Tag Archives: Collage

Wowza!!

Good afternoon!

I wanted to share quickly with you that my sweetie has caught himself a fish!! He is so dang proud of himself, seeing that he hasn’t been fishing in something like 10 years. I know this fish may not look very big, but my hubby is about 6’8″ so it really is bigger than it looks!! LOL! Jason named this fish George, and he did end up cleaning him, and wrapped him up putting him on ice, I am still wondering if he will be able to eat “George” though!! Gosh this man really makes me laugh!! But, look at that happy face!! I am just so glad that if it were even for a brief moment this trip has given him THAT MUCH JOY!!! 😉

Anyway, I have officially started my one-woman-artist-retreat last night. I started things out by playing some nice music and writing in my journal for an hour or so – I am not really sure because we have made all time irrelevant while we are out camping, which has been fun. I did some more writing this morning, went for a walk, took a nap – I think I am fighting a little bit of a chest cold – Jason thinks it might just be a residual of my normal life stress that I am working through, and he is probably right! Anyway, I wanted to share some pics with you of some backgrounds I have been working on. These are all just random backgrounds that I am learning about it a book that I am reading, Collage Discovery Workshop.

So, with this first board, I just want to show you what I am starting with. This is just really inexpensive plywood that has been cut to the size that I am wanting to practice on, which for this week’s purposes is 7″ x 7″.

Next comes a liberal coating of white Gesso.

Then each board is ready for whatever background I have chosen to give it. This one is called a colorwash, I have used two different colors to get this effect.

This was is a torn paper background, made using brown paper bags, and then I paint with two different colors of acrylic paint.

This background was a little trickier, but I may like it the best. I have used a thick coat of Gesso to “draw”  textures into and then once that has fully dried I have used two colors of acrylic paint to give the piece some depth.

So, the hard part will come next, deciding what is going to go on top of each of these backgrounds, but I have decided that I am just going to have to take them one at a time, and just make it happen!! So, hopefully I will have some pictures of that to share with you tomorrow!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

The First Night of Our Vacation!

Good evening,

I would LOVE to tell you that I have all sorts of plans for the first couple days of my vacation, but if I was being honest – I got NOTHIN’!! I have a really hard time with vacations because I have a really difficult relaxing.

Ok, am I the only one?

I am so used to being a go-go-go kind of girl, so when I FINALLY give myself permission to take some time to rest, I have A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard time actually doing it!! So, it always takes me a few days before I realize, OMG I am on VACATION!! So, I am not there ye,t, but I will be!!

Tomorrow, after having the alarm turned off, and hence giving myself the chance to sleep in,  I think I will take myself to a couple of the thrift stores around and see what treasures I can find for collaging; or maybe I will just stay home and spend some serious time arting – that would be SO FUN!!! 😉 Tomorrow evening, after my sweetie finally gets off work and he is able to join me on our vacation, and then we are going to go over to my bestie’s place and we are going to have  BBQ put on by the boys!! I hear we are having kabobs, which should be yummy!! GO BOYS!!

Then on Saturday, Jason and I are cleaning like fiends so that when we come back next week we come home to a clean house! Our friend, Don will be over one Sunday to house sit for us – thank you very much, Don! and then my sweetie and I are TOTALLY headed for the beach!! WHOO! HOO!!

On the artist front, I wanted to tell you that I have found the BEST collage book, and I really wanted to share it with you!! This book is called, Collage Discovery Workshop and is written by Claudine Hellmuth. This book has a bunch of great collage ideas, especially in techniques to not be paralyzed with fear at the prospect of staring at blank canvas, which can be daunting to any artist, especially a newbie like me!! I will have some pics of some of the new techniques that I have been trying tomorrow!!

So, on that note…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Getting Back to Art!

Good evening!

I have spent a portion of this evening getting back to the art! I have really been pressuring myself to do a great job, so needless to say, it really hasn’t been going too well! So, today, I came home from work early – I think I have a double ear infection – not fun, thank you very much!! Anyway, I spent a little time actually sitting in my art studio and actually painting, with no pressure, no real thinking other than just playing. That is the way it outta be. So, other than my ears still hurting, I am feeling pretty FAN-TAB-U-LOUS!!

Also, this evening my sis, and two of her kids came over this evening to go swimming with Jason. I had to miss out because of my ears, but before they went the kids had let me take pictures of them so that I can use their pictures later on to practice my drawing skills. I am teaching myself, for the most part! I thought I would share two of those pictures with you tonight!

This is my niece, Megan! She is my little girly-girl who is also very good at soccer! I am very proud of her, and she is absolutely beautiful!!! 😉  She was very patient with me and let me take something like 10 different pictures of her in different head tilts and angles!! She is going to be very fun to learn to draw with!

Here is my nephew, Morgan! He is so serious in this picture, as soon as I snapped this pic, he turns my camera to see the himself, and he says, “Did you get my muscles?” He is just soooo funny!! But I am so thankful that he was willing to hold still for a few minutes just so I could take his picture.  What an awesome kid!!

Before I leave for the evening, I just wanted to give a big thank you to my sweetie, who very patiently cut a bunch of wood (the pic at the top of this post is some of what he cut for me)  for me so that I have some practice canvases for my art. He is just so supportive, and I am still in awe that I am so lucky to have been gifted a man such as WONDERFUL as him!! Thank you, Baby!! I will work very hard to make you proud!!

Anyway, I should have some ACTUAL art to share you with you tomorrow, I can’t wait!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A New Piece of Art!

Good evening!

As most of you know, I have just recently become a new collage artist, so I am really learning about different techniques, and flexing my bravery muscles by putting some of these techniques together in a way that represents something inside of me!

Tonight I have finished my latest collage piece and I am very excited to share it with you to get your feedback!

At first glance this piece may not look like something that I might have made. There are no deep reds, vivid blues, or brilliant greens, but I am in a mental place right now that is really a lot quieter, softer, more reflective, and more embracing of my femininity than where I have been in the past. I wanted this piece of art to become an inspirational reminder to myself about the possibility of dreaming.

This particular collage started because I had found this thought in a magazine, quite a while ago. If I remember correctly I think it was part of an advertisement of some kind.

“Let yourself whisper and wander and wonder.
Let yourself anticipate the bliss.
Let yourself have all you deserve.
Let yourself remember the unforgettable.
Let yourself let it go.”

This sentiment is something that I am actively working on taking to heart, especially as I start to get more daring in my delving into my world of creativity.

I added a butterfly to this piece as a symbol of my journey of change, to metamorphosis from who I am to who I want to be. In doing this my goal is to honor my authentic self.

I was very interested in playing with textures here, and a color palate that is not my typical jewel tone fare. I did a lot of paper crumpling, sanding, scraping, rippling, painting, stamping, tearing, inking, writing, and even some hand embroidery, as you can see above, in this picture – I just LOVE how that turned out. I am sure I will be using that technique more often.

And of course, how could I create a piece of art that doesn’t have a crown in it? I love the idea that this represents:

I am blessed.

I am worthy.

I am loved.

I am good enough.

This is the third art piece that I have ever finished, and only 1 of 2 that I like enough to actually display, but I know that as I finish each piece I learn a little more about myself and what I am willing to do and what I am not willing to do in my art. Not to mention, collage/mixed media is a great way to not only lose yourself, but a great place to also find yourself as well.

Please feel free to go to the comments section, above, and let me know what you think. I am always open to your thoughts. Thank you! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Back to the Art!

Good evening!

My youngest sister, Trina, has gone back home *SNIFF*, so life is returning back to normal around here, at least for a few days!!

I decided to come straight home this evening and get back to do some serious creating!!

You can’t be an artist if you don’t take the time to create!

One of the biggest mental blocks that I have been struggling with is that I have a tendency to really judge my creations rather harshly, which I would NEVER do if it were a friend of mine creating them. So, I have decided that I am going to create a piece and just put it out into the universe so that it doesn’t matter what I think of it, good or bad!! The point is to get the art expressed, to get it out there and move on, and in doing so, learn, try some more and get better!

I have been doing some art for the past week or so, and I have decided that today would be the day that I would share it with you – AKA, the Universe!!! 😉 If you would like to comment on any of them, that is fine, but please be kind, I am just learning, and experimenting!!

Like Coco Chanel once said, “I don’t care what you think about me, I hardly ever think about you!” AND although, NOT my sentiments exactly, I understand what she was trying to say! This is the thing that I have to remind myself about my inner critic. I don’t care what you say, it is not worth listening to anyway!

So back to the art:

Here is a sketch I did while I was sitting in the car with all of the windows down, listening to the ocean waves crashing on the beach! That was a GREAT moment!!

Here is the picture of what I was actually looking at!

Here is a mini collage, that helped get me unstuck creatively! It is only about 4 inches by 6 inches – THAT, I felt, I COULD commit to!! This took me less than 20 minutes, but I really like it!

This is one of two gel skins that I created a couple of days ago!!

Here is the other gel skin. My only problem now, is that I am not exactly sure how/where to use them!! I may have to create a collage just to feature these skins!! 😉

Here is an experiment on wood that I have been working on! It was gorgeous and then I thought I “messed it up”, but decided to keep moving forward with it anyway! I am really loving how the light plays through all of the blues, greens, silvers on this piece. This may have to become a background for an awesome word, or a fairy or such!! It just seems very dream-like to me.

Wanting to use EVERY opportunity as a possible creative one, I did this little doodle while I was doing my Artist’s Way homework (for week 8, as you can see), but also people watching! So these rough sketches are a mish-mash of all sorts of people I was seeing.

Here is a continuation on one of my very first pieces, and I think that I am very happy with it. It represents a well-used life to me. About all of the people who come and go in and out of your life, and leave impressions behind of themselves – both good and bad! Yes, I think that this one is FINALLY done!

And last but not least, this one is a collage that I have been working on, and finally finished! I think that this is a happy collage, one that reminds me somehow of the sky, wind, movement, and dancing!! I see dancing when I see this one!

Well, at least that is my take on it all! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say!! I will continue to create and use my bravery muscles to keep sharing, no matter how dreadful I think something might be – again, not the point is it!!!

I would encourage all of you to get out there, find what you are good at, put your bravery muscles to good work and get your creativity flowing!! I can’t wait to see what you make!!

Until then…

Have a FABULOUS evening!

A Charming Day!

Good evening!

I wanted to share with you the jewelry class I was fortunate to take yesterday! 😉 I spent the day up at the Tarte store up in Aurora, Oregon. The shop is ABSOLUTELY DIVINE!! I could LITERALLY purchase EVERY SINGLE THING in that store and decorate my house with it! EVERYTHING is my style to a T!!

The room that we had our craft class was EXACTLY the way that my craft room SHOULD be!! 😉 I have thought about how to describe it to you, and words just could not describe how girly glam this room was!!! The room was basically draped with an indoor tent for grown up girls, and there was a gigantic chandelier right in the center of the room, dripping in beads.

Here are a couple of pics:

This is a large parachute that they sewed tulle to. Isn’t that INGENIOUS?!?!?!?

Do you see what I mean?? You just couldn’t help but feel the girl glam vibe that was in that room! That was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S!!

They had a place setting for every one of us women, there were 15 of us. These were just soooo charming, and I now want to work from a silver tray from now on! What do you think??

So chic!! 😉

The lovely, Terri Brush was our instructor, and the first thing we learned how to do was to design, etch and form copper bracelets – this is a good project for working your arm muscles!! There was SO MUCH POUNDING going on!!! WHEW!!! 😉

Next, we got to play with solder!! Using some old keys, we coated them in solder and played with some letter stamps! That was fun!! (Just in case you can’t read these, they say “Dream Big” and “Inspire”)

What came next were create mini collages to place inside of charms that we then got to solder!!! This was my FAVORITE part of the entire class!!

Here are the backsides of my charms, the previous picture was a view of the front of the charms! I literally could have done this all day!! They are short and sweet, and HIGHLY gratifying!!! 😉 I am planning on using these to make a couple of charm bracelets!!

and last but not least! I got to play some more with the letter stamps, and I decided to make one last charm for my bracelet! but, this one ended up being MY FAVORITE OF THEM ALL!!!  This is my sweetie’s and my initials, and the date of our wedding!! I LOVE that the letters and numbers are all catty-wompous! It just seems to make this one all the more charming!!!

They left us at each of the place settings, it is a, dare I say it, a charming box of chocolate!! It is decorated so chicely, that I have a feeling that this little package will NEVER be opened!! 😉

I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to create these charms and I am soooo THANKFUL that I have finally acquired this skill!! Terri is a gem, and this class was really a fun way to learn all of these fun jewelry making techniques!! I would highly recommend this class to anyone fortunate enough to be able to take it!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Wednesday of Art Class!

My Homemade Business Cards!!

Good evening!

I know tonight is Chunky Dunker’s night, so we can still chat in the comments section after I post – is that alright for everyone?? It so too difficult trying to come up with a health related topic when right now my life is revolving around art and being creative!! 😉 So from now on, Wednesday evenings will be the same kind of posts that I normally post, my life’s journey to creating my dream life, and Chunky Dunker’s will “meet” in the comments section!

On to my day!!!

I spent the day over at The Art Department, in downtown Salem. I was taking an art class being given by Sharon Geraci, who, BY THE WAY, is PHENOMENAL!! She is talented with a capital T!!

Here is part of the class description:

Rev up your collage experience with an expanded repertoire of materials and techniques. Work on wood or canvas as a support, with an assortment of gels, household materials, and alternative methods of attaching objects and materials.

DOESN’T THAT SOUND AWESOME???

There were six of us in class, not including, Sharon. There was Sandra, Marcia, Cheryl, Brigitta, Linda and myself. Everyone besides Sandra and myself had already taken classes from Sharon, so they already knew what to expect!! Here is my workspace:

Each student had an ENTIRE 8 FOOT TABLE TO THEMSELVES, which is a REALLY good thing because collage is a VERY W-I-D-E art form!!!

This class, was a collage techniques class, which was formatted much differently than the kind of collage class I took last Saturday. Not to say that one was better than the other, but to say that they were different. This class was much more educational in feel, with A LOT of demonstration time. After leaving the class you didn’t really walk away with a finished product per se, however you did walk away with a TON of samples, and a very clear and practical understanding on how A LOT of cool techniques worked!

That was VERY EXCITING!! The fact that I now know to do SO MUCH MORE in creating interesting and creative AND ARTISTIC collages!!! 😉

Here are some of the techniques we learned, and some pics from the samples that I had made:

We learned how to make acrylic skins, which is something that can be used to lay over the top of and enhance your collage design:

This one was inspired by the next collage that I am wanting to work on.

I wanted this skin to be a little more earth tone and nature-inspired. This one I actually used mica flakes (the little shimmery things)

This one is clear and is meant for the sole purpose of adding something sparkly to one of my next projects! This one utilizes the mica flakes again, and then who couldn’t use some glitter???

The next technique we learned was the foil technique!

This project was really cool because we got to try out a lot of different kinds of professional grade acrylics, and then we got to try out a heat sealing iron, and iron on foils, that was a lot of fun! I can see how THAT could be VERY ADDICTIVE!!! 😉

The next technique was called, for lack of a better term, TSqeegee Method of decorating paper!!

I just loved the blues and greens that I was able to create in this one, and I think the whites in this just really makes everything else pop!

Here is another blue-centric design (I had Jason on my mind a lot today, and blue is his FAVORITE color!! On this one, Marcia had just shared a technique that she found cool, which was using a painters comb to swirl loops – so I “borrowed” a variation on her technique to come up with this on water color paper! This one is my favorite, and there is NO WAY that I am going to cut or tear this one – I think this one is ready for it’s frame!

Here is another blue sample, using different sized combs – this is the one that I actually use in some of my later samples.

Then we learned a couple of more techniques for making backgrounds, and we got to play with making some of our own:

This one is a yet to be finished board, it is missing something that will tie it all together!! (Do you see any of my papers?)

This piece is a finished piece! I think the embossing really finished this one up for me! I LOVE It!! (Do you see any of my papers in this one??)

W learned SOOOO MUCH in this one day of lessons! WAAAY MORE than I have even itemized out here!! This is an art that I can see has ENDLESS possibilities! and I am JUST SO HAPPY to be able to be a part of it!!!

Thank you, Sharon, and all of my class mates for such a FUN day!!! I look forward to next time!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! 😉

A Late Post!

Good evening!

I am sorry this post is getting to you so late! I completely lost track of time this evening!! 😉 I was playing in my craft room with my friend, Cicily! We were both collaging our little hearts out! I can’t wait until we get to do it again!! 🙂 I will have to take a moment sometime tomorrow to take pictures of our newest works in process for you to peruse!! The funny thing is, that we were sitting on completely opposite ends of the room, and our color schemes are almost identical!! TOO FUNNY!!!

Well, I am ready for my class on Wednesday, and because of lack of class space, I am going to have to find some kind of alternative activity for Saturday, since my encaustic class will have to wait until the next round!!! HOWEVER, I picked up all of my supplies this afternoon after work, and I am ECSTATIC!! I truly can not wait!!!

Oh! and I am excited to say that I am going to take a Zumba class next Monday evening! My first Zumba class ever!! I am all about making movement fun, and I have heard nothing but GREAT things about Zumba, especially one of the classes that is offered a few blocks from my place! I will give it a try for one week, and then I will decide if it something that I can commit too!! I will keep you posted!!! 😉

As for me and right now, I am zonked!! It is so far past my bedtime that all I can do right now is tell you G’night…and

Have a FABULOUS evening!!!

A Day of Collage Play!

Good evening!

I have had the most MAGICAL weekend, and it is still only Saturday!! I want to tell you all about my LOVELY evening with my sweetie last night, but I have decided, with his blessing, to save that story for tomorrow!!

You see, today I had a FANTASTIC mixed media collage artist class that I just couldn’t wait to share all about with you! I also know that all of the ladies from the class will be looking for the pics of their art projects too, so I wanted to make sure that I was able to get these up and out there into the universe so that our momentum would not die down!!

You see, I had heard about this class a few weeks ago, which I told you about earlier, but money was tight and I was thinking that I was not going to be able to make it! Well, when the class got closer, I was trying to think of everything and anything that might give me reason not to go!! You see, I was letting my inner critic get the better of me, and I was chickening out!!! Thankfully, my sweetie came to my rescue, told me to go to the class, and next thing I know it is 11 PM the NIGHT BEFORE class, and I am online searching for the Keizer Art Association online and I signed up for today’s Collage Play class!! WHEW!!! 😉

I wasn’t sure what to expect, seeing that I have never done collage before, but on my way to class I was getting more and more excited and couldn’t wait to get started! The class was being taught by Salem artists Linda West and Glenda Goodrich AKA “GG”!! I was the first one at class, like usual, and they were there smiling, and extremely friendly! I was still pretty nervous, as I have a tendency to be in these situations, but they were ABSOLUTELY WELCOMING!!

After every one arrived, they opened the class with GG taking us through a guided meditation, and it definitely set the right tone for the day!! This rang especially true for me, when she told us to tell our little inner critic that they could go find a nice shady place and go take a nap for the day!!!

The whole idea for this class was that we were going to play, and create mixed media collages using decorative and handmade papers, paints, ephemera, ink, all sorts of baubles,  trinkets, ribbons, buttons, beads and ANYTHING ELSE WE COULD GET OUR HANDS ON, quite frankly!! 😉 It was as if someone had walked right into my crazy filled to the brim craft room, and told me that I WAS NORMAL!!! 😉

These were some of my supplies! 😉

We had such a GREAT time!! They only rule was, was that there really were no rules except that we had to leave our inner critic at the door!!!

Both Linda and GG demo’ed all sorts of hints, tips, and new techniques!! and all of us ladies had fun ripping, and gluing, and glittering, and laughing as the day seemed to literally FLY by!!! There were 5 students in the class, and both instructors got to make some collages too!! I was ABSOLUTELY IN AWE of the AMAZING talent that was in that room!!

Before the day was over everyone had made all sorts of treasures!! So much so that we could have opened a gallery! We were really all quite thrilled at not only how much we had made, but at how good all of the pieces turned out to be!! There really was some INCREDIBLY talented women in that room!!! 😉

Everyone’s tastes and working styles were so different, but it was agreed by all that everyone that it was fun spending the day creating with other creative spirits!! I know for myself, it was quite the change from crafting by yourself!! There is something absolutely electric in the room, when you are all using your creative energy!! I think it was GG that mentioned that her and Linda have a once a month craft day where they get together and spend the day crafting! I told them that I was going to have to borrow that idea, because I think that if I am wanting someone to craft with their HAS to be SOMEONE out there who would want to craft WITH SOMEONE too???

Here is a Show-and-Tell of everyone’s handiwork!!

This is Maggie and her lovely artwork! She was inspired by some FABULOUS quotes that she had found!

This is Terri and her lovely artwork! She was inspired by this stone that one of her girlfriends had given to her. There is a shape of a tree in it’s markings!

This is Julie and her lovely artwork! She was inspired by her extremely supportive husband!

This is Vickie and her lovely artwork! She was inspired by her recent trip to Hawaii!

This is one of our lovely instructor’s Linda, and she was inspired by the neutral pack of supplies that she had gotten to create this first piece of art, and her second piece was inspired by her niece, who’s birthday is coming up!

This is our other lovely instructor, GG, and her art work was inspired by the nature theme of supplies that she had chosen and the 3D bird that she fell in love with that Linda had created that was also came out of her pack!

Here are my two art pieces. These were inspired by my love of all things red, and some of the great images that I found that I thought represented me and my journey to rediscover my creative self.

This class was such an AMAZING experience! I know I must be saying it over and over again, but it is ABSOLUTELY true!! It was so great to be in a class that was so freeing and open, and to be able to play again as if were all little girls back in kindergarten was pretty special!! I think the thought that summed up the entire day perfectly, which was said by Maggie, was,

“Art isn’t always well behaved!”

What a GREAT quote, and one that I am learning to hang my hat upon!!! Thank you, ladies!! I had such a good time “playing” with you today! I hope that we get the chance again in the near future!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉