Family Portrait

For this project I was inspired by one of my many, many collections: vintage tintypes. Not only do I like the look of these early photographs, they always pique my curiosity about the lives of the people shown. 

In keeping with the age of the tintypes, I decided to use vintage book cloth torn off of vintage book covers as one of the ingredients. I love the natural fade to the bluish-green book cover and the textured brown of the leather-like cover.

I wanted to echo the Victorian-feel of the tintype in the piece, so I decided to use dies from Spellbinders to create both a frame and a background. For the background, I nested two dies from the Elegant Labels Four set...

...and cut from the brown book cloth that was pulled off of the cover.

For the tintype frame, I used the third die from the same set and used it to cut the bluish-green book cloth, also pulled off from the book cover. I cut the same shape from a piece of card stock to glue behind the book cloth to make it sturdier.

To create the frame for the tintype, I cut out the central portion of this die cut and added some dimension by rubbing it with some dye ink from an ink pad.

I threaded two small strips of hand painted paper through the slots at either end of the frame and then glued it to the tintype, which was cut to match the shape of the frame.

To stay true to the source of the book cloth, I decided to use a piece of book board, cut to approximately 7" x 5.5", as the substrate for this piece. I covered it with light weight paper and painted the surface an amber shade with acrylic paint. It was distressed a bit with dye ink as well.

With all the ingredients now ready, I assembled the pieces to create "Family Portrait" and feel like I have honored the couple in the tintype and given them new life!

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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders^TM Grand Calibur® Machine

S6-005 Spellbinders^TM Nestabilities® Elegant Labels Four

Other: tintype, book board, vintage book cloth, paper, card stock, acrylic paint, dye ink, adhesive, dauber applicator, paint brush, scissors, guillotine paper cutter

Calling All Northwesterners

I am excitedly planning for my upcoming trip to the Northwest. Something about that area of the country is magical for me. Quite a number of years ago, a chain of events led me to Vancouver, British Columbia, where another chain of events started me on the path to becoming an artist. Last year, I spent several weeks in Vancouver and Washington State promoting the release of my book and spending time with old friends and meeting a huge crew of blogging friends for the first time in person.

In May, I head out there once again for what is sure to be a memorable and inspiring time. I start out in Ashland, Oregon where I am meeting Roxanne Evans Stout for the opening of our exhibit "The Story Within" on May 3rd at Illahe Studios and Gallery. Roxanne and I are working on a collaborative series of artwork in which we both work on every piece. Think wood panels, encaustic, plaster, acrylic, and mixed media. We will both be posting pics of the artwork and the show but for now, here are some glimpses...

Following the exhibition, I will be heading to Portland, Oregon and will be teaching 3 workshops at Collage.

On May 9th, I will be teaching 'Folded Foto Folio'. There are 2 spots left in that workshop.

On May 10th, it will be 'A Box of Dreams' and there are 4 seats left there.

On May 11th, I will be teaching '52 Card Pickup', where there is only 1 seat left. 

On May 11th, I will also be at Collage from 6:00 - 7:30pm for an informal "Meet the Artist" event, where I will have the opportunity to spend some time with those who attend. I will also have some of my art set up for purchase as well.

After Portland, I will be heading for the first time to Coupeville, Washington on beautiful Whidbey Island. You know a place is amazing if the only way to get there is via ferry! I will be teaching two 2-day workshops at the Pacific Northwest School of Art.

On May 13th and 14th, I will be teaching 'Mixed Media Memoire'.

I will be teaching 'Mixed Media Dossier' on May 15th and 16th.

I hope to be able to run into all my peeps in the Northwest either at the exhibition, at one of the workshops, or at sometime in between!

Tell All - Chapter 12

 

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.

Style File, Techniques & Tools, Master Class, It's Still Life, and Playing Favorites were the first five projects posted and links to all these posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The final project from The Pulse #5, Tell All, continues now with the last post in the series...

Participants were asked: what is the one thing that you know now that you would have liked to have known when you first started to create art? 

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I wish I'd had a mentor who encouraged me and my creative impulse, all while being VERY raw honest about the struggle. Mostly how normal it is, and how we humans face "struggle" in every walk of life. Maybe I wouldn't have had so many anxious, neurotic moments. Jacqueline Auvigne

You just have to do it to get a good result sooner or later. Marion Bockelmann

How to better connect with my readers and the technicalities of the cyber world. It's a pretty steep learning curve for those of us who weren't raised immersed in the world of computers. But it's been a fun ride! Deryn Mentock

How much I need a patron. Sarah Fishburn

There are no rules. I have no formal art training or education, so for many years I was intimidated because I didn't know the "right way". annie!

That being an artist does not mean that you can draw realistically. Dawn DeVries Sokol

I would like to have known a patient Gallery owner. Seriously, it would have spurred my art career on at a much younger age to feel comfortable knowing I would not become a "starving artist". Cathy Minerva

That I don't have to have a goal when I start a piece, even though it comes in handy when I get "canvas block". ange

Yes you can! How to shut out that self-doubting voice. Wish someone had taught me that as a child. Why does that lesson take so long to learn? Kim Palmer

I would like to have known then (when I started to create art) what I know now and would like to know now what I will know in 5 years from now. Antonia Griva

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This is the last Tell All post in the series and the last post from the entire 5th online edition of The Pulse. Thanks to all the participants for sharing their work and words and thanks to all of you who have spent your Sundays with me and with The Pulse.

Stay tuned for an all new 6th edition to begin soon.

Double Triple

I am happy to be part of two Value Packs of three items each now available at the North Light Shop. 

Art Journal Freedom

Along with a copy of Dina Wakley's new book Art Journal Freedom and Margaret Peot's DVD Alternative Art Cards, this Value Pack includes my DVD Easy Mixed Media Surface Techniques.

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Journal Fodder 365

Along with a copy of Journal Fodder 365 by Eric M. Scott and David R. Modler and a Handbook Travelogue Square Journal, this Value Pack includes my DVD Easy Mixed Media Techniques for the Art Journal.

Count on Me

I started by selecting a sheet of hand painted watercolor paper from my stash. The surface had been created with pan pastels and spray ink. I glued it onto a piece of book board for support. I ran a gold leafing pen around the edges of the book board and dye ink around the edge of the watercolor paper to better frame out the piece.

I am a sucker for anything printed with numbers or letters and Spellbinders has both in a new embossing folder. This was the inspiration for the project and I used the number side to deeply emboss several pieces of black card stock.

Using a gold Delicata pigment ink pad (which is just about one of the best pads I have found) and a craft sponge, I swiped across the raised letters and highlighted them in rich gold.

I then went ahead and die cut multiple-sized circles out of the sheets of embossed letters, kraft-color card stock, and red decorative paper.

I matched these up with rubber and metal washers that I had gotten from the hardware store.

Stacking and gluing all the pieces together, I came up with the following configurations.

I raided my stash of letter stickers and came across black, capital letters that I thought were perfect for this project.

Finally, I played around with the composition of all the components and when I was happy, I adhered them all to my background piece. As a final touch, I scribbled around the letters with the wax pastels to add more dimension to the piece.

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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders^TM Grand Calibur® Machine

EL-027 Spellbinders^TM M-Bossibilities®  Numbers and Letters Embossing Folder

S4-114 Spellbinders^TM Nestabilities® Standard Circles Large

S4-116 Spellbinders^TM Nestabilities® Standard Circles Small

Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko Delicata pigment ink pad, Imagine Crafts Inkblushers sponge

Cross Promotional Partners: 7 Gypsies Postale alphabet stickers

Other: book board, watercolor paper, card stock, decorative paper, pan pastels, spray ink, dye ink, leafing pen, wax pastels, hardware, adhesive, paper towel

The Mixed-Media Artist

The Mixed-Media Artist: Art Tips, Tricks, Secrets and Dreams from Over 40 Amazing Artists

I am so pleased to be able to share with you the cover of my second book. I saw it for the first time on Friday and couldn't be more thrilled. Happily, North Light Books has moved the release date up and The Mixed-Media Artist will now be available in October 2013. If you cannot wait, you can pre-order the book now on Amazon.