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Rise & Shine – Maura Hibbitts

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have an art journal page from Maura Hibbitts to lift you up a bit. Maura is using my new Mini Motifs, Nightingale, and Wabi Sabi rubber stamps with 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!

“Rise and Shine” bring back strong childhood memories of my mother using these exact words to get me out of bed in the morning and off to school. Some days I can remember grumbling to myself, “what is there to shine about today?” Those were the days I was so cozy and snug, I just did not want to get up. Today, I am thinking about these words a little differently. Right now, we need things to look forward to in our daily lives, things that shine brighter. Perhaps it is a beautiful sunny day, or the flowers starting to bloom (at least here in upstate NY) that bring some joy to us, so we want to rise and start our day. I am also hopeful that there are brighter days ahead for all of us!

I started off in one of my large art journals with fluid acrylics and a brayer. I began at the top with a good squirt of Hansa Yellow Medium, and rolled the brayer in several directions, to create an area for my sun. Next, I added some drops of Ultramarine blue and Cobalt Teal Hue for my sky area, and rolled the brayer vertically to blend a bit. I also went in and added a bit of Translucent White. I repeated the same vertical strokes with the brayer and Yellow Green Light and Green Gold at the bottom of the page for the grass area. Any extra paint, I just rolled onto the page next to this one, no use wasting any of it.

Once the paint was completely dry, I began to stamp the sun. I did this with the Arts and Crafts Motif stamp in a repeating pattern, and used the Moonlight Duo Nebula Rust ink.

I stamped three Nightingale images in the grassy area with black ink. One great tip I have learned over the years, is to use an uneven number of objects. One bird didn’t feel like enough. Remember that saying, the early bird gets the worm? (another rise and shine moment) Well, my trio of birds is out early looking for them!

Next, I stamped a variety of “flower stems” with the Wabi Sabi stamps – Jazzed, Groovy and Gnarly and black ink.

I turned the Arts and Craft Motif stamp into flowers, and stamped them with bright inks, using pinks and oranges, on the end of the stems. I don’t know about you, but colorful flowers always make me smile.

Next, I took several colors of Posca paint pens to add in a bit of detail on the sun and flowers. I also drew in a few leaves for the stems, and added some dots into the grass.

Final step was to hand letter “Brighter days are coming!” with a Posca pen.

I try to live my life in a positive and optimistic way, and even when times are really difficult like now, I have to believe bright days will be here again. Creating a cheerful art journal page helps uplift my mood.

What helps you to Rise and Shine each day? Children, grandchildren, spouse, friend, pet? A sunny day, your garden, art, birds singing outside your window? Look for the special joys in your life to help lift your spirits. I wish you the best! – Maura

Thank you Maura! We are definitely ready for some brighter days ahead :)

Want to give Maura’s project a try? You can find all my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop. Here are some of the other supplies Maura 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“.

Nat

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Artist in Residence – Interview with Bruno Nadalin

Today I am sharing an interview I did with printmaker artist Bruno Nadalin. 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 my friend Bruno Nadalin, a very talented printmaker artist who is also a teacher at the Jersey City Art School. Bruno talks about the impact that the virus has had on his teaching, the challenges of creating online classes as an alternative, and opportunities to create and hone certain fundamental skills despite the situation. He discusses the possible impacts on his own work that social isolation may reveal with time, his gallery show that opened just days before we went into lockdown, and his current experiments including sculptural elements created from metal printing plates.

You can learn more about Bruno, see his work, and get a link to his website  at: https://www.instagram.com/bruno_nadalin/

His prints for sale can be found on his etsy page.

A video tour of his gallery show can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncn9wzwisJk

*Please note that there is some sound syncing delay in this video, and although it is there, it is still a great listen! Our apologies!

Nat

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Nat’s Spring Pattern Fun – Video 8-14 Recap

When I received my new RubberMoon Stamp Designs I once again couldn’t stop making samples and patterns (remember last year’s April Patterns — well it happened again this year lol). I decided to record a short video for some of them and post them on my Instagram.

These videos are short and sweet – You can see what I use and how I pull the pattern together. I hope it inspires you to give some of them a try and maybe come up with your own too.

Here is a recap of Patterns 8-14 – I hope you enjoy :)

Pattern 08: First up is a simple linear pattern using my Mini Motifs and Fan-fare stamp sets. 2 colors + 2 stamps = Pattern Success

 

Pattern 09: Next up is another duo – I love when stuff fits nicely together and that is the key with this pattern. I’m using one stamp from my Hex Set Small along with one stamp from my Triangle Love set. 

 

Pattern 10: How about Diamonds and … Pearls? I made this pattern with one of my Triangle Love stamps and one of my Small Circle Jumble stamps.

 

Pattern 11: Another fits-just-right combo is my Solid Hex Large with my Triangle Love stamps overtop. This pattern also has a stamp from my Floral Tile Small set in there too. Hexes, triangles, and squares.

 

Pattern 12: Balancing delicate and bold is a winning strategy for patterns. In this one I use some stamps from my Mini Motifs set and the Solid Triangle Large stamp from my Triangle Love set.

 

Pattern 13: My Triangle Love stamps are also designed to play really well with my Hex Set Large rubber stamps: the sides of the triangles are the same length as that of the hexes. Look how that can translate into a great field of pattern!

 

Pattern 14: How easy is it? All you need is a couple triangle stamps and 2 different ink colors to make a field of pattern.

Here are some of the stamps I used for these patterns:

Nat

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Artist in Residence – Interview with Natalya Khorover

Today I am sharing an interview I did with artist Natalya Khorover. This is an interview series I am calling 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:

I have known Natalya for quite some time now and I love her “architecturally inspired” artwork and the unique materials that she uses. In this interview, Natalya talks about the changes in her routines and side gigs due to the pandemic, her commissioned Home Portrait artworks for clients that involve the use of personal and meaningful ephemera, and the challenge of more unusual commissions. Natalya also describes how her love of cities influences her chosen subject matter, the reasons behind her use of plastic bags, an unfortunately interrupted post as a visiting artist at a local school, and how mask making helped her emotionally handle the crisis. She also shares a sneak peek of a large project she is currently working on and insightful glimpses of her process and studio.

You can learn more about Natalya here on her website: https://www.artbynatalya.com and here on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artbynatalya/

Nat

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We Shall Overcome – Art Journal

We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday.

– “We Shall Overcome”

This art journal page is a study for a painting – one that is very of-the-moment you could say. I used acrylic paint, spray paints, gouache and markers and decided to go really bold with colors. I used my Signals stencil for added texture on the building.

I used my Tokyo stencil for the pattern in the background.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

    |

    I have sung this song so many times in the past.
    For/with battered women and to fight that stigma of mental illness…it’s such a great way to unite people around an “issue”.

    Reply

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Artist in Residence – Interview with Sam Pullin

Today I am sharing an interview I did with fellow Jersey City artist Sam Pullin. This is an interview series I am calling 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.

 

I emailed Sam the above questions and here is what he had to say:

One of the silver linings of having more time at home is that it’s a great time to reconnect with old friends that the pace and demands of the world have caused us to loose touch with.

I have definitely spent way more time and energy on making paintings over this quarantine period and feel as though my work has developed technically because of the level of focus I can spend on it. I am also working a lot smaller because of my limited supplies, particularly when it comes to canvas and I think that the change in scale is making things a bit more engaging and new. I dont want to order any unnecessary items but if I run out of canvas I may have to. If I’m unable to paint I think I will loose my mind!

The subject matter of my recent paintings, which I’m calling the “quarantine series” is inspired by my reaction to what’s happening in the world.  The tone of the paintings range from funny and light hearted to horrific and obscene, reflecting on both on my desire to turn away grom the horror of what’s happening and the need to acknowledge the full extent of the suffering that this has caused. 

I have been thinking a lot about why I make art and who benefits from the art market while paying close attention to the economic bailout, the half assed response to the coronavirus at the federal level and the pundents and political leaders who are placing market profits over human life. After this virus takes it’s horrible toll and we come out the other side of this i think there will be an opportunity to restructure some aspects of society and I’m sure there will be some organizations and individuals that seek to exploit the situation. I plan on focusing my creative energy into something that can force the restructuring into something positive and distribute the resources in a more equitable manner…I’m not exactly sure how to do that, but I spend a lot of time thinking about it and I assume it will mean rallying people and coming together with others to build coalitions.

I always thought of art making as two separate but related endeavours: the introspective time spent in the studio making the work and effort of putting it into the world and allowing it to interact with the people. It’s nice to have time in the studio, but when this is done I want to take it out into the world and see what can be done.

Thank you Sam for your thoughtful response – I think we can all relate to your concerns and your hopes for when this passes.

You can learn more about Sam here on his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedbugs_in_love/

Nat

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Artist in Residence – Interview with Grant Hardeway

Today I am sharing an interview I did with Jersey City writer and photographer Grant Hardeway. This is a new interview series I am calling 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: Grant Hardeway is a photographer who lives and works in Jersey City, and whose work I found on instagram. In this interview Grant discusses his earliest artistic project (an art class stunt that turned out pretty successful), the importance of intention when he’s photographing the world, and his reluctance to call himself a photographer. He talks about using both film and digital, his love of composition and light, and the power of photos to evoke a mood or feeling and a memory of another time and place. We discuss the duty that artists have to document life (especially during crisis times like today) and also the importance of slowing down and being more aware of life. Grant is a very thoughtful person and I absolutely loved speaking with him. I hope you enjoy!

You can learn more about Grant and see his gorgeous work at: https://www.instagram.com/digital_taxidermy/

Nat

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Rise & Shine – Jennifer Gallagher

Hello from my wonderful Creative Squad! Today we have an art journal spread from Jennifer Gallagher to lift you up and inspire you. Jennifer is using my Triangle Love rubber stamps 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!

Living in a pandemic, many people are experiencing difficult times. We are quarantined and separated from our neighbors, family, and friends. Now, more than ever, we need some positive vibes and things to take our minds off of it. The Creative Squad is looking ahead this month to a happier time. We shall rise and SHINE! With that in mind, I have created an art journal spread that makes me very happy and has a hidden message inside. One of my greatest artistic joys is a geometric shape or a repeating pattern. So I’ve combined my favorite things into this spread. Let’s get started.

I pulled out a mixed media journal in a field size. I pulled out my three inch triangular gel plate and brayered primary yellow onto it. I pressed the gel plate onto the field journal in a few places.

I added a few more gel press triangles in bright aqua green and cobalt teal hue.

I added more gel press triangles in Pyrrole Red and Phthalo Blue.

I added two last triangles in Quinacridone Magenta in spots where they would overlap several colors. Notice I left one small white triangular area.

In the open white triangular area, I stamped Nat’s solid large triangle from the Triangle Love set in black archival ink.

I added additional black solid large triangles throughout the page.

I additional additional black solid small triangles throughout the page.

With a black gelly roll pen, I went through and outlined all of the triangle shapes.

Next, with a white gelly roll pen, I went through and added some white outlines as well.

I cut a scrap piece of Dina Wakley Media cotton rag paper into the same size as my journal pages. Using Dina Wakley Media media tape, I attached the sheet to the right hand page by applying tape to both sides.

Next, I stamped in black archival ink with nat’s sunburst triangle from Triangle Love.

I cut a piece off of the cotton rag to mimic the triangular shape. Then, on the inside of the cotton rag paper, I stamped a few solid triangles and wrote a message in black ink.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. If you try out one of our creative squad ideas, please share with us. Take care!

Thank you Jennifer for giving us some hope in these difficult times.

Give it a try: you can find all my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies Jennifer 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“.

Nat

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Artist in Residence – Interview with Mario Robinson

Today I am sharing an interview I did with watercolor artist Mario Robinson. This is a new interview series I am calling 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: I met Mario years ago through our work with Winsor Newton/Liquitex and I always love catching up with him. He is a super talented watercolor artist and just a great friend to chat with about all things art related and beyond. In this interview, Mario talks about a recent move, the positive side to disruptions in artmaking, his changing source of inspiration and artistic drive, and dealing with the emotional weight of the global pandemic. Mario discusses his craft as a watercolor artist, the challenges of working big showing us his unbelievably cool and mind blowing project he is working on, and the role that the arts community is playing these days to help the world cope.

You can learn more about Mario here on his website: https://www.marioarobinson.com and here on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marioarobinson/

Nat

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