Assemblage - Component of the month (Art Elements)

For the component of the month at Art Elements, we got wonderful runes made out of bronze by Niky Sayers. The one I got was strength.

She also send a note with all the different meanings: Strength, sacrifical, animal, the Aurochs (bos primigenius) species of wild  ox

It took me a while to decide what to create with it. Also I got a really bad cold, some hardcore drugs with heavy side effects and was "out-of-order" for about two weeks, so also not the best starting point.

But there comes my wonderful/horrorful work table with so much stuff lying around. There is an order from time to time but I am not the one to keep that during creation... or when I only have limited time available, I prefer to use it for creating and not sorting.

This time it was a blessing because in one of the boxes were a lot of book covers I made last year (I showed you them over at Art Elements here). I took the rune and hold it against different book covers until I settled for the ones covered in dark brown leather (it was too thick for book binding but I still like it!).

Then I had a look what else was lying around me and started to create an assemblage of mixed materials to put on the front cover. So no way you can put this little book in a shelf but as an art book, it was never meant to be!

So, there is a branch with roots I found in the park and had to take with me, wonderful snail shells as well as broken shell pieces from Formentera, a hand I made with polymer clay (yes, body parts are also lying around ;) ), tiny semi-precious stones, and then some mixed media kind of paints I made myself (there will be more about this soon over at Art Elements):

I used some wonderful brownish/grayish sketch paper to sew the leaflets (110g/m2) and glued it in with a wonderful green paper with golden dots. Sadly it was too thin even though it didn't appear so.

Last but not least I attached a bone game pieces I got from a secret santa. I made the dangles in the "Use your stash" challenge at Art Elements and was not sure for what to use it. My ideas were earrings or necklace but Jenny (also at Art Elements, see below for her blog!) gave me idea to use it with a book. Thanks again for the idea! You see, I used it :)

And Niky, thank you so much for such a wonderful component that challenged me in the best way!
Please have a look what all the other participants made with Nikys runes.

Guests:

Kelly Rodgers

Deb Fortin

Art Element Members:

Laney Mead

Lesley Watt

Caroline Dewison

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Susan Kennedy

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Claire Fabian (you are here)

Lindsay M Starr

Niky Sayers

Inspirations: Snail (Worpswede, germany)

Sometimes a picture presents itself. The snail was sitting on the plants next to the front door where my grandmother lives. 

Inspirations: Critter (Leipzig)

The sun comes out again.

Look at this beauty! A gray heron... 

And a snail still sleeping :)

Formentera: Critters

One of the most beautiful cats I have ever seen! Her owner found her in a trash can! An adorable accidental mix between some siam and a tabby cat? 

Look at the blue eyes!

GECKO!

He was in the toilet, hiding for the day...

A lot of lizards...

Out of wiki:

The Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) is a species of lizard in the Lacertidae family. It is most closely associated with the island of Eivissa, or Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands, but has become endemic to Spain.

A sub-species, P. pityusensis formenterae, is limited in natural habitat to the island of Formentera, south of Ibiza, but has been transported by man to several other locations in the Mediterranean. The Formentean subspecies tends to be more brightly coloured than its Ibizan and mainland conspecifics.

They are really curious (I mean there could always be something to eat?!) 

Invading your space.... (in this case the terrace)

Sometimes they show a lot of similarities with cats especially if food is involved:

Are you taming them... or are they taming you...?

Yes i know, sea gulls are the rats of the sky. Still I like them!

Snails, the three on the first pictures are dead, just the houses...

But these snails are all living! Just having a break for the summer (to hot, to dry...)

Most of the time they form colonies of the same kind. But from time to time a snail wanders in the wrong colony ^^

To be honest: I am a little bit frightened of spiders. not too much... but if I don't have contact to spiders for some time it gets worse...

Having a closer look at them helps! Because spiders are real beauties! They have wonderful coloured eyes (most kinds have!) and their pattern is often ornamental! And they make gorgeous spider webs! They are all belonging to the genus Araneus but this kind of them is better known as diadem spider, cross spider or simply garden spider. But these terms are generally used for nearly all orb weaving spiders!

Have a closer look!

Another one, this time you can see her bottom...

I think they are both female because they were 2 to 3 cm big.

Again, have a closer look!

In the summer you can here this sound in most mediterranean countries: the buzz of the cicades!

A dry shell of a cicade after skinning...