A Dream Come True - My Article in Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine

I have been enamoured with one magazine for several years now. This love affair with Cloth Paper Scissors started slowly, smoldering as my collection of issues grew, and finally engulfed me after I gave birth to my eldest daughter, Quinlyn. I nursed her on demand, and she demanded so much that she was 26 pounds by 6 months old, and I felt literally trapped under a baby most of the time. I longed so much to work on my art, but never really had the energy, something that most people who know me will never hear me admit. I normally have oodles of energy! The time was bittersweet, since I loved my baby and most parts of being a new mother, but I missed my freedom. Making art is up there with the things that I need to do to live, like breathe and eat. I am not me when I am not being creative. I had some commitments, to a gallery show here and there, and I made what I could, but it was not nearly as much as I was used to. So, I decided if I couldn't physically make as much art as I wanted to, I would be creative in other ways, such as by cooking, photographing my baby, and by reading, reading, reading about techniques I wanted to try. The cooking and photographing came easy, as did the devouring of new techniques, but it was sheer agony not to be able to actually make much. The magazines that I spent the most time reading and rereading, next to Mothering and Vegetarian Times, were Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studios. It was at that time that I made myself the goal of bring published in a magazine. As a photographer I had been featured in several newspapers. And since then, I have had work in Filament, Highline, and PhotoEd Magazines, as well as in the book, 1,000 Ideas for Creative Reuse. All awesome but my heart skipped a beat the day I received my advanced copies of the 37th Issue of CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS, the one that I wrote the Workshop article on Fuji film transfer processes for. I am so happy, proud, amazed (I am still pinching myself that I have been working with the amazing people at Interweave!!) and excited. I own every single issue of this magazine, I even has my mixed media quilt, I Need Your Kindness, appeared in the Muse Flash section several issues ago, but now I am one of only a small number of artists who have shared their knowledge in a Workshop article. CPS even challenged me to make a video of the technique to go with the article. I am on cloud nine. Thanks so much, CPS, Jenn Mason, & Barbara Delaney!

I have worked with Fuji and Polaroid film processes for over 10 years. I have always wanted to write about it...

I love this image of Editor, Jenn Mason, with her vintage Polaroid Land Camera from Ebay...

 

My bio, fun stuff!

Page one of the article, with two assemblages I made to accompany it.

My YouTube Video - Fuji Emulsion Lifts & Transfers

I have stared in a YouTube video. I guess it was time for that experience... I recently wrote an article on Fuji emulsion lifts and transfer, which will appear in the Workshop section of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine's November/December issue. The editor, Jenn Mason, asked me if I would be willing to make a YouTube video of the process, to link to the article. I enlisted a friend, Jason MacQueen, who filmed it for me. The subject matter is pretty specific, but if you feel like watching it, please let me know what you think...

Submissions to the Self Portait Challenge From Cloth, Paper, Scissors (Using Polaroid Transfers & Emulsion Lifts)

Ever since I left University, I have looked for opportunities to make art to a theme and on a deadline. That was one of the things I loved about being in school. I am good with deadlines, and while I don't really plan out my work before I get started, aside from the medium I plan to use, I do like to have a direction to go in.

Authentically Me by Tiffany Teske
Encaustic collage on wood
6x6"

I created this for the Cloth Paper Scissors "A Little Me" challenge. It is called "Authentically Me". It is a 6x6" encaustic collage. I first used a colour copy of a gelatin monoprint I made using a self portrait image I took of my own feet and hands. I combine a black and white copy of the image with printmaking inks and a flower which left a negative print. I combine the colour copy of the monoprint with beeswax, then using a stylus I hand wrote adjectives I would use to describe myself. I then rubbed a Shiva paintstik in iridescent copper over the words and removed the excess. This piece is "authentically me" because it is how I see myself and because it contains flaws in my spelling and hand writing. I don't generally plan out all aspects of my pieces so I accept "mistakes" as something that happens when a real person makes art. Perfection is impossible and can get in the way of making good art. This piece also includes a wire bird nest with gemstone bead eggs that I made. Much of my work contains birds, feathers, eggs, and nests, so it just seemed right to include it as one of those things people identify with me and as something that is close to my heart.

Detail of Authentically Me

I am Unique (Like Everyone Else) by Tiffany Teske
Encaustic collage
6x6"

This is another submission for the Cloth Paper Scissors challenge. It is entitled, "I Am Unique (Like Everyone Else)" because it is true and because I have always liked that saying. It is a 6x6" encaustic collage. It has many layers and meanings. I started with a colour copy of a Polaroid transfer of a self portrait I made on handmade paper. I layered beeswax on top of the copy, and then, using a stylus, I hand wrote information about me across the piece. I then rubbed a black Shiva paintstik over the words, then layered it with more wax and fused. I added a feather and ribbon, two eggs (one that is broken and contains another egg), a wire and gemstone bead nest I made, and a twig I painted, distressed, and added vintage paper flowers to and dipped in wax. I made a little pouch from a wire edged ribbon, sewn together with wire, that contains the word "remember" and some turquoise beads. Turquoise is said to take on the characteristics of its owner. I selected the word "remember" because much of my work has to do with memory. The eggs represent my children and the nest the home I have created. Much of my work contains birds, feathers, eggs, and nests. This feather represents my travels through life and the ribbon my childhood. The flowers represent growth. I made them on a twig because I derive a lot of inspiration from nature and I live in a National Park.The phrases are personal things about me. The whole piece is a bit complicated, and eclectic, like me.

I am Unique (Like Everyone Else) Detail

I am Unique (Like Everyone Else) Detail

I am Unique (Like Everyone Else) Detail

I am Unique (Like Everyone Else) Detail

My Skin by Tiffany Teske
Encaustic collage
6x6"

And for my last submission to the CPS challenge... It is entitled, "My Skin". It is a 6x6" encaustic collage. I started by writing my thoughts onto carbon paper with tissue beneath. I then added the tissue to my substrate using wax. Next, I transferred a colour copy of a Polaroid emulsion lift self portrait I made onto my encaustic surface. I added the words, "I feel comfortable in my own skin" to the wax surface by writing with a stylus onto carbon paper. I added a wire and gemstone bead nest I made, a feather I found while out exploring with my daughter, and a distressed ribbon in my favourite colour, dipped in wax. The nest represents the home I have created, the feather my need to travel and discover, and the cheerfully coloured ribbon ties these things together, bound by the wax, as they are entwined in me.

My Skin Detail

Thanks for taking a look at my work... I am always happy to share it!