Scrub, scrub, scrub...

...a woman's work is never done!

Making a direct transfer of a magazine photo or a photocopy is a relatively simple process.

 You just place your support (in this case it's a mat board, but canvas or wood panel works well too) on a sheet of butcher or palette paper,

liberally apply liquid or soft gel medium to the support, and place your photo face down over top of it.  Use a brayer over all (this will squish out excess medium or gel - hence the need for palette paper!), and allow it to thoroughly dry (up to 24 hours, depending on how much medium you've used).

 Spritz the whole thing with water,

and lightly, lightly, lightly, start removing the paper from the back with a plastic scrubby (this will save your fingers for when you get down in later layers), re-moistening the whole thing as required.

 Continue to clean, moving the paper bits off to the side (I call these paper bits scrambles, goodness knows why!).

As you get closer and closer to a complete clean transfer, you'll likely want to use your fingers to avoid tearing holes in the transfer, although these can be painted in later, or incorporated into your mixed media painting.

Eventually you'll have a completed transfer and can begin to add additional layers to your painting.

And the scrambles that you so carefully set to one side?  Well, you can paint them, and incorporate them into your mixed media as well...everything is fodder in mixed media.

Here's a helpful hint - if you've rubbed and scrubbed and cleaned your transfer, and still have a 'bloom' diffusing it, try adding a liberal layer of gloss medium over all - sometimes this will clarify things a great deal.

A Post-Op Tea

We had a post-Wynndel mixed media class tea here in my home studio, with a great show-and-tell period.

Dena Kubota did these three gorgeous pieces, and I'm just slavering over the red butterfly one!  All of them are started on a book cover background which has been glued to a mat board support - her idea, and a wonderful way to start a painting, I think!

Kendra Lee brought a couple of lovely nearly-finished pieces, and another (not shown) that is well on its way.  Check out the purple plastic wrap background on the first one and the oh-so-organic feel of the other!

Val van der Poel brought nearly a dozen stunning pieces, three of which are shown below.  Apologies for the photo quality - since they were plastic-wrapped and ready for sale, it was difficult to take clear photos, and the shine is somewhat evident.  Aren't they amazing?  I'm especially drawn to the centre one with the quilling - an art I'd love to learn (it's on my list, and my list is getting longer than I have allotted time for in this lifetime).

I already consider my mixed media mania well worth the investment in time and energy, with artists like these taking on the challenge and creating such delicious work.  These are the times when being a virus for creativity is  amazingly fulfilling!

Wasn't that a party?

We had a great time at the Key City Theatre Gallery opening of A Kootenay Summer.  Eileen Gidman, Laura Leeder, Jim Lawrence and I were there on Thursday, April 18, along with some very welcome guests.

The gallery is a wonderful space, spacious and filled with light.

There were flowers everywhere, from the walls to the counters and back again.

It was tremendous to see so many familiar faces, including dear friends  Alice Saltiel-Marshall and her husband Bill (hiding behind the camera for this photo), who drove from Claresholm for the event.

This little sweetie is Maevie, my grand-niece, who spent a great deal of time checking out the artwork - her mom is starting her early!

The show is a summery mix of photography, textile art, watercolours and mixed media, primarily fruits and flowers of the season - if you're in Cranbrook before May 10, please stop in and enjoy the show.

A Kootenay Summer...

...at Key City Theatre Gallery opens this Thursday, April 18, 2013.

With four artists and four mediums, running through to May 10,  it's bound to be a vivid look at 'summer in the Koots'.

Laura Leeder is presenting her lovely watercolours, rich in colour and strong in design:

Blue Orchid  Watercolour  © Laura Leeder

Jim Lawrence presents razzle-dazzle extraordinaire photography:

Lupine      Photography  © Jim Lawrence

Eileen Gidman's textiles are bold in design and execution:

Tomato Harvest  Textile  © Eileen Gidman

And I've got a series of florals that literally jump off their supports:

Garden Patterns  Mixed Media on cradled panel  3' x 2'  © Win Dinn

We'd love to have you join us at the opening reception from 4 to 5 pm...wear your Speedo or bikini if you're so inclined!

Chaos, Madness & Mayhem

Sometimes the studio is just like that - and the rest of the house follows suit.  This time it is pre-show discombobulation that's got a touch of bedlam all over everything.

There are bowls of appetizer dough on the kitchen countertops...

and appies headed for the oven...

with John's onions waiting to be chopped for more appetizers on the table  (isn't that colour gorgeous?).

 In the studio there are piles of projects on the workshop tables...

 in all directions,

and the easel is stacked with yet more projects.

 The movable tabourets hold more mounds,

and the shelves are near to bursting as well.

It seems the only place for the eye to rest is a set of closed (when that happens) cupboard doors.

I'm glad I'm getting out of town today - it will be restful to be hanging the show at Key City Theatre Gallery in Cranbrook.  And with luck (and some help from the muse and kitchen fairies), the house will surely come to rights while I'm gone - and you can stop that sniggering right now!

And just in case you missed the previous invitation, please join us at the opening reception Thursday, April 18 (4-6 pm) - we'd love to see you there, because

we're thinking summer!

Geletine begone!

I recently posted about my exploration of geletine prints, and let you know about the frustration level of  constantly mixing the geletine (I have an addiction problem when it comes to creativity) and the breaking down of the gelatine after a few passes.

Well - Gelli plate to the rescue!  I'd been waiting to order a Gelli plate because the available sizes seemed much too small, so when I discovered they're making them in a 12 x 14 size, I JUMPED on it!  My plate recently arrived in the mail, along with some stencils I'd ordered from Joggles.

If there is any other legal way to have this much fun, I've not found it - I couldn't begin to tell you the addictive reaction I've had to my Gelli plate.  Can I cover it with wet, smacky paint kisses?  You bet I can!  (And think what a GREAT print that would make.)

I printed/overlaid some magazine pages,

 and some book sheets (this one is from a disused law text - looks a TON better don't you think?),

covered some geletine prints,

 and some textured paper.

 I pulled some ghost prints,

 and played with Catalyst shapers,

and bubble wrap,

and created a series from a stencil pull,

using the back of the stencil,

and pulling a ghost print.

I covered pages in my altered books as well,

 and left very little floor space for Opal the studio cat to walk through - she was annoyed.

I know some of the pieces I did will benefit from more layers of printing, and I can hardly wait.  Heaven help me, how am I ever going to get back in control of my life?  With more stencils on the way, three mixed media altered books on the go, and a monstrously addictive Gelli plate, there is no hope.

Jelly? Really?

Not really, but the geletine printing process starts with the same stuff that's in the geletine you eat, although I wouldn't recommend ingesting it after you've added the paint!.

I watched this video some weeks ago, and was mightily intrigued, and had to try it.

So 16 packages of geletine mix, several cups of water and four pans of geletine later, I had some monoprints:

ranging from single colour,

to two colours on the same pass,

to two colours one of top of the other.

I experimented with circles,

and feathers, and more colours than I thought I had.  I did prints, ghost prints and prints from the oddments I lifted from the geletine.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that I was constantly running to the store for more packages of geletine, and the ease with which the geletine plate breaks down, I'd still be at it...I've found that monoprinting is terribly addictive, and WAY too much fun.

Watch this space - there is a fix for these problems!