Out of the Journal Canvas Challenge: Week #2

Dina Wakley is running a challenge this month to get art journalers to work on canvas or other surfaces (anything outside your art journal). The goal is to workon two canvases each week.  I started two canvases last week and thought I had left an autopost with them, but it didn't work out. So, a little late, here are my two canvases. The one up top is actually two canvases - a 12x12 painted black, with red and yellow circles (plus drips), and a small yellow canvas that I will attach to the front. I definitely got that idea after taking Tim Holtz' Creative Block class. I plan to add a few more yellow splatters and some teal stars to the background.

And this is my second "canvas." It's actually plaster. I added lots of texture and acrylic paint, plus some grunge board and a photograph I took of a butterfly. I was going to call it done, but then I saw this fabulous creation at the Altered Bits blog, and have now decided I want to add A LOT more stuff.
So, sorry these are late. Hopefully they'll still go into the challenge drawing. I've got my next canvas started and an idea for another this week.

Venice Collage #3

I started this collage a long time ago in a crackle paste class.  Last week, I pulled it out of my unfinished projects bag, took it to my studio and painted it.  I added a few embellishments, and I now declare it done!  It's the third in a series of texture collages that feature photographs I took in Venice.  You can see the other two in this post.  I might do one more in the Series, but we'll see.  I definitely want to do one more in my Paris series, so I'll probably turn to that one first. 
I'm also submitting it to the Gingersnap Creations Challenge Blog for the Once in a Blue Moon Challenge, which is accepting entries based on any of their previous challenges!  If you're looking for a wonderful list of challenges, check out this link.  I'm submitting for the GC67 "Go 3D" challenge.
 It felt good to finish up another project! Have you completed anything recently?

Finally finished!

My blog friend Karen has chosen "finish" as her word for 2011, and that something I can relate to.  Last Sunday I took a class with Connie and stayed afterwards to finish up some pieces, including this collage I made with street art from Paris. You may recall it from when I asked for your input in this post.  Sorry for the rotten picture, but my computer is feeling a bit ill and I'm limping along using DS Henry's computer. Hopefully mine will get fixed soon.
It felt really good to finish this piece.  Is there something you've finished lately?

Strong hearted and head strong

I took a great class today.  It was an intermediate collage class taught by Connie Andrews, in which the idea was to build a collage involving personal icons.  I chose a trio of family heritage pictures that are all about women who are strong hearted and head strong - just like me. I used a key, a sacred heart milagro, some religious medals, a dragon fly charm and and some coins - all of which speak to me on a deep level.  I really, really love this piece!  Connie and I got into a bit of a debate after class as to what the focal point of this collage is.  What do you think it is?  Where does your eye immediately go?

What does this need?

I've been working on this canvas off and on for a long time.  So long that, in fact, when I started it I had a definite plan in mind, but I can't remember what it was! So, I've pressed forward and am pretty happy with it. The images are photographs I took of street art in Paris. Fiber paste circles and triangles; cloth buttons, black braid, pen nib and ornate charms; painted red circles and yellow square added for dimension.  But it doesn't feel done to me.  I feel like I need something to pull it all together.  I'm thinking something in white maybe?  And I'm not really loving that shade of blue; it's very dark and there's so much of it.
Ideas gratefully appreciated!

The Picnic Dress (collage on plaster)

She wore this dress to the picnic, and memories of the day lingered in its folds. 
Day 2 of Creativity Boot Camp, and the creative prompt is "picnic."  WTF???  I take a deep breath and think about some of the things I have been wanting to do with plaster (my chosen media), and one of them has been to create certain shapes and collage on them. One of the shapes I have contemplated is a simple dress or shirt.  I figure I can make a nice, spring dress that someone might wear to a picnic and then collage on a variety of flowers and heritage images of women.
As I look through my collage images, I find one of my favorite images. . . I don't know who the couple is exactly (beyond friends or relatives of my Aunt Vera) or what the circumstances are, but this photo always reminds me of budding romance.  I imagine that the couple met each other while attending a picnic.
As I start to sketch the picnic dress on to the plaster panel, I am having trouble imagining it as a freestanding form, but I really begin to like the idea of it as a dress hanging on a clothesline.  I have always been fascinated  by clothes hanging on a clothesline, and you can see a favorite photo here and the art journal page it inspired here.  As I continue to paint and collage and create, an idea is born for a series of collages on plaster.  The series is titled "On the Clothesline," and today's collage is the first in the series, "She wore this dress to the picnic."  On the back, I have written, "She wore this dress to the picnic, and memories of the day lingered in its folds."  ETA: I came up with the words to tell the story; they aren't a quote from someone else.
I hope you enjoy my creation (and its story).

Art for Sale & Show

A week from today, my local mixed media group will be opening its second annual art show.  I showed five pieces last year and sold two.  This year, I'm hoping to do about the same.  As an extra treat, DD Clara will also be showing this year, too!  If you're in the area, please feel free to stop by and browse the show.
Here are the two big pieces I plan to show:

And here's DD Clara's piece:

One of the reasons I started my blog was to catalog my art, but I soon realized that it was hard to get a good picture of my artwork.  I'm pretty happy with these shots, which I took in program mode as part of the week 2 assignment in Get Out of Auto mode.  I set the ISO to 400 and let the camera do the rest. 

House Party - Final Tally

House of Love (Canvas)
Final roll call of House Party participants.  If you emailed me and you're not on the list, email me again at rinda1961@yahoo.com.  The art today is something I have posted before, but it remains one of my favorite pieces of all time, and it fits the theme.
UK Participants:
Sian
Liz L (Gables)
Denise
Ruth
Cherry
Deb
Jacky
Mel
Sarah
Liz G (Dewlands)
Elizabeth


US Participants:
Cheryl
Karen
Sharyn
Kimberlee
Nancy
Cindy
Margi
Deb
Julie


And from Australia:
Amy


All the packages are in the mail (except Amy's - hers will go out on Monday).  If you don't receive yours within a week, email me at rinda1961@yahoo.com, and I'll send another.  Yes, I have plenty of supplies. I  made up 20 envelopes, and it made nary a dent in my stash!  I'll post a house tutorial later this week.
As we say here in the states, "Party on!"

Easter, Take Two

And for you mixed-media fans, here's an edgier take on Easter art.  It's a tiny canvas (3x3 inches) and features a grafitti image that I found on a wall in Paris and photographed.  Is it too edgy for you?

Don't forget, last call for the blogs and blogging survey.  I'll choose a random incentive winner tonight at 9:00 p.m. California time and begin compiling results.  You can find the survey here.

March Class Review

Who am I? (collage)

I took two classes this month: Shimelle's Something From (almost) Nothing and Connie Andrew's Collage Challenge Class.  I'll start with Shimelle's class, although my comments may not make me too popular.  And I welcome alternate opinions.

Shimelle's class was designed to get you to use up scrapbook supplies from your stash and to create pages.  I enjoyed it, and I definitely got my money's worth.  I think the basic structure was good, and there were some wonderful ideas for ways to use up supplies like ribbon, metal and alphabet stickers. Also, it helped me realize that there are some things I will never use.  I'm going to be getting those out of my stash and into the donation pile!  On the other hand, there were a few disappointments in the class.  For instance, I would have preferred for there to be a more definite theme and journaling prompts for for the optional album. I am happy with the album I made (especially because it was just sitting in my stash), but Shimelle is such a journaling guru that I would have loved to have gotten a bit more in that regard.  Second, I thought that a couple of the prompts were not that innovative.  For instance, the flower and chipboard prompts didn't seem to offer many new ideas. The page protector prompt was also a little odd to me  because I don't generally want to "use up" my page protectors.  Luckily, I did find some off-size page protectors that I wanted to use up and have found them very useful for holding newspaper clippings and other memorabilia. Finally, the class did not go as scheduled.  Shimelle added a few "inspiration" posts, featuring classmates' blogs, and challenges.  These were additional, not in lieu of the regular prompts, but they did change the timing of things a bit.  I really loved and enjoyed the challenges.  To me, they were a definite, unexpected value-added.  On the other hand, I found the inspirational posts less interesting. While I like a class to run on the advertised schedule, I'm willing to put up with a little slide in the schedule (especially in exchange for an added value like the challenges).  However, I find the slide in the schedule for this class to have become long enough to be annoying.  The final post is now scheduled to come on Monday (almost a week late in a class that was originally scheduled to only go three weeks).  On the whole, I give the class a thumbs up because it was unbelievably inexpensive to begin with; however, I don't think it was up to Shimelle's usual high standards.

Connie's class was a terrific experience.  Like everyone else, I arrived at class with only brushes and a pair of scissors. The goal was to make a collage by the end of the three hour class, using materials and a theme provided by Connie.  She gave each of us an 8x10 canvas and told us that the theme of the collage was "Alice in Wonderland."  She then passed around images and phrases for us to use as a starting point.  After that, we were free to create whatever we wanted, using the huge array of paints, acrylic mediums, and collage supplies she brought with her.  Everyone jumped right in and created terrific pieces.  You can see them all at her blog here.  I loved the opportunity to create without having to haul out all my stuff, and I was thrilled with the collage I created.  My collage is up top, and it features photographs that Lewis Carroll took of the girl for whom he created the Alice in Wonderland stories.  The journaling, taken from the book, reads "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!  I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see."  The background is textured gel medium, painted with acrylic paints.  It was really interesting to create a completed collage in three hours.  It taught me a lot about what I can do, and I'm thankful for the experience.  I'll definitely take her next collage challenge class!

Let's Talk Blogs & Blogging (with an incentive)

I've been thinking about my blog and blogging lately, and I've got some questions for you (as a blogger and/or blog reader).  I'd love your answers to these.  I'll gather them together and post a summary early next week, along with my thoughts on these questions:
1. Frequency:  how often do you blog?  How often do you read other blogs? Do you read them at a certain time each day? Is it important to you, as a reader, that your favorite bloggers post every day?
2.  Format:  do you change the format or look of your blog often (or ever)?  As a reader, do you like seeing changes or not?
3. Live or loaded for the future? For you bloggers, do you usually publish a post right after you've written it or do you write one or more to post at a future date?
4. With regard to my blog, I've been blogging a mix of scrapbook pages, cards, photography and altered art.  Is the mix about right for you as a reader or would you prefer something different?
5.  Do you have any interest in doing a collaborative blog project with me, like a blog hop or guest blogging or a swap?  If so, let me know which ones.


Here's the incentive:  the artwork featured today is a card I made using a color copy of one of my all-time favorite collages.  It's called "Wings," and I think of it as a signature piece because features a lot of my signature style.  It's featured everyday on my blog.  On Monday, April 5, 2010, I'll randomly select a name from those who have posted a response to these questions and send them the card.


And don't forget to stop by Thursday for something special and bit different!


Thanks for your input!

An Inspiring Word for 2010?

Ali Edwards, an inspiring and self-titled "life artist" hosts an exercise every year where her blog readers choose an inspiring word for the upcoming year.  She describes the exercise like this, "Essentially the idea is to choose a word (or let it choose you) that has the potential to make an impact on your life. Maybe you want to invite something or maybe you are hoping to subtract something. Maybe your word will be practical or hopeful or creative or fanciful. Maybe you need a big word, something in-your-face that will challenge you everyday. Maybe you need something smaller and quieter that will whisper gentle tidings as you make your way throughout the year."


I have chosen a word for the last few years and found it helpful in both my art and my life.  In 2007, I chose "open" and illustrated the word with a series of ATC's.  In 2008, I chose the word "flow" and took the picture above to illustrate it.  In 2009, I created a plaster piece with my word, "accomplish."  I have started to think about a word for 2010, but haven't settled on one yet.  Have you done this?  What word have you chosen?  Is it something you will do in 2010?  What will be your inspiring word?

What do you plan for it? (a semi-regular series)*

 

Altared State - multimedia art

Sell It!


One of the most satisfying things to do with art is to sell it.  I sold this piece (when it was nicely framed) to someone from Massachusetts who happened to be visiting the area.  This piece was "for sale" and hanging in a show at a local coffee shop.  I have also sold my art at craft shows and (at times) when people have asked directly if things were for sale (this tends to be for sports photography).  Besides photography, my biggest sellers tend to be smaller pieces with reasonable prices. Greeting cards also tend to be big sellers.  Someday I would like to sell larger pieces, and I occasionally think about opening an etsy shop or trying to find some other way to sell online, but I think that's still in my future.  I'd love to hear other people's experiences selling their art.

And I want to say a word about the flip side . . . buying art. I love to buy original art and hang it about my studio.  I find it inspiring, and I love supporting my fellow artists.  I had a wonderful time on Sunday, Dec. 29, at an art fair, buying Christmas gifts and gifts for myself.  Many of my local fellow-artists were there, and it was fantastic to see their wares.  I even received a gift. My art friend Cindy had taken a couple inchies that I made for a swap, and she turned them into wonderful charms (through the magic of soldering).  I love them! Thanks Cindy!  Before that, the last piece of original art I bought was a small shrine by Michael Demeng called "Thicker than Water."  What was the last original art you bought?

*"What do you plan for it" is a semi-regular series inspired when Gennifer asked what I planned for some of my art.  It suggests ideas for what to do with all the wonderful art we create.

The Creative Circle Blog Party Continues!!!

Welcome to the Creative Circle Blog Party - Eight Stops for Creative Adventure (including food)!!!
What could be more fun that that?  Seven friends and I have each developed a creative project to share with you on our blogs.  At the end of each blog, you'll find a link to take you to the next blog stop.  If you get lost, you can return here and find the list of blog participants at the bottom of my post for today.  But it might be more fun to just follow along!  Also, don't forget that once you have visited all eight stops, you can return to my Friday post and leave a comment about your experience to be entered into my weekend give-away.  (I'll actually pull entries from this post and the Friday post to avoid confusion.)

It's Sunday, and I've visited all the blogs. They're terrific.  Sorry there's no Scrapbook Sunday page today because I want to keep the party going and because once I started making Jacky-style cards, I lost all track of time.  I'll post those on Tuesday, along with any other projects I've made.  I'm definitely going to order a bunch of 8x8 photos and make a grid like Gemma suggested.  Plus, I bought buttermilk and pumpkin to make Sharyn's lovely cake!  And I'm thinking hard about Mel's cute little pieces of art, too!  Enjoy my project, and enjoy visiting the other stops in the creative circle.

Here's my project:  Patchwork Collage on Plaster

1.  Start with a 4x4 inch base.  I like to use plaster bandages (sold as rigid-wrap in the United States), but you can use watercolor paper, chipboard or any heavy cardstock.
2.  Tear three or four different scrap pieces of patterned paper into random shapes and adhere to you base.  I like to use gel medium for this, but any good liquid adhesive will work.
3.  Stamp or draw a heart (or other open image) onto your background.  If you're stamping, use a good quality, waterproof ink like Stayz-on.  If you're drawing, a charcoal pencil or a sharpie both work well.  If I'm drawing, I usually go over the image, using a fine paintbrush, with black acrylic paint.
4.  Create a wash of acrylic paints by watering down some of your paint.  Apply the paint to everything on your base, except the image and its interior.  Let dry or dry with a heat gun.
5.  Add other stamped images and/or collage elements.  The dragonfly heart uses a grungbord dragonfly, painted with crackle paint, and stamped images.  The bird king uses a German Scrap bird and a crown from a collage sheet.
6.  Admire your work and then move on to the next stop on our creative adventure:  http://www.scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/

If you get lost, you can return to my blog and go to any of these creative circle participants:
My blog
http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/
Jacky’s blog
http://www.scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/
Sian’s blog
http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/
Mel's blog
http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
Sharyn’s blog
http://sharyncarlson.typepad.com/
Gemma’s blog
http://happybunnydesigns.blogspot.com/
Fiona’s blog
http://www.fionasflotsam.blogspot.com/
Lizzie’s blog
www.lizziemade.blogspot.com


Finally, if you're visiting my blog as part of the Blog Around the World blog party, the picture of my world is in the sidebar. The next gal in that blog trip is the the wonderful Kathy M, who lives about 45 minutes away from me, and who I have known for a long time. Just click here to visit her blog.  After you blog around the world, please come back and join the creative adventure!

Inviting you on a Creative Adventure (and a Weekend Give Away)

A Tiny Ripple of Hope (mixed media on plaster)

Do you like this piece?  Want to learn how to make it?  Want to win it?
Then stop by my blog this weekend and join me for a Creative Adventure!  Starting at 1:00 a.m. Saturday California time (that's 9:00 Saturday morning for my U.K. friends), you'll find instructions to visit eight different blogs, each featuring a different type of creativity activity.  After you visit the blogs, return here and leave a comment about something you learned or liked, and I'll enter your name in my weekend giveaway. I'll pick a random name, and the winner will receive this mixed media piece. Weekend give-away entries close at 9:00 p.m. Sunday, California time.

The title of this mixed media piece comes from a quote by Robert Kennedy, whose birthday is today:
Each time a person stands up for an ideal,
or acts to improve the lot of others...
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring,
those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.


See you tomorrow!!!

Cherish Your Heritage

Cherish (Mixed Media Collage, click to enlarge)

Here's a piece that brings together many of the things I've chronicled on my blog.  I created it in a class taught by Connie Andrews about collaging with black gesso, and I based it on this piece of hers.  By the way, some of Connie's other work is prominently featured in the new Somerset Studio Gallery - how cool is that! You have taught me not to worry that I'm copying too much, so I'm going to publish it here and proclaim it as my own. (And how cool is it that Kelly Rae came by to comment on my post about working in someone else's style!)  It's also a piece that took me a while to declare "done" because I kept fiddling around with which charms to add.  Finally, I think I took a decent photograph of it based on your various suggestions.  So, enjoy!

I also want to let you know that this Saturday, some of my blogging friends and I will be taking you on a creative adventure. Check back on Friday for more details. Here's a sneak peek . . .

Creating in the Style of . . .

I love these pieces.  I created them, and they speak to me on some very deep level about motherhood and the beauty of children.  But I have a problem with them.  I worry that they aren't truly "mine."  You see, each was created in the style of another artist.    "Homemaker" was created in a class taught by Judy Wise through Artful Journey. I modeled my collage on a couple of her pieces, called "Nonnie" and "We Were All Angels", found in the June 4 post on her blog, which you can find (with some scrolling) here. "House of Love" was created using an article by Kelly Rae Roberts in the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Edited to add: I found a link to one of Kelly Rae's prints that she has for sale which uses the same technique that I used for House of Love.  You can see it here. I have also made other work, which I love, based on classes I have taken with Connie Andrews.

So, I worry if these pieces are somehow not my art. Kelly Rae Roberts has written her opinion about this issue.  It's a very reasonable opinion, but it still worries me because I'm not sure I follow all her rules, and I think of myself as a very ethical person and artist.  I just know that I internalize what I learn, and I'm sure it comes out in what I teach and sell.  So, I don't work in her style anymore.  Tim Holtz has never published anything on his philosophy, but I have corresponded with him by email, and his approach is "go for it."  As long as you don't reproduce his class handouts, he's all about teaching and putting the ideas out into the universe.  He figures nothing but good can come of it. I find it all very confusing and a little disturbing.

My children are adopted but they are "mine" to their core.  I wish I felt the same about all my art.  Thoughts?

Updates, A Poll, and A Giveaway

Updates
Thank you to everyone who has stopped by my blog! I'm thrilled that people are responding so well to it.  I wanted to provide a few updates/answers to posts from the last few weeks.

First, the Dina Wakley class "Graffiti of My Life" is almost over.  We still need to do the book binding and covers, but our pages are done.  I'm featuring one of my favorites up top.

Second, Kathy M asked if I was looking to teach in my area, and the answer is generally yes.  I really enjoyed teaching at a LSS in town before it closed.  I just don't see myself travelling very far to teach because, as much as I love to teach, I don't love it enough to go through the work of finding a venue and establishing a new group of students. Ideally, I'd like to do something locally.

Third, with regard to my post on finding a signature style, Keitha wanted to continue the discussion.  So, I have a few things to add.  Tami, at Get it Scrapped, will be teaching a class called Styles. In it, she says you will experiment with a variety of different styles to see what appeals to you and what your style might be.  I remembered an exercise I found in Ali Edwards book, A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking.  She suggested taking six of your favorite layouts and jotting down for each one:  the materials you used; any special techniques you used; and what you loved about each one.  By reviewing your notes, you can get a sense about what your style is. I've done this exercise occasionally with my layouts and pieces of art and found it very helpful.

Fourth, Mel asked what I plan to do with my Latino Service piece.  Right now, my plan is to hold onto it as part of a collection I'm developing on Latino Heritage. I've been very intirgued with the idea of organizing my various art pieces into collections that share common themes and/or techniques.  The idea is not fully developed yet, but one goal I have for this blog is to help catalogue my art into these various collections.

Fifth, I did decide that this piece is done.  It just needs a title and a signature.  Thanks for your feedback!

Sixth, Gennifer asked what I planned to do with my "Organic Art" pieces.  I think I will frame those and hang them in my studio someday.  The someday being when I actually have a studio!  I envision a white mat and black frame.

Seventh, Jen commented on how much she liked the idea of collage dominoes as gifts.  I have photographed a few and attached the picture below.

Finally, Kimberlee guessed that art created by Michael DeMeng in my "strong sense of style" post was art by Liz McGrath.  I checked our Elizabeth McGrath's website, and she makes some very, very cool stuff.  In related news, Michael DeMeng is back from his trip to Mexico, and he's got some awesome new posts on his blog.  Check it out!

A Poll
I am interested in what you most like seeing on my blog, so I'm setting up a poll.  I envisioned the blog as showcasing my mixed media art (like this and this), but I've had very good reactions to the cards and scrapbook pages I've featured.  Yesterday, I just went with one of my photographs. (If you want to check out a post that features a card, two mixed-media pieces and a scrapbook page look at this one.) Please take a second to vote in my poll and let me know what you most like to see here. If for any reason, you can't vote, you can still participate in the weekend give-away. . .

Weekend Give-Away
For the weekend give-away, simply vote in my poll and then post below saying "I voted."  Feel free to add other comments as well. As always, you can post as anonymous, but will need to put your name in the comment, so I can tell who you are to send you a prize. I'll pick a random winner Sunday night, 9:00 p.m. California time.  The winner will receive a collaged domino!

Stencil Mania

I am taking a fabulous art journaling class from Dina Wakley at Get It Scrapped called Graffiti of My Life. Dina uses lots of paint and spray ink and stencils. I am pretty familiar with stencils because Club Scrap, the monthly scrapbooking club I've been a member of since 2001, always has a stencil in their monthly kit. It's been so much fun to see how Dina uses them in her art journals. On her blog, she recently posted about one of her inspirations in the stenciling world - Ed Roth. When I checked out his blog, I realized that the Paris Street Art I fell in love in Summer, 2008, was actually stencil art. I took lots of pictures of the street art, did a scrapbook page with the pictures, turned the pictures into a collage sheet and have incorporated the images into all kinds of art including the card, fisheye collage, and textured collage seen here. It's amazing the things you learn when you take a new class!

I also think my photography has definitely gotten better, as a result of the suggestions that have been posted so far in response to my weekend give-away. You still have until 9:00 pm. California time tonight to comment on this post to get a chance to win. Thanks for visiting!

What do you plan for it? (a semi-regular series)*

Answer #2: Gift it!

I love to give my art as gifts. Some of my favorite pieces of art to give away are collage dominoes. I often give those small tokens to friends and family in times of mourning or spiritual crisis. The small tokens are just enough more than a card that I feel like I am giving something tangible. The recipient finds them meaningful, yet also manageable. Plus, I love making them.

Occasionally, I give away larger pieces of art. I am planning to give this collage as a gift to a very special couple for Christmas. The problem is that I can't say who because I don't want to spoil the surprise. I can give some hints, though:

• this couple enjoys art and has taken art classes, even though I don't think of them as part of my group of art friends;
• this couple creates art and even displays their own original art in their home;
• this couple has given us original art, which we have displayed in our home;
• this collage features an image from a collage sheet I made which includes an element from their home; and
• I am indebted to this couple for creating a wonderful human being

Do you know who it is? If so, please don't spoil the surprise.

Have you ever given your art as gift? It's a wonderful thing to do.

*"What do you plan for it?" is a semi-regular series which suggests answers for what to do with all that incredible art we make.