Dark Side Embossing

For a long while now I've promised my card making friend, Debie, that I'd show her some mixed media techniques and yesterday was the day I finally came good. Debies's craft room is an enviable delight, a sun room really. It has plenty of space with lots of natural light. We didn't need artificial lighting when we started at 1pm, but when the sun went down we turned up all the lights. It was well after dark when we finished.

Below, we have just begun painting over foiled papers, which we adhered to cover stock, using spray glue. Win's invention is to use black gesso, but we thought why not experiment with white gesso too? 



Here I am giving my rebel student heck - she marches to her own drum, but she's a keen learner!

Both ladies are in the business of beauty. Lynda is a hair stylist and Debie does manicures so they have access to wholesale beauty supply places. Each of them brought hair foil papers to our day, and not just the usual silver ones.

God love them, they got right into it!

These gals didn't want paint under their finger nails, or the wildly colourful, potent alcohol inks staining their hands so, wisely, they wore rubber gloves. I must say that I came over to their side after the first go around with the black gesso!



Lynda about glue down some of the exotic coloured foils

Debie really got into the alcohol inks

So much so her hand was a blur wiping and dabbing 

My collection at the end of our day

Thanks to Debie for hosting supper in the midst of our mad, creative binge of over eight hours. To her and to Lynda for being such good sports. They displayed much bravery in crossing over to the dark side. It was most precious when Lynda asked "What will you teach us next?"  

New Work

Night Owls   unframed acrylic/mixed media on canvas 1.25” deep 12” x 12”
$395. available at Sunny Raven Gallery, Canmore

Last summer, on a visit to Win Dinn in Creston, I took the above canvas no further than misting on the intense gradation of blues to purples, using her Dylusions spray inks. In March, while Meg was visiting, I borrowed her stencil for the texture to which I added some of her iridescent, turquoise foil. Meg further shared her super sparkle lustre pigment, a pearly, fine powder which I sprinkled on the centre area (made wet with clear water). This created the milky way like effect. The swath of turquoise is a torn piece of hand painted paper with nondescript script commercially stamped on it. I coloured only the glowing eyes of the small owl, which was also created using a commercial stamp. He was originally on a stack of books, but I opted to cover them over with more painted paper to create the stump. The feature great horned owl is painted in oils. The ghost feathers were stamped on a semi transparent paper (with flecks of silver) before being adhered plus there is the one real feather embellishment.

  

March 10th, Meg shared her supplies, knowledge of mixed media and innovative ideas with Judy, her granddaughter Jackie, and me.
Here the background for Night Owls is upside down

In all the years I've painted (50 by now) I've never painted an owl, nor a butterfly.  I was in the mood for both ...

  

On The Move   unframed butterfly in oil on acrylic background on a cradled wooden panel, 1” deep  4” x 4”
$100. available at Sunny Raven Gallery, Canmore                  

In contrast I have painted dozens of irises. To me, even the most common varieties are exquisite, the exotic ones resplendent.

Latin Lovely   framed oil on MDF board 5” x 7”    $150. available at Sunny Raven Gallery, Canmore

For Heart of Gold I employed my favourite scroll stencil and molding paste to create the relief in the the upper right as well as the magical combination of sap green and Daniel Smith's Duochrome Oceanic luminescent acrylic for the background.

Heart of Gold   framed iris in oil on acrylic background on canvas 10” x 8”
$295. available at Sunny Raven Gallery, Canmore        

One of my painting students is an accredited equine photographer who knows how to capture magnificent images of considerably more than only horses. The painting below was inspired by one of Judy's somewhat enhanced photographs of an early spring melt in her yard ...

Electric Meltdown   framed oil painting on MDF board 12” x 16”   $1000. available at Sunny Raven Gallery, Canmore

Along with me, Judy and Irene took on the same image. Everyone was spent after four afternoons at work on it. I signed mine and the ladies took theirs home to complete. I sure hope that they've done their homework and have finished their paintings!

With Judy and Irene the day we began our Electric Meltdown paintings, March 31st

With Judy and Irene Day, working on our Electric Meltdown paintings on day three, April 9th

And because Judy's painting is hidden from view (by me) in both of the studio photos ...

 Judy blocking in her painting on day one 

The ladies were brave souls. They both did a remarkable job of a very complex image with all those wretched branches, and their reflections! My wish for them is that they have learned new and exciting ways to mix colours. I may even have infected them with the desire to own some of the exotic tubes of oil colours that I keep in my paintbox! 

Company in The Anne Frank Room

For and in this photo I've smudged my painting because it's a surprise birthday present!

 

 

Today marks six weeks since surgery. Recovering from my hip replacement involves a regime of strengthening exercises for my body. But, it's the generosity of family and friends who check in, help me (and especially Bill) by visiting that repairs my soul. Win, and John's, stay advanced the healing of my art spirit when she and I stole away to The Anne Frank Room.

 

Over last weekend, Win and I didn't work at our usual frenzied rate but rather we took it slow and easy. With neither of us firing on all cylinders, the energy this time was gentle. Whenever we share my small counter we work side by side in easy harmony. Nobody ever crosses the imaginary centre line!

Win is checking out commercially made stencils with a mind to experiment with textures

Opting to use black paper, Win created a subtle layer using black gesso and a store bought stencil. If you look closely you can see it at the top of her work. Over another piece of textured, tinted white paper, which was adhered to the black sheet, she stenciled with pastel, iridescent colours ...

Win hand cut the stencil she is using here

 

 

When stencilling, how can you know what it will look like if you don't try it? Well, after removing the stencil, Win didn't like the way it looked. I, consumed as I was in my own project, didn't get a photo of it before she painted over the entire experiment with black gesso ...

 

 

It's not easy to see the subtle texture of the blacked out layers, but they are there!

 

 

To create the long, organic shapes Win used metallic silver paint through select parts of the stencil (seen above on the left). Above is where she left off. It will be interesting to see how she chooses to further develop this piece. 

With the mixed guru in the house (and after a trip downtown for a laser photo copy) I was coached through making a direct transfer. Having it turn out perfectly meant having to wait overnight. The copy and the cradled panel were weighted (under my oil paint box) to secure that the gel gloss medium had worked it's magic securing the image.

 

Removing the paper is time consuming and can render your finger tips raw!

Transfers are not my favourite thing but for this project employing one was the perfect solution. I promise there'll be a post about this painting once it has been gifted.

 

There was time spent with our spouses. While the fellows followed the Sochi Olympics closely, Win and I randomly caught a few events. With all four of us are addicted to Downton Abbey, in the evenings we'd position ourselves in front of the television to watch multiple episodes.

As you might expect, all this was interspersed with fine dining and good wine ...

  

 

Yes, in spite of the fact that he is awaiting a bridge for that missing tooth, John still gives his warmest smiles!

Mixed Media Journal

Recently our daughter, Laura, achieved her yoga teacher training certificate. Knowing she likes to keep notes on her yogic journey I purchased a ready-made, lined journal (because I couldn't find any craft covered journals) to alter for her birthday ...



Altered cover of the journal, mixed media, 9" x 6" 



Now that it has been gifted I can describe the trials and joys of creating this journal! Not wanting to change the back of it, I opted to go with its colour scheme. On the front, I masked off a border and covered the centre area with white gesso ... 

Start number one

On the gessoed area I created texture using a cell stencil. Once dry, I painted it to match the colours of the back.



The foreground shows the embellishments I coloured with assorted alcohol inks  

When I peeled away the frog tape (masking the border) the textured panel lifted too! In pieces! Had it come off intact, in one large piece, I'd have been able to secure it back down - once the original surface had been sanded that is. I hadn't thought to sand first and without sanding there is no tooth for adhesion.

 

A sad looking mess!



After I had coloured it, I felt the cell stencil pattern was too busy, too dense. Having to begin again gave me the opportunity to change stencils.

This time I used the petite pods stencil.

Second background adhered and finished!

Toying with the placement of the embellishments

The embellishments were a wild array of materials in different colours, none of which (except some of the tiny roses) were right for the journal. When it comes to colouring anything - metal, plastic, wood - alcohol inks work magically! All these trinkets could not be adhered at once. It took a lot of heavy gel gloss medium, slowly building multiple layers (with plenty of drying time between them) to secure them all down.

The idea for Laura's journal was inspired by this one ...

Together Laura and I saw this beauty at The Queens Ink near to where she lives in Maryland

     HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!



On News Years Day 1978, at 11:17am, Laura Anne Marshall was born

And now our baby has a baby of her own ...

Laura and Amira, who turned two, December 9th, 2013

Fairy Heaven

FAIRY HEAVEN   unframed 24" x 12" mixed media on a cradled wooden panel with 2" deep sides

On October 16th, Avery celebrated her 5th birthday, in Calgary, while we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, USA. Late in September, before departing on our month long trip I had only the background painted. The name Avery means "elf ruler". I envisioned that she should preside over her subjects from atop a tall mushroom. The pose was inspired by a winged figurine I saw in a Stony Plain shop last summer.

The background is a wash of acrylic colours which, while still damp, I sprayed with clear water. Using a large, dry brush, I gently wiped up the water drops to create the mottled effect. The dangling fern leaves are stencilled on. 

This first incarnation of Avery's face was hopelessly unlike her. Frustrated, I set aside painting her, in favour of proceeding to develop the rest of the image. The butterfly, dragon flies and pom pom flowers are stamped on with commercial rubber stamps. 

I'm a huge fan of Cicely Mary Baker's exquisite flower fairies, so, when (years ago) I found a collection of cut-out decoupage pieces, I bought them. From these I selected fairies to match my colour scheme who would look up at Avery (with the exception of the one on the bottom left who dances to her own drum). 

Arranging dried leaves and fairies helped me see what more to paint on the background

Avery's face continued to frustrate me. Thinking it would help, I opted to paint over it using oils (the medium I'm most comfortable with). Even then, I painted and then wiped her face off, twice. After the fourth attempt, I had to concede (once again) that I am not a portrait painter and this was a good as it was going to get! ...  

Reference photo I used (taken July, 2013)

Avery's Mom observed that her expression, in the photo above, is not a common one. However, not wishing to offend or tell me how to paint, Denise held back suggesting that I use a different photograph as reference. This may have helped, we'll never know! Certainly the sweet, mischievous look on her face eluded me.

Finally, on November 28th, FAIRT HEAVEN is delivered to Avery

When I view the painting as a complete image ... and from a distance ... I am pleased with its overall sensation.  Thanks to everyone who supported and listened to me as I obsessed and agonized over it. Also thanks to Judy Dahl for her home grown mushroom images, to Win Dinn for those stunning leaves along the bottom and to Karen Linderman for the title. 

Back in the Saddle

This autumn, Bill and I have enjoyed the company of some remarkable people in stellar locations from local haunts to NYC and the Appalachian Hills of Virginia and North Carolina, but, there comes a point when it is time to come home and hunker down for the winter. Back at the easel I'm focusing on marrying the adventure of working in mixed media with my fine art painting. I'm pleased to present my latest pieces ...

DANCING QUEEN   unframed 8" x 8" on a deep cradled wooden panel, acrylic and oil mixed media   SOLD 

My love affair with irises is no secret and so into the wet paint of the top right hand corner of Dancing Queen, I scribed "Oh iris, most exotic of flowers, how you dance!" For this background, I mixed sap green with a Daniel Smith luminescent acrylic called Duochrome Oceanic. The nondescript writing in the lower left is rubber stamped on. Knowing that I can achieve the luminosity I crave, I painted the flower with oil paint. When I was done I felt the top left was terribly blank looking so, with Golden moulding paste and a stencil, I added the scroll work. When that was dry I painted over it as I had the rest of the background.
  

CHICKADEE SONG   framed 8" x 8" acrylic mixed media on a MDF panel   $295.   SOLD 

Chickadee Song is worked entirely in acrylic over which I placed torn pieces of antique sheet music and pressed leaves.  The top leaves are from the autumn-turned willow tree next door and the Japanese maple leaves are from a tree Win's Creston, B.C. backyard. And, for those who will ask, to the best of my knowledge, the sheet music is Traumerei Op. 15 No. 7 by Robert Schumann and as I understand it, it's a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838.   

SKIMMERHORN GRAPES  unframed 6" x 6" acrylic mixed media on a deep gallery wrapped canvas   $150.

The background of Skimmerhorn Grapes (Creston, B.C. winery) was created using a rainbow of acrylic colours (some irredescent) painted over top of stretched and manipulated cheesecloth. When this was dry the peeling off of the cheesecloth left this magnificent patterning. For a long time I wondered what I would paint on it? I had an ah-ha moment when I found my photo of these grapes and thought "They'll be perfect!" the way that they echo that rainbow background.

CARDINAL   framed 5" x 7" acrylic on MDF panel   $150.

Taking art supplies out of the studio can be epic. Last week I was looking for a portable, clean and easy medium that I could take to the Claresholm Art Club's Create-In. I opted for a pan set of gouache paints and began this Cardinal there. At home, I sprayed it with a fixative so as not to disturb the water-soluble gouache colours when I painted over them with acrylic colours to further develop and enrich the bird.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to sell Dancing Queen at the Kinette Christmas Sale here in town! The other three pieces are available at Willowtree Designs, in Claresholm 403 625-4567  

Teacher Training

What did the mixed media queens do the day after an intense weekend workshop? Why they insisted on making more art of course! Here we are on Monday morning eager to learn more ...

Look at how intent Win and I are to watch Meg make what are called pours

Below Meg drizzles fluid acrylic paint diluted with Golden GAC 800 directly onto a canvas before tipping and tilting it to have the colours move and flow into one another. Airbrush colours (which are even thinner paints) can be and were also used. 

Gloss medium will create interesting lumpy textures as in the pour (below) that Meg made on a sheet of high density polyethylene. Much later it will be peeled away like a skin. These skins can take weeks to dry. 

I love the richness of this sensational pour!

This is a pour I made on canvas. I was going for intensity of colour, but it lacks the variety that white would have added

It was a most glorious, hot day, without any wind, enabling us to work outside. The down side of the fine weather was the acrylic paints dried so very quickly that we had to bail out of making use of Win's demonstration. She recently purchased a Gelli printing plate and is using it with her own hand-cut as well as commercially made stencils. Take a look at what Win has done with this new toy here. We moved the Gelli plate indoors but ...

Win shows us how to make mono prints on her Gelli plate.  

... the truth be told Win and I were running on empty and even after taking ourselves out for lunch we couldn't rally enough to finish anything. Only Meg - who knows how to pace herself - was able to continue making art.  And the next thing you know we were into the wine ...



Meg showed Bill how to use gold leaf and here he is giving it a whirl

What we did accomplish was to enjoy one an others company on a beautiful day. We learned yet more techniques which will surely incubate and distill in our brains and ultimately show up later in and/or on more  mixed media paintings!