"LOOKING BEYOND" - gel transfers
I have completed a video which is about my experiences with using gel transfers. It is a tutorial of sorts. Please find it here:



If you are not able to view the video and would like the tutorial in a typed format please contact me through flickr mail or you can leave a comment here telling me you are trying to contact me through my profile here. I believe you can access it.
I would also love to receive your comments so that I know about future videos, future tutorials. If you do not have an account with youtube then please comment here or at my flickr site.

Here's a photo of the art journal page in the nearly complete form.


The final page is at the top of the post. I did learn that ink on stamps does not necessarily work well on Tim Holz crackle paint. Always learning - that's a good thing, I think. I do want to give credit to Misty Mawn and Claudine Hellmuth, both of whom are mentioned in the video. They have taught me much. I love both of their abilities as artists. I could look at Misty's blog and art for a long time. Well - but when would I get my own art created? Please take a moment to look at their blogs and be inspired.

I also must mention Loreena McKennitt who has very kindly given me permission to use her music. As I say by the video - the magic of the video (if there is any) would not be apparent if not for the music.

Please also take a moment to check my etsy shop at your earliest possible convenience. I will be adding a number of items over the next couple of days.

Angels be with you.

the point is ... it's OK to PLAY


Very late with week 7 of collage with crowabout BUT as Nance was busy with moving this past Saturday I was still able to do it before the new collage page was presented :-)
It doesn't really matter as I'm not much into following rules and directions these days. It does present an extra component of challenge if you are trying to meet a deadline for a submission :-)

I am at somewhat of a standstill with unpacking boxes from the fire we had in our house over four months ago. The carpenters still have a tiny fix up to do. I think we have something like 14 boxes left in the living room to unpack. There are at least that many in the basement yet and perhaps that many in boxes from the bedrooms combined. Sounds like lots BUT when you consider there were probably over 400 all together, well, you get the picture. The bills from the cleaners came in a while ago. They total $33,000 plus. We started adding up our own bills last night. Thank goodness for insurance!
When asked how I am these days, all I can say is "tired". And so I present the point is ... it's OK to PLAY This piece was done entirely on the computer. The background was found yesterday at Dover Publications which I came across at Inspire me Thursday. I haven't visited there for ages - really glad I took a moment to stop by. I put many words on the background, together with a border. Then I proceeded to add the collage elements. I toned it down more with a light paint spray and put one of my own images on. The extra words and buttons were also added digitally. I'm not very good with the freehand lettering on the computer but it turned out alright. The point is ... it's OK to PLAY (I remembered).

I have the video about gel transfers 99.9% finished. If you've not yet seen it, I did a post about tape and contact paper transfers. I've also been working on my etsy shop to get it rejuvenated. Of course there are always interesting links I have to check when I am in the process :-) Here's something neat to check if you have your own shop. Be certain to check the Monday posts. That's where the giveaways are announced lol

Just a touch of what's happening today. I have to do some tearing and gluing for journal backgrounds. Hopefully some time to paint a spot also.
I'll try to be back at you shortly (day or two) with that video. Until then,
angels be with you.

Playing with wearable art ideas:
I'm still feeling sew very unsettled BUT thought I should share with you a couple of pieces of wearable art I've been working with. The video on the gel transfers is well under way and I should be ready to share it in a couple of days. Till then, here are those items I was mentioning - more about them down the road too.

transfers: I had promised a tutorial about gel transfers a while ago and I am working on that at this moment. In the meantime I thought I'd present a bit of info about tape or contact paper transfers. These are so simple to do and are really terrific for someone that cannot get their hands readily on golden gel medium. I had been doing tape transfers quite some time ago but was left frustrated by the limited size. Last spring I acquired Claudine Hellmuth's first book (Collage Discovery Workshop), which I absolutely love.


Claudine recommends the use of contact paper, as easily accessible as tape. the size is so much greater.
You get an idea of the method from the image I show but in case you cannot read it or do not know what to do:
1. apply the contact paper or tape to the image.
2. burnish well.
3. soak the image in water, in either a dish, pan or the sink.
4. after a few minutes remove from the water.
5. rub the paper off with your fingers.
6. if there are white bits left on you may like the image as is. If not you can
soak again and rub some more.
7. apply the art to your mixed media piece or save for exactly the right time. If you are uncertain of where to place it, you can just rub it on to get idea of the effect. It can then be moved. When you are certain of the placement you can glue on.

Here are some examples of some tape transfers I have used. The first is from an altered book page. The tape transfer is the lady on the bottom right corner.



The second is a large picture of one of our pet kitties from a number of years ago. The transfer itself is nearly 8" x 10". I used a number of lengths of packing tape.


On this recently completed journal page I have not yet glued down the small tape transfer. I may just leave it without tape so that I can move it as I please.



And the final one is done more recently with contact paper. I may need to do some heavy duty pressing as there is quite a wrinkle in it lol Perhaps just meant to be.



If I don't see you again this weekend ~ have a great one.
Angels be with you

"I had only to look. She was there - always?"


This art journal page was started in February for valentine's day lol I did the background in the colours that were my faves at the moment. I was once again surprised to see, very clearly, parts of a face within the background which I had done so randomly. I had sketched in the face exactly as I was seeing it. The page was then set aside and forgotten. I had actually been planning to do a video with the page. I was drawn to it a couple of days ago and immediately was struck by a need to just darken the sketching with my black caran d'ache crayon.


"I had only to look. She was there - always?"

ART jourNAL pAGes from last week:



"about doubting ~ about drawing"

"bluebird girl"



And a little glimpse of "autumn approaching" taken in Saskatoon on Saturday.

Lessons of Life:
This week I have been working mainly on altering two composition books for a challenge offered online from Cloth, Paper Scissors magazine. I have had a terrific time with this challenge - getting to use much loved layering techniques. I also love to embellish. I tried to get a balanced effect with feathers, buttons, torn fabric, and charms. I am showing just a couple of photos with steps.



Here's the final version.




I also started a blue book. It is not finished. I will share that as soon as I am able. I'll explain a bit more with that book about the steps involved.
Angels be with you.

slow going but finding time to create


This is a tiny spot that I can show from the upstairs room which is mostly mine. It is the only room upstairs besides the bathroom which has not been painted since we moved into our house over twenty years ago. I am planning to paint it yet, sometime, but we first need to get the rest of the house more in shape. I am planning to have an inspiration wall, or two in this room - only need to decide how to achieve that. I would prefer not to cover it with bulletin board material but not certain otherwise. I have to do more studying of what others have done. I remember seeing a spectacular wall of an artist BUT can't remember where - maybe it was in a magazine, in which case I may never find it again lol
I am thinking of doing the walls multi-coloured. I may do some flowers or something too. I'm sure it won't be happening for awhile. I'd also like to pull the rug from the floor but that also could be a challenge. This is what a friend and I did in daughter's room a few years ago(mostly my friend - who is an artist living in British Columbia.)


Not the greatest photo but you get idea of the floor. There had been rug on the floor and we found old vinyl tile underneath. I love this effect. Sigh - some day.

I'll show the first couple of steps here of how I played with that skirt I showed in a previous post.


I then did further embellishment but now wish I had used a tea dye or something so the white does not look so crisp. I think I'll still try applying some tea dye. I might try that tomorrow - maybe I can show you on Monday.

history:
Printed images and background page. I often choose to use recycle type paper for printing if it is something that the back does not show.


Just the paint colour I happened to grab after gluing most of the images down and adding words I had written for the piece. I could tell immediately the colour would need MUCH toning down.


For the next layer I used a fave stamp and red ink to cover the whole page.


I did transfers of the image of my aunt Winnie and the words I had written. More of the images from the collage challenge were added. I glued on the piece of fabric trim which I had dyed the pale yellow. I tried to further embellish the collage with vintage buttons of which I have very many. I had also painted over with a light yellow glaze.


I had used a very pale oil pastel for some edging and in a couple of other places.


The final version - I used pale yellow paint on a leaf stamp around most of the edges and tiny bits of the same colour for further yellow around the very edge.


Just a note about the words and my aunt Winnie. Winnie was my auntie on my Dad's side. This young lady had diabetes and died when she was 13 years of age due to the diabetes and complications of the availability of insulin. My dad was a few years younger than she. A number of years later when I was 3 1/2 years old I was found to have diabetes. That was 47 years ago.


I will be blogging much more in next days. At least that is my intention. There is much I need to catch you up with.

Angels be with you dear friends.