Author Archives: Scarlet

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About Scarlet

A refugee from Blogger.

News from the Mantelpiece….

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Yes, a new post! How scary is that? What am I thinking? Surely my readers have a month to wait before I pop up again in their blog readers? Blame Jon. And Dinah. More on that later.

Meanwhile, I have news from the mantelpiece [the chair is having a much needed rest, probably sitting somewhere], and it looks something like this:-

my-studio-mantlepiece-2019

Mantelpiece

Oh wait, what is that interesting, yet sophisticated, picture? Oh my goodness! It’s another collage! Let’s take a closer look….

close-up of items-on-mantelpiece-in-calligraphy-studio-uk

Looking closer…

…and look! There is a gilded ‘d’!!

close-up-of-collage-with-gilded-letter-and-modern-script-calligraphy-uk

Shiny d!!

No? Then can I interest you in an orchid? I have kept it alive since March. Remarkable.

Orchid-on-mantlepiece

Still alive!

Well that was exciting wasn’t it?

Anyhow, Jon and Dinah have been talking about blogging and have been saying that only a few of us, in our little niche, post regularly, ie. more than twice a month, so I thought I would try to post more frequently. I know, I have said this before, but I am feeling in the mood to connect more often, AND I’m a collage behind, meaning I have pictures that I haven’t yet posted. I even have a post that I haven’t posted that isn’t related to the aforementioned pictures. So expect more. Especially on Sunday. There may be a coup.

Retro Greetings!

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Apologies, I have been stuck up my archive, and have been sorting bits of paper into piles. My mother seems to have kept every greeting card that popped through the letterbox since 1963. It has been fascinating, and I thought that, over time, I would share some gems, like this greeting card from the 1970’s – so innocent, and yet also a little bit wrong.

vintage-1970's-birthday-card-featuring-two-young-men-camping-by-a-river-uk
Happy Camping!

Captions welcome! There may even be a prize!

It’s New and….Old!!!!

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Ihave made another one!!! I know!!! You are getting really bored with me posting over exposed photographs of random pieces of paper!!! Soz.

mixed-media-collage-constructed-narrative-made-from-recycled-and-new-materials-uk

I could murder a bakery product right now….

Okay, let me try to explain. I was really taken by Looby’s comment on my previous post where he said that he liked the juxtaposition between the dramatic headline and the ebullient wrapping paper. This got me thinking. I realised that I’m curious about what lies beneath the veneer of British middle-class domesticity, and I decided to further my curiosity with my next collage.

The wrapping paper reminds me of chintzy 1950’s wallpaper, so it became the perfect backdrop. I then needed some text, so I randomly opened an old Scarlet Blue post from 2013, and chose a comment that grabbed my attention. The comment referred to frozen bakery products, so I then spent a day looking through my stash of 50’s vintage newspapers for a relevant image to go with it, et voilá, from bits of scrap and a recycled blog comment, a fresh narrative was born!

vintage-fridge-advert-and-constructed-narrative

Weapons to chew on…

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To whom it may concern…

For my next post I hope to bring you something I seldom speak about. But it might end up being something related to a vintage newspaper….

Project Eureka!!

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Ihave made another one! To be fair this one was only supposed to be an experiment with materials, but I like how it decided to describe itself as project EUREKA! It’s made from mostly scraps, and other failed attempts at art, going back several decades. The corner stamp is from Mr Devine, and the jaunty piece of wrapping paper in the lower left corner is from Eryl.

picture of a collage for display on blog. Describe the purpose of the image: Show and tell!

Project Eureka!!

purpose of image: To show up close detail of collage, focussing on calligraphy, layers, and text.

G! Left over from something made in 2015

purpose-of-image:to-show-layers-of-a-collage.

A new direction….using bits of the old direction…

In other news, Mr Devine sent me an Easter card!! With this card he is spoiling me….

Pharaoh Rocher!

Finally, here is a picture of Spring:-

Fresh Beech leaves…

And here is a tune used as the theme for the BBC Holiday programme possibly between 1972-74. Ahem.

Registered First Class

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Ihave been outside!! I know, crazy talk. I had a little trip to the coast and took a picture of the sea.

The rocky path to the sea…

Thankfully I did not break any bones whilst traversing the rocks. Though I did have an altercation with a seagull, which I turned to stone…. using superglue, obviously.

Turned to stone….

Meanwhile, back in the studio I am bordering on prolific as I have made another one of these….

weather-inspired-collage-with-calligraphy-script-uk

It’s raw here…

Inspired by the icy weather at the weekend, I cut up some more vintage books to illustrate how I was feeling, and recycled a blog comment – we shouldn’t simply throw them away, should we? They will probably cause mayhem in the future if left abandoned all over the Blogosphere – think of the bots choking on the code!!

close-up-of-collage

Keep your trousers on!!!

And, I decided my avatar would look fetching on a stamp….

close-up-of-stamping-detail-on-collage

First Class!!!!

Okay, Mr Devine, you can stop holding your breath now….

A Portrait of the Universe….

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…..on a chair!!!

For Mr Devine. I hope he has received it by now. I posted it [via a red post box] on Thursday, so I’m guessing he should be, at this very moment in time, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his mail. Or, the postman has dropped it in a puddle and he is now drying out the universe on a radiator whilst eating a ham sandwich. I send these things out and hope for the best, but I do keep a photographic record just in case there is a hideous incident along the way.

collage-featuring-time-travel-the-universe-and-a-chair

YES!!! The Universe!!! Now available…. ON A CHAIR!!!!!!

close-up-of-collage

The USS Enterprise….ON A CHAIR!!!

collage-featuring-a-chair

A CHAIR!!!!!!!

collage-and-handwritten-note-calligraphy-uk

…sent with an explanatory note….

vintage 1st class stamp uk

….and an appropriate stamp, featuring Ms Norma.

I know that this is probably not the most visually stimulating art, but I so enjoyed making it! I enjoyed making it so much that I even bothered to hunt down an appropriate stamp. I intend to make more, I intend to make more abstract versions of my blogging experience! Yes, the digital made real! Some I will send out to terrify delight a chosen victim recipient, and others I will keep to decorate the downstairs loo. Lots to do then!

Meanwhile, March was a sad month. Many thanks to everyone who left supportive comments on my previous post.