Open House in Orlando

If you are in the Orlando area, check out the art opening at the Daily Grind in Apopka on July 31st. Margot & SJ are the "artists in residence" and will be having their grand opening reception!! There is artwork ranging from paintings to fired glass and their work is amazing!! Just click on the image for more details. See you there!

Remembrance Art

Another great idea by Gail regarding the Mind Wide Open contest - techniques used!! There were several new techniques & products I had purchased but hadn't used yet & this was the perfect opportunity to give them a try!

I started by printing off the image Gail provided onto photo paper and tore the edges using a deckle ruler. This was mounted onto a piece of 8"x10" matboard in a soft green. I used OmniGel by Houston Art to coat some sheet music printed on parchment paper. About 3 coats of the gel gave enough thickness. Let dry thoroughly. Then soak paper in warm water bath face down & begin to peel off paper backing. What you have left is a translucent image of the sheet music. Pieces of this were glued down with more OmniGel. Different colors of paint - soft green similar to background color, raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna - were drybrushed around perimeter of image to soften into background.

I used gold & silver metallic stamp inkpads and different rubber stamps in 2 different dragonfly shapes & various scroll shapes to add extra surface embellishment. I also cut out one of the dragonflies that had been stamped onto extra parchment paper to add as a freeform embellishment at the end. The words are printed on ExtravOrganza by Jacquard, a printable semitransparent silk with paper backing for computer printing. I played with the orientation of my text as well as color & typefaces. Once the words were printed, I cut them apart & the organza frays very easily for a different effect. Using short choppy strokes into the frayed edges gave a bit of movement and I then rolled the strips into a little bundle & rubbed the frayed edges over the stamp pads to darken. The organza strips are left loose on the front and the ends wrapped to the back & secured.

My last embellishments were Grungeboard scrolls painted in the background color with random embossing ink applied & silver embossing powers added. There are 3 small plastic translucent tiles in the lower right corner that also have silver embossing from one of the scroll stamps. Frame as desired!

Mind Wide Open Contest!!

Oh, my lost Love, your faint music follows me on tiny wings of Remembrance

Darling Gail from Shabby Cottage Studio has created a new blog called Mind Wide Open. Gail has set forth a wonderful challenge for any & all artists to let the creativity loose to create a new piece of art using a design she generously provides. You can then go to the blog & vote on your favorite. I certainly couldn't turn down such an offer so here is my entry. If you have a blog, come join the fun next time and create your own artwork. There are prizes to be had from Shabby Cottage Studio.

Gail will post all the entries starting tomorrow and give everyone a week to vote. Don't pass up the chance to see what will surely be some amazing & creative artwork!! Click on the link in the sidebar for Mind Wide Open to see all the entries and cast your vote. Can't wait to see what everyone has created.

And don't forget to vote!!

Happy 4th of July!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!

Our 4th will be celebrated with family & friends coming by for a BBQ out by the pool. There will be fireworks in the street as usual courtesy of the big boys (dads) and all the kids. This has been a neighborhood event since we moved here 15 years ago and everyone looks forward to it every year. In Florida, we don't see our neighbors as often during the summer months due to the heat & humidity, but special times like this seem to bring us all together.

Here is a new clock I just finished. Enjoy the holiday!