlights

added with Signo white pen.

Back of Card

Correspondence reads:

Dearest Alexander,

Hope all is well with you, since it has been several weeks since I last heard from you. I’m in Bulgaria now purchasing some copper-red sheep for my farm (gorgeous wool ) –Did get to Sofia and saw the nearly extinct Karakachian sheep & horses. I also traveled to Rila Monastery, so breathtaking!–Artwork in the churches here is Amazing- especially the icons.

I know in my last note I mentioned some “visions” that I have been having.  One of the recurring “visions” involved a big car with blacken windows. Did we travel in such a vehicle while in Austria? I will be heading home after this stop – So I hope to hear from you when I arrive home.

Background  painted with light wash of Linen Folkart Paint.

Several parts  of previous used Bulgaria postcards

are collaged in background

Page in Book

This is an pen drawing of Rila Monastery. I have have been wanting to do a B&W page for

quite some time- This church is rather bright for an Orthodox church- Most of the building

is covered by B& W and red  brick. Colored  with Copic markers.

Card in Book

Another view with the card in place (camera is on the blitz

sorry it may be blurred)

Well off to bed-Tomorrow I'll be celebrating Mother's Days-

So Happy Day Mom's

Fotojoy/Joyce

Postcard Challenge Week 18~NEW ZEALAND

KIA ORA!
(Welcome to New Zealand)

Well week 18 is here and this challenge is still finding me experimenting in new mediums- This week I choose to use inks/dylusion sprays . As soon as Darcy posted the country of NZ, I knew what I wanted to do-I wanted to honor the Maori culture. I have been fascinated  by their elaborate tattoos for years. So I did a little research and  found out there is a Tattoo Museum in Wellington ,NZ. Amazing what they have there; as -a -matter-of- fact my page was inspired by a panel on the outside of the building . Of course I'm sure most people associate NZ with "The Lord of the Rings" being  filmed there; but there are amazing beaches,glaciers, mountains, fjords, volcanoes,
geysers,  and rain forests that make New Zealand  a land full of adventurous sight seeing!-

Front of Card

Front of card was sprayed with Dylusional sprays in blue, green and red.

I then did a trasfer of a Maori tattoo that depicts several sea turtles and pelicans. Not sure of the  symbolism ,
but I'd have to guess they both share the sea together in harmonary.

Back of Card

The back of the card was distressed with inks-

 Found  a Maori stamp from NZ -

                       added a few  stamps  for decoration.                               

                                                   Correspondence:                                                           

"Dearest Alexander,

Oh how I wish we could meet somewhere soon! -

I need to talk to you about the visions I’m having about Austria.

They are most disturbing and I had hoped you could

shed some light as to what they may mean...

I'm in New Zealand buying Merino sheep for my farm.

Stopped in Wellington-Visited the Maori Tattoo Museum-

most intriguing I must say.

Please let me know where we can meet again.

Melite"

Page in Book

This page was done usnig Liquitex Inks- only 4 colors- blue, green, red & yellow

First the background was inspired by  a front panel of the Tattoo Museum-
it was drawn with fine tip marker -colored with different dilutions of the ink-

The white foam of the waves were done using a Signo Pen. The images were

found on the internet, printed and collaged to page with some charcoal outlining.

They are a Kiwi, Merino sheep (BTW over 25 types of sheep are raised in NZ),

and a Maori chief .

Page in Book with Card

Once again I had a great  week of learning and

arting about New Zealand.

Happy Creating!

Fotojoy/Joyce