I know, I know...

...I'm supposed to be purging, but when there's white paper involved, look what can happen!

Acrylic ink on printer paper

Here's the story:  I've been avoiding,  postponing, deferring, delaying, evading, circumventing, skirting, sidestepping, or ducking the purge.   I've been procrastinating for the last ten days years.  Who really, truly wants to do a deep clean in the studio?!

A deep clean means the task of splitting old-style continuous form paper (for use with dot-matrix printers) into useable pieces has been neglected and then rescheduled at least 37 times.  It was the last bit of paper in my large white paper container, and it's been screaming at me for such a long time that I am near-deafened.  At least that's what I tell John when he complains that I'm not listening.

So I started ripping

and tearing

until all the side strips were removed, when I could then start splitting, page by page, by flippin' page.

Now I have a fabulous pile of printer paper or paper for printing (are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Painted paper and Gelli prints are SO fun!).

And of course, all those side strips have to turn into something.  Perhaps they'll be part of another 'Expat' folded book; they certainly fit the strangeness factor.

There were a few spoiled pages from the process, so I crumped them thoroughly and then sprayed with water.  Liberally covering them with painty stuff was a blast.  

Want a closer look at some of the other results?

Fluid acrylics topped with India Ink

India ink on vellum (a stray bit tucked in there from somewhere?)

India ink on continuous feed paper 

More India ink topped with acrylic ink...don't you think this looks like a crime scene?
Maybe I've been reading too many murder mysteries over the holidays!

Now I know I'm not the only one who procrastinates, and I'm betting you can add to the list of words for it in the second paragraph.  What's your favourite?  Lollygagging, perhaps?  Let me know in the comments - I NEED more words for this pastime because I'm becoming first-rate at it, and need to write the book (when I have the inclination).

Paper, glorious paper...

I can't get enough of it.  I've got it in in so many places in the studio it's a wonder the place doesn't collapse under the weight of it.

My stash for images and collage

'Scrambles' paper pinned to the wall

Gelli prints piled high on the table

Oversize paper in slots of cardboard

Cardstock stacked on shelves in the cabinet

Painted papers in rolls of varying sizes

It's my belief that one can never have too much paper in a studio, so I've created a video for you about a great method for painting papers.

Will you join me in my addiction?

My knees have gone to Gelli...

...from all the kneeling as I cover the floor in the studio with Gelli plate prints.  It's astounding how I can lose a full day in there, when my intention was just a quick play time.

I had to do a test run on the recent spate of Tyvek stencils I burned a couple of days ago.

And I'd made some modelling paste texture plates that were begging for a trial run too.  I particularly like this 'gears' one for its subtlety.

Some fun foam stamps created interesting patterns, 

and I stamped a couple of  them, twice, onto another old 'cleaner' print.  Unaccountably, without worrying about the registry of it all, I managed to offset the one side just slightly enough to be interesting.  That wouldn't happen again if I actually paid attention to where it was going!

Overprinting pieces from a previous session yielded some really fun textures and colour,

and these are pieces I'll be happy to use for backgrounds or as smaller focal points in a painting.

 The soft grey over top of the violet is a pleasing combination,

 and I'm nuts about this abstract panel.

I love the look of the stencils, texture plates and foam stamps at the end of it all too.  

All in all, I'd say it was well worth the 'lost time', and I've got some good samples for my Gelli binder, to say nothing of some lovely papers for upcoming projects.

Painting papers...

has got to be right up there on my list of favourite things to do.

Yesterday the studio was filled with colour

because this group was so fast to catch on to the process they could have done ten sheets in the allotted time!

 They quickly learned to add sparkles to their sheets, and I think the results were juicy!

Each sheet was a colour revelation, as they splashed,

and spread, and dropped,

and dripped,

 and sprinkled,

 taking their plain mulberry paper splashed with water to one filled with colour mass and energy.

I suspect the odd Christmas gift under their tree will be stunningly wrapped in these luscious papers.  Oh, and think of the cards they can make, and the colour they can add to their paintings, and the mini gift bags, and, and, and....   

I love doing these workshops because each time I see a colour combination that grabs me by the throat and makes my heart sing.  I always feel so lucky that the participants love it too!

Play time

seems to be a constant when one is 'retired'.  We've had another gang-buster time this past week with Alice Saltiel-Marshall and her husband Bill.

From the Skimmerhorn Winery to Crawford Bay and back again, we've filled four days with more activity than one could think possible.

Just before we went in

Drooling over remnants at Barefoot Handweaving

After many visits to Barefoot Handweaving, I was astonished to learn one could purchase a baggie of remnants for $4 - score!

 We burnished copper,

we shared stashes,

we painted papers,

 we played Bobbsy Twins with our stamps, paints and embellishments,

 and were colour pigs (although I feel we're young enough to be termed piglets) extraordinaire.

It was like being in another world.

This is my favourite done by Alice,

Love Letter to Gaia  Mixed Media by Win Dinn

and my personal favourite done by yours truly.

Crystal Clear

I thought I'd share one of my favourite of Nita Leland's techniques with you.  (It's also extremely popular with students in the mixed media workshop.)  Crystalline paper is one of the prettiest  imagineable, because of the see-through quality that captures the light of the under-support.

This paper is created by painting artist-quality tissue paper with acrylic medium on one side, letting it dry completely and repeating the process on the reverse side of the paper.  Once both sides are thoroughly dry, you can drop wet paint onto one side, spray with water, and wait for beautifully clear colours and patterns to develop as the paint dries. 

Crystalling paper over white background

I've used these papers in my mixed media work as well as incorporating them into various paper projects - they can be reminiscent of stained glass windows they are so light-filled!

Crystalline paper over yellow/orange bond

You can view Nita Leland's crystalling paper demo  here.   I encourage you to try this - it's as much fun as paper painting can be!

A New Year start...

and finish.  Having spent most of the first day of 2012 in the studio yesterday, I've finished (all but the final archival sprays) a 12 x 12 painting that has been in the works for some time.

Elderberry Mandala

The elderberry shrub is common in our area .  Fully ripe elderberries make wonderful wine, jelly and syrup and are great with blackberries in a pie.  John picks them when the berries have had the first frost for that last fact alone.  However, I save the picked stems and press them for their delightful filigree lace effect .  They make beautiful miniature trees, and I've previously done a series of paintings using them.

Red Hot Pair  (Sold)

The Elderberry Mandala is a painted paper-wrapped canvas (see workshop sidebar on the right) with stems affixed using heavy mat gel.  I admit I pre-finished the paper prior to fixing the stems, as I thought I'd likely drive myself crazy coating inside all those delicate lines.  I did, however, coat the stems after adding them to the painting.  It's a time-consuming, but necessary task, and I credit this type of work with making me the addled artist that you know!