Another painting with the gorgeous mural in my neighborhood “We Shall Overcome”
I added some texture to this one by adding heavy buddy paint through my Signal Stencil – some added actual texture.
Painting a motif on different substrates has been a lot of fun – I love to explore different backgrounds and changing things up.
We shall Overcome is available in my store and looking for a new loving home.
I’m happy to announce today that Best of Creative JumpStart Vol. 1 is now on sale! This is a bundle of mixed media lessons by some of our amazing CJS artist teachers from Creative JumpStart 2014 and 2015.
For just $9.99 you will receive access to download links for 11 inspiring Creative JumpStart lessons from 2014 and 2015. Here are the teachers and lessons in this bundle:
Sign up HERE today for a nice bundle of technique and project lessons from the Creative JumpStart archive!
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a colorful suite of cards and a video from Nicole Watson. Check out her process below using my new Mini Motifs and Triangle Love stamp sets and this month’s theme: 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!
If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent some extra time during these stay at home days browsing Instagram and admiring all the creativity that is flowing from so many artists. Maybe, much like me, that creativity just isn’t flowing for you. It’s ok! You’re not alone!
Honestly, I struggled a bit with the theme this month. Sometimes it’s hard to shine and encourage others when you are feeling a bit blah yourself. Last month I shared that I’ve been focusing my time outside and in our garden planting flowers. This has brought me so much joy! The simplicity of planting flowers, caring for them, and watching them flourish has helped me cope with staying home (except for my trips to explore local nurseries and for groceries!).
I’ve noticed I’m not alone in the need to DO something creative and with one’s hands! While some are creating art, others are baking or gardening and yet others are returning to pen pals and sending snail mail. I wanted to send some mail to brighten some days this last week and realized my blank card stash was getting low… and that’s when this project came together!
Watch my video:
Here’s how:
Grab some hot press watercolor paper and stamp on it with Nat’s Mini Motifs and Triangle Love stamps using black archival ink. Have fun!
I enjoyed this process of creative stamping, all wonky, not perfect. Archival ink is important as it will not bleed or run with the watercolor in the next step.
And, hot press paper is smoother for stamping. You can use cold press, but your stamped images will not turn out as clear (Note: I pre-cut my watercolor paper into card fronts (4.25×5.5) and will trim them down again to mount on the cards.)
Let the ink thoroughly dry and then watercolor. Again, have fun! The only thing to keep in mind while you are water coloring is how colors blend. I stayed with palettes of warm colors or cool colors and then also a couple full rainbow palettes. Add some splatters and lots of puddles of color around the stamped images.
Let your fronts dry completely. Once they are dry, if there are areas that didn’t turn out dark enough or exactly how you’d like, go ahead and add some more color and splatters. And, of course, let dry.
The next step is personal preference. I like to spray my watercolor cards with a clear matte varnish to protect them in case they become wet or damp in the mail. Be sure you follow the instructions on your spray.
Once they are dry (again!), trim your cardstock bases and liners for your cards. Then, if you want a border around your artwork, trim your art a bit (to 4×5.25). Even though I knew I’d be trimming them when I started, I like to allow this option so I can trim off a funny area or help center the design if I didn’t stamp it quite right. Then, fold your cards and stick the liners inside and your art on the front.
Final step? Mail them! These bright, cheery cards are perfect to shine, encourage someone, and do something good.
I did not want to stop painting these card fronts. Had I not run out of watercolor paper, I would have made many more. (Note to self, order more watercolor paper!) I cannot wait to send these in the mail, and I’d love to send out a couple to YOU as well. Find me on Instagram, and look for the post about this tutorial to see how to receive one in the mail. I can’t wait to see what you create with Nat’s stamps and watercolor.
Thank you Nicole! Love the brilliant colors here and super appealing color combinations. What a treat to see.
Give it a try: you can find all my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies Nicole 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“.
Today I am sharing an interview I did with writer, actor, and creative Elena Zazanis. 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 my dear friend Elena Zazanis. Elena is a true renaissance woman: a singer, actor, producer, writer, director, a wonderful cook, and much, much more. She has recently organized a roundtable group of creatives that I participate in and in this interview she talks about her motivations for getting this group together and the benefits of communing this way. She also discusses her daily life before the pandemic as an actress at a local law school where she helped students role play different legal scenarios, rehearsal with her music group, auditions, and meetings with collaborators. She describes how the current situation is effecting her routines and her apprehensions about getting back to it once restrictions are lifted, an exciting new script she is writing and her new focus on personal projects, and her techniques for warming up her creativity.
You can follow Elena here on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elenazazanis/
… And watch a trailer for her short film here: https://www.rgbshort.com/clip
…Elena’s musical group Cabaret Sauvignon can be found here: https://www.cabsavjc.com
…And here is a link to her website: https://www.gemprodsllc.com
Today I am sharing an interview I did with photographer Sara Stadtmiller and artist Gary Mellon. 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 my friends Sara and Gary. Sara is a photographer and Gary is an artist in several mediums and it was such a treat to get to talk to both of these inspiring individuals! Sara talks about her business expanding into a new space, the variety of work she does, and the challenges of juggling work and family life during the pandemic. Gary talks about the variety of artistic roles he’s played, his motivation and drive to create, and the benefits of creating for others. They also discuss their latest project – a “quarantine gallery” group art show that they’ve organized in the windows of Sara’s new studio space, bringing beauty and something positive to the neighborhood and to their own lives too. Finally the duo talks about applying creativity to other aspects of their lives to make all kinds of things work.
You can find the gallery show here: http://www.srsphotographer.com/outside-looking-in-a-quarantine-gallery/
Sara’s website is: http://www.srsphotographer.com
And be sure to follow Sara on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sarastadtmiller/
and Gary on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/gamellon/
A Look Back – This time I’m looking at creating Visual Texture. This is one of my favorite tricks – creating the illusion of texture on a page using various tools and media. I love how you can fool the eye into thinking that an image or pattern has dimension to it, just by how it’s created. Below are 5 ways to experiment with it in this Look Back.
A Look Back is a blog series to show you some projects and posts that you may have missed – sometimes going WAY back in the archive. I think it will be fun to revisit a few ideas that we haven’t seen for a while. I’m excited to see how a little look back might inspire something new in the future :)
First up is a trick to do with some ArtFoamies foam stamps from this post in my Foam Stamplifier series – just stamp the foam stamp (here I’m using my Mini Hex set) with Distress Oxide inks and then spritz with water. When you lift away the water droplets with a paper towel you will reveal some beautiful visual texture.
Next is just using the right stamps – like my Cardboard rubber stamps that I’m using here in this art journal page. These stamps totally capture all the cool cardboard textures out there.
If you have stencils and a graphite stick or crayon around, you can try creating visual texture with frottage – rubbing! I used this technique along with my Batik stencil for this page in my Stencilbop Challenge. Check it out!
Another way to achieve the look of big texture with stencils is to use a few different colors of spray paint like I have here in this art journal page. I’m using my Hamilton stencil and just by moving it slightly and using spray paint I can create the illusion of a third dimension.
Finally, the visual texture that you can create using a hand carved stamp is really quite effective. I carved a large street scene for the stamp I used in this art journal page and just love the rough woodcut aesthetic of it.
I hope you enjoyed this look back and maybe it inspired you to give something new a try :)
Here are some of the supplies I used:
Today I am sharing an interview I did with musician Wes Mingus. 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 my friend and ukulele teacher Wes Mingus. Wes is a professional musician and composer, so we are exploring a different side of the arts with this chat. In this interview, Wes talks about his journey as a working musician and the challenges that come along with that, his shift to teaching to help balance work and family life, and his current situation navigating the pandemic and dealing with cancelled performances and classes. He discusses the collaborative nature of his artform, adapting to the new realities of life in his work, and his process of creating music. He also touches on working from home while everyone is at home :)
You can hear Wes’s latest track here: https://soundcloud.com/wesming-1/2x2l-quarantine2
And be sure to follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/wesmingus/
I love this mural in in my neighborhood by case case_maclaim – We shall Overcome. I walk by this mural quite often and especially during this time of pandemic it has resonated with me a lot.
It is also a reminder of all the things that are broken and still need to be overcome …I still have hope.
This artwork is created on an 8”x8” canvas board using spray paint, acrylic paint, gouache, and markers.
It is available in my store and I would love to give it a new home !
Nicole, those are gorgeous cards! I especially like the crisp, clear stamp image that you got on the paper, and the cheery colors you chose.
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