Distinctive Touches

Copic Watercolor Art

Remember THIS post?  Well, I decided to use that same "watercolor" technique and create some artwork for our bedroom.  We just got a new bedroom set and I desperately needed something to fill the wall space. 

These are the three pieces I created...  I love them all...  (the photo of the middle one didn't turn out well and you can't see the dark spot of pink near the bottom... it only looks shiny here.) 

They really look nice above our bed! (ignore the messy sheets please!)

I've got a few more things I want to do for decor in this room... and then it will finally be done!  Only two years after moving in!  LOL

Thanks for stopping by - have a colorful day!

Copic Watercolor

Just a quick post today as I finalize projects, clean the house, and pack for CHA!  Just a few more days to get it all done. 

I wanted to share something new that I've been doing with my Copics lately... Copic Watercoloring!

Isn't this cool?  We purchased a new bedroom set and our linens are plum, white and silver and they look so stunning with the dark wood of the furniture.  I decided I wanted to make my own artwork for the room and I had the idea of trying to create an abstract painting with a watercolor look.  

I decided to play around with the technique and these are a few of my sample pieces.  I just LOVE the way they turned out!  I paired them up with these extra-large saying stamps from 10 Second Studios...

Super Geeked!  I can't wait to get to work on my bedroom paintings next. 

Sorry to post and run... I'm off to start packing supplies for CHA! (If you are going to CHA - stop by the Copic booth and say hi!)

My First Fabric "Face"

The world has just gone crazy people!!!  I am sick for a few days and when I come back to post on my blog I find out that TypePad has changed it's look!  (Maybe I should have payed attention to all of those "We're Changing Our Look" posts that I kept getting...) LOL  Anyway... I'm tootling my way around the new layout and hoping for the best!  

Speaking of changes... I have a project to share that is a change from my ordinary!  I've spent the last year stamping and coloring and coloring and stamping... and I wanted to try something new.  So I went Textile! 

On a whim I signed up for a course called Faces On Fabric with Terri Stegmiller.  Create a painted and quilted, fabric wall hanging with my face on it... okay sounds cool... but did I fail to mention that I've never quilted before in my life?  Have I told you that I DON'T really sew?  Oh... who needs to know what they are doing... just jump right in.. that's MY motto!

So I did.  And I LOVED every minute of it! 

Here is how my FOF quilt started... okay... the drawing part wasn't so scary... I can do this!

And here is how my FOF quilt ended up.  Well... I'll admit that I'm no Martha Stewart... but hey... I'm pretty darn impressed with myself!!!  (Just don't look too closely at the stitching... that was a bit more scary than the drawing!  LOL)  It turned out EXACTLY like my drawing... I'm so PUMPED!  It's 15x15 and is just the perfect size for a small wall hanging. 

Even though I REALLY didn't have time for this course... I'm SO glad I took it!  I learned SO much and I'll definitely be creating more of these fun projects.  

Hope you enjoy seeing it!  Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later. 

For the LOVE of COLOR!

You know how when you find some cool new product and you want to tell your friends all about it?  Or you see a totally cool new technique and you can't wait to share it with others? 

That's how I feel about a class that I just took.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!  I'm SOOOOO geeked that I can't hardly sit still! 

You all know that I am a fiend for color; that my world is filled with aquamarines and fuchsias and periwinkles, a few drops of crimson and a dab of chartreuse, a touch of lavender and a hint of tangerine... but did you know that I'm not alone in this obsession? 

I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking a class with Teri Martin over at My Creative Classroom.  Teri is a tremendous artist who is known for her watercolor and text/calligraphy combinations.  Well, Teri is almost as crazy for color as me... and her class was all about color... and how to achieve a color pallet that worked together using just three basic colors!  

I don't typically work in watercolor, but I figured I would give it a go in her class because... well, because I wanted to learn something totally new and push myself to use a medium that I wasn't as familiar with (although she told me I could do the same thing with my acrylics). 

I learned how to make some wonderful and stunning color pallets... with all of the colors working together PERFECTLY!  It was amazing.  We also were prompted to make some mini-painting "studies" and while I was very nervous about those, I jumped right in.  This was one of my favorites that I did.  I really like the blue and purple background... and the text... well, let's just say that I'm going to be a VERY attentive student in Teri's future calligraphy classes.  LOL

I know a lot of my readers are color crazy like me... and I TOTALLY recommend Teri's class Understanding Color (I'm told she is going to be offering it again in the fall).

That's it for now...

Have a colorful day!

colleen

 

Color and Texture - A Painted Canvas

Hi again... are you surprised that I'm posting two days in a row?

I got some time in during the past couple of days to do some more painting.  I don't paint people or landscapes... or anything else recognizable.  I like to do more abstract idea painting... you know, the type of stuff that nobody but the painter really gets.  LOL

I've been doing a lot of reading on creativity and doing a bunch of "soul searching" exercises and then taking those ideas into the studio.  It's been a lot of fun.  I'm learning to just sort of let go and create. 

These canvases are some of my first creativity inspired works.  I can't believe they took me WEEKS to do... and I'm not real sure they are finished yet actually. 

I started with some stiff molding paste... frosted it on in some places and tapped in on in others to create a variety of textures.  (I LOVE texture in paintings.)  Then... I just started layering!  The fist session I added four or five washes (paint thinned down to create a glaze) of blues... from light lavender to dark navy.  I added the color and blotted some of it off with a rag... leaving more color in the various textured areas. 

The second session found me adding more color with opaque layers of navy and black and white... mostly dry brushed on.  I also added some sprays with Stream and Lettuce Adirondack Colorwash Sprays from Ranger.  They were a lot of fun to use.  I spritzed some water on the canvas then to get the colorwash sprays to spread and smear a bit.  I had to spray the surface with a fixative before moving on to the next step or the colorwash sprays would continue to react with my paints.

The third session had me stamping some background patterns in white paint onto part of the canvas.  Since it's textured, the stamp didn't stamp clearly... but that is okay.  I also added scraps of painted book pages for a collaged effect.  I glued these on with Matte Medium and then added some drops and spritzes of colorwash spray again over the top. 

The last session saw me adding the pieces of metal mesh and the white cup rings.  I don't think I'm done yet... each time I look at them, I see something else to do or I feel the need to add something.  I think it's going to be some sort of text or writing...  but I'm not positive yet.  So far...each of the other layers sort of "spoke" to me and I just went with it... so I'm trying not to force the next step... if there is one. 

It was so much fun creating this piece... totally a process adventure instead of a "final product" piece... which I'm having fun with.  I'm actually thinking of offering an on-line class at My Creative Classroom this fall that takes you through the whole creative process like this... but I'm not sure there would be interest... what do you think?

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Hugs!

Buried Alive!

(Gasping for breath...sipping in the precious air...feeling the crushing weight...)

... I'm buried alive and I don't know if I'm going to make it...

Phew... at least that's how I FEEL today! LOL 

Just take a look at my desk.  Well okay... I know you can't SEE the desk... just look at the stuff ON my desk! 

How in the world can I create with that mess???  (The answer is...I can't!)

I was playing with some new painting techniques last week and ran out of steam in the middle of the project.  Now I have to get some stamping done and I can't find a horizontal surface to work on! 

Uuugh, maybe if I just close the door and go read a book the cleaning fairies will take pity on me and clean it up... and hey, if I leave them chocolate do you think they might whip up a card or two for me too? 

HUGS
colleen

Project 52 - #5 Cross Craft Inspiration

Did you know that I'm a studio potter? 

Okay, I'm not REALLY a studio potter... but I want to be... and I'm just practicing the power of positive thoughts. 

What I REALLY am is a pottery student.  And I can tell you with all honesty that some day I WILL have my very own pottery studio.  I am absolutely in love with it!  In college I took some sculpture classes and worked with clay, but I've never REALLY learned how to throw on a wheel... until now.  I drive up to Tulsa for class once a week and I'm learning so much!  It's hard though because my instinct is to throw a cylinder (the basic shape everyone learns to throw) and then try to get fancy... you know, add in a sweet curve here and a rolled lip there... but to actually be serious about it, I need to make cylinder after cylinder after cylinder... and nothing else!  Nothing fancy, nothing artistic, nothing creative... it just kills me!  (But hey, that's the only way I'm going to learn... by doing the basics....over and over again.)

Since I find potting (I'm not sure that is the correct term but I like the sound of it) so creative yet have to stifle that feeling in class, I decided to transfer my creativity to another medium. 

Here's this week's Project 52 sample.  I created this "painting" as a reflection of my feelings about clay, pottery, and shaping the earth.  I call it The Olive Jar.  My husband doesn't get it.  I'm not sure anyone will get it.  Know what?  Don't care... I get it!  That's the fun of abstract/contemporary kinds of art... it can relate to people on all sorts of different levels (or not at all). 

I started by frosting the canvas with some modeling paste to create a bit of texture.  Then I added paint; I worked with three different colors (browns, yellows and greens) to create the piece.  I started with a basic tan and added washes of gradually darker shades over the whole piece.  (I wiped some of the washes off in areas to keep the lighter color.)  I then painted a mustard yellow across most of the canvas.  More washes in yellows and oranges gradually darken the painting and add depth.  I added green to the bottom of the canvas (pulling the color up) and darkened that with a blackish-green wash.  I wanted even more depth, so I gave the whole thing a few washes with a dark brown... making sure to leave some of the paint along the edges of the texture paste.  Then, I highlighted some of the peaks by dry brushing the light tan over the piece.

As I was creating this (with no REAL design or goal in mind... just sort of "feeling" it) I remembered a trip I took to Israel when I was in college.  (Spent a month there on an archeology dig!)  Some of my fondest memories are of the magnificent working pottery there.  Water, grains, and oils were stored in these HUGE jars and stacked along the walls of the market place.  Suddenly I knew exactly where this piece was headed! 

To finish it up I created a UTEE medallion and brushed Perfect Pearls on it to give it an aged-pewter look and then attached it to the painting with hemp twine. 

I LOVE that this project was inspired by one of my current NEW activities and is a wonderful memory of the past as well.

Hope you like it!

Hugs,
colleen

Project 52 - #3: Artist Journal

Did you know that I'm an organization FREAK?  I organize my socks by color, I organize my shirts by length of sleeve, I organize my books by size, and well... I just organize! 

Since Project 52 is all about recording the events of your life, I figured this project was just the ticket!

This weekend I decided to add organization to my notes too.  You see, I have been reading a LOT of different art books lately.  I usually read a chapter or so each night after crawling into bed.  Of course, I usually find myself running across some super cool projects that I want to try out or some new techniques that I need to do.  I tell myself, "I'll have to remember that one."  ... and come morning, poof!  All those ideas are gone. 

I decided that I needed a journal.  Not one of those high-school, who's crushing on who types diaries, but a true artist journal... a place to write down ideas for projects I'd like to try, new techniques that I think are cool, quotes or readings that inspire me, and even a place to do some creative thinking.  Of course, I could have just dredged up an old spiral notebook, but you know me...  if it's for art... it's going to be "artified."  LOL

So... here is my very first "Artist Journal"  a place to keep all my artistic thoughts organized. 

I started with a chipboard journal that I pulled apart.  I frosted some texture paste onto the front and back cover and then stamped the Print Pattern (diamond) shapes into it while it was still wet.  Once it dried, I painted it with a bunch of washes from lilac to dark blue.  Then, I played with one of my FAVORITE collage type techniques.  I cut a picture from a magazine of a girl, glued it onto the cover, and then added a few layers of gesso to ALMOST cover the image.  Once it was dry, I drew in a face and added some hair.  Acrylic paints helped "flesh" her out and then I outlined her in black pen.  I tried stamping a quote on the upper left, but with the texture pattern, it didn't work, so I decided to hand write a quote... I thought it was cool to outline her with it.  It reads, "But if you have nothing at all to CREATE, then perhaps you CREATE yourself." 

Now I'm ready to fill this baby up with all the awesome ideas I stumble upon... and once this one is full, I'm definitely doing another!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Hugs,
colleen