Jumping from project....

 ...to project seems to be the way to keep my muse entertained, and I've certainly been doing that this past week.  I started creating the paper for my next star book

and it looks decidedly different from when I started on hot press watercolour paper with a flurry of stamping.

I finished a bookmark that had been sitting on my table for weeks and weeks and weeks.

I created a card with a skeleton leaf I found months ago.

And that got me back into the mode for Christmas card assembly (and a darn good thing, too, as it's creeping ever closer and there are many more to build).

I painted three wooden panels, and secured works on paper to them, one of which was presold.  Don't you love it when a sale spurs on projects that had been waiting in the wings?  I'd been avoiding doing this for two of them for at least two years because it's a tricky thing to retro-fit a paper work to a panel,  Cowardice wins every time.  😨 

And I finally finished working on that large piece (well, two pieces actually) of Typar I started last month.

I suspect part of it will be perfect for a hinged binding I have in mind.

I have also started a 20 x 16" painting, which is at the really boring stage right now (that is much preferable to the ugly stage which is my least favourite part of painting 😖).  More on that next week - or month - depending on where the muse leads me!

Hope your week has been both productive and fun.  I look forward to hearing all about it.  

I got lost...

...somewhere between Creston, Penticton, the kitchen and studio.  Thank goodness I had my camera with me, so you could see I'm still in my usual chaos.

With preparations hot and heavy for a family weekend in Penticton, it was a toss-up whether I would stamp and paint,

play with shapes of paper pulled from clothing packages,

 use scraps to create a birthday card,

 or cut itsy bitsy leaves from my stamping frenzy before, during or after prep time.. 

As you can see, I did it all, although missed most of the photos required.  Then I baked and cooked up a storm before leaving town for a July long weekend with the extended family all gathering in Penticton.  Kudos to brother Neal and his wife Judith, who hosted the madness!

Sixteen people gathered (four kidlets included) with five dogs, one cat, nine dozen cookies, three dozen cupcakes,  four dozen wings, salads, ribs, wine tasting, beaches, drives, walks, a tractor and an amazing amount of laughter.  It was wonderful bedlam:

I do hope that your holiday weekend, whether in Canada or elsewhere, was as much fun.  It'll be back to creativity this next week, and maybe some of those snippets of things will actually get utilized elsewhere.  In the meantime, happy July, my artsy friends.

It's done...

...but not over.  The Creative Fix  adult Gelli it Up! playshop is finished for this fall, but Brandy is so hooked she'll be teaching it to a younger crowd.

We had a lot of fun last night, between finishing the gilding technique,

Brandy's gilding technique, backed with vibrant orange speckled paper

Karen's gilding technique, using a plain white backing

scraping the paint from the wax crayon technique,

Janet's colour-ful wax crayon resist print

Faye's wax crayon resist

learning the Thick over Thin technique,

Alison's hooked on this technique

 along with some leaf printing.

Not sure who did this one, but it's a beaut!

Students were asked to bring all their prints with them, choose the 'I hate that print' ones to mask and print over top using pearlescent, interference, duochrome and specialty paints. There were some fabulous results.

I think this one is Janet's

Pretty sure Alison did this!

And just to add some serious fun (definitely an oxymoron) into the mix, they used Art Foamies, stamps and more stamps as well.

Aren't these Art Foamie owls just the cutest?

Some organic stamping on here.

The over-script on this one adds yet another layer.

A repeated Art Foamies motif.

Ladies, it's been a blast - thanks for coming out to play.

The next opportunity for creative play is the Mixed Media I - Playtime for Adults, in Cranbrook, BC on November 8 & 9 at the Cranbrook and District Arts Council.  Will you join me there?

Rockin' the fun...

was this groups' motto, I think.  And as I mentioned in my last post, rebellion was the order of the day - both days.

I'd say do this - and invariably they'd do the opposite.  After our painted papers dried,

Painted paper,  waiting to dry overnight

I mentioned they could be wrapped around a canvas, in stages, by first securing the paper with medium to the front of the canvas, waiting for it to dry, and then doing the same on the sides, around to the back.  No more than ten minutes later, I saw one of the brattiest ladies (you know who you are) covering the WHOLE of the canvas, front and sides with the papers, and managing it without any issues at all.  Don't you just hate it when students prove you wrong?  And don't these look amazing?  They don't need anything else to make a wall shine.

I thought I'd show you a few more 'in progress shots', which I suspect were taken the morning of day two.

 

Don't these just get the creative juices flowing?

It's wonderful to see so many pieces so well on their way to completion.  The hope was that each participant would take home a completed painting, and by the looks of their drying areas, most of them would be carting home their own gallery-full!

A lovely cobweb piece

Using a foam roller wrapped with elastics (or maybe string)

  

A clear tar gel drop & resist technique

A gesso drop technique

Utilizing self-leveling clear tar gel, tinted with paint

Drywall compound, over-painted with washes of colour.

 

Paint, stamps and more stamps

Paint, string wrapped brayer, and over-stamping

Love those layers of paint, splatter and elastic-wrapped foam

Paint, elastic-wrapped foam roller, gesso drops, fabric and goodness knows what else! - YUM!

The participant who created this luxurious background was not too fond of it, until she had a happy accident with a broken skin, which just made it sing.  Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of that stage, but I love this one without it too!

Here I am, elegantly attired and perfectly composed, pontificating, while nobody pays any attention - typical for the weekend!

Did I say we had fun?  More than you can imagine!  Check out the playshop page for one coming to your area, or email me to discuss the possibility.