Week 2--Making Textured Papers and Journaling

I  am  rediscovering  art  materials  that  I  have,  but  haven't  used  in  a  while,  and  also  others  that  I've  never  used,  and  I  am  very  blissful  right  now!     Let  me start  out  by  showing  a  few  of  my  textured  papers   starting  with  this  one.   I  started  out--putting  an  acrylic  wash  on  very  heavy  cardstock   paper  (Golden  fluid  acrylic-- Aquamarine Blue--Great  color!)  It's  hard  to  see  the  texture,  but  if  you double  click  on  these,  you  can  see  it  better.

 

On  this  one  I  started  out  with   Golden's  Fiber  Paste--it's  almost  like  the  soft  molding  paste,  but  when  it's  dry,  it's  very  fibery  like  paper.  And  it's  very  flexible,  which  is  what  I  wanted  so  that  I  could  cut  it  up   for  collage.

I  used  a  plastic  stencil  for  the  vines  and  flowers.  This  is  just  so  easy  to  do--and  fun.   You  just  lay  down  your  stencil,  and  apply  an  even  layer  of  the  paste  over  it  with  a  palette  knife,  and  then  when  you  lift  it  up,  you  have  your  imprint.   And  the  bottom  right-hand  corner  was just  random  paste  that  I  spread  on  and  then  scribbled  in to...BUT...do  you  see  what  I  see??

Well,  I'll  tell  you  what  I  see--a  Bird--so  I  had  to  pull  it  out  (thanks  Mystele!)

And  the  rest  of  the  paper---well,  you  know  the  rest--just  have  fun  and  add  color,  pencil,  markers--whatever  you  want  until  you're  happy--

I'm  happy!!   I  also  decided  to  put  a  layer  of  Matte  Medium  over it  just  to  add  durability  when  I  use  it.  I  know  that  I'll  be  cutting  out  the  images  for  collage,  and  since  I've  never  done  this  before  with  Fiber  Paste--I  want  to  keep  it  strong.   But  I  have  to  say  that  the  paper  I  use  really  takes  a  licking,  but  keeps  on  ticking.   It  doesn't  matter  how  much water  I  apply,  it  remains  strong.  I  get  it  at  Staples  (office  supply  store)  and  it's  110 lb  weight.  But  you  could  use  watercolor  paper--or  anything  as  long  as  it's  durable.

And  look  at  these  papers--

Wonderful-Wonderful  texture!!   I'll  show  you  how  I  did  these  in  my  next  post.

Okay,  now  on  to  week 2  of  the  Strathmore  journal  workshop  with  Pam  Carriker.  What  she  had  us  do  is  define  and  shade  our  image  with  charcoal  and  over  that  add  oil  pastels--smudging  all  the  way.   Plus  a  little  journaling  and  covering  it  with  a  gesso  wash,  and  then  adding  a  little  more  of  the  oil  pastels.  I  think  the  toughest  thing  for  me  was  the  journaling  part.  I  never  journal  my  thoughts,  but  once  I  started,  I  couldn't  shut up  (kind  of  like  the  way  I  blog  : )

I've  never combined  the  2  together  (charcoal  and  oil  pastels),  but  wow,  do  I  love  the  results--I've  already  learned  something  new  from  journaling  that  I  probably  never  would   have  tried

LOVE  this  effect!

I'm  anxious  to  see  what  week  3  brings!

P.S.   The  Christmas  cookies  are  now  gone,  and    I  am  now  going  through  withdrawal!

My First Year Blog Anniversary Celebrating with 2 Giveaways!!

I  hope  everyone  who  celebrated  Thanksgiving  yesterday   had a good one.  We sure  did--it was fun  for  our  family  to  get  together.  It's  so  hard  anymore  to  find  the time  to do this.   The  only one  who  couldn't  make  it  was  my one  son  Nick  : (   But  he  was  happy  enjoying himself  at  home.  He  decided to get  out  and  take  a  walk in  the  morning,   and  while  he  was  walking,  he  ran  into  a  parade  that  was  going  on.  It's  called  the  Macy's  Day  Parade--ever  heard  of  it?   ; )   He  sent  lots  of  pics,  via  facebook,  of  a  lot  of  the  floats,  and  even  some  celebs--very  fun!

So,  yes,  it's  my  first  year  anniversary  of  blogging.   It  is  downright  scary  how  fast  time   just  FLIES!!   This  blogging  idea  all  started  in  my  head  after  my  first  online  class  with  Mystele's  Gut  Art.  To  this  day,  it's  my  favorite  class  that  I  ever  took.   It  was  a  small group,  but  alot  of  us  are  still  in  touch  each  other  through  our  blogs,  and   I   think  that  they  would  agree  that  this  class  was  a  very  special   one  because  of  the  bond  that  we  made  with  each  other.

And  my  one  friend  from  that  class,  Buffy  is the  one  who  encouraged  me  to  start   my  blog.  We've  supported  each  other  all  year.  Go  check out  her  blog--she  has  a  new  piece  up  that  she's  putting  in  her  Etsy  store, and  it  is  very cool!  Plus  I  just  read  that's  she's  going  to  be  a  grandmother  for  the  3rd  time,  BUT  with  her  1st  granddaughter--Congratulations  Buffy!!   Buffy,  aren't  you  glad  that  Mystele  started  this  Gut  Art  class last  October?  Maybe  we'll  meet  each  other  someday--Florida  isn't  that  far  away,  you  know.

Okay,  I'm  rambling---on  with  the  giveaways.

I  still  have  these  pieces  from  my  shows,  and  I  feel  that  they  need  homes.  So  my  first  giveaway is  this  original  collage--

And  the  second  winner  will  receive  this  box--

So  for  those  of   you  who  have  entered  my  giveaways  before--you  know  the  drill.   First  of  all,  just  leave  a  comment  (and  you  don't  have  to  be  a  blogger).  To  have  your  name  entered  twice,  be  a  follower  (make  sure  to  tell  me),   And  to  have  your  name  entered  for  a  third  time,  mention  my  giveaway  on  your  blog  (and  tell  me  this  also).  I'll  be  drawing  the  names  on  Dec.  6--good  luck!!

So  what  are  your  plans  for  this  black  Friday?   I  was  planning  to  just  stay  home  and  putter--that's  such  a  cute  word,  and  I  never  do  it.   But  plans  have  changed.  My  daughter  wants  to  go  out  and  brave  the  mall  later  on  this  afternoon.   I've  always  liked  a  challenge,  so  I'm  going  for  it!

Beautiful Papers

I've  mentioned  before  in  my  posts  about  art  and  craft  shows,  basically  that  it's  pretty  much  either feast  or  famine.   Well,  right  now  it's  feasting  time.  My  next  show  is  in  September,  which  is  the  start  of  the  Fall season.  The   outdoor  Fall  shows  are wonderful  in  every  aspect,  but   I'm  getting  off  track.   Point  being-- now  it  gets  a  little  hairy--you have to build up a  pretty  big  stock   of  items.   I  don't  mind  this--in fact I love  it.  The  only  thing,  is  that  I  can't  play  around  or  experiment.  I  have  to  do  what  I  know  best.  I  really  like  painting  my own  papers  to  use  in  my  art,  but  I  can't  really  take  the time,  but my new  K & Co.  papers   are  the  next  best  thing.

These  are  on  the  very  deep (over 2'')  canvases  that  I  found  at Dick Blick.  They're 6 x 6.  I   just  love these!   They  really  add  somethinging  to  the  art  piece.

And  yes,  I  made  another  piece  with  my  original  Hippie  girl.  I'm  seeing  how  many  shows  and  how  many  different  ways  that  I  can  use  her,  untill  I  don't  sell  her.

So  here's  the deal--if  I  don't  sell  her  at  my  September  show,  I'll  give  her  away  on  my  blog--stay  tuned.   It's  a  good  chance  that  I  won't,  because  this  is  more  of  a  folk  art,  primitive   type  art  and  craft  show  in  a  rural  area,  so  there's   a  different  shopping  crowd  there---but  still  a  good  one.

This  all  brings me  to  something  that  I've learned  about myself  too.  This  is  the  first  year  that  I've  taken  all  of  these  online  classes, and  I 've  learned  that  I just  can't  devote  the  time  that  I  want  to them  when  I'm   in  the  middle  of  the  show  season.  So, I'm waiting until  January  to  take  anymore  classes.   I   just can't  do  it  all   and  enjoy  what  short   of  a  summer  that  we  have  here.

Speaking  of  summer  activities.  I  wanted  to   show  you  all  a  couple  of things  that  I  found  at  garage  sales  yesterday.  I  found  this--

This  really  large (over  16"  tall)  world  atlas  book  filled with  many  maps, and other great images.  And  look  at  the very  first  and  last  page!

I also found these--

These  wooden  spools  are  great   feet  for  boxes,  among  other things.  I  bought  all  of  these  spools  for  $1.00--good  deal!

And........One  more  thing--be  there  or  be  square!

Mystele,  your're  my  hero!!

Guess What ??!!

Okay, before I start this post, I want to say again, because I haven't said this is in a while.  THANK YOU for all of your visits and comments.  I love coming to my little blog house and seeing what's happening here, and I always welcome visitors.  There was one comment that just made me smile, and it was this:

"There is something about your work... it's like the smell of freshly baked cookies"

That comment made me smile, and that's exactyl how I want  people to feel when they look at my work, so Thank You Cori from Sacred Arts blog for visiting and your very cool comment!  This is really special coming from her, because I admire her art and her talent very much--go check out her blog, if you haven't already.

And now for the guess what part.  You know all these giveaways that everyone has?  Well, I'm the type, if there were  2 names in the hat, the other name would be chosen--seriously--I NEVER win.  Well, I guess you know what I'm going to say next--yep, that's right--I WON a giveaway!!

I won this Golden Fleur plaque from Melanie at Pockets of Inspirations

It's on wood and the fleur is textured with gold paint--it's great for my art room.  Isn't this so fun  to be able to have another part of a blogger in your studio with you.  But wait a minute, I won another one--oh yeah, I did!

This giveaway was from Lorraine at Creative Daily.  First let me show you what it came in--

The giveaway was in this cloth pouch that she made , and see the card (handmade, of course) with a thank you  from Lorraine (no.........thank YOU Lorraine!), and underneath was her unique handmade envelope that everything came in. (BTW, if you click on the close up of this, you'll see that the card has my initial on the upper corner--Lorraine left nothing undone!)  And this is what I actually won--

A textile collage--beautiful fibers and  other collage elements layered just perfectly. And the text on it  "Flowers are the poetry of nature"--love it!   Thank you Lorraine!   But that wasn't all that was in there--she  "threw in some goodies, hoping that I could use them"

Hand-dyed fabrics, lace and doilies--are you kidding me?--I would have been  happy with  this  if  it  was the giveaway.

Aren't these great?  Wait a minute, where you going?!  You didn't think that was all, did you?  Of course not,

I won her from Micki from The Secret Hermit,  This art piece was meant to be mine--for when I get fustrated with myself--I just have to look at  it and read it--"Believe in Yourself"!    I met Micki even before I had a blog.  I met her in my first ever online  class in Mystele's Gut Art class.  We sat next to each other in the classroom and talked alot.   Sometimes we weren' paying attention and it would have annoyed any other teacher, but not Mystele--she's one of those teachers that you wish you had in high school--you would have actually learned something.  I learned alot from this class--to  this day, one of my favorite classes.  And it wasn't just all of the many techniques she showed us--it was more of  learning about ourselves and why we create. 

But  I'm digressing.......here they are in their permanent home--

keeping me company in my art room

I'm so happy that I won all of these....but wait...hold the phone...oh yeah....I won another one : )  It hasn't come yet, so I'll wait to show you.  Now mind you, all of these winnings happened in a 2 week period.  So what do you think?--a fluke of nature (remember I never win anything)--maybe, but at least I can say that I've won now.  Hold on there....I just got another email on Friday informing me that I've won yet another giveaway!!!   You'll have to wait for this one too, but  trust  me,  it's a good one!

Now to change the subject.  Just as I'm  getting over my withdrawal symptoms from American Idol and Survivor,  along comes another reality show--Work of Art--The Next Great Artist--same format as the others--someone  gets eliminated every week after competing, but this time, it's with artists--makes for great reality with the added bonus of seeing them in their process of making art.  I miss talking to my blogger buddies about the reality shows--so come on guys--start watching so we can discuss.  It's on the Bravo channel, but if you don't get that channel, you can watch it on hulu.com



P.S.!!!

A Thank You To Milliande And Others

So as I said before, at the end of next month, I have my first art show, and all of these art pieces that I've  been making are going with me.  But I need to build up my inventory, for lack of a better word.  And I've kind of been in a little slump.  So I've been watching Milliande's art journaling videos on utube, and she helped me make this piece this week--

One of her videos was on resists using crayons.  I was going to try it in my journal, but I figured I would just do it on canvas.  And of course, it didn't turn out like hers, so I ended up covering it all up.  But my polka-dot tulips and house are done with the Caran d'Ache Neocolor 1 crayons ( I love those-I love the way they look over acrylic).  My point is, is that she motivated me into doing something.  I take Dell (my laptop) all over the house with me--she's always by my side.  And I'll turn on Milliande's utube station, and start watching.  I love watching her.  Every once in a while, she'll look up at the camera and smile--you feel like she's in the room with you.  I really am grateful for all the time that she's taken to do all of these January art journaling videos.  She even has a link for each video of the supplies that she uses, and also if you have any questions--she's there to help you.  What a generous lady she is!  In one of the videos that I watched, she's making her journal page with her daughter Maya.  Her daughter is so cute, and is so proud of her artwork.  You just know that Milliande is encouraging her every step of the way, and at the end of the video, Maya has the biggest smile on her face--they both do!

Milliande encourages ME through these videos, and so has Mystele, Suzi, Sharon, and KC Willis.  And I'm sure by the end of the year, there will be more names added to this list.  I'm doing and learning things that I never thought that I would be able to do.  And it's through these very talented artists/teachers that I've been able to do this,  and I just wanted to say "Thank You"  to them.  And I also wanted to say thank you to all of you for your comments and support--they brighten my day up, and I need it especially at this time of year.

I really feel that my work has grown, and I'm really proud of that.  One reason, is because I received my response from an art show that I apply to every year.  If you do shows, then I'm sure that you're familiar with the "rejection letter" that you can  get when you apply.  This is the way it is--you'll never get into all of the good art shows.  Well, this year I was accepted!! And I know it's because my work is so much better than last year, so another reason to thank all of these ladies for encouraging me!

So today I'm off to the mall and one of my favorite food places (I love food :) Panera Bread.  Is that restaurant nation-wide?  I'm not sure.  All I know is that I love their soup and sandwiches, and of course I'll be bringing home one of my favorites there--a cinnamon crunch bagel!

A Finished Suzi Face, and A Heart For Haiti

I actually created a Suzi face complete with collage and embellishments--

This was done on a piece of wood, and I think I like it.  I've been fooling around with it so much that I'm not getting an objective view anymore.  You know what I mean--when you keep working on a piece, and you can't tell  if your satisfied with it or not?  This time, after I sketched the face, I put clear gesso down before I used the Prisma pencils, and I love the way they look over the gesso.  The gesso gives it a gritty texture, so the pencils aren't really smooth over the surface, which I really like.  I'm getting a little more comfortable with the pencils--you have to use a light touch to get those layers of colors.  And I liked the collaging afterwards--using all that girly stuff--I felt like I was 10 years old again.  It's hard to know when to stop.  Overall , I'm happy with it, and I hope in 6 months time that I won't be, because that means  I will be that much better.

I decided to name her Lisa,  because I'm giving it to my daughter Lisa : )  I hope she likes it!

And look at this guys--

This is the first 2 pages of my new art journal!  I know it doesn't look like much, but it's a start.  Everybody says--just get color down on the blank page--so that's what I did. I don't know  how it will end up, but I'll show you when I'm done.  It's fun just putting down any old color with no purpose--again, like being 10 years old !!  And I will never be out of inspiration either. Milliande and Mystele on utube have been showing art journal techniques all this month.  Just click on their names, and it will go to their utube channel.  Milliande has been having a journal prompt daily during this entire  month!  They are just 2 of the many talented and generous artists that share their  art journaling on utube.  All you have to do is put a search in for art journaling, and you'll be on the computer all day long.

And I also wanted to mention the new project that Kathy at Amusing Muses  has started for the Haiti recovery efforts.  She's starting an auction in June and is asking everyone's help by donating an art piece.  She explains it all on her blog--what a great way to help out.  If everyone donated just one piece of art--think how much  this would add up to!!  I can't even imagine how it would be trying to go on in this kind of devastation.  And the next time I complain about my computer giving me problems or the gloomy weather, I'll be happy to know that's all I have to complain about.  You can click on her name or the banner on my sidebar for more info, and SPREAD THE WORD!!

My New Class, Suzi Face With Color, and Some Other Stuff

Okay, this might be a little long again, so I'll get right to it.  First of all , I'm very excited about my new class that I signed up for, which starts. on Feb. 5.  It's Sharon Tomlinson's--her blog is  All Norah's Art, and  she explains all about it there. I met Sharon when I was in Mystele's class last fall.  I love her style, and her faces, and yes it's another face class.  I want to learn both from her and Suzi at the same time, so I can combine what I learn and come up with my 'own' faces. 

And speaking of Suzi, I drew some more faces, and this time I put them in my brand new Moleskine journal that I bought  for the class.   And I added color with the Prismacolor pencils--

Now, just like the graphite pencils, I had to start at the beginning again with the colored pencils.  I've used them in my artwork before, but very little, and they were never the main element of the piece.  This time they are, so I had to learn how to use them.  I'm  getting more comfortable with them, but I'm still learning.  I like these pencils, and I know I'm going to want to try different colors other than what Suzi uses.  Right now, I'm basically using the colors that she suggests  .  And I was a little nervous about  "messing" up my brand new journal, but for my first time, I'm happy with them. The pages in this journal are great.  I used heavy acrylic paint on the redhead, and the paper didn't buckle at all--I love the texture also.  So this morning when I went to close the journal, I noticed one thing--it was upside down--of course, what else.  So now my first 2 page spread will be upside down, but that's okay--it's my journal--I meant to do that!

And also, I've been fooling around again with my scrapbook papers  that I made for this collage--

I found this 5 x7 framed Warren Kimble print  (where else) at a garage sale.  I originally bought it for the frame:

But I decided that I would use the whole piece and alter it.  I liked the cat, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't keep it in the art piece because of copyright issues, so I just made my own cat image, and collaged over it--

I like doing this-- recycling my art.

Okay, and then there was one other thing.  Since I've "mastered" the technique of putting utube videos up on my blog--I had to put another one on for you to watch.  And this one is worth the 2 minutes and 17 seconds to view.  This is from 1981.    If  you own a computer, you will like it!