Penny Richards' photos

I made this for my daughter (the model here) with random scrap acrylics. She wanted ears and earflaps. She got them.

Christmas lights and mechanicals; this same house does this every year.

The top, with a quote from Cesar Vallejo about freedom.

The Octavio Paz side, with his poem, "Dawn."

Interior view. Very nice acetate lining, with zippered pocket and original mirror.

The side featuring a Neruda poem about a petrified tree.

Distance view.

The back, featuring Pablo Neruda and a quote from his work ("He learned the alphabet of the lightning") in English and Spanish.

The front, featuring Cesar Vallejo.

Black thrifted purse, upcycled with gesso, acrylic paint, modpodge, paper collage, sharpies, inks, and krylon. Image is Vinnie Ream, an American sculptor. The quote "She had a mind of many colors" is from Danish critic Georg Sandes, who was talking about Ream. Vinnie Ream image is from the Library of Congress.

What to do with your holiday cards after the holidays. Just need a circle punch and some adhesive (gluestick or rubber cement). Easy enough for young children--no scissors or measuring involved.

I made a bunch of these from random acrylic yarns for various nieces and nephews for the holidays. They can hold a phone, but right now they're holding bookstore gift cards. Each has a unique button from my mother-in-law's button box.

I crocheted and felted three wool phone cases for holiday gifts, from random thrifted tapestry wools. They can hold a phone, but right now they're holding bookstore gift cards. Each has a unique button from my mother-in-law's button box.

Sometimes I have to read a book but I don't like the cover--maybe it's a movie adaptation edition, or has a celebrity book club sticker, or it's just not my style. When that happens, I paint and collage over it until I like it better. This is one example. Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden . Image of child is from the George Eastman House uploads to Flickr Commons (see below).

Sometimes I have to read a book but I don't like the cover--maybe it's a movie adaptation edition, or has a celebrity book club sticker, or it's just not my style. When that happens, I paint and collage over it until I like it better. This is one example. Didn't have to cover the whole cover in this case, just enough to forget there was a built-in O sticker.

Made for my daughter with bamboo yarn (I think Be Sweet, baby blue, from Twist Yarns), and some dark blue and red cotton for the stripe. She wanted a light blue hat in cotton (or another natural fiber) that she wouldn't have to worry about losing in the wind, while running, etc.

The ARC Handbell Choir performed Saturday for a park day at an accessible playground in Westwood. In this image, the director is showing the audience the handwritten rolls she uses to conduct a bell choir of adults who (mostly) cannot read music. This adaptation was devised by the choir's founder, Dixie Henrikson. Each song has to be transcribed into this system, and the transcript put on a unique window-shade-sized roll.

Postcards made from recycled cardboard from cereal boxes, paint, paper collage, sharpies, inks, modpodge. Image of geographer Hilda Ormsby from the Flickr Commons uploads of the London School of Economics (see below); image of model Evelyn Nesbit from the Flickr Commons uploads of the Library of Congress (see below).