Tic Tac Toe...

is finally below.  I've been playing with these nine 4 x 4 x 1 1/2 canvasses for what seems like eons.  I started with the small pieces on a Gelli play day, covering the sides and front with some lively patterns.  In a later session I added some palette paper layers and a 'word of the day' to each.

Over the weeks, I've added bits of paper, additional text and goodness knows what else to the point where they're finally done.

Now that the photo session is done I've learned two things:

1)  that 'Play Kid' needs a much better haircut, and  2)  I'm already itching to start another set.  Where did I put that Gelli plate?

If you want to see what the Gelli plate is all about, I'm doing a couple of demos here in town this week.  

Why not pop over to the college on Friday and take a peek?  Oh, and buy some plants while you're at it...I know there are some heritage tomatoes (and much more) for sale!

Tic-Tac-Toe Times Two

How's that for alliteration?

I thought I'd do some studio photo catch-up.  Even though I've had little chance to work in there this past week due to wrapping my head around some challenging (for me) computer programs, I did manage a wee bit of play time on these nine four by fours.  You can see the start of this project here.

Last week I managed some time to add a word to each canvas with a stencil stolen from my husband John (if he reads this I'm in big trouble . . . again).

I decided this week to sort through my extensive stash of palette papers,

and match them up with the appropriate colours, with several options for each.

I coated the canvasses with liquid gel medium using this method.  Working with a canvas, though, can mean the papers need to be hog-tied to get them to adhere, hence some wrapped and elastic-bound minis.

 After drying overnight, the results were mixed,

varying from the very subtle Now piece (definitely more palette paper transfer needed here before further layers)

 to the jazzy Yes! mini.

 Passion's getting pretty colourful,

and Love needs a sanding at the bottom just to the left of centre to get rid of that too-light purple, and likely more palette transfers as well.

The transfer on Laugh has faded entirely into the background, so something additional will be needed.

I'm liking the strong vertical transfer on Sing - makes me think of my too-loud musical errors at the Bow Valley Singers practice last week!

Play's transfer is VERY BOLD, and heaven knows what will happen with this one - I'm rather liking the upside-down partial head at the top, though.

 Spirit looks a bit lacklustre right now, so definitely more to go on this,

and apparently there's no hope at all for Hope, which got missed in the line-up of photos.  All in all, I can see where some of these will go - how about you?  Where would you take them? What techniques would you add to the mix?

Play time...

is always better when it involves friends, and this holds true whether it's in the studio or on the deck!

Paul, Bill & John admire my gift

While Alice, Meg and I played in the studio for three days, 'the gents' contented themselves with antiquing, perusing second hand stores and viewing the sites of the area.  Those of you who know my love of gardening (tongue-tearing-through-my-cheek here) will understand how excited I was to view my gift for the day - a beautifully crafted gardening fork.

In the 'drying room', aka driveway

The frenzy in the studio was pretty unbelievable, with both Meg and Alice tearing up the space with start after start, and even some completions.  I watched in awe as these consummate artists tore through and combined  a repertoire of mixed media techniques that was astonishing.

A Tyvek kind of day

Meg took a piece of Tyvek, secured it to a canvas (to be wrapped on completion), drizzled with with layers of paint, and stamped back into it for a start that is luscious with complexity and earthy colour.

Meg makes the paint fly on a leaf transfer start

Meanwhile, Meg's small 'pup' usurps Opal's normal spot in the studio as she patiently waits for us to stop our play and start hers!

I'm oh-so-patient, here...waiting, waiting, waiting.

Alice, here on day three, knocks off some butterflies on a plastic wrap background that she prepped when last here in the fall.  She'd completed so many paintings in our three days that she could easily open her own gallery.

Alice dances with butterflies

Among other things, I got a chance to play with my new Dylusions Ink sprays from Ranger, which pleased me no end.  Alice had purchased them for me on a recent trip to Maryland.  I'm so hooked that I've got a barb sticking out of each eye!

Oh the colour!

As we moved back and forth between the deck

Paul shoots John while I shoot him

and the studio,

The Three Amigos

we were constantly aware how rich and fortunate are our lives.  Truly the paint fumes, supportive spouses,  sunshine,  flowers, valley, friendship and the wine are really hard to top!

Here and gone.

We've just had a whirlwind two and a half days here with Alice Saltiel-Marshall and husband Bill Marshall, who were visiting from Claresholm, Alberta on their way for a family campout at Invermere.

As they are long-time acquaintances from our previous lives in Canmore, it was pure delight to re-connect and spend time together on their first Creston stay.  We scored some stamps and ephemera at Gleaners, toured the town, and sipped a little Skimmerhorn wine.  While Bill and John fished in a nearby lake yesterday, Alice and I stormed the studio for most of the day (although we did step out for a delectable lunch at the Real Food Cafe).  By day's end, Alice and I were drooping with post-painting exhaustion, and a hugely tidied-up studio looked like this:

Collapsed and giddy

I am awed and amazed at the huge number of starts, well-on-their-way and finished pieces that Alice created in the shambles, including a third of an altered board book - she is a painting fiend!

I'd Like to be Under the Sea   mixed media  by Alice Saltiel   2012

The piece above started with a cheesecloth stencil, was overlaid with palette paper transfers, over-stamped and then embellished - isn't it a beauty?  Alice kindly gave this to me as a parting gift - makes me think she was very happy to get out of here!

This lovely romantic piece above by Alice incorporates stamps, stencils and embellishments - very ethereal.

We spent some time playing with spray mist as above, which was both fun and a challenge.  It is water-soluble, which was difficult to incorporate into mixed media work.  We finally determined it could be utilized if it was sprayed after it dried with a workable fixative.  Above, Alice was also testing her crackle stamp against mine, comparing the differences.

We each did several starts with both soft and extra-heavy gel medium on Tuesday night, playing with them again through yesterday.  With dark paints, washes and stamp pad brushings, they became richly saturated  with colour by day's end.

It was pure delight, and both John and I are looking forward to a return visit in the near future.  Fortified with paint, stamps, mediums and new play things, along with fish and sunshine, we could surely conquer the world.

Fun and...

games are always part of my studio life.  I saw / heard / invented (doubtful) another kind of play that has had me intrigued for some time, but just purchased the necessities last week - for under $20.  I bought a package of 10 foam rollers and the roller thingamabob that goes with them, and then cut out some shapes in the rollers with an Xacto knife.  I won't tell you how many blades I had to use - apparently foam is tough on sharp blades!

The results were really entertaining, and I can think of a ton of ways to use the them, from background right on up.  It's interesting to see how the look changes depending the amount and thickness of paint used, on whether they are placed on a solid white background,

Hand-cut foam roller ' stars stamp'

versus a coloured background, 

Hand-cut foam roller 'leaves stamp'

a multi-coloured background,

Hand-cut foam roller 'hearts stamp'

a patterned background,

Hand-cut foam roller 'leaves stamp'

  a text-filled background,

Hand-cut foam roller 'circles stamp'

or even photos.

Hand-cut foam roller 'zig-zag stamp'

I always have so much fun with experimenting that it can be a challenge to actually create a painting - maybe that's why I love instructing so much.  

I still have five more foam rollers to design and cut, so goodness knows what might come out of that! Do YOU have any ideas?  Comments, suggestions and outrageous ideas always gratefully accepted.

Another 'play' date

While I do intend to post more Art Trot pieces this week, I want to put a small plug in for an event that follows that one.  Artists and Dragons is a fund-raiser for the Community of Creston Arts Council and the local ArtWalk, and takes place at the Rotocrest Hall on Saturday, February 18, 2012.

This event includes artists working on their pieces on site, and those works, as well as donated pieces from other local artists, will be raffled as prizes.  I know that some artists are working on dragon-related items - Nora McDowell is busily knitting a dragon scarf these days, and I've heard rumours of other fiery items in the works.  At the event, you can purchase tickets to place on your favourite piece(s), and if your name is drawn for that piece, you can take the dragon's treasure home!

Although not dragon themed, I'm donating an unusual piece that works either as a wall piece or on a table.  Called Playing with Value, it's 5" x 5 " x 3" deep, and five of the six 'sides' are worked in mixed media.

Playing with Value by Win Dinn  5" x 5" x 3" 

Playing with Value  - Bottom

Playing with Value - Left

Playing with Value - Right

Playing with Value - top

The title is a dual 'play' on words since it refers to the artists' concept of value (light through dark), as well as some of the things that I've personally held important in my life.

I encourage you to place Artists & Dragons on your calendar, get your ticket at Black Bear Books or Kingfisher, and make an evening of it!  Time to get out and play....