Learning to Leverage my Art...

I first heard this phrase while watching an art tutorial video online, in which the artist was explaining how you can get more mileage out of your art work.As I understand the meaning, after creating a piece of art, on canvas, paper or even cardboard, you can then scan, copy or photograph that work, and print it out. This gives you an unending supply of your own original work, to tear, crumple, paint, tint, layer and paste to your hearts content. I find the concept intriguing. I decided to give it a try;

This piece will eventually become a background image for some of the tiny art I am currently working on for the Art-o-mat project. I have been learning my way around Pinterest, and got caught up in some posts using paint chips as art components, so this influence has made an appearance here.

 I am also just finishing up Traci Bautistas Doodles Unleashed Strathmore Online Workshop, so the colors and the free style are also making themselves known. What I didn't realize while working on this one, is how much it was also influenced by my current location, out in the Arizona desert. Mr. How2 took one look and said he loved my cactus picture! I never even noticed, but it does rather resemble a desert garden, doesn't it?
I guess you could say my mind is a bit like a crowded attic, the last thing dumped in there, is the first thing you see when you open it up!

Back to leveraging your art; I also came across this video, and the concept really started to come together for me while I watched it, thank you to the artist Zorana!
 When I get back to civilization, and can plug into an actual outlet, instead of a cactus, I will scan these backgrounds into my computer. From that point, I can print them out in pieces, in their entirety, in different colorways or intensities, and use them in a variety of ways. I wouldn't want to overuse the same art, but I can certainly do much more with it than just one painting. I am currently working on a full page of faces, and another of birds and flowers to use with these to create mixed media collage art.
So go ahead and look at your art again, but look in a different way. You may find a whole new world of art in there! Until next time, enjoy...

Gadabout Artist: Week 4

I had to switch to a full week, because we have been visiting our nephew and his little family for 8 days now, and you really don't want the details of all our little construction projects around here. Mr. How2 is wrapping them up now, and we are getting ready to set out for Yuma, AZ, with a little jaunt back up to Quartzsite. I have been working on small pieces of art, and participated in a blog hop, learning many new things as I prepared my post for that.

These are my Artist Trading Cards for our Flygirls ATC Group's February "Love" themed swap. They will be going in the mail tomorrow, one extra as a gift for our hostess. If you still don't know about ATCs, please click here for more information, or to participate in a swap yourself. Until next time...enjoy!

My First Inchie...

I have mentioned in previous posts that I am a member of an online Artist Trading Card Group, and that each month we choose a theme, and create three little pieces of art, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and trade them with each other. Well, as I was learning about ATCs I came across mentions of "Inchies", same concept, but only, I know this sounds crazy, 1" x 1"! Very tiny, very challenging! Soon after, I learned of this site...

They host a weekly challenge to create an inchie based on a list of words. You make your inchie, post it in their Flickr group and then share it on their blog page.

Challenge accepted!

This is my first ever inchie, theme word is "city"...

It is amazing how quick these are to make, yet how difficult they are to get your message, or theme across with one square inch to work with. I had a lot of fun making this, and will try to keep up with the challenge...until next time...enjoy!

One Word Blog Hop...

Recently my wonderful group of fellow fliers, alumni from the Summer 2011 Flying Lessons course with Kelly Rae Roberts, decided to do a Blog Hop as a way of ringing in the New Year. This is my first time participating in a hop, and I have had tons of things to learn and questions to ask. Fortunately we have some amazing, and tech savvy artists in our group, and they have spent hours of their time talking the tech-challenged majority through this process. Ladies, you know who you are, sincerely and profoundly, thank you...

On the surface, I get the appeal of doing New Years resolutions. It makes sense really, who doesn't spend time  at the end of the year, after the holiday whirlwind has calmed and the dust has settled, to examine, not only the previous year, but our personal goals and path. But, lets face it, New Years resolutions are a cliche, breaking them is so common, no one really puts any credence to them when they hear them. I had at least three little cartoons posted to my Facebook page comically depicting the concept...
So this year I was interested to hear about the "one word" idea. Instead of a to-do list of unobtainable goals, (and lets face it, if we were going to do these things, we would be doing them, right?) you choose an word, one single word, and try, throughout the year, to focus on that word and bring it's benefits into your life.
  What word you choose is entirely up to you, I have heard examples such as; create, de-clutter, soar, heal, and peace. How you honor your commitment to this word is also entirely up to you. Some are making signs, creating jewelry, or producing a piece of art, as a reminder to embrace their word, and incorporate it into their everyday lives.

 I have chosen the word "moment". I have spent entirely too many years of my life, waiting for the right moment. Thinking only of the future, and the responsibilities I have to everyone around me. I am the ant, in the ant and the grasshopper tale. Raising my children, making the sacrifices, the tough choices, saving, scrimping, doing the right thing, and going without. Always, somewhere in the future, I would have time to do my thing, create my art, start my own business...someday.

"We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine." - HL Mencken

  My kids are grown and gone, and yet I am still holding out, waiting for them to get their feet on the ground, ready to catch their foul balls, still setting the good example and trying to guide them into responsible adulthood. But really, I am done. Oh, they may still need me, in a strictly advisory capacity and for unconditional love, but they don't actually listen if they, indeed, ever did. They are off and running with the bit in their teeth, and other than being a touchstone, when the world gets scary, I am left behind to rediscover who I am, and what I want.

"Rejoice in the things that are present, all else is beyond thee..." Mantaigne

    I struggle with worry, as if I stand a chance of warding off tragedy by trying to second guess destiny or fate. But the truth is, when I stop to really think about it, worry is just a waste of energy, it has no actual effect on what will be. I need to stop wasting my precious time, and focus on the things I can do to make my life what I want it to be. So learning to, not only live in the moment, but to live without fear and actually move forward into that big scary world again, now, not at some vague future date, is my goal and moment is my word to remind me of that.

 "This is the time, now is the moment." 

Until next time...enjoy.

To read other artists blog about their "one word" experiences, please go to this site. 

Gadabout Artist Days 18 - 20

So, Mr. How2 and I spent three days wandering around Quartzsite, seeing what there is to see, and getting a feel for the place. I mean, what a crazy concept, right? All this activity springing out of the middle of the desert. But you do find, as you move from one tent to the next, there is a repetition to it all. We would walk into a space, look around and ask each other if we had been here already. No, that was on the other side of town. Weird...
  We spent three evenings camping out in the desert too. That was beautiful at night, and cooled down considerably. We needed the extra blanket from the first part of our journey! We were quite comfortable, and had plenty of food and water and soaked up the peace and quiet and not moving! We eventually came up with a plan, we decided the best thing to do was to explore a few days, then head to Tucson to visit our family, which is where we are now.

We plan to stay here for a few days, helping out with some home improvement projects around their new home. I will not go into my rant about lousy contractors that take advantage of unsuspecting home owners right here, but lets just say there were some very hinky goings on when they put this place together, and there is no excuse for many of them. Just pure laziness and shoddy workmanship...
  Mr. How2 is dancing a jig, he is so in his element doing this kind of work for the people he loves. I actually caught him singing to himself as he traced down a mysteriously disconnected wire and figured out why three wall switches seemed to have no effect on anything in the house. I knew he wouldn't last long just doing nothing, looks like his limit was 20 days...

  As for art, I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking an online course, with new lessons every Monday for four weeks. I have been playing some more with the techniques from the first lesson, and here are my creations.

 This one is done on watercolor paper, and I think it might make nice background paper for a collage, maybe even cut down to fit the art I am doing for the Art-o-mat project. This is 6" x 6" and I can get at least four out of it...

These last two I tried on small canvas board, not the best choice. A big part of the technique is the use of oil pastels, and though they go on nice and creamy over the watercolor paper, they look choppy and unfinished on canvas...Duh, I should have guessed that! The cutesy, free-form designs are outside my comfort zone, not really sure if I like them as finished pieces, but I will keep playing around to see what develops. I did figure out one neat trick. When you want to add more paint or pen work after you have added the oil pastel, you have to be careful because it sticks to your pens, or acts like a resist to your paints. The pastels stay tacky, and can smear. However, if you add the oil pastels, then seal them with a coat of Mod Podge or Gel Medium, then let it dry completely, you are free to add as many more layers as you wish, the pastels are firmly set and will not smear. I didn't know this would work before I tried it, but fortune favors the bold and I figured it was worth the risk...

  Tomorrow we are being escorted to a swap meet by my lovely niece, and I will let you know what treasures we find! Until then...enjoy!

Gadabout Artist Days 15-17: Quartzsite and Camping in the Desert

The 15th day out was almost all about travel, we drove south from Ash Fork, way up a mountain, topping off at 6100' and a slow, very slow winding down the other side, into the lowlands. It was a nerve wracking drive, the down side was so steep and so winding, we hardly breathed, and crawled along at 30 miles an hour. Mark that route off the list for next year, there has got to be a better way...

  We got into Quartzsite in the early afternoon on New Years Day, so of course, everything was closed. It was a nice quiet evening, we got full hookups and showered, cooked and went for a stroll down the street. We spent a few hours reading up on all the craft shows and rock and gem shows, and generally making plans for the following day. I also started a four week online class with Traci Bautista, called Creative Doodling, and I am having a lot of fun exploring this free spirited way of making art. Here is my first week "assignment"...

 I had to work with a few substitutions, and on a much smaller scale than the lesson intended, but I am happy with the results. I think it would make a great background for either ATCs or a collage canvas...


 It is difficult to describe this town. It starts with about 2000 permanent residents, and swells to around 150,000 in January and February, all in RVs. Every inch of space is packed cheek to jowl with motorhomes, campers, trailers, trucks and vans, and everyone of them has a tent set up and is selling something!

 We have walked around town now for two days, and still there is no end in sight. Believe it or not, this is just the beginning! The "real shows" haven't really begun, they are scheduled for this week end and for every week from here until the end of February, and just a bit into March. Right now there are a couple of Gem and Mineral shows happening, and I am having a very hard time resisting the BEADS! Every color, shape and size you can imagine!

The prices vary from wholesale, to retail, to sky high to dirt cheap, with no rhyme or reason to them, other than what the market will bear.

Then there is the camping...you can choose to stay in a RV park, if you book the previous year, or you can "dry" camp, or "boondock" out on the surrounding BLM lands which are vast and free of charge. There is also a middle ground, called LTVAs and there you can stay for a ridiculously small price for months at a time. You have to drive into town now and again for water and a sewer dump, or there are clever resourceful souls, that truck these services right out to you. We are only staying one more night here, so we chose the short term site. Then we are off to Tucson to visit my niece and nephew, and my new little grand niece! Until next time...enjoy!