Tell All - Chapter 11

 

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...

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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To create my own art style and not to worry what everyone else thinks about it. That it's okay to be inspired by other artists and take that inspiration and apply it, in some way, to your own art. Judy Shea

That there are no rules. You make them as you go. Don't try to please anyone. Don't lie to yourself. Stephanie Brouwers

That painting gets easy. Well, maybe not easy peasy, but easier, the more you do it. So don't stop. Keep painting! Katherine Labbe AKA Miz Katie

That my best work comes when I don't care what other people think about it. It's more fun to work this way - no pressure, no problem. Cathie Parreco

I am an artist. donna louise rodgers

That it is important to be true to myself and not make art with the idea of having to please other people. Sharon Read

Nothing. I am still growing and always playing. Building upon what I discover. Stephanie Hilvitz

That people will actually pay money for my work! I might have started being serious much earlier if I knew that! Cyn Richardson

That the fundamental basics are so important. Cory Celaya

I wish I would have been more fearless when I first started to make art. Dayna J. Collins

You ARE allowed to question everything. Marsha Jorgensen

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Next Tell All will be the last post on the series and will be posted on Sunday, March 24th

Need to Tell

This past weekend I had the pleasure to co-teach a workshop with Roxanne Evans Stout and Elizabeth Wix at Little Bird Creations Studio in NYC. 

The class was called "The Need to Tell Stories" and focused on the intersection of book making, art, and story telling. It was a two-day workshop with ten students and it was a very special experience.

We started off the weekend with clean tables and organized supplies...

But quickly created creative chaos as people began to make their own handmade books...

Here is Karen, ready to start work on putting her book together ...

Cecelia was deep in thought and bathed in sunlight as she pondered the theme of her written story...

Roxanne had everybody work on art exercises that became part of the art on the book pages...

Each person in the workshop took their plain white pages and made them come alive with backgrounds in their own personal palette...

And even the actual palettes were a vision to behold...

Rivers of color filled the workshop...

An assortment of mixed media supplies filled the tables and made artful vignettes...

Magic began to happen when beautiful artwork was then layered onto the pages...

Some pages were were light and breezy, like the wings of a butterfly...

And some pages were dark and earthy...

The book covers were layered with each artists' creations...

When silence filled the air, I knew that people were focused on their creative process...

And in the end, every person left with their bound stories...

To Roxanne and Elizabeth: thanks for holding this workshop with me and doing it so creatively. To Michele, who runs Little Bird: thanks for being such a stellar host. And to all the artists who took this workshop and put your faith in the three of us: thank you for being the perfect students! Your books are all creative treasures!

For more thoughts and images, you can read Roxanne's post about the workshop here and Elizabeth's post here...

Dragonfly

As artists I think we all have our preferred techniques and projects that we go to when we feel the need to be creative but also want a dose of zen. For me, it is making simple little books. With some hand painted papers from my stash, a few sheets of watercolor paper, scissors, thread and a needle, I have a mini-book.

I can make dozens of these at a sitting, all of which I leave in a pile so I can come back another day to decorate the cover. Today's cover inspiration was a new set of dies from Spellbinders called Distressed Edges. With a name like that you know I had to give them a go.

I grabbed two different colors of hand painted paper and one of the dies out of the set of seven. I ended up with two rectangular die cuts and used the scissors to form two frames with the left over paper. I chose one frame and one centerpiece from each color family for contrast to use for my book cover. I will save the other two pieces for a future project.

I chose a different color of hand painted paper and made one more die cut using a different die from the Distressed Edges set. I cut that piece in half.

I used a stamp pad to add a bit of shadow and contrast to the edges of all the die cuts.

Given that spring is doing its best to come to NYC, I decided to incorporate a bit of a nature theme. I selected a branch die from Spellbinders Mix'd Media Elements set and matched that with some hand painted paper in a rich brown with green tones.

Using one of my favorite rubber stamps and ink, I stamped an image of a dragonfly on parchment colored paper.

I highlighted different sections of the image using bright colors that remind me of spring. When I add it to the book cover, I will draw in the dragonfly's antenna.

My next step: putting it all together.

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Supply List

Spellbinders Paper Art Supplies:

GC-001 Spellbinders^TM Grand Calibur® Machine

S5-174 Spellbinders^TM Nestabilities® A2 Distressed Edges 

S5-085 Spellbinders^TM Shapeabilities® Mix'd Media Elements

Preferred Promotional Partners: Tsukineko StazOn Ink Pad, Imagine Crafts Inkblushers sponge

Other: watercolor paper, gesso, watercolor paint, acrylic paint, paint brush, water brush, rubber stamp, pen, thread, needle, scissors, adhesive

Tell All - Chapter 10

 

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...

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 started my journey as an artist as a painter and straight away I wanted to sell my art. As a result I painted what I thought would sell and what would be considered to be a good painting. Painting to sell put a lot of pressure on me and I wish I had known then that a sale is much less satisfying than creating something that sings to my creative soul. Lisa Sarsfield

I sold my first piece of art when I was 16 and really got into my painting before taking a decade break because I was both too hard on myself and not fully able to express myself. I was afraid at that age to fully do what I wanted to do or show anyone the results. I always loved anatomy, but thought people would think it was weird to paint a human heart, for example. Now I don't care what people think - and I use LOTS of anatomical hearts in my art. I feel that had I known this at 16, I never would have stopped creating and how nice it would be to have that extra decade of experience. Alicia Caudle

Well, I think about when I started painting using oils in my late teens, finishing several paintings back then. I wish I had not let so much time go by before picking up a paint brush again. If you want to be good at something, I think it takes a lot of practice and time. JoAnnA Pierotti

I have been making boxes all my life. I never called it art. I never knew it was art. Sometime in the 1980's I got to see a Joseph Cornell exhibit. I was spellbound. Knowing that I had a connection with his work and this art form affected me in a profound way. I started looking into "assemblage" and "box art". It was not until the mid-2000's that I actually took the plunge on my own artistic journey. Rebeca Trevino

I started creating when I was a very small child and the need to create has stayed with me all that time. I cannot think of anything that a child needs to know when creating art other than to enjoy themselves. As an adult, however, I would have liked to know how hard it is to sell work - especially in times of worldwide financial hardship. Gillian McMurray

I first started to create art at age 26. It was really a "just for fun" thing then. Now it is a passion. It took me a long time to figure out how important a part of my life creating art is. Wish I knew sooner. Liz Hampton-Derivan

The first time I remembering creating art (not just some activity like coloring in a coloring book) was when I was 7. I drew winter trees, without any leaves, across from where we lived, and I really labored over it. Looking back now, it would have been good to know then that I didn't have to try so hard, and I would have gotten better results if I used a lighter touch. Jude 

Since I started creating art at the age of 5, I really knew then what I forgot and then learned much later - I'm allowed to do anything I please with my art. Shirley Ende-Saxe

I would have liked someone to tell me way back when I wanted to be a working artist straight out of high school, that it is actually possible to have a career in art. If would be so much better if we encourage creativity in kids and then armed them with the skills they needed in the business world. Being an artist can be a day job - provided you have the right skills to turn it into a business. Rhomany

Art is in the eye of the beholder, and within the individual artist. Being criticized in high school art class for thinking outside the box did not help my self esteem at all! I still do not consider myself a true artist. I have never been schooled in any particular discipline, I just like to try all things. When I entered blogland, a whole new, exciting world of art, inspiration, ideas, tutorials and creativity presented itself to me. It's a wonder-full thing! Pat McNally

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Next Tell All will be posted on Sunday, March 17th