Thursday, November 10, 2016

Two Days and Counting


I know it looks like I skipped a day but I think my count was off by a day.  All the painting is done. Here is one last pendant created from my artwork. This was from a watercolor batik painting I did a few years ago, photographed and printed out very small, then mounted in the bezel and finished with a layer of Ice Resin.  The original painting is quite large - 12" x 36" or thereabouts.

I am finishing up the tagging and otherwise prepping merchandise, getting my inventory list updated and in order, and gathering all the "stuff" required to make a craft show booth. See you on the other side!

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Day Four and Counting


This is a bit more contemporary in design. The blues and greens are definitely watery Florida colors!  The base started with a layered Gelli print with very subtle patterning.  If you are in the Central Florida area this Saturday, Great Day in Oviedo is a great one day art/craft show!  I will be in Booth #53. Stop by and say Hi!

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Day Five and Counting


After a busy weekend I am back to finishing up some more items for sale this coming Saturday.  These necklaces start with the same snippets of art papers as the cards do.  Love the organic feel of them!

Friday, November 4, 2016

Day Eight and Counting




Next up is another Gelli print. This  one has an allover script stamp for the background and one of my hand cut stamps and the focal design. Don't look now but the script stamp is upside down.  I wasn't looking for something legible as a stamp, just used it as background texture.  Shhhh..... Let's see if anyone notices.  Simplicity today.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Nine Days and Counting

Continuing on with new artwork for the upcoming show.  This started out looking totally different.  I began with a Gelli print with a stamped image on top.  I didn't like the upper right corner of the page so I cut part of it away then tore off the rest.  When I found the dictionary page referencing "brain" stuff it seemed suited to the head context.  I wanted more of the wording to show so I trimmed off a bit on the left side to expose more of the text.  The embossed bee got cut off a bit but the wing was still there. Played off the wing idea by using some wash tape with wings and a butterfly embellishment I had laying around from another project.  This was definitely a bit of trial and error playing around with whatever was laying about on the workbench.  And the reason why mixed media artists have so much stuff collected for art fodder.  Never know what might come in handy!!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Ten Days and Counting

Been getting ready for an upcoming art/craft show that is next Saturday, Nov. 12. These are some art cards that I have been preparing for sale.  Each one starts with altered CitraSolv papers. Stencils, stamping and embossing then all the layers glued onto the card body.  Each one is its own work of art as no two are alike!  Next up, Gelli printing with stamping and other elements. Stay tuned.....

Saturday, September 17, 2016

NEW SERIES, NEW WORK



My friend, Kelly Hoernig, stopped by for a few days between her teaching engagements here in Florida.  Kelly is a wonderfully creative driving force with so many ideas in play that you can't help but be inspired and motivated!  She was just what I needed in my studio at this time.  I've been dragging a bit creatively and spending time with her was like being hooked up to a super charged battery.  We talked nonstop for 4 straight days, often into the wee hours of the night!!! Even before she left, new ideas were popping into my head in my dreams and I was rushing into the studio to get started earlier and earlier.  Thanks, Kelly, for a wonderful kick in the pants!!!

  This is the beginning of a new design for my current new series.  It's kind of fitting that she was here for the birth of this new piece.  The  "canvas" for the first piece of the new series was  inspired from an online class I took from her.  She cut a niche out of a book for her design surface.  I didn't complete that piece but the way she created the niche caught my attention and I wanted to try creating my own niche without the work of cutting through a book.  My niche creation was supposed to be used in her class but it wasn't going to happen.  Even though the first surface is still a work in progress, it is coming along and I can see the end in sight!  For this second piece, the design is from a reworked watercolor batik design.  Don't look now but those wings are made up of Gelli prints! These butterfly bodies will be freeform elements that will fly into the new work shortly!

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Inspiration and Upcoming Work


There is all kinds of work in progress happening right now to get ready for an upcoming show. However, nothing is complete and not photo worthy at the moment. I was really intrigued with Lyn Belisle's post on creating pale papers for upcoming work and she had some really interesting and easy techniques for using basic supplies in a slightly different way. I had a few minutes to spare but didn't want to start working in a lot of wet paint. And I just bought the new Tim Holtz Leaf Prints stamp set - a really nice set of tattered and skeletonized leaf stamps! Perfect for a few minutes of playing. So I pulled out some ginwashi scraps, an embossing stamp pad and embossing powders, some walnut ink and Golden's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold. I did a variety of leaves embossed in gold and clear and already had the dragonflies embossed on another scrap. Gave the papers a variegated wash of the Quin Gold. Then spritzed with walnut ink (Eucalyptus and Terra Cotta) and did a bit of mopping up with a paper towel. Set them aside to dry on the drying board. Quite a successful little experiment for only a few minutes worth of work! There are so many uses for small elements like this and different color ways will be really easy to do. I will certainly be doing more of these!!

Sunday, June 12, 2016

AND THEN THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK

Unfortunately, this title only tells half the tale. I have been taking an online workshop with Lyn Belisle. We are building decorative covers for electronic devices (kindle/ipad/e reader). I have been working out the construction bugs and finally had a cover that I was relatively happy to use. I just need to make some measurement and construction adjustments. Then I made the mistake of leaving the newly created cover (kindle still inside) on the table beside the couch when I went out to dinner. We came back and I found my kindle in the family room floor with the cords chewed off and major scratches across the cover's surface! My bad for leaving it somewhere she could get to it! So back to the studio to create some more!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Sandy is Ready for Poolside

Here is another way I like to use mixed media. I just taught my Sandy the Seahorse at my local chapter. Rather than have another canvas to frame, I took the finished painting off the stretcher bars and cut it down in size. Then I searched through my stash of batik fabric and denim. There is also hand dyed silk noil and dupioni added in places, as well as some fibers. I did some freehand machine quilting in the batik layers and used felt rather than batting for less loft. The lining and handles are one of the outside batik pieces repeated. This will be a great pool/beach bag for this summer!

Friday, March 4, 2016

SASSY SANDY

Here is Sandy all blinded out with beads and stuff! She is surrounded by some torn papers and a MUD seafan - lots of texture & bling!

Monday, February 15, 2016

New Version of Sandy Coming Along

Creating new art is a process. Sometimes the process is easy and fluid. Sometimes it has to be attacked head-on. However it is started I find that creating the actual line drawing of the design to be the most labor intensive portion of this process. Since working as a technical illustrator years ago, I like to design in strong graphic designs and images. These designs take up a great deal of time and energy to create and tend to find their way into multiple formats. Sandy the Seahorse was originally created as a watercolor batik painting. She has also been turned into a screen print and the framework for Zentangle patterns up the leg of a pair of pants. She is now being painted on canvas and embellished with mixed media. And she has a future date with a fired glass piece. Here is the painted portion of the upcoming mixed media painting. Sweet & simple with the sassy to come!