All Packed Up and on Their Way...

Welcome to day 9 of Blogtoberfest!

Today, I finally finished and packaged my second submission to the Art-o-mat Project. I have been slow to finish, summer is just such a busy time, but today I brought the box to the post office...

 This project can be time consuming, there are a lot of little steps necessary to getting the blocks just the right size and thickness. They start with a piece of 3/4" MDF, but need to be 7/8" thick, so a layer of 1/8" Masonite must be added to each block. I came up with quick way to evenly apply wood glue using a small roller from the dollar store...

and clamped the layers 7 deep. These dry fairly quickly, and are then ready for the table saw. I carefully set the fence on the table saw at 3 1/4", and run the now 2-ply boards through, then reset the fence at 2 1/8" and run them through a second time. This sounds complicated, but really you can whip out a LOT of blocks quickly this way. I tried cutting the MDF and Masonite first, then gluing them together, but was left with uneven edges and gaps where the glue didn't fill. This is much quicker, I ended up with enough blocks for almost two shipments! ( They ask that you send 50 at a time.)

Then comes a light sanding, which smooths the MDF beautifully, and a light scuff to the surface of the Masonite, to give it some tooth for gluing on the artwork...

Next, I paint each block with a base-coat color. At this point, I am starting to group them by ten. It makes the time commitment more manageable when I work on only ten at once. After the base-coat, I use a brayer to grunge a second color over the first...

Then I start adding extra detail with stamps and ink. Now my blocks are that old, grungy, interesting look I like, and ready for my artwork...

I have been working on the art steadily over the last few months, so I have a decent variety to offer. I try not to include more than two of any one design. I use GIMP to re-size and enhance my art, as well as add some lettering. Then I cut it out and use Mod Podge to glue it to a block. I like to use the brayer again at this point, to make sure there are no air pockets. A bit more ink applied to the edges give a nice finished look to each piece...

The last step is wrapping each block in a band of cellophane, and boxing them to ship. They are fairly heavy, when you get 50 of them together, but they fit in a Medium Flat Rate box from the post office, so postage stays around $11. 

I hope that if you ever considered participating in the Art-o-mat Project, this little tutorial can help you streamline the process a bit...and should you be traveling and come across an refurbished cigarette machine selling tiny pieces of art for $5 each, I hope you will indulge yourself and give it a pull!

Until next time...enjoy!

Harvest Time and Family Gatherings...

I have been a little lax in posting these last two weeks, so here is my chance to catch up.

  We traveled in our RV to our annual family reunion over Labor Day weekend, an event we haven't missed now for 20 years. Our numbers are a little bit down, we are at that in between stage where all the cousins that were small children together are all graduated and building lives for themselves. Now it is mostly all us empty-nesters and the grand parents. This is a natural ebb and flow, soon these young adults will find their mates and start families of their own, ( not too soon, I hope), and the campground will begin to fill up again.

  I did bring my art kit along on the camp out, but I didn't once crack it open. I just spent my time talking around the camp fire, yard-saling and exploring the farmers market. As you can imagine after 20 years, there are a lot of traditions that have developed and so many stories to tell  and retell of gatherings past...

  I think the thing that amazes me the most is how, even though we don't see some of these people more than this one time a year, there is really no awkwardness in our connections. We just pick up where we left off, with more fodder for our storytelling. I have teased Mr. How2, telling him that becoming part of his amazing and huge family was the best reason I had for marrying him. Don't worry, his ego can take the hit!

One of the traditions is to go yard-saling in and around the town of Twisp. Because I am still determined to eradicate all the extra clutter from my life, I only picked up a couple things, a spice wrack to hold my small bottles of paint, and this little Chinese Calligraphy kit for $1.00. I am intrigued by this art form, and am looking forward to giving it a try. The Twisp Farmers Market is another place we go, and on Labor Day weekend they always host the library book sale. I scored a couple novels for Mr. How2, and a small book written entirely in Chinese, which i plan to use in my art. I had so much fun with the book of German poetry and the a copy of Romeo and Juliet in Russian that I bought at the book sale last year, I just couldn't resist it.

   I finished my "harvest" ATCs this week, about the only art I was able to get to, and will be sending them off tomorrow. Here is a look at them...

I made five this time, our exchange is usually send three, get three back, and most of us make and extra for the hostess to keep. This month, the granddaughter of one of or members asked if she could participate, so one is for her. We again decided to include an inchie, and here is mine...

Lets hear it for an autumn filled with beauty, bounty and warm family gatherings! Until next time...enjoy!
 

 

  

Family Time and Summer Schedules...

Well we have had a busy week around here, graduations to attend, family visits, friend visits, my birthday and Father's Day kept us jumping all over the place. Our work load, both at home and outside, hasn't lightened any at all.

Mr. How2 is wrapping up his construction project, and that means some of my days are spent doing detail work at the job-site. Cleaning, hauling, grouting tile and final creative approval is my prerogative, and some adjustments had to be made, including knocking out a wall and expanding the master bedroom. (I wish we would have thought of it before he hung the drywall and painted!) But everything is coming together beautifully, and it will be a lovely home for a small family.

 My time in the studio was limited, but I had to finish this 8" x 10"canvas, the image was just calling me;

I was a bit conflicted about the gold swirls in the petals of the leaves, and here is a trick I tried to "test drive" the idea. I simply printed out a color copy of the painting, and drew the swirls on the copy first, to see if I liked them before I committed to their addition in the final piece. I liked what I saw, so went ahead and added them. I wasn't trying for a accurate representation of a sunflower, so the whimsy of the swirls appealed to me.

The garden is continuing to grow, I am picking the first handful of fresh strawberries this week, they will be in full production as soon as we get a few sunny days in a row. We are already getting tired of lettuce, spinach and assorted other greens, and the radishes are trying to bolt. I am very pleased with how the flower boxes and planters are filling in, but am especially delighted with the pot full of violas, they are volunteers from last year, and I have never seen them get this lush!

I may just have to paint them!

Our week has been full, but we will hopefully get a chance to slow down soon, and enjoy a bit of the summer. I keep telling myself that summer hasn't officially started yet, and I have plenty of time, but...I don't seem to be listening! Until next time...enjoy!

This week's theme for Every Inchie Monday is "animal" and I decided to paint Storm, my Tabby Point Siamese. Since she won't sit still, I used the photo of her that appears in my page banner;

When we first got Storm, she was quite a handful, and I blogged about her introduction into our family in a previous post called "Summer Storm", go take look if you would like to know more about her.

Outside My Comfort Zone...

When my daughter started designing her new living room, she took a walk on the wild side by going with an African theme. She surprised me by asking me to create a piece of art that would work in the room, but also had some personal imagery. This sort of request is way outside my comfort zone. More painting than collage, custom theme, not really cutesy...But I decided to give it a try.

I started with a 14"x18" canvas panel, and layered it with papers and ephemera. I found magazine photos of elephants and giraffe, a map of Africa, and a great line on cardstock called Safari Chic, by DCWV. I gave it all a really good coat of gel medium and used my brayer to smooth it out as best I could. The magazine pages gave me some real fits, right from the start and even after they were down flat as can be, when I started adding paint, they lifted right up again, and made bubbles, which I don't like, but have to live with...
I added washes of color, and used the brayer to added thicker, grungy layers of acrylic paint. Then painted the mountains and background, working my way forward to the tree.

My daughter is a redhead and became the warrior in the piece. She is very fond of her cat, so I made him a bit larger, more of a panther sized, to be a companion in her wanderings. I was pretty nervous about painting the two figures, so I created them on a scrap of paper first, using a sketch and watered down acrylics, then cut them out and collaged them to the painting. I left the foreground mostly untouched, so that more of the collage papers would show through. I can't seem to do anything about the wrinkles in the lower right corner, and I am trying to accept them as a "textural element"...

I added a coat of acrylic encaustic, which did help smooth the pieces out a bit, and blended the figures into the background, so they didn't seem so "cut and paste". So here it is, my finished mixed media canvas; "Forever Fierce". I hope she likes it...

This weeks Every Inchie Monday theme is "makeup", you can see the others in this challenge right here!

Wise Soul and Scheduling Creativity...

I have been working on canvases to enter in my Etsy shop, which I finally launched last week! I cannot believe how nervous I was, or how incredibly simple the process actually turned out to be. Here is a 5" x 7" canvas panel I just finished and am listing this morning...

I am so pleased with the way my little owl turned out, and the colors just went together so nicely.
I have made the commitment to myself and my art to work on something everyday, and still find it difficult to get everything else done around the house. I told a friend over the weekend that I wished I were three people, because it seems like everything that needs to be done, can only be done by me, and cannot be hired out. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weeds are growing. My next step is to make myself a schedule, with items listed such as "wash the dishes", "plant the lettuce", and "go make something in the studio"...Things like, "get some exercise" and "scrub the bathtub" aren't even in the running right now. I am still learning how to pace myself, and still get everything taken care of.
  The thing is, creativity is very difficult to control like that. Inspiration has no sense of timing, and my muse doesn't really care about dishes and laundry or whether there is food in the house. So I am perpetually dancing from one mundane project to another, then into my studio in a fever of ideas, then back out to a chore whose importance is increasingly difficult to remember. By dinner I am exhausted and have a dozen partially completed tasks, and nothing crossed off my list! Sigh...
Never the less, I am enjoying this creative journey I am on, and know I will learn a better way to organize and utilize my allotted time. Are you like me, scattered to all corners of your life, or are you one of those enviable people that "has it all together"? Got any secrets to share? Bring 'em on, maybe we can make something of this mess...
  By the way, it is Every Inchie Monday, with this weeks theme being simply "blue". Right away I started thinking of the pretty mountain blue birds that nest in my birdhouse out by the tool shed every year, and decided to depict one in my own little way..

Oh, that reminds me, I need to get that cleaned out, both the shed and the birdhouse...
The theme for this month's creative Every Day is "language" and I have a poem to share;

My Studio

by Sally Rose

Paint, brush, and canvas.

Paper and easel.

Inks, dyes, and crayons.

Pencils and pens.

Sewing machine, fabric,

thread, twine and string.

Unfinished projects, sparked ideas

that then sputtered.

Magazines and books,

clippings, sandpaper.

Glue, tape and staples,

frames, shelves and plans.

Some baskets to store things,

not nearly enough.

Bags, boxes and cabinets,

and piles of more stuff.

Snippets of floss,

bright colors spilling.

Buttons and ribbon and

“Where did that go?”

“I didn't know I had it!”

and, “Isn't this pretty?”

Files and magnets,

and needles and beads.

Lost orphans, found items

and stories to tell.

Inspiration bombarding,

and me with no helmet.

Not enough lifetime

to fully explore it.

Story of my creative life...until next time, enjoy!

Studio Play Day

Over the weekend, Mr. How2 and I went to Spokane to visit with family. It has been a long winter and we hadn't seen many of them for months. I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail invite to a Quote Collage Studio Play Day hosted at Spokane Art Supply. I was able to wiggle our visiting schedule around enough to attend and had a wonderful time playing with other local artists for the better part of the day.
   Our instructor was Maryjo Mcgraw, and she is not only an amazing artist, but she is generous with both her knowledge and her art supplies. You can learn more about her, see her art and consider taking her new online class by clicking here. Here are the canvases I worked on that day...

 This one, I felt, I had ruined, the top portion lost much of it's detail while I was experimenting with Montana Spray Paint, and stencils. However many of the other artists there said it was their favorite...

I really love how this one turned out but I don't believe it is finished yet, so I am waiting for inspiration to hit me...

  If you are like me, you spend a lot of time alone in your studio learning your style of art. But art shouldn't exist in a vacuum. It is meant to be shared, otherwise why bother to get it out of your head and into the world? Next time the opportunity arises, go out there. Go to workshops, classes play days and art shows. Meet other like minded souls, learn from them and then teach them what you know. You and your art will be better for the sharing, and you never know what may come of it...
Today is also Every Inchie Monday; and today's theme is "River"...

Thanks for visiting me this week, until next time...enjoy!

A little stolen time in my studio...

The massive whirlwind that is the holiday season is in full rush around here, and even though I swore to sit this one out, it does tend to catch me up and toss me about, now and again. Short of holing up in a storm cellar, I just have to go along with it for now, and try not to instigate any additional breezes. All this to say, I have been away from my studio for a few days, and it is starting to show. I start to get antsy, and my hands get too clean. That probably explains this little project;

In a large bundle of mail, along with the ads, bills, and various generic greeting cards from local businesses, I got a decent sized magnet. You know the kind, the insurance guy, and plumber send a business card sized one every year. Well, this one was big, about 4" X 6" and was advertising a little boutique I went to last summer. It had a calendar on it, with numbers too tiny for me to read...I hated to waste it, to just throw it away, so I decided that, since I am a collage artist, and any surface is fair game, then hey! I need a new magnet for my fridge. The days of my children's art adorning my fridge are long gone, so I decided to make my own grown up version.
    I cut a piece of background scrapbook paper, and used Mod Podge and a brayer to smooth it down. I then added a strip of text from an old poetry book, I found thrown out at the thrift store because the spine was missing. Images were stamped randomly over all, using my StaZon ink pad, and then more embellishments and words. I coated everything with another layer of Mod Podge, then did a little detail drawing with a copper metallic Sharpie pen. It looks good in my kitchen, and reminds me to find my grace, during this frantic time of the year. Enjoy...

Art Every Day Month Day 18

I got a little side tracked putting out fires today, so I was very late getting into my studio. Since the background was on this piece, I went ahead and finished it up. After this first picture, I edged the main focal images with water soluble crayons, and blended them in. I use this finishing touch on all my pieces, followed by a final coat of gel medium. However, this time I decided to play with acrylic encaustic instead. I mixed a small batch using heavy gel medium, clear tar gel and a tiny drop of gold acrylic paint to mimic the color of beeswax. I had tried this on a couple of small pieces with positive results. Not this time...

As you can see, the encaustic had an adverse effect on the water-soluble crayon. I am guessing because it takes a lot longer to dry, it gave the unfixed crayon a chance to reactivate and start to smear. Yuck...Unfortunately, I did not catch this in time to scrape it off before it dried. If I had simply added a coat of gel medium, let it dry, as usual, THEN added the acrylic encaustic, I would not have ruined the canvas. Ah well, live and learn. So go ahead and try it out, it really does normally add a beautiful effect, but be cautious, seal your work, and keep an eye on it as it dries! Enjoy...

AEDM: 17 Using your printer to simplify your art...

I decided to get tricky today and try something I saw on a YouTube video recently. The artist showed a sketch she had done, and when she got it just right, she made multiple copies in different sizes to use anywhere from ATCs to full size canvases. I thought that was a very clever idea, and tried it myself. On the left is the original sketch I posted here yesterday. I then scanned and printed it onto light weight sketch paper. It worked like a charm, fed right through! I didn't use regular copy paper, since I planned to color her in with pastels, and felt the paper should be strong and have a little "tooth". I hand colored the copy, saving the original for future color experiments, and sprayed it with a fixative. The hand colored copy can be seen in the middle. Then I scanned THAT in and played with the size. The far right is at 100%, the smaller ones are 50% and 30% respectively. Both the smaller ones fit an ATC, and surprisingly enough, they look better than the original. The printer gave them a softer color, and the reduced size hid some small mistakes. BONUS! The full sized I plan to use on a canvas, which was the plan from the beginning. I am pretty happy with the way these turned out, and here is a scan of the ATC I created using the 50% copy.

I wouldn't want to use the exact same image over and over, but it is nice to get a little more mileage out of a favorite piece. I hope this gives you some ideas on different ways to use your own work. Enjoy...

AEDM: Day 16 Inspiration for a new piece and first sketch...

My hubby and I finally got away for a couple of well earned, long time in coming, nights together. We went to a VERY rustic cabin in the woods, the kind of rustic that means hauling firewood, a temperamental stove and putting on your boots and coat to go to the bathroom...it was quiet, restful and very very cold. We ended up racing a bad storm down the mountain, and are happy to be snug at home as we watch it piling up outside. I didn't have a chance to paint while I was there, but I did get an inspiration for my next piece and sketched out the focal image. Tomorrow I will begin a background canvas for her. I have a pretty good idea where this one is going (that's new for me)! :) Thanks for looking, enjoy...

AEDM: Day 14 The completed painting...

 I really got into the painting last night, and was able to  complete it, more or less. ( I may add more words, I have to wait and see). I used gel medium to glue down my copied and enlarged sketch, but did not put any over the top. I wanted the paper to still have some "tooth" because I was using oil pastels to color her in, along with Inktense pencils, and I didn't think they would work as well on a slick surface.

 I have never used oil pastels before, I actually went in to buy water soluble oil pastels, but the store didn't have any. Now you would think I would just wait for the others to arrive in the mail, but I just couldn't resist. I first colored in her hair, facial features and clothing with my Inktense pencils, then went over them with a damp paint brush to blend. If there is an area that you want lighter, don't put any ink there, drag a bit in with your paintbrush, that's a good way to shade. At this point I also glued down the word kindness, as I wasn't sure if the gel medium would stick to the oil pastels. Then I started coloring in the flesh with pastels. At first they went on chunky, like a crayon, and I thought I had ruined the piece. I couldn't figure out how you could get any details out of them at all. Then I started adding white over the top of the flesh color I first used, and that's when the creaminess of the medium made it's self known. I used my finger to start blending the two colors all over the sketch, and added shadow with a gold tone. Everything smoothed out beautifully. I put in a little more white in highlighted areas, and added the blush to her cheeks. I didn't want to give her clown rouge, so I scribbled a bit of pink onto some scrap paper, and then picked some up on the end of my finger, and lightly rubbed it into her cheeks. I used a paper sketching stub to get into tight areas, and to clean some pastel away from the black sketch lines. I like how she turned out. Of course now I was faced with the issue of pastels staying smearable. They don't actually dry, you have to seal them. A little online research says to spray them with a workable fixative....? I don't know what that is, but I sure don't have any. I decided to try just another coat of medium. I tested on a small part of her neck. After it dried, it was fine. It seemed to seal up nicely, so I went ahead and covered her. I then added the flowers to her headband, and another coat of medium.

Here is a bit of detail on the birdhouse. Rubber stamps, ink, stamps and a new roof. Everything is edged and highlighted with water soluble crayons, and there you go...all done. Thanks for taking this little journey with me, I hope that seeing it broken into steps helps a bit. Enjoy...

AEDM: Day 13 A City-scape Stencil

I spent the better part of last evening adding more layers and details to my 12" x 12" canvas. At this point, I remembered a diecut I have had for years, from back when I did a lot of scrapbooking. I unearthed it, along with a whole lot of other interesting things I have been saving for years. At first I thought I would just include it in my collage, but it was cut from cardstock, which made me think it might work better as a stencil. So here you can see the silhouette that was created by dry brushing blue acrylic paint around the edges of the diecut. I used a stencil brush, and moved it in a circular motion. I really like the ghostly look, I decided to shift it just a little and add another row of buildings, below the first...I then put the diecut back in it's original place, and used a toothbrush and watered down white acrylic paint to splatter stars around the buildings. I am very happy with the effect, and I still have the diecut to use on another collage. Enjoy!

AEDM: Day 12 - Just a little collage...

I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend in my studio today, but I have been wanting to create a logo for the Artist Trading Card group I am a part of on Facebook. This little collage is only 2" x 2", amazing how much you can actually get on such a little canvas, isn't it? 

AEDM: Day 3 (11) Playing With Your Sketches...

I am not the most confident of sketch artists, in fact it is quite a challenge for me, the whole proportion and expressions thing and such. I am slowly getting better at it, but it is a steep learning curve. So when I finally produce something I am actually pleased with, I am reluctant to "mess it up". This is my way of giving myself the freedom to play. Here is a collaged and painted 12" x 12" canvas. I have used some of the background papers I created in my post yesterday. I am not quite done with it as a background, but I am close. The bird house is pretty self explanatory, and you can see, I have re-sized and cut out one of my birds from the bird page I posted about two days ago. He was a bit pale for this, so I tinted him in with a couple Inktense pencils. The girl is an enlarged and trimmed copy of my original sketch. I tried different sizes, and settled on this one. None of these elements are stuck down permanently yet, so I can move things around, audition and remove until I am pleased with the results. I will eventually start coloring in the girl, just not sure which way I want to go with that. I could use watercolors or pastels on her now, or I could glue her down with gel medium, seal her and then add acrylic paints, or maybe wait for that set of water-soluble oil pastels I just ordered.Once she is glued, I am stuck with her, so... This is how my thought process goes as I am working on a painting. I thought I would share a bit of the mystery with you, enjoy!

AEDM: Day 2 (10) Background papers

   In keeping with my post yesterday, today I am making my own art papers to use in my paintings. I made this sheet using a 5x7 scrap of watercolor paper, water color paint, foam stamps, bubble wrap, shelf liner and acrylic craft paint. The plan is to make a large assortment of my own paper samples that I can print copies of and use to my hearts content.
   I like this idea because;
1: It is my own work, so I get to skip worrying about the whole copyright thing.
2: I can make as many copies as I want or need.
3: No problem color coordinating with my piece.
    Here you can see the original paper, and under it, an enlargement on plain copy paper. I simply ran the sample through my scanner, and selected "fit to page", and copy. It is maybe a little too monochromatic, but I think I can work with it...

Layers: Creating Depth in Your Mixed Media Art...

At the request of some of my flying cohorts, I am posting this little tutorial on how I create depth and interest in my paintings. I always find it helps me to move along in a piece if I have a kind of formula to follow. I hope it helps you as well...I actually counted while creating the piece "Those Who Wish" and realized that I have at least eight layers of assorted paints and papers in it, so here is the break down.

Layer1: Tear or cut strips of paper, and glue them onto your surface using gel medium. I am using a small canvas panel as my surface, and matte medium instead of gloss. I like using the canvas panels for a couple reasons. They are very inexpensive, and they are firm enough to use a brayer on to really smooth down the papers. I find that stretched canvases have too much give for the kind of pressure I use. Here you can see the little bird picture that was the inspiration for this piece. Here I have used sheet music, a page from a technical manual, and a page from a book written in German, found at a library sale this summer.

 Layer 2: Paint over the papers with a layer of acrylic paint. I usually like to just drizzle the paint on, one or two colors at a time, and blend them on the surface with my brush. In this case, after the drizzle, I ran my brayer over the surface, I like the way it tints the papers.

 Layer 3-5: Before the papers are sealed with a coat of gel medium, it is a good time to add some details. You can see here, I have used a scrap of shelf liner to stamp and interesting texture in rust acrylic paint. Simply paint the shelf liner with your paint, lay it on your piece and run a brayer over it, moving it around to create a random pattern. This is also a perfect time to stamp any images. The paper is still porous, so the ink can really grab. Any stamping after you seal this layer, will have to be done with permanent ink. You can see I have also added some scraps of decorative papers, and stamped images over them as well.

  I save caps from spray cans and bottles for making different sized circles. This is the time to add bubble wrap stampings, circles and more detail with acrylic paints. I have used a dry brush with  walnut colored paint to soften the edges of the canvas board. I like the way it starts to frame and focus your eye towards the middle of the piece.

 Layer 6: I know we are on layer six, but this could easily be seven, eight or nine! The best depth is achieved by constantly adding more, some times very subtle details, that blend in, but add a richness. Now I will try a gel medium transfer, something I just learned, but haven't tried. What you see here is the back-side of the bird picture, laid into a thick coat of medium. I went ahead and sealed the entire piece with the medium, then placed the image in my chosen spot. I then smoothed it out as best I could, and waited for it to dry.

 Now I have dampened the back of the bird image, and am gently rubbing the paper off the back...

I must have been too impatient, some of the transfer was lost...this means I either did not burnish it down enough, or I didn't wait for it to completely dry. Not to worry, I have a backup plan! 

 

The same magazine happened to have a smaller version of the image, so I will add that on top. I love the way the failed transfer echos the clearer image. Happy accident after all! Coat everything with gel medium again.  Every time you do this, it adds just a little spacing between layers, and slightly "fuzzes" the previous layer, this is what will add the depth you are looking for. I have added a foam stamped B, (for bird) and I
am ready to add the final meaningful words.










Layer ?: At this point I am so far into the piece, I have no idea where we are! I type and retype the message I want on my computer, and play with different fonts as I go. Then I will print them out and snip them into individual words, to be reassembled on my panel. This is where you can accent different sections of the piece, using either Derwent Inktense ink pencils or Caran d'Ache Neocolor water-soluble crayons, ( both give some very nice, rich colors) I outline my focal pieces. This means the words, the bird, which ever parts I want to really stand out. With a damp brush, blend these colors in, creating a shadow effect around your focals. Don't forget to sign your work! A final full coat of gel medium is then applied, to seal in these last colors.





That's how I do it, many, many layers! Just when you think you are done, add another layer...
 I hope you have fun playing with this process, and share your creations with the rest of us! Enjoy...