Kindred Spiritz Arts: August 2008

Board Book Page 2 Finished

I have finally caught up with the rest of the group and finished the last step of page 2 for the board book project. I decided to create a theme throughout the book of butterflies. This will tie all the pages together despite the fact that they all look so different.

Board Book Page 1 Step 3

These are the first two pages of the board book and they are now finished. I have moved onto the next two pages which will be done shortly. I am almost caught up to the rest of the group as I started a bit late. This is for one of my yahoo groups Next Generation Stampers.

Alcohol Ink Bandana Tags

I decided to do some tags using alcohol inks. I took glossy paper and ran it through my Wishblade to create tags. I then did the background using Adirondack dye inks (Stream, Wild Plum, Butterscotch). After the background was dry, I stamped on it using Staz-On Jet Black ink. After making sure that was dry, I used the Inkssentials gel pen (white opaque) to highlight around the card. I noticed that on the glossy cardstock that the white pen showed up much more than on the previous tags that I had done. I am going to keep trying other backgrounds so keep checking back.

More Bandana Tags

I did another set of bandana tags today and here they are. What I find so much fun about them is how different each set turns out. This time for the background I used Colorbox Chalks, Inkssentials Opaque White Pen, and a Sharpie White (Extra Fine).

Board Book

One of the yahoo groups I belong to decided to do a book board project. This is my first step in the process. I am a little behind because it took me forever to find my board book. I will post each step as we do them.

Another set of Bandana Technique tags

I did a second set of tags which were a little smaller than the first set. This time for coloring I used Memories Cherry Red, Blue, and Mango. I stamped the images using Memories Black ink. Then I used the white Sharpie Pen to highlight places around the image.

Bandana Technique Tags

Here are my first bandana tags. I used Stazon inks (Teal Blue, Pumpkin, Mustard, and Royal Purple), Adirondack Wild Plum ink, Brilliance graphite black, and a white sharpie pen. Had a great deal of fun with this project. I chose the middle stamp because it reminded me of the artwork of Maria Sibylla Marian. I fell in love with her artwork when it was on exhibit at the Getty Museum.

Technique Swap

I am in a techniques swap with one of my Yahoo Groups. The total number of 4x4 cards I need to product using my technique is 120. I am doing am emboss resist technique which requires four steps. I am about 1/2 the way done and I do a little each day so that the deadline won't sneak up on me. I have attached photos of step 1 and 2.

Clear Tar Gel Skin

This is a small piece of clear tar gel that I made into a skin. I put it on freezer paper which didn't want to release it once it was dried. Thus the reason I started using Parchment Paper. I used a palette knife to spread it onto the freezer paper. The tar gel goes on cloudy but clears as it dries leaving you with little doubt that it is ready to be peeled off. However, I let it dry for 24 hours just to be on the safe side.

Clear Tar Gel Skin with Stamped Image

This is a sample of clear tar gel skin with an image stamped on it using Staz-On ink.

Self Leveling Gel Skin

This is a very thin sample of self-leveling gel skin. This gel also dries clear. Using a palette knife, I put on a thin layer of the self-leveling gel on a piece of parchment paper and then let it dry for 24 hours. After it was dry, I picked at a corner until it lifted up. Once lifted enough, I gently lifted the rest of the "skin" using a palette knife to carefully pull it away from the parchment paper. I like storing my skins on parchment paper because nothing seems to stick to it. If your skins should stick together, place them in a freezer. When they are cold enough, pull apart the skins being very careful not to break them as the skins will be brittle.

Glass Bead Skin -- Blue

This is a sample of a "skin" that was made using Golden's Glass Bead Gel. It was colored blue while the gel was wet. I am not sure what I am going to do with it but I am sure I will figure something out.

Painted Muslin Part Deux

Here is another piece created in Sherrill Kahn's class. Sorry about the crease but it was folded over under a stack of stuff :).

Patterned Muslin

This is from a class I took with Sherrill Kahn. I painted a background on dry Muslin using acrylic paints. After the painted background dried, I stamped designs (already painted with acrylic paint) on the background piece.

Copper Paisley

This is a piece of 30 gauge copper sheet that was run through the Cuttlebug using the Paisley folder. I haven't done anything with it yet but I am thinking.

Watercolor Pear

I love to paint using watercolors. I painted the pear using watercolors and then stamped the image on a piece of watercolor paper. I do like the way it turned out.

Glass Bead Image

This was done on a piece of canvas board. First we coated a small space with soft gel (gloss) and placed a stamp on it. I let this dry and then applied a layer of glass bead gel over the stamp and waited for this to dry. I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Michael deMeng Class Artwork

A while back I took a couple of classes from Michael deMeng. We had to alter a shoe and a can (I used diet coke). It was fun although I had a bit of a time with the glazing. I am an oil painter so I paint like one. Michael came by and said "you are such an oil painter". Thanks to my Mixed Media group and Chris Cozen I have now a better understanding of glazing. It is really fun and once you get it, well, I wonder why it gave me so much trouble to begin with. I have posted both pieces from the deMeng workshops. Enjoy.

That's all folks!

Well, that is all for today. I will start posting again tomorrow. I have decided to make a commitment to post something everyday if there is anything. Here is an ATC background I created using Golden Acrylic paints. Like the others, I will be scanning this in to keep and use at a future date.

Painted Writing Background

I just love this background. We painted a piece of acrylic paper with various golden paints including interference colors. After getting the colors the way we liked them, we then set the piece aside to dry. After drying, I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the writing folder. I have decided to use this as a background also.

Altered Illuminated Page

Well, I finally got around to finding the photo of my final art project for my art class. We were supposed to take a piece of artwork and alter it at least 25% which I did. The gold foiling didn't work so well. I used colored pencils to color in the piece as it was supposed to be very bright. I removed some of the religious text and put in a "cead mille failte" which means a hundred thousand welcomes in Gaelic. I am planning on redoing it as I want to redo the gold foiling.

This was a page inspired from the Book of Kells which is located at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. I have a particular love of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art.

Swirl

First, I put a layer of Quinacridone Magenta and Interference Red on the acrylic paper, after the first layer dried I created texture by applying paint through a stencil and stamp (the monkey tails). I still didn't like what I was seeing so I took a foam stamp of a swirl and painted it with Titanium White and applied it over the squares which now became more interesting. I then took a white pen from Inkssentials and started applying dots in a pretty methodical method (influenced from my years as a computer geek no doubt) in and around the stenciled square. I then started writing words on it. I didn't like the piece originally but sure did like the way it turned out.

I really love doing backgrounds and am always willing to try out new things as I guess you can tell from some of these posts.

Marbled Background

This piece was a mistake. We were supposed to paint on acrylic paper and then use various tools to create texture. Unfortunately, I didn't know that I had dropped a piece of paper on it before it dried. When I pulled the paper off, I found a really neat background that had some features such as you would find on marbelized backgrounds. I have found more things that made great techniques by accident. Oh, I never throw anything out. I always keep stuff as I find that I can always find a use for them.

3 ATC Swaps

Here are some ATCs that I used in 3 swaps. The first is the subject Red where I used a red card background, a quote by Pablo Picasso (on color), a shrink plastic heart painted red, and finally a pre-Raphaelite image. The second is an image of a Clown (Harlequin) based on a character from the Commedia dell'Arte. I used a blue background background card with a printed image on it and 3-D fleur de lis on the card. The last card had a subject of Flowers. I printed an image on cardstock (the flower), then placed a fairy image on top with a quote from Shakespeare. The final addition was that of a 3-D flower. The one I had the hardest time with was the flower card which was surprising for me.

Faux Metal Background

This piece was created to look like a piece of metal. We used cosmetic sponges to apply paint patting it on then lifting directly up to create a texture. I used a variety of regular and metallic paints to get this to look the way it was. You can see bits and pieces of the black background peeking through. Again, this will make a great background.

Plate Images

Here are some of the pieces we created using those styrofoam plates created using the Cuttlebug. Once the styrofoam plate was run through the Cuttlebug we applied acrylic paint to the plate using a palette knife. We then printed the plate on acrylic paper which I sometimes sprayed a little water on creating areas where the paint bled. Then another color was added to the plate using a palette knife and this was printed on top of the previously applied layer. Once we got the background looking the way we liked it. A wash of fluid acrylic paint and water was applied over the top or not. These were REALLY fun to do and will make great backgrounds for other art work. I usually scan these images and then print out on cardstock so that they can be reused.

Yosemite Bark

This was a photo of tree bark that was taken by Chris Cozen while she was at Yosemite. She printed the image on a piece of copier transparency that had been coated with the new non-porous digital medium. The transparency was set aside to dry. Once dried, a piece of acrylic paper was lightly sprayed and the transparency (image side down) was placed on the paper and burnished. Depending on how wet the paper was determined the color of the image. My image was pretty true to what I put down as my paper wasn't soaking. I did water wash it giving it a kind of purple hue after the image was applied to the paper. This was an option but I wanted to see what would happen. It made the colors brighter on the paper.

Squiggles

This background art was made by a stamp I created myself using an impression in foam. I applied Golden's Turquoise (phthalo) as the first layer through a dotted stencil. I then painted the stamp pad with various paints and applied it on top of the dotted layer. I left it as is as I could see potential of this piece as a background for other artwork.

Serendipity Piece

This was a piece of square styrofoam that we ran through a Cuttlebug creating a dimensional pattern on it. We then used this piece as a plate to create patterns on pieces of acrylic paper by applying paints using a palette knife. Once the color was applied, we applied the plate to either sprayed or dry acrylic paper creating a different look for each of the printings. This was my first serendipity piece.

Angels

This was a canvas I created in another one of Chris Cozen's classes. It was a combination of elements, paints, and textures. It was a tribute to the Medieval and Renaissance art I love so much. It was one of the first pieces I ever created so there was a LOT of room for improvement.

August Workshops

Over this past weekend I took four classes with Chris Cozen. One was a two-part class on transfers, the second was using the Cuttlebug, the third was creating backgrounds, and the 4th was using the new digital mediums with the inkjet printer.

This is one of the pieces that I did painting through a stencil and then using a white gel pen to start outlining features on the design. I like dots and the overall organic feel of the piece. I used a variety of Golden paints along with some metallics. Darned if I can remember which ones. I usually scan these pieces that I created to keep as backgrounds for future use.

Wisteria Pod ATCs

I created these for a swap in January. I did the background as a emboss-resist, then used paper clay (which I painted) on wisteria pods to create the cradle, attached a piece of distressed paper, and then added beading and wirework. It was a great deal of fun and I had been trying to think of how to use those wisteria pods I kept picking up.

Chris Cozen

This piece was from the transfer class I took with Chris Cozen where I learned more about transfers than I needed to know. We also learned how to make skins using gels, paints, etc. Here is a sample of one of the pieces we created in the transfers class. Reminded me a lot of Maria Sybylla Merian's artwork. I just loved the piece. We took a canvas and painted the back of a piece of aged paper with gel medium. After we let that dry we applied another layer of black and white flower images on top. The top layer was then rubbed gently away leaving the image that you see.

Canvas Assemblage

I had all these painted canvases I had created after taking Chris Cozen's class. I needed to do something with these canvases so I started turning them into works of art with the various bits and pieces of other classes I had lying around. The piece of gourd was from a class where we learned how to burn designs in the pieces of gourd, the fiber covered pipe cleaners were inspired by Sherrill Kahn, the black buttons were created using paper clay from the button mold from Krafty Lady, and I had to add some Angelina fiber because I wanted to try it out. Anyway, I am going to be drilling some holes and applying wire work to the gourd piece but I am not sure where. I have tried a number of ideas but nothing has screamed do this as of yet.

Beaded Domino and Dragonfly

I took a domino that I colored with alcohol inks and then stamped with a collaged image. I then applied a piece of friendly plastic (gold) which had been molded into a V with the open portion surrounding the eye of the stamped image. I then peyote stitched around the domino because I think everything needs beads (just kidding). It was a challenging piece and my first attempt at starting to combine my hobbies into one piece of artwork. I did another piece using a stamped image of a dragonfly on a style stone colored with dye inks. After I finished the artwork on the style stone I then peyote stitched around the piece to use as a cabachon. I should point out that this particular piece is a work in progress.

Altered Mask

This was a mask that I did with another online group as a round robin. It was really a lot of fun and I loved the end results. It is hanging on the wall in my living room.

Jewelry

I love making jewelry of all kinds. I have taken a number of classes through the Shepherdess in Old Town located in San Diego, CA. They have had some of the most wonderful teachers come in: Ana Garcia, Leslee Frumin, Marcia de Coster, Margo Field, Maggie Meister, Richard Salley, Dallas Lovett, etc. not to mention the staff at the Shepherdess who have their own specialties. This particular piece "My Several Pearls" was one I made during a class with Margo Field. I completed the alternative necklace and made some earrings to match.

Three Hearts

This painting was done during a class with Chris Cozen from Golden Paints. It was one of my first attempts at using acrylic paints (I prefer oils). It has always been a challenge for me since I am a realist and this work is primarily abstract. I am beginning to loosen up a bit though. The background was painted with various fluid acrylics (made into glazes). As each layer was applied it was then wiped off so that the layers underneath would add depth. Three paper hearts were colored and then applied to the canvas. A gel medium was applied around the hearts giving them a three dimensional look. Overall, I liked the piece.

Dreamscape Collage

I took a class with Leslie Altmann at the beginning of this year and this was one of the projects we did in her class. She provided the imagery and the wallpaper pieces to go on the frame but I added the wooden heart, silk cocoon, various pieces of paper clay painted with Lumiere paints, all the wire work, and the beaded and pearl elements. It was a wonderful class and if you ever get a chance to take one of her classes do as it will inspire you. She is a fabulous instructor. I always lover her color schemes as she chooses the most lucious colors.

Cirque du Soleil

I did this digital collage for a challenge for one of the yahoo groups I belong to. I won first place with this image which is only the 2nd digital collage I have ever done. I used images from the Commedia'dell arte and Carnevale to create the collage. In particular, I used the character harlequin (since the topic was Circus, Clowns, and Jesters) as he was the clown from the Commedia dell'arte. It was the first time I had ever entered anything in a contest/challenge. Eventually I am going to print this on canvas to create a sort of giclee.