“A Piece of Pie” was inspired by my Strolls through the Hood in Jersey City, and specifically an abandoned warehouse building in my hood.
The building looks like a piece of pie when you look at the satellite view. The history of this building is unbeknownst to me, although real estate records indicate that it is sold every few years for not too much money. Someone gets a piece of gentrification pie when that happens.
I used spray paint, acrylic paint, gouache, collage, and markers on the 10×10” canvas.
The building is for sure an interesting landmark and I really would love to know more about the history of this building. It would make an amazing art and community center as well.
“A Piece of Pie” is available in my store and I would love to give this painting a new home.
I love the building paintings that you have been doing! I love the whole look, but look at a smaller part and try to figure out how you do it. The colors are wonderful and refreshing.
Hi from my Creative Squad! This time we have a really cool art journal page from Emilie Murphy that layers up my Triangle Love and Wabi Sabi rubber stamps. This months theme is: Rise & Shine – Sometimes it is inspiring to think of each new day as an opportunity to do something good – to shine. Create something that will encourage others to do the same and let’s all bring a little more light into this world!
Hi there! Hope you are doing well. The theme for this month really inspired me and I had fun playing with Nathalie’s new stamp sets.
The first idea that came to my mind about the “Rise and Shine” theme was having a star in my project. So here is it!
Let me guide you on how I made this journal page!
I started with applying some Distress ink on a white cardstock with a piece of packaging. I then used some white cardstock because I wanted a smooth surface for this project. By applying the distress ink on a piece of packaging, it allowed me to get a random watercolor effect.
I limited my color palette to 3 colors for not having too many different colors. That is what I got.
The next step was to add texture by stamping with some stamps from the Wabi Sabi stamps set and some triangle stamps from the Triangle Love stamps set. I used the same colors as before.
Then I repeated stamping with a darker color to add some contrast.
As I love texture, I kept stamping with acrylic paint with the same color tone “light pink” and kind of “light beige” than the distress inks. I like doing this with my gelli plate but I could have simply spread some paint out of my craft /glass mat.
Then I added some splatters.
At that stage, I was satisfied with the texture of my background. It was time to take care of the focal image in my journal page. I embossed a star with Nathalie’s “Hamilton Negative Floral Tile (Large)” stamp and the “Sunburst” triangle stamp with white embossing powder on vellum paper. The secret to emboss without making your vellum wrinkle too much is to wait for your heat gun to be very hot.
I cut my star and used it to make a mask and stencil template.
I put down my star mask where I wanted it and applied with a sponge some acrylic paint all around. Very important step here! I chose a translucent acrylic paint because I wanted my background to be see-through.
Here is a tip: you can make an opaque acrylic paint translucent by simply adding some matte gel medium or glazing medium.
Here is the final result.
In the next step, I used the star stencil to add more stamping (just a matter of taste).
Personally, I don’t think that my journal page would have been completed if I had let the page like that, and had glued down my embossed star.
When I was playing with the Wabi Sabi stamps, I found out that I could make some other star shapes. Isn’t that awesome! These stamps are so versatile . . .
So I stamped some star shapes with Moonlight Duo Ink pad, which were slightly darker than my blue-teal color background, and some with white embossing powder. And voila, I just loved it!
Then, to finish it up, I added some splatters (metallic gold acrylic paint), drew the contours of my stars with a black pen, and added circles with a recycled cap.
Finally, I attached my star with a brat and glued down some “chit chat” stickers from Tim Holtz.
Here is another tip: I usually fix my vellum with double side tape instead of liquid glue because the vellum wrinkles badly and personally I don’t like the look of that.
My very last touch was to stitch all around my page.
Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. It was all about layers.
Have a good rest of the week and see you next month!
Thank you Emilie – loved seeing your layering process and how you made your stars using the stamps!
Give it a try: you can find all my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies Emilie used:
Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share? I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
“But your solitude will be a support and a home for you, even in the midst of very unfamiliar circumstances, and from it you will find all your paths.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
For this art journal I’m using spraypaint, posca and liquitex markers, and Acrylic paint to make my colorful background and neighborhood scene. It was fun to go in and highlight different areas of the architecture with detail, and also knock some things back with solid areas of gray and black.
I also added some colorful touches to my quote to tie everything together.
Today I am sharing an interview I did with sci-fi author Mary Fan. This is an interview series I call Artist in Residence.
I heard this great quote recently: “On the bright side, I am no longer calling this shelter-in-place. I am now an artist-in-residence.” It got me thinking about how times of adversity and challenge are often what inspire action and creation for us artists.
I decided to seek out some peers whom I admire and ask them how they are using this time to be working artists. What has changed for them? Where are they finding room to create at home if they previously worked in an offsite studio, out-of-doors, or are now sharing a home studio with other working-from-home family members? What are they creating now – is it influenced by the current situation or on a similar path as before? Are they feeling called to action or struggling to create?
Everyone is responding differently to this crisis. Let’s learn how others are coping with their new status as Artists in Residence.
A little bit about this video:
This interview is with sci-fi author Mary Fan. Mary describes her genre and style of writing, how she got into writing science fiction for a young adult audience, and the hallmark themes that many of her books touch upon. She talks about the appeal of writing characters that are just coming of age, the book that inspired her to pursue writing in the first place, and how she fit this creative craft into a busy life that also included a 9-5 day job and numerous other hobbies. Mary also describes how her schedule has changed since the pandemic, the challenges of maintaining creative energy, and the effect that these difficult times may be having on what and how she is writing.
Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks – while we are still on lock down, I started on some nicer days to venture out very early in the morning on my bike and with a mask. Not the most pleasant task but it feels good to get some fresh air and exercise.
This warehouse has been abandoned for as long I as I live here- I am not sure what is going to happen here. It is an interesting building for sure.
This made me laugh – in the middle of marina at Liberty State park . Love the rust and the font.
So glad I caught a glimpse – even though at the end of the cherry blossom – so pretty.
There was a sense of grieve and joy upon seeing the so familiar scenery … for an hour I felt as if everything will be ok … we all need a little bit of social distanced escape once in a while
A paste up by Dylon Egon at the Jersey City Medical Center. It was weird to have no cars and no people around on those intersections that are usually bustling.
Definitely kept my distance from those very protective parents taking their cute kids out for a stroll.
At Lincoln Park – they reopened the parks and it has been such a nice way to get out. Walking in the city with people has not been fun- but the bike really gives a sense of freedom and normality and the possibility to get away from people.
These gorgeous daisies that open up in the morning and close in the evening make me very happy.
I painted these pots a while ago and finally put them up- a nice little colorful spread on the fence.
Kim gave me a bunch of Allium bulbs last fall as a gift and since I am such a sucker for those gorgeous flowers – I am super super excited to see them grow. This one is going up to my chest now.
Another early morning bike ride.
Went all the way to Hoboken and went through the usually totally crowded train station. No -one there – the waiting room is closed off and while there are still trains leaving there were maybe two people in the traing station waiting. The positive thing about this was that for the first time I was able to take some pictures without being elbowed out of the way.
It is an impressive and beautiful building.
Another view from Lincoln park – I think this factory used to be a paint factory but I am not sure. I think I might want to paint this one day.
Still baking bread …What a science LOL. I am not a big baker but something about tending to the dough and smelling fresh baked bread through the house gives a really nice and comforting feeling. Do you have a smell that makes you feel homey and feel comforted?
I hope you are all well – sending you Love!!! Until next month with hopefully more strolls through the hood.
Today I am sharing an interview I did with mixed media artist Rhian Swierat. This is an interview series I call Artist in Residence.
I heard this great quote on the web recently: “On the bright side, I am no longer calling this shelter-in-place. I am now an artist-in-residence.” It got me thinking about how times of adversity and challenge are often what inspire action and creation for us artists.
I decided to seek out some peers whom I admire and ask them how they are using this time to be working artists. What has changed for them? Where are they finding room to create at home if they previously worked in an offsite studio, out-of-doors, or are now sharing a home studio with other working-from-home family members? What are they creating now – is it influenced by the current situation or on a similar path as before? Are they feeling called to action or struggling to create?
Everyone is responding differently to this crisis. Let’s learn how others are coping with their new status as Artists in Residence.
A little bit about this video:
This interview is with mixed media artist Rhian Swierat who works with embroidery, paint, paper, and explorations into memory. She talks about her process: from gathering impressions from places to translating those feelings and textures in a tactile way through stitching and pattern elements. She discusses her material choices, her embrace of accidents, and how the direction of a piece may change as she’s working on it. In response to the pandemic, Rhian talks about adapting to a more fluid schedule, the importance of doing something creative each day, and some of the bittersweet emotions that creating her artwork brings out. She shows some of her latest pieces, describes how working big has been beneficial, and talks about some of the parallels between her artmaking and her job as a graphic designer.
Comments (2)
g z
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I love the building paintings that you have been doing! I love the whole look, but look at a smaller part and try to figure out how you do it. The colors are wonderful and refreshing.
Reply
Sue Clarke
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Another gorgeous one Nat!
I need more wall space.
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