"Transitions" - Light and Dark

One of my online groups chose the theme challenge for the month of June - Light and Dark.  It had me for a while. Couldn't get inspired.

I had previously done a piece on white paper with black printing ink, white paint and Pigma pen called "Directions."  This piece was inspired by that artwork but in the opposite.  I used black fabric, white molding paste (which gave it some texture), Pigma pen and white paint (just for the white dots). The title of this piece is....

Transitions

Directions

(the piece that inspired the art above)

Peeling Birch Bark

The third in my Up Close and Personal series...."Peeling Birch."  As usual, it is shown below alongside its photo inspiration.  It does have a bit of a 3-D feature. I used heavy duty aluminum foil between two colors of hand-dyed fabrics to give structure to the peeling bark part.  Fun and interesting to work with! But in this case...I think it accomplished its purpose!

Peeling Birch

I have to admit, I'm really enjoying this series. Depicting some of the effects in textile can be an interesting challenge.  I'll be sharing this on Nina Marie's Off The Wall Friday!

"Smack" Down

No...I have not taken up professional wrestling.  At least not yet....

As a resident artist at the "...And Then We Set It On Fire" blog, I get to try out a lot of new (to me at least) techniques...that's part of the fun, right!

Well, this technique - called "smacking" - was taught on that blog a while back and I had yet to get to try it out.  Until NOW!! While I was concerned when first seeing the title, the realization of what it meant for artists was exciting! In the interest of trying very hard to catch up with all I've wanted to do, try out, experiment with, etc....I finally got to do some of this technique!!  (Better late than never, right?)

I had plexi and a "smack handle" but I would have had to walk all the way out to the barn to cut the plexi because it was too big.  In the meantime, I had gotten from FreeCycle a bunch of those clear plastic photo/sign holders. Figured they would work just as well so I was off and playing.

Below is the process I used and the result of my work.  I used a few colors of acrylic paint, a piece of my hand-dyed fabric that needed something else done to it, the sheet of plexi and the plastic frame.  You can follow the process in the photo collage below (starting top left and going clockwise).  I "smacked" the plexi with the paint-covered frame, then put the fabric down onto the "smacked" surface and pressed it down.

I'm very happy with the results (this piece will be going into my box of fabrics chosen for my "Pecan" series.  And yes...I'll be doing it again!! Now on to my next experiment.........

Weathered Red Door

Just completed another of my Up Close and Personal pieces for one of my groups.  This series is based on several favorites of my own macro photos which I wanted to "redo" in textiles. Ancient Cactus was my first piece.

This is from another photo I took in a small town in Texas during a trip there. I LOVE peeling paint and old buildings and doors and this just fit all of those. It is from an old store front but the premises were empty at the time we visited. Wish I could have found a date on the building or something but all I know is...it was very old.

The door is from a breakdown screen print I had done at least a year ago. Found it interesting how much it looked like the weathered red door without a whole lot of altering!! I cut out portions so the black could show through when appliqued. I also used a bit of acrylic paints and Shiva paint sticks to get just the right look.  The "grate" in front of the door is some silver mesh.  It was way too shiny for this old door so I painted it with a charcoal gray acrylic.  I love the way it turned out.  So....here it is....along with it's inspiration photo.

Weathered Red Door

I'll be posting this on Nina Marie's Off The Wall Friday.

Landscapes Accepted!

Recently entered 5 landscapes to the Upstream People Gallery's 15th Annual Landscape Juried Online International Art Exhibition. Found out today that all 5 were accepted!  The 5 works are show below (Top left clockwise: Round Red Barn, Open Road, Solitude, The Sapling and It Was A Dark And Stormy Night)

The exhibition will debut worldwide on July 1, 2013 at www.UpstreamPeopleGallery.com

Wolf Coming Into View

Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis has some beautiful art manhole covers created by Kate Burke. All the covers depict an aspect of Minnesota Nature. A while ago I contacted Kate and got her gracious permission to use her manhole covers and portray them in mixed media.  You can see the original covers at Kate Burke's website.

I have been planning a series on the Nicollet Mall manhole covers for a few years.  Thinking about how to do it to get the effect I want. This year it has become clear and I started gathering the bits and supplies I would need.  The first one I am working on is the wolf. I had already done the lino cut, printed it onto the fabric I had dyed just for this project. Today I put the "metal" circle around the cover. This is made with a mixture of metal leaf from The Thread Studio in Australia. Beautiful stuff!!!

First I ironed a circle of fusible around the "wolf", piled the metal leaf onto it, put my ironing cloth over it and ironed it down.  Then I burnished it with a medium stiff paint brush.

I am posting this on Nina Marie's Off The Wall Friday!
Now onto the next step!

And the Answer Is.....

Recently I was asked to complete an interview for LandEscape Art Review.  I did answer the interview questions and today received word that it is in the June issue.  Below is the link to my pages in the art review.

It was really fun to answer these questions.  Several caused me to think about some things in a way I had not before.  I hope you enjoy reading the article!

http://issuu.com/landescapeartpress/docs/landescape_art_review_-_june_2013/70