The No-Fear Gang

Fear?  No such thing in The Arts Station this past weekend!  Those ladies took to the playbox like they never got out of their childhood.

Jordana and Kathleen tear into it

Becca and Anna are intent on their play

The floor of The Arts Station was covered from one end to the other with a stupendous range of starts,

Clockwise from bottom centre - plastic wrap, music skin, plastic wrap, alcohol drop, who know's what, more alcohol (can you see a pattern emerging? - wine was a big topic on the weekend) and a UFO on black.  In the centre, an artist's 'sandwich' made with mulberry paper and strips of painted dryer sheets.

each one a uniquely different interpretation of the techniques covered.

Love that blue/green tartan start and the beginning of something fishy!

I know I added 15 pounds to my weight with all those colour calories exploding in the room.

Every time I turned my back there would be another layer of mouth-watering colour on something,

 or another start (or ten),

or someone praying for release from the agony?

Becca gets right into it - on the floor!

Want to see some close-ups?

Luscious, mouth-watering brayer paper (aka leather or gesso paper)

Oh those palette paper transfers!

Drywall compound goes upscale

Plastic wrap technique

Another version of brayer paper

And a version of the drywall compound that happily repeats a complex pattern

The artist tissue technique goes soft and abstract

Layer upon layer - one technique over the other

Plastic wrap technique, with a palette paper transfer over top

Doesn't this say jazzy to you?

Collaged mammoth meets tea and coppers

The palette paper transfer on a start just energizes it all

I suspect that their mixed media play days will not stop here - they're all too much addicted to the 'What if?' possibilities now!

Kathleen, Jordana, Anna and Becca display a small amount of their weekend output

Of course it wasn't all fun and games - I had to eat real calories in Fernie too!  If you're visiting there, I highly recommend the Tandoor & Grill Restaurant at the Stanford Inn (The Arts Station had arranged my accommodations - lovely place)...the food is beyond amazing;  I'm now totally addicted to their mushroom pakora and the vegetable curry, along with the chicken tikka masala I had the last time I visited.  It would be impossible to recommend this restaurant highly enough!

So here's to lack of fear, and calories in Fernie - bless them all!

If you think I'm stringing you along...

...you could be right!

One of those household staples that can be used to good effect in your mixed media work is the lowly ball of string.

Here I've assembled some string, a soft foam paint roller and a support that's already well layered with various techniques ( palette paper transfer, alcohol inks, script transfer, etc.).

I run the string-encircled roller (ends tucked neatly under the layers of string) in some antique copper metallic paint,

and then lightly over the support.

Note the lovely pattern on the palette paper when I'm done - won't this make a great palette paper transfer?

There's more than one way to skin a string, though!  Here I've  randomly placed some string on a support, and then over-painted it all with a soft brayer rolled in paint.

On this support, I taped the string outside the edges of the mat board.  I rolled a soft foam roller in paint and then over the matboard.  Once dried, and string removed, it makes a lively background.

Oh, and save those painted bits of string to incorporate them into your mixed media works as well - everything is fodder for this style of painting!

Same chaos, different day.

You could ask what's happening in the studio, and I'd have to say - not much!  Getting ready for the 'garage sale to end all garage sales' means my studio tables are missing and it looks like this:

Tables missing, artwork spread on floors, walls, ceilings and easel

I did manage to get a second layer on one of my starts, although there is a story to that, of course.  I dropped one of my gold paint pens on the floor and it came apart.  I quickly threw a palette paper on it, dabbed like mad, and wound up with a transfer when dry.  I applied it to a background intended for something else and now I just need to let it tell me where to go from here.

Layer 2

I also made a lucky find in the garage sale items - a yellowed lace doily among things I'd packed up when my mom passed away.  I suspect this will make a lovely 'paint wash' transfer...

Lace find

The only intentional work I got done was a palette paper transfer onto canvas of one of the alcohol transfers created at the end of last week.  I think I can see a butterfly peeking from the ink.  Of course, I may be raving mad at this point and seeing butterflies where 'there be dragons'.

Glad this transfer worked.

There are some really interesting patterns created here, and I'm looking forward to working on this piece.  Actually, I'm looking forward to working on ANY piece, as long as it doesn't include the thought / word / deed GARAGE.

If you're looking for interesting, useful, or downright crazy things for your household, do stop by 2315 Erickson St., Creston tomorrow (Saturday) from 7 am to noon, and check out the sale - we'll be glad you did!