Working Small

In my Yahoo mixed media group we have started another book study, Mixed Media Mania by Debbi Crane and Cheryl Prater. When the group does a book study, we go through the book chapter by chapter and members and try the various techniques and projects. We post our works so we all can get inspiration and make comments. There are also frequent swaps where you send in your version of the project, and receive an equal amount of the same project from other members. The results are always surprising and the swaps cause me to try new techniques.

One of the swaps coming up is 1.5 inch squares. It’s more than just cutting a photo out of a magazine, it’s a mini collage that can have a lot of elements. So here’s my take. I started with junk cardboard, painted it with black gesso and then used iridescent, and interference paints to create backgrounds for my squares. I learned this technique from Chris Cozen and Julie Prichard’s online class, Pretty Papers.

Next I painted metal foil with alcohol inks.

The foil comes in rolls in copper, and brass colored and has a silver back which can also be painted. I always paint both sides so I have a variety of colors.

Next, the foil is tooled using Walnut Hollow’s creative metal tools. I was introduced to these products at the Quilt festival in Chicago last year. Judy Coates Perez was the instructor, and she does beautiful work. Check out her copper book covers.

I purchased a beginner’s kit last year, here are a few of the tools. Walnut hill sells real copper, not the color coated foil like I have.

But back to the 1.5 inch squares. I’m having so much fun creating them. I’ve laid out my finished or nearly finished ones in a grid pattern, and it may become a larger work

I’m going to try to do the 1.5 inch squares in at least 5 techniques that are new to me.

Fiber artist group

I participate in a monthly gathering of fiber artists held at a quilt shop nearby. It’s a diverse group of women who are constantly challenging each other to learn new techniques and hone skills. Last week when we were meeting a belly dancer who makes all her costumes was in the shop purchasing supplies. We asked her to show and tell.

Here she is modeling one of her “skirts”. The skirt has thousands of tiny beads.

Here’s another skirt. this one was crocheted, and again has thousands of beads.

Here’s what she wears with the skirts, a beaded one piece with thong. And you thought quilters were a bunch of stodgy old ladies.

a crafter's obituary

Sometime in the 90's newspapers began seeking new revenue and allowed families to write obituaries and pay for the privilege to do so. Obituaries suddenly became much more interesting. My husband started a collection of the unusual ones. Today he handed me one that read:

"entered a place where glue and glitter have been replaced with true love, joy, and happiness"

It just makes you want to know more about the woman from Roanoke, Virginia who loved her glue and glitter.

Winter Park Art Festival

Florida has some wonderful art shows in the spring, The Winter Park Festival is one of the best. Each year over 1600 artists compete for 250 juried entries. It is celebrating its 51st year this year. Tom and I went today, and it did not disappoint. I did not take any pictures since most of the artists do not want you taking photos of their works, but I have put in links to the websites of some of the ones I liked. If you click on the link above, it will take you to the festival site, and you can click on artists gallery and you can see a representational piece of each artist's work.

A trip to the Festival is not complete without a walk through of Timothy’s Gallery (where I have found some exceptional jewelry over the years) and lunch at Bosporus , a Turkish restaurant on Park Avenue. The nine appetizer tray Tom and I shared was delicious.

here are some of the highlights of the festival

Matthew Cornell His ocean paintings are absolutely spectacular. He always sells out on the first day, and his paintings are pricey. We’re talking a 5” piece in the hundreds. The large ocean water one was in the neighborhood of 10K.

Adam Spector Tom and I bought a couple of his pieces. It was the first time I had seen him at the show.

William Kidd These were wildly fantastic ceramics, very sensual.

Clare Malloy One of these days I’m going to have to take home one of her landscapes. She gets in the show every year.

John Costin Before the show opened he sent me a postcard of his most recent hand colored etching, Pensive Great Blue. Today we saw it at the show. It was spectacular, but almost 48” tall with a very large price tag.

Amy Flynn Tom didn’t care for her found object robots, but I found them delightful to look at. She gets her finds at the Raleigh Flea Market held each weekend at the fairgrounds. I’ll have to make a field trip next time I visit Laurel.

Anthony Pack If you can stand another found object assemblage, his work was fun to look at too.

Emerson Matabele This New Orleans photographer had some of the most engaging photographs of the show. If you click on his website, be sure to click on the tabs at the top of the page called light, wisdom and discovery.

John Petrey This sculpture is very appealing. If you visit the website, be sure to click on the dress series for images. It is fascinating to see his work and know that it is just made of sticks, or asphalt shingles, or cards.

And if you have hung in there this long, I’ll reward you with a photo, and you’ll see that everything at the festival is not “high art”. Here’s Tom with two of my favorites

Air ball

I’ve been doing an online journal prompt each day from this site. Today’s prompt was “the one that got away”. I’ve had basketball on the brain lately, and after the Kentucky Wildcats poor showing against Alabama in the SEC tournament, I was hopeful that today’s game would not be the one that got away.

‘Cats were great today. Go Big Blue!

Photo Finish

This has been a year to finish projects. I’ve had the photo transfer on canvas on my design wall since last summer’s art camp. It was a practice piece, but I liked it. On Thursday I found a strip pieced orphan block made long ago with hand painted fabrics. I paired this combo with a batik I found in my stash. It’s quilted and bound, but not finished.

I pulled out my beads and buttons and added some pizzazz to this quilt. I think I’m finished, but I’ll need to look at it for a few days. I took this photo in morning light on the porch so it’s truer in color to the original.

Headboard Rescue

I’ve been taking an online class from Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen entitled Color Beyond the Basics. It’s a class all about acrylic paint, it’s properties and the ways you can manipulate it. My artistic painting skills need development, but today I tackled a project that has been annoying me.

The paint on our metal headboard had worn off in spots, and needed to be touched up. But it was a mix of many colors of paint applied in layers. Before I took the class the job of repainting it was too intimidating. In the class I learned enough to identify the colors in the headboard and today I repainted.

Here's the before picture

And the after one. The curled piece shows the original finish. I only painted the horizontal and vertical parts.

The Marquis of Carrabus

Today’s prompt in my journal exercise was collage. I borrowed from Claudine Hellmuth’s blog and made a collage of the beloved pet of my childhood, Markie. His real name was the Marquis of Carrabus. He’s been gone for over 40 years now, but seeing his sweet face still brings back wonderful memories. The dress and hat is something he might have worn since he would allow my sister and me to dress him up in doll clothes, although I’m pretty sure he would not have gone for black boots.

Goodbye studio, Hello guest room

It doesn’t happen very often, but about twice a year, I break down my studio to make room for guests. It gives me a chance to clean everything and get rid of things that no longer interest me.

House party this weekend! Three other couples are joining us for Food, fun, and art. We’ll mingle with the thousands of bikers who are in the area for Bike Week, we’ll go to a fabulous show of Florida art at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, have a cornhole tournament on the porch, eat well, and generally enjoy each other’s company.

And look who flew in one day last week. I hope He/she hangs around for the weekend.

It’s Bike Week in Daytona

And the locals are loving it.