Tag: Ruth Inman Art

Starting Early on Christmas!

October 29, 2025

Dear Liza,

I love it when two of my favorite people (who don’t even know each other) work together to give me good ideas. Let me explain.

Last week, my ZOOM art teacher Ruthie Inman taught us to make these tiny books.

You cut six strips of white paper 1” wide, then fold and cut 1” sections. Each section will become one book. Make the fold really sharp, then staple at the crease to hold the tiny pages together. Make sure the ‘feet’ of the staple are outside the book, so they will be hidden by the cover.

For the cover, choose slightly heavier decorative paper , and cut it just a bit longer than the book. Apply glue stick and use a bone folder to press it down.

Then fold the extra long edges over the first page to make a ‘dust cover’ edge. Really give this a good fold and press. And voilá, there is your tiny book, about one inch by one inch.

They are easy enough to make, I did 10 in a little more than an hour.

Then came the next favorite person. I was visiting with Auntie Katie and told her about the tiny books. “Could you string them…. Maybe on tiny twinkle lights… to hang on a Christmas tree?” She asked. Katie owns Books with Pictures here in Portland, and can always use pretty decorations.

Of course you could! The awl from my book-making kit (a gift from Ruthie), and a string of tiny lights ( from my SOAK jellyfish costume), and there we have it!

They look best in low light, of course, but very sweet even in normal light, giving the impression of flying, glowing books !

Could these be the newest Christmas tree sensation? Stranger things have happened!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Yet Another Collage

October 10, 2025

Dear Liza,

You know me, I get on a tear and can’t let go… so this week, I made another door collage. I chose some strong pinks and blues from Gelli prints, art magazines, school fair tickets, and an old copy of The New Yorker

The first stage was pretty straight forward, laying the blocks of color down so they complemented each other. I found the ‘doormat’ as part of another cartoon.

Then, flipping through a new stack of magazines, I found this very informal portrait of Fredrick Nietzsche and decided that this would be the door to his new house.

I liked it a lot, but there was a lot left to do. I took a day off and got back to it.

The door needed definition, so I cut thin bits of a dark blue. The name needed something to make it stand out. And I wanted to acknowledge Mr. Nietzsche, so I hunted up some quotes. Many of them were heavy and philosophical, but I found one that fit perfectly. “Inside every man is a small boy who wants to play.”

But how to put it on the page?

I couldn’t find a playful, hidden way…. Until, in my head, I asked Ruthie Inman. “How would you hide words on a page?”

And I knew immediately. A flap, or a pocket, or some paper folded shenanigan! Can you see it in the upper right?

It took some figuring and hunting for the right flowers, but just before lunch, I got it assembled.

Then I added some more flowers inside, so it looks nice open or closed.

I am very pleased with it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Flowers for the Table

August 27, 2025

Dear Liza,

Sometimes I need to make a few tries at a project before I get it right. At our last ZOOM art group, Ruthie Inman had us start this vase of flowers, made with the windows from business envelopes. Mine turned out really tiny, about three inches high, and I wasn’t crazy about it.

The other members of the group used bigger windows from bigger envelopes, and therefore, bigger flowers. I liked theirs better, so I found just such an envelope and gave the project a second chance.

Ruthie also suggested creating surroundings for the vase, to ‘give it a place to be’. So I started building my scene. I started with the inside of that same envelope, which had a striped pattern. I gave it a thin coat of a really pale lavender so it would fade into the background.

It took a few days to draw, cut, and watercolor the flowers, long stemmed yellow and orange daisies. To go with that bright yellow, I found an abstract blue page out of an art magazine for the billowing curtains. It was starting to look like a picture.

I remembered that Shirley, from the ZOOM group, had used blue paper to make the water in her vase. I wanted mine to be transparent, so I mixed some aquamarine acrylic paint with some glue and painted it on the plastic. It stuck!

Then I used the same color for the sky through the window, a soft yellow paper made the window frame, and graph paper made a nice tablecloth.

I now had all the pieces for my picture, but I wasn’t ready to glue anything down yet, because I didn’t like where they were. It felt static, even with the curtains billowing in the wind. So I walked away and thought about it overnight.

The next day I moved the window a bit to the right and the vase a bit to the left, loved it, and glued it down. Finally, I glued the stems into the vase, but left the flowers loose, so they can flop a bit.

Another Ruthie Inman inspiration, all done!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Gelli Cards!

August 12, 2025

Dear Liza,

I am still making lots of mistakes with Gelli printing, because there are dozens of ways to do it wrong! But Ruthie Inman said don’t let a little thing like that stop me, and every now and then I get one right.

These are my favorites from the last few weeks. As you can tell, two used the same sycamore maple leaf and one is some lavender blossoms,

For today’s project, I chose these two to trim up for greeting cards. I couldn’t find a mat that worked with either, so I glued them down by themselves.

Only after I glued it down did I notice the white blotch on the lavender blossom one, but there is always a way to fix it! I pulled out my box of words cut from calendars, J. Peterman catalogues and magazines.

A few snips and careful UHU application (tweezers are best for those of us with short fingernails!)

and this one is ready for a friend who has just moved to a new country.

And that’s my art for today!

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Art with Ruthie

August 8, 2035

Dear Liza,

Between her busy art gallery (Artful Journey in Peoria, Illinois) and my Shingles, it has been a long time since I’ve sat down for a ZOOM art session with Ruthie Inman in Illinois.

So when we finally got together this week, we yakked and cut and collaged until I was totally worn out! Ruthie had chosen a very fitting collage project.

She had us building a small accordion book to glue into an existing art journal. I am still writing most days in the Journal I was keeping on our France trip, and always welcome the chance to add something interesting.

We measured some light-to-medium card stock about 3 by 5 inches, and joined 5 pieces together by their one inch flaps.

Since it was going in my France Journal, I chose bits and pieces that reminded me of the gardens, museums, restaurants and Emergency Rooms we had visited.

I used quite a few pages from Jennifer’s donated art calendar, adding them to ‘failed’ Gelli prints and roll-off papers, bits of an old Time/Life book on medicine, and pages from falling apart French language Agatha Christie mysteries. When I’m totally happy with it, I’ll stick it in my Journal.

I just love sticking bits of nonsense together to tell a story!

Doesn’t everybody?

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tiny Art Finished!

Der Liza,

That delightful tin box of art (the Time Capsule that I started with Ruthie Inman a few weeks ago) is finished!

It took a few days to finish up the accordion folded cards inside, and another day to get the box covered, but I really like it.

Since it is mostly about travel, I covered it, inside and out, with maps collected over the years. Mod Podge is a good adhesive for this.

I included bits from London, Copenhagen, France, Leiden, and “the castle-iest castle in Denmark”. There is even a bit from the book I made for you, “Adventure Grandma”.

Every time I look at it, I remember, and I smile.

The cards fold up nicely, but are a very tight fit in the tin. To get them out without damage, I laid in a ribbon to pull on and pop them out. It works great!

looking forward to my next adventure!

Love,

Grandma Judy

More Tiny Art

Dear Liza,

Every time I get together with the ZOOM Art group with Ruthie Inman, I get so full of ideas I could pop.

This past week she showed up these: tiny, accordion folded books that fit in a little tiny box. The samples she showed were people’s’ interpretations of their high school years, with black and white photos and bits and pieces from the fifties for illustrations.



I had a good time in high school. I met Grandpa Nelson there, and Ruthie. I learned a lot about who I am and what I believe in, on the way to becoming who I am. But it was just four years out of 69, and I didn’t want to make a whole art project about it.

First, we cut some heavy paper so it fit into the little Altoid tin. Then we made little hinges from paper and joined the cards together like an accordion.

I decided to start my “Time Capsule” in the 1950s, when I was born. Some old ads and papers worked nicely. Then came the 1960s with the Beatles. I had to rework my High School years because the colors weren’t cohesive with the others. In the re-do, the horse stands for our Mustang mascot .

Since I got married right out of school, the kids came next. Sticking with the vintage ads, I showed our girl and boy….

And started in on the adventures! Traveling to France, learning French, and getting out in the world. I like how it folds up!

I am trying to choose colors that are cohesive so it looks like they belong together. Bridgett tells me this is color theory, which I have always rebelled against. Oh well.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Artsy Valentines

Dear Liza,

We had a Valentine’s Day snow storm, so it was stay-inside-and-make-cookies sort of day. I made a salmon quiche for dinner and we had a lovely, quiet evening.

And for our Valentines cards, we got all arty!

My cards for Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson were projects I worked on with Ruthie Inman this week.

Soupy watercolor backgrounds were painted, left to dry, and pressed flat under three big volumes of Shakespeare. Then tissue paper and napkins were glued onto card stock and cut into hearts. Then the hearts were glued to the watercolors, and everything got glued to a card and pressed again. It was fun, not terribly exacting, and turned out very well.

Auntie Bridgett’s card to me was also very artsy! It is a line drawing inspired by her latest painting for GiftyKitty, which I just love. It featured cats, coffee, and lots of swoops, hearts, and spirals.

And I get to color it any way I like!

Hooray for love, cookies, and art!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Ruthie Project Update

Dear Liza,

Our small ZOOm art group got together again this week, and I made some good progress on the fabric and paint thingee.

This almost-square piece of grey-and-silver fabric got painted with swirls, and then stitched with blue, white and oranges to follow the swirls.

Once I felt there were enough swirls, I found some quilt batting and some nice patterned fabric for the lining. This fabric, which I am very fond of, is up-cycled from a pair of pajamas.

I decided to use the same embroidery thread and quilt along the painted and embroidered lines, just enough to hold all the layers together. I love how textured and nubbly it is!

Now I just need to sew the side seams and put in a zipper to make a useful, beautiful padded sack.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Fabric and Paint, For a Start…

Dear Liza,

Ruthie Inman keeps getting my brain off on tangents! I’d complain, but I love it, and I always learn something.

Our latest wild goose chase started with telling her us to collect a zipper and some sturdy fabric, a hot glue gun and some acrylic paint. Easy enough.

The zipper came from a pillow that has been upcycled into a few other items already. The fabric was purchased years ago for a map quilt that didn’t need it. And the acrylics ( and the textile medium to make them work on fabric) were sitting in a box.

When I showed the fabric to Ruthie and Vimi (our parter in all things goofy and artsy), they said it reminded them of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. I didn’t want to copy, but I held the image in my head as I painted and we chatted.

I liked the swirly lines I set up, and kept going as I got more confident.

By the time our session ended, the fabric was wet and sticky, and I needed to figure out my next step.

The next day, that next step was realized with more contrast. The short brush strokes remind me of Van Gough’s.

And then, because I’m a crazy woman with a needle and thread, I laid in a bunch of running stitches, sort of stringing the short stitches together and following the swirls.


And then, remembering about complementary colors, I started putting in some orange stitches.

What do you think?


Love,

Grandma Judy