The Beginning of Christmas

In my last post I wrote about Dawn Sokol’s  on-line class called 12.31 Art Journal.  I’ve made a lot of progress the past two days.  Today I finished up the canvas cover for the journal.

This was created on a piece of green duck canvas about 10 inches by 13 inches (I wanted to use up what I already had on hand).  I covered it with a coat of gesso, let that dry overnight and then painted the whole piece using three shades of pink that I mixed.   (I used Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio acrylics because they have a hint of gloss to them when dried).  Once the pink background dried I then sketched the scene of three snowy hills with Christmas trees.  I applied dots of white paint to simulate snow and them smeared them to look like it was really storming and windy as the snow was falling.  I used my sewing machine with a heavy-duty (#18) needle and sewed a zig zag stitch to hem all of the sides.  The finished size is 9 inches tall by 12 inches wide.  When I fold the cover in half, the page size will be 6 inches by 9 inches – a perfect size to carry with me.  I had planned to add some 3-D embellishments but decided to leave it as is (at least for now).  Another tradition has begun.

Tomorrow I will be collecting the pages to make signatures and then sewing them into the  journal.  Stay tuned for more.

I hope to have some graffiti covers and papers to show you soon from Mary Ann Moss’  –  Stencilry class.  Check out her blog – Dispatch from LA - very cool.

Merry Christmas.  Keep it simple and start some new traditions.

Art Classes with Kelly

WOW!  What a fabulous weekend spent at Art On A Lark taking Kelly Kilmer classes.   

The first class on Saturday morning was the Triptych Book.  A beautiful three panel handmade book with four signatures.  Kelly walked us through the process of collaging the covers and spines, then showed us how to create the individual signatures and sew them in using a very special design.   Below is the inside of the book.

Below are the covers.

Once completed we learned  different techniques for collaging and painting.  

The afternoon class was the Mementos Book.  This is a 9 inch by 9 inch journal with pockets on the inside.  Below is my unfinished cover.  Notice all of the tapes?  This is just a very small sample of all of the beautiful deco tapes Kelly brought to share with the students.

Below is the inside cover, notice the pocket on the left?  The right side is the first page of the signature with layered paint and stenciling.

I attended the Sunday afternoon class called Swatches.  These are hand sewn journals using recycled materials and are PERFECT as a take along project.  Below is the first journal (cover and some of the inside pages).  These pages were  created in the class using Kelly’s techniques.

I have to say that this was the best art weekend I have had in a long time.  If Kelly comes to teach in your area, sign up and take her classes.  She is a wonderful, patient and fun teacher!  You too will become hooked on her techniques and style.

Have an artful day!

Fabric+Paper – coloring

After our day at the fair yesterday, I was anxious to get back home and begin adding some color to the fabric+paper pieces that I had made earlier.  I actually have two full sheets now.  

For the fabric+paper above I used Liquitex acrylic inks in Yellow Orange and Quinacridone Magenta and blotted with a paper towel.  I added a few rubber stampings using StazOn ink.  I’m not sure if I will add anything else to this one – it is already pretty busy with the checkerboard tissue paper.  Maybe a bit of white acrylic or some Rub n Buff.  Maybe even a thin layer of gesso to tone it down a bit.

For this paper+fabric I used Golden’s fluid acrylic in Green Gold mixed with some water to create a glazing on the paper.  The paper now has a semi-gloss finish to it which is very nice.  I will be adding more to this one.  With all of the ridges that the tissue paper left, I may add the Rub n Buff Gold to accent it.  This page will make pretty leaf cutouts.

The yellow pink fabric+paper was created using my last bottle of Aleene’s Tacky Glue and for the green gold fabric+paper I used regular Elmer’s white glue.  Honestly, the one with Elmer’s glue has a better texture to it  and that is what I will use as I create more.

Back to the studio for more art! (After I finish the last load of laundry).

I hope you enjoy your Labor Day holiday!

Kelly Kilmer classes in Hillsboro, Oregon

Nationally known art journalist Kelly Kilmer will be teaching five classes over three days beginning September 25th.  Art on a Lark, is hosting the event.  For more details and to register, contact Helen or Lorraine at (503) 648-4395.  Hope to see you there.

Altered Photos Revisited, Friday, Sept. 25, 7-9pm

Triptych Book, Sat., Sept. 26, 10-2pm

Mementos, Sat., Sept. 26, 2:30-6:30pm

 

Wisdom Book, Sun., Sept. 27, 10-2pm

 

Swatches Book, Sun., Sept. 27, 2:30-6:30pm

Art Journal Redo

I have been holding on to an old journal that I used for work a few years ago.  This one captured my daily to-do lists that kept my work humming along.  When I completed all of the pages in the journal, I went on to another one and put this one away knowing that I would someday alter it and reuse it.  Well that someday was last week while we were on vacation.  I packed the journal, a jar of gel medium, gesso, acrylic paints, brushes, a plethora of scrap papers and ephemera, a sanding pad, the heat gun and lots of colored pencils, markers and other writing instruments. 

Some of the pages are ready to be jounaled in and some are still waiting for additions.  There are at least 40 more pages that need to be primed and prepared for journaling.  I’ve decided to use this as a travel journal - next stop is San Francisco in three weeks.