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31 May 2017

Larger than Normal

One of the Wanderlust lessons for week 21 was by Kasia Avery.


Her theme was working big -
creating art on a substrate which was larger than we would normally use.

My substrate was a old picture found at a charity shop last week,
which was cheaper than buying a large canvas.


I prepped it by removing as much of the original varnished image as I could,
then added white gesso to the wooden base
& repainted the frame.

The dimensions are approx. 11 x 13 inches,
which is very large for me.

I am restricted by the amount of available surface area on my desk.
I think the largest to date has been 5 x 8 inches.

In the lesson, Kasia was encouraging us to keep to our own style
& just upscale our usual work,
so I began by adding some text & an image from a bird book,
which I also purchased from the charity shop.

The bird is a Great Grey Shrike.


I wanted to add some texture,
which I did with pieces of ribbon.
One was glittery silver,
one was organza ribbon
& the third is a fabric tape.


I used Golden Soft Gel (Matte) to adhere the pieces,
leaving it to then dry thoroughly.

Next came acrylic paints using
Dina Wakley Media in Lemon & Lapis.


I added a layer of the mixed paint to the frame as well.


I added a baseline to anchor the bird & branch
with more torn text & frayed organza ribbons.

Then some paper from 7 Dots Studio
& two other pieces of paper from my scraps folder.


& then a piece of paper covered wire.


Finally I added some shading & highlighting.

I turned my attention back to the frame.
So far it has been cleaned & given two coats of acrylic paint,
first in Mulch by Eco Green, then one in Dina Wakley Media.


The third layer was Eco Green acrylic paint in Pure Silver,
then to distress the layers,
I took it outside to give it a good rub over with wire wool,
then finally I added some Eco Green Black paint.


In Week 17, Kasia asked us to work small,
so I thought I would show you the size difference between the two projects.


25 May 2017

Index Card A Day 2017




ICAD  is the Index Card A Day creative challenge,
which runs for two months from 1st June,
(a week from today).

This will be the third year that I have taken part.

Last year I used Dina Wakley's two Art Journal books,
Art Journal Freedom
&
Art Journal Courage
by Northlight,
as my daily inspiration.

This year I will again be following my own prompts,
this time using

abstracts in acrylic & ink
by
Jodi Ohl


For me ICAD is the perfect excuse to open a new book
& explore it's hidden depths.

I aim to post my cards daily on Instagram,
but only publishing a blog post once a week.

If you are thinking of taking part,
below are the two videos I made
for 2016 & 2015
which I hope may inspire you to grab some cheap index cards
& join in this year,
whether you follow the "official" prompts or not,
join us in creating art every day.



It is all about the doing,
the daily practice of being creative in some way,
forming habits,
exercising those creative muscles
& having fun.



Are you going to join us?

23 May 2017

When in doubt ...

Another altered playing card for
#52CafeCards
a year long creative challenge,
following prompts provided by Marta Lapkowska.

The prompt for Week 20 was T for Teal.

Try Empathy And Love


The teal background is a colour blend of Dina Wakley Media
acrylic paints (Lapis & Lemon) with a dab of white gesso.

The lady is from a 1967 two piece dress pattern by Simplicity,
(among this week's charity shop finds).

The polka tape is Trendy Tape by Queen & Co.

The text was printed on card.

19 May 2017

Bloom where you are planted

Another altered playing card for
#52CafeCards
a year long creative challenge,
following prompts provided by Marta Lapkowska.

The prompt for Week 19 was S for Spring.
.
Thought this little lady suited the prompt,
daisies are a sure sign that Spring has arrived.


She is from a 1970's dress pattern,
(charity shop find)
the background paper is by K & Company,
& the tissue tape is by Tim Holtz.

The text was printed onto white card.

She is a companion of these two.

18 May 2017

Free from all restraint

The Wanderlust lesson for week 19 was by Kate Crane.

Her theme was patchwork.


The base of my page is watercolour card,
with a thin layer of white gesso.

 In the photograph below, you can see some of the texture I created in the wet gesso.


The word May was cut out from the calendar
I have been using for the Wanderlust course.

Every month I have included the name on one of the pieces made during that month.


Detail was added with doodles
& a hand carved rubber stamp.


I added a variety of washi tapes,
including this numerical piece of handmade washi style tape.


The book text was cut from my copy of Pride & Prejudice.


So why did I choose those particular words?

I usually find that following someone else's direction restricts my creativity.

My pleasure in art, is doing my own thing,
& following my own lead.

I stared at my piece ...
at the butterfly,
examined my feelings
& realised that although the patchwork style is restrictive in it's essence,
what I had created was still identifiable as my own work,
therefore I had allowed my own style to show through,
so I had been free to express myself.

It was just a different kind of freedom.


So what did I learn from this week's lesson?

I have learnt that using soft sable paint brushes
to try to control acrylic paint
 is not such a good idea.
I think the moment has arrived for me to invest in more suitable brushes.

That it is good, at times, to force yourself to experiment
with different styles & techniques.

I actually prefer the background on my mop up page (shown below),
which I created using the paint leftover on my craft sheet.

Learning what you don't like
is as important as understanding what you do like.


I also used acrylic paint (Waterfall/Tide Pool/Pistachio/Black)
Distress Crayon (twisted citron)
Gelatos (Pistachio & Snow Cone)
Distress Marker (black soot)
dylusions paint pen (black marble)
Uniball Signo pigment ink pen (Silver)

13 May 2017

The One Day Project: A Little Piece of France

This morning I would like to share a new page in my chunky gluebook collage journal.

You can read the story behind this project here.


The journal is made from altered 3½ inch square drinks coasters.


Just using scraps of paper & a gluestick.


Scissors & a sanding block.


These images are all cut from paper designed by Tim Holtz.


12 May 2017

Adventure Journal: Video Flip Through

Thought I would do a short video flip through of my Adventure Collage Journal,
made for Week 17 of the 2017 Wanderlust online course,
inspired by the lesson with Kasia Avery of Everything Art


Hope you enjoy watching.

11 May 2017

Adventure Journal: Treasure & Reflection

The last two pages of my mini paper collage journal made for week 17
of the online Wanderlust class with Everything Art.

The pages are 3x4 inches in size,
made using just one 12x12 inch sheet of kraft resist paper by Tim Holtz.


Detailing was made with a Stabilo All black pencil.


The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).

09 May 2017

Adventure Journal: Timeless, Search, Discover & Find

Two more pages in my mini paper collage journal made for week 17
of the online Wanderlust class with Everything Art.

The pages are 3x4 inches in size,
made using just one 12x12 sheet of kraft resist paper by Tim Holtz.


Detailing was made with a Stabilo All black pencil.

The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).


The strip of torn text was taken from my favourite book.

07 May 2017

Adventure Journal: Journey & Story

Two more pages in my mini paper collage journal made for week 17
of the online Wanderlust class with Everything Art.

The pages are 3x4 inches in size,
made using just one 12x12 sheet of kraft resist paper by Tim Holtz.


Detailing was made with a Stabilo All black pencil.

The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).


Words were torn from my favourite book.


06 May 2017

Adventure Journal: Imagine & Travel

Two more pages in my mini paper collage journal made for week 17
of the online Wanderlust class with Everything Art.

The pages are 3x4 inches in size,
made using just one 12x12 sheet of kraft resist paper by Tim Holtz.


The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).


05 May 2017

Remember

I am taking part in #52CafeCards
which is a year long creative challenge,
altering a set of playing cards,
following prompts provided by Marta Lapkowska.

This week her prompts are R for Roses
&/or Rocks.

I chose Roses.


I reached into my paper scraps pile & found the cut roses & spotted paper,
both remains from two Wanderlust art journal pages from earlier this year.

The playing card had a base coat of white gesso
& it was edged with Distress Marker (antique linen).

The text was printed onto white card.

04 May 2017

Adventure Collage Journal: Moments

For the creative lesson from week 17
of the online Wanderlust class with Everything Art,
I created a 3x4 inch mini journal,
using a kraft resist page by Tim Holtz.

To see the cover & first page, click here.


The next page uses papers by Tim Holtz
& masking tape from mt.


The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).


There will be more pages to share ...

03 May 2017

A Small Adventure begins

The creative lesson for week 17 of the Wanderlust class
with Everything Art,
was about working on a small scale.

Inspiring us this week was Kasia Avery.


I used a sheet of 12x12 inch scrapbook paper to make 3x4 inch pages,
using a kraft resist page by Tim Holtz.


The ruler & bird image are both by Tim Holtz,
so is the grungeboard label holder
& adventure doo-dad.


I dipped into the same pot of left over papers that I used for my vintage gluebook
& found more pieces to add to the now depleted supply.


I added some texture paste & white gesso
& some detailing with a Stabilo All black pencil.

The edges have been distressed with Tim's Paper Distresser by Tonic Studios
& coloured with Distress Ink (walnut stain).

There will be more pages to share ...