I've got my eye out!

 That's mostly because of Alice Saltiel-Marshall, who started both of us on a tandem painting while we were visiting with her and Bill in Claresholm recently. We used this exquisite fabric she scored some years ago on a Balinese (if memory serves) vacation.

I've never been so careful ironing anything in my life;
it nearly killed me to start cutting this fabric!

  We started by painting the top portion of our canvas, carefully cutting out a frieze from the fabric, and applying it to the canvas with liquid medium.  Then we added the photocopy of the eye of Ra, and some molding paste around it to give it some texture.

Pasting the eye - for some reason, blogspot wants this photo sideways - a sign?

We then cut another double panel of the fabric and added that below the now-painted eye.

Alice adds more fabric to her panel.

Our Sculpy (see previous post) lesson came in handy to create an ankh.

 The Sculpy ankh was mottled in black and gold, to be adhered to the finished painting.

Painting the Sculpy ankh

The bottom of the piece is finished with a black on black series of hieroglyphics.

The Eye of Ra
24 x 8"  Mixed Media  2012
© Win Dinn

 I'm excited to see Alice's final version, as it was shaping beautifully when we finished the day in her studio.  She hand-rolled her Sculpy ankh (mine was made in a mold that I created first), and her hieroglyphs will be different as well.  Since she's away in sunny Hawaii until later in the month, you'll need to keep your eye peeled out for her blog post!

I'm feeling like a sculptor...

 because one of my friends in Claresholm got me playing with a new toy called Sculpy polymer clay. Judy Dahl, who took my mixed media class last May has taken off like a rock from a slingshot. She experiments, she plays, she tries things, and experiments some more, and has been like a mixed media fiend for the last seven months - no stopping her! When I was in Claresholm a couple of weeks ago, Alice Saltiel-Marshall and I went out to Judy's studio to learn how to use this unique 'clay'.

Here Judy demonstrates a clay key mold process

After pressing a key into the Sculpy, she carefully scrapes away until edges are clean

I'm testing the process on a metal maple leaf piece, carefully rolling it flat before removal.

Here some molds are oven-ready for baking.

We had more fun than one could reasonably expect.  Judy showed us the mold process, and also let us know that Sculpy can be used for building small items as well, which Alice used the following week for a project we were working on in tandem.  Make sure you keep up with her blog to see her results!

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love teaching, because I learn far more from my 'students' than they learn from me, I know.  Judy is a consummate horse photographer whose skills are a Canadian legend in that business, and her horse drawings are amazing.  Alice is a fine art master, skillful photographer and now a mixed-media-legend-to-be.

All photos here are by Alice Saltiel-Marshall, who remembered to both bring her camera AND use it!  Many thanks, Alice!