Squirrel!

Squirrel happens so often in the studio that I should really do a piece of artwork about it, except I keep getting distracted.  I used the large Branches mask by The Crafters Workshop on top of a Gelli print that had been created using one of my foam templates, and then....

I loved the effect, and decided to do another, but the unprepossessing template (photo below) caught my eye.  It obviously needed something more, so I spent an hour or so adding texture to it - rather challenging given it was already heavily painted.

I noticed, too, that the mask was badly in need of a cleaning, since many of those delightful little brach spaces had accumulated sneaky layers of paint...I could blame it on my students, couldn't I?  Oops, there went another hour.

Finishing the new texture necessitated another Gelli printing session, of course.  Don't you wonder why, in a studio the size I work in those prints and foam plates are all on the floor?

Perhaps it's because every surface in the studio is covered with in-progress projects!  I can see I've got some cleaning to do before my next guests and students arrive.

With mask taped in place over one of the prints, I was ready to roll with layer number two.

And of course, the mask got dirty once again, which meant another cleaning session.  At least this time it didn't take so long to get it clean.  It's amazing how much easier wet paint is to remove compared to dry.

Just because I'm on a roll with this mask and these textured prints, I might do another . . . what colour combo do you want to see?  And naturally, there are more layers to come on the ones I've already done - when I get back to them!

I hope you're as squirrelly as am I in the studio...it's certainly well worth it for entertainment value.

 

In Kimberley...

the art group is WAY beyond obsessed.  Every time I teach at the Centre 64, I'm stunned by the response of the students - the manner in which they pick up and test new techniques, the enthusiasm they show and the fun they generate.

The Gelli plate playshop brought so many stunning pieces to the table (and the floor) I couldn't stop taking photos.  From the gilding technique,

 to textures plates,

 to fun foam stamps,

and they still couldn't get enough of it.

They used ArtFoamies to the max,

they masked,

and they stencilled.

They printed on every conceivable surface from mat board to dryer sheets to card stock to printer paper, and I wouldn't have been surprised to see the walls done up by Sunday afternoon.

You can tell some of them took their work very seriously!

Watch their space;  they'll be up to more shenanigans in that wild art group!  And if you'd like to get in on some of the fun, please join me at The Arts Station in Fernie at month-end!