The Last Straw – There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you had enough.
This goes for many areas of life of course and sometimes you just have to declare you had enough. In this case I declared ENOUGH regarding a painting I had on the easel for a while. I just didn’t like it and it was sitting on the easel and once in a while I would do something to it and it would get worse. Funny enough, one day I looked at it and thought “you gotta go, I had enough.”
So I cut the house part out of the painting (unfinished but for me not worth the effort anymore) and thought, hey, that could be a part of an art journal spread. I mounted the canvas piece onto the background where I had used some acrylic paint and overlaid my Versailles stencil with black spray paint.
Now the page can remind me what not to do …and cutting apart the canvas actually speaks more to me than it did when it was a butchered painting.
All to say, there are a lot of things we artists usually do not show but I thought you would like to see ;)
This could be called “Trying hard to love this page” …but alas I hid the journaling behind the hand carved Love stamp because boy I felt absolutely blah the day I made this page, and I felt absolutely blah during the process too! You know sometimes just nothing works and you wanna crawl under the blanket with a good book and just let the day be done LOL. But I am not regretting the time making it because I love the Love stamp ;)
Now, how did I get here? I tested the stamp using it for the background with black archival ink and colored in some areas with colored pencils. I spread some acrylic paint – golden heavy body – which wasn’t the best choice in the first place to help push the stamping a bit into the background …oh well. Then I sketched the lady and totally overdid her face… which is cool – I am not a good face painter, nor am I particularly interested in painting faces, but I felt like “hey I am uninspired, now is a good time to try something new that you have never done”. Ha. At some point I liked her but then I kept going and she got some real face color issues LOL. I do however like the hair and I do like how the background looks like a pattern in her torso.
So there. I spilled my heart out about my day but because it wasn’t that important for y’all to know ;) I covered it up and that smeared the writing. At the time I could just laugh about it and say “wow …this is going really well but hey, fits her face” So, I just stamped my favorite element of the page right over the screwed up covered painting and called it a day.
Thanks for sharing your struggles with this journal page. We have all been there. For what it’s worth, I absolutely love the bright yellow pattern on her top!!!!
I hope you joined us for the ArtCollab this month as Sarah Matthews and I celebrated Inktober with some printmaking fun in front of the camera. You can watch a recording here and then scroll down for info on registering to attend our next episode.
Here is an overview of what we did:
In this episode of ArtCollab Sarah and I get our ink on! It is Inktober after all so we shared some of our favorite basic printmaking techniques. Sarah showed how she uses Stampbuddies to create gradient prints, and how she loves to partially print over older prints to create a layered abstract look. I showed how to use ArtFoamies with a Gelli Plate and how to reverse images and mix colors while printing. We answered audience questions about foam stamps and Stampbuddies and talked about how to make your own foam stamps. We also announced our next topic and asked the audience for feedback regarding future topic ideas as ArtCollab will be taking a break after the November episode to come back in February.
Sometimes you have people in your life who have been a big part of the journey that you are on today. Maybe they mentored you somewhere near the beginning when your sense of direction wasn’t yet clear. Perhaps they were there along the way, helping you to make important choices and to see the possibilities. Maybe they got you back on track when you swerved and faltered. We want to acknowledge these people in our lives and talk about the incredible impact they have had in making us who we are today. Nobody is on this journey alone and it is time that we spend a little time Showing Gratitude.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have some fantastic cards from Robin Seiz who is using my Grove Street, Central Avenue, Valley Road, and Park Blvd stencils and our theme: Masquerade Party – Let’s play with disguises, the technique of masking, or maybe creating a bit of mystery this month. Not everything is what it seems, and it can be an interesting artistic trick to obscure or reveal in your artwork.
Hi friends, This month’s theme is Masquerade Party. I’m not a big fan of Halloween (I know I must be the only person in the US) LOL So I decided to interpret this theme in the broadest sense of the word. (One of the many great things about being on this Creative Squad is that we have license to do this! ) I thought about what the word Masquerade means — to conceal something — and I decided to use the mixed media “masking” technique for my project.
I find “masking” a bit challenging, both in terms of the layers of paint and really thinking through and planning in advance the results that I want. I am more of a “put it down and see what happens” artist typically, but that doesn’t really work with masking. How about you? Do you find masking easy or challenging?
I am committed to working with supplies that I have in my studio rather than buying new things. As a result, I decided to use the paper from a 12×12 paper pad that I had on my shelf. I love using patterned paper for Gelli printing. The paper I chose dictated the size of the Gelli plate — 12×14.
If you have read my recent blogs for the Creative Squad, you know that I have been loving Gold Gesso. I believe gold adds so much to a piece of art. I began this project by putting gold gesso down on the Gelli Plate and pulling a print. I wanted enough paint to have good coverage, but I also wanted the pattern to show through.
I cut out nine circles the same size as the patterns of the 4×4 stencils I planned to use (Grove Street, Central Avenue, Valley Road, and Park Blvd) These became my masks. Next I placed them down on the Gelli Plate, remembering that the pattern would be reversed when I printed it. Sometimes taking a “practice print” at this point is good. You can rearrange the masks if you don’t like how they turn out when printed. Once I was satisfied with the arrangement, I spread orange and yellow paint with a brayer over the masks.
Next I removed the masks and now gold circles were visible where the masks had been. These circles were my guide to where I wanted the stencils and provided a lovely gold background for each stencil.
The next step is the one I find most challenging — determining which stencils to put down first. The rule of thumb in masking is to complete all the pieces in the foreground first. Once you do that, and your stencil is dry, you can then place the mask back over what you just stenciled to move on to the next piece that will be concealed. On my page, I started in the upper left hand corner with the blue Valley Road stencil.
Then I did the Magenta Park Blvd stencil on the right middle and then the brown Central Ave stencil on in the lower left hand corner because all of these were going to be in the foreground. Once these were dry, I could move on to masking each one and stenciling the ones next to them that would be concealed. (In this case the two Quinacridone Magenta Grove Street circles on the right middle and upper left and the Quinacridone Magenta Valley Road Stencil in the lower left).
The most important thing to remember when you move to your second piece (or the piece that will be concealed) is to place the mask about 1/8” inside the first stencil — so 1/8” of the masked stencil is showing outside the mask. If you don’t do this, you will get a gap and the conceal won’t look natural. You will have white space (or in this case gold space) between the two pieces. I used washi tape to place the mask on the page.
Just a note about applying paint to the stencils. I first tried a makeup sponge, but found that I am too heavy handed and the paint tended to glob up. I used one of my Tim Holtz applicators that are made for distressed inks or alcohol inks. I found rubbing the paint over the stencil worked best for me and gave me a clearer image. You may be skilled at the make up sponge, but I’m a heavy paint user!!!! LOL
I repeated this technique, masking the second stencil so that the third would be concealed. (see the middle center three.)
I’m realizing this is a hard process to describe in words. I hope it’s clear. Just send me a note if you have questions.
When I was finished with all the masking, the page looked like it needed a little something else. I laid down some black and gold splatter on the page. This always gives a piece a finished look.
This page, since it’s large, could be used as a journal page, gift wrap, emphemera (if you cut out the stenciled pieces), or greeting cards. I chose to cut the paper into 4 sections and make 6×6 greeting cards. I love the size and how vibrant they turned out. I sometimes like my work more when I cut it into smaller pieces. Don’t be afraid to try this! You might be surprised at the results.
I hope you try this Masquerading project. Please post your projects. I can’t wait to see them!
Thank you Robin and I love that you chose the more abstract interpretation of this theme and showed us a masking technique!
Give it a try: you can find all my Stencils in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Robin used:
It’s Monday – time for a pattern in my big vintage ledger :) Today I’m using my Floral Tile Large cling rubber stamp set and just one color of ink. With a set like this it’s easy to tile up a few different designs and get a ton of different looks. Check it out:
Here is another look at the finished pattern and those stamps and the ink pad I used:
I’ve got some new original artwork for sale in my online shop this week – check them out here!
This is a group of collage pieces that I created using collage papers, some of my favorite stamps, acrylic paint, and other mixed media materials that were on hand at the time. I was thinking about layering and making different elements work together when I created these.
Each piece is matted and framed in white and can be hung on the wall or displayed on a tabletop. I’m selling them for $55 each so a nice little deal for these if you are looking for some original artwork for your home, gifts, etc.
I love when I get myself a little organized and have some artwork that I can share with you. Sometimes in the chaos of creating, running a website, and juggling all the other stuff that comes with being a working artist, this is hard to pull off. But when it does, you always surprise me with your enthusiasm and excitement, and that really makes me happy :)
“Meet me at the corner of Catastrophe & Confusion.”
For this page I used a collage from a while ago – a 6×6″ piece which I had painted and stamped on with acrylic paint and Signo markers.
I stamped the background of my ledger with my Powerhouse, Warehouse, Queen Anne, Midcentury Modern and Brownstone rubber stamps, covering the images to mask off while layering. I adhered the collage with double-sided tape and I used the same green as in the collage to carry it a bit into the background and tie everything together.
If you didn’t catch our Spill your heART Episode 8, you can watch a recording below. I was joined by some of the artists I interviewed back in 2020 for my Artists in Residence series. We were in lockdown so all of us became “artists in residence” in our own homes. I was curious how these artists were adapting and moving forward since we last spoke. Check it out:
Here is a little overview of the webinar:
Episode 8: Artists in Residence – Where are they now?
In this episode of Spill your heART I was joined by panelists Natalya Khorover and Rhian Swierat, two artists who I interviewed at the start of the pandemic as part of my Artists in Residence series. We talked about their work, how they were approaching their art in general, and any changes to their work in response to the pandemic. Rhian explained that although before 2020 she was interested in working bigger, her circumstances did not allow it and so she began creating installation pieces instead. Natalya has also been creating installations and although at the start of the pandemic she worked on them alone, she began asking the community to get involved too and has enjoyed working with a team. Rhian shared that the memories she incorporates into her work have shifted from focusing on large events to smaller happy moments as she currently finds herself living much more in the present. Natalya described how her teaching process changed to almost entirely online and how her workshops are now primarily her very own. All three of us agreed that the pandemic has pushed us and helped us to discover new ways of displaying our artwork in public.
Join us for our Creative JumpStart 2022 Theme and Artist Reveal Special! During this Spill your heART episode we will be introducing our theme and also sharing the artists that will be teaching for this 11th year of the CJS online workshop. Each year for Creative JumpStart we craft a theme designed to be both inspiring and relevant to the times and this year we’ve definitely got both covered. Tune in to learn more and to meet some of the mixed media artists who will be creating lessons for the workshop this year. Each year we have familiar faces and new, all assembled together to help you JumpStart YOUR Creativity in January 2022!
I sketched into my ledger with a Derwent pencil, added some watercolor, and colored in the hair and face with Caran D’ache Museum Aquarelle pencils. I used a super fine point Posca marker for the journaling.
The background is my Beacon stencil used with acrylic paint and a cosmetic sponge.
Thanks for sharing your struggles with this journal page. We have all been there. For what it’s worth, I absolutely love the bright yellow pattern on her top!!!!
Reply