Professional Development 2

Last Saturday at the Artist's Nook, I took a class on how to do transfers. I am SO thrilled about this new technique! The class was taught by Jacqueline Sullivan, an artist from Michigan (you can see her website here.) This was the first time she had taught how to do transfers, and I learned tons. Also, she gave us great notes so that when we're back home practicing this on our own, we'll hopefully have a clue.

First one we did was onto metal. This metal is thin but strong, and not sharp on the edges, about 2"x3". She first had us sand the metal, to get the surface finish off (apparently, it is like a thin layer of oil). Then, you lay a color laser print (like a color copy) face down on it, binding it to the metal with a gloss medium (fancy name for glue). Then you let it dry. Once it's dry, you soak it in water to get the paper wet, then slowly rub the paper off with your finger. The image stays! Amazing! I learned a good lesson here: when dealing with words in your images, make sure your original color copy is a mirror image, so that it turns out right on the transfer.


Next, we did what Jacqueline called "old fresco." We mixed some acrylic paint in with gesso, a white base primer that has a really chalky texture, which helps it bind, and painted it onto some watercolor paper. Then, while it was still wet, we plopped our image face down into the paint. Again, left it to dry, then later wetted the image's paper from the back side to rub off the paper and leave the image. You can see that I still have some rubbing to do on this one, but once it gets close to the image, it is important to be really gentle, otherwise the image can come up! This is my favorite one of the transfer techniques.


This was an "aged" look, using paint to first color a plain copy of an old document to make it look old. This transfer was from an ink-jet transparency, which I did over the aged document, again using the glossy medium. Didn't it turn out cool?


This next one is amazing. Ink jet transparencies and get this: hand sanetizer as the medium to transfer the image! Some people were more successful with theirs, getting their images in focus. My second try, on the left, was better, but still not sharp. But that's ok.


Finally, one of the easiest methods. Spray an ink-jet transparency lightly but completely with rubbing alcohol, plant face down on paper (we used this delicate writing paper), and less than 30 seconds later, carefully lift the transparency. If you leave it too long, then some of the image doesn't stick to the paper, like the one on the left around the edges, although that one still worked out fine.


I see great potential for using transfers in my work, and can't wait to try more. It was a lot of fun and I definitely feel "developed" in a professional way.

First card swap cards arrived in my mailbox today! Fun!

Variation On A Theme

Obviously, I couldn't wait to get started! Here is the "circle album" but in the form of a very elaborate birthday card for my sister's 30th.


(Click on image for a closer view.)

In the prototype, we used card stock for everything. In this one, the base layer is just good quality writing paper (makes for easier folding), and the colors are a mix of scrapbook/craft papers, card stock, and fabric (yesssss!--check out that green corduroy). Also in the first album I made, we folded and glued the base layers into place and then adhered the colored quarter circles and embellishments. This time, I left the base circles flat while decorating, which made writing, gluing, and detail work much easier, then glued it all together as a near-last step.

Other additions: velvet ribbon, sequins, pockets for interaction, and a pull-out letter (see above, bottom-right three photos). Other materials include cotton fabric, brads, paper flowers, photos from Ashley's early birthday celebration in Colorado last December, brown satin ribbon, and press-on images. The red on the edges is done with a mini-stamp pad and is called "distressing" (new word for me). With all the pieces to cut out and my insistence on perfection and extreme detail, this piece took about 6-7 hours to complete.

Katie asked for instructions. Here is what I received with my kit at the class:

Professional Development

(Remember, to get a closer view, click on the image!)

Taking myself more seriously as an artist has, wonderfully, allowed me the justification for taking art classes! Development is important for every professional, right? Last week, I attended a short evening class at the scrapbook store near where I live (an awesome shop called Capture, with tons of fun papers and a great workspace, owned and operated by two local women). The class was called Exploding Circle Album. I think I was the only non-scrapbooker there, but we had such fun! One of the store's owners, Suzanne, prepared the class for us, with all the papers selected and pieces cut out already. We folded, made a couple of cuts, glued, and embellished.

What a great idea this album is! While scrapbookers in particular might use this as a photo album (the prototype we followed had photos and words in it), I see huge potential for it as an art piece (not that albums can't be "art"). As I glued and embellished that evening, I saw collages in my mind, elaborate cards or letters, or a coffee table work of art! And I wondered, how could I get fabric into the mix here?

While I continue to ponder, this lovely thing decorates our home. It moves from table to table--an excellent conversation piece--and it makes me think and inspires me every day.

My next professional development opportunity will be March 21, a class on transfers at the Artist's Nook. Stay tuned!

And we have 13 people signed up for our card swap! Postmark deadline: April 14.

Cards!

I'm a couple days past my self-imposed deadline for posting at least every two weeks, so naturally, I have a couple things to talk about! Above you can see the latest card I made for my mom. Her birthday was at the end of January, and I very much enjoyed making this card. It started when a fabric scrap and 2 paper scraps found themselves lying near each other on my desk. The two paper scraps kind of looked like an L and an O. What better thing to think about on someone's birthday than love? And so a card was born. My mom is one of my hugest fans, and on a recent visit to her house, I noticed that she'd hung up "a selection" of cards I've made her in the past. It was really cool to revisit all the ideas I've had over the years and see how my art has developed. Thanks, Mom, for your support of me and my art. :)


I mentioned the birth of young Bronwyn in my last post and well, of course I had to make her a card. This is in the form of the postcards I posted in January, 5x7 inches, with a mix of paper, ribbon, fabric, a tag frame, and a few brads. I thought to myself, A few years down the line, what would I most like to see in my baby book if I was a little kid? Bright colors and lots of fun things to touch.


Finally, the time has come for the "6 Degrees of HLM International Card Swap!" Last year in February I organized this swap, and everyone had such fun that I decided it should be an annual thing. Above is a selection of the cards from last year, for your inspiration. (Click on the picture to get a closer view.) Here's how it works:

1. After I collect names of those who would like to participate, I will let all participants know a number of cards to make. I expect it to be between 5 and 15.

2. A deadline will be set for when the cards will need to be completed, for example around 4-6 weeks from now.

3. Then you make (if ten people participate, for example) 10 cards exactly the same (or with minor differences) by that deadline and send them all to me in the mail, with 10 envelopes. There are no limits to what you can do. Use fabric, paper, the computer, photos, buttons, beads, stitching, glitter, anything that inspires you. Just make sure that the finished card will fit inside an envelope that can be mailed in the post.

4. I do the logistics: sorting them so that each person gets one of each of the other people's cards, totaling the number of cards you sent in. Then I send them back to you in a bunch!

5. Cost would be small: however much you spend on making the set number of cards (if I use all brand new high quality paper bought from the scrapbook store, I total about $6-8 for 15 cards), plus cost of postage to and from Fort Collins. Your investment will yield as many cards as you make, all for you to use whenever you want to send someone you love a card.

If you would like to participate, please email me or post a comment below by next Monday, March 2.

If you know someone else who might love this, feel free to let them know! If they respond to me, we'll count them in. If our number of participants starts getting too high, I'll adjust the rules a little and keep you informed. (I know that making even 15 cards is a lot of work--any more isn't very fun!)

Thanks for visiting today and happy arting!

Self Portrait 3

The concept of a self portrait is interesting to me because on one hand, sometimes it could be viewed as egotistical, while on the other hand, the "self" is a great thing to experiment with in almost every way, especially artistically. How do I see myself and what are the various ways I can represent that in art? Perhaps because there are so many sides to me, it is easier to accept a portrait of me that is not an exact likeness, but still in some way it represents me. I struggle more with this when I'm trying to capture the image of something more static, like a pear or something. But so far, the three portraits I've posted here on my blog have been a joy to create.


This painting was very intentionally modeled after another artist's work. About a year ago I came across the art of Kelly Rae Roberts, and I loved it so much that I have a pin-up of one of her pieces in my "real job" office! Recently and to my surprise, I found that Amb has Kelly Rae's blog linked to her own and one day, a random click led me to discovering all that Kelly Rae has to offer. Please do visit her site for yourself by clicking here. I'm not alone in the fact that I like the way that Kelly Rae does faces, and I love her collaging and simple messages. So I decided to copy her style in this self portrait.

The process encompassed many thoughts and feelings. There are many layers in this piece, even if just paint on top of paint, which demanded that I be patient and let dry before continuing on. I wasn't sure it was going to turn out like I wanted it to for about the first hour, but as I added layer after layer, it became what I'd hoped for, and then even more! I noticed things in Kelly Rae's work that pushed me in my own. I saw things I never even thought about before and then tried it out, like eyelids, black vs. colored eyes, suggesting a nose without actually defining it, and not putting ears on the either side of my face. Shadowing in color in strategic places added so much depth to the piece. I am so grateful for Prismacolor pencils!! My dad gave me my first set when I was in 5th grade and I haven't been without them since.

The most fun part was having a face (that I was satisfied with) staring out at me from a totally white background, and finding a way to fill in that white space and embellish it to make it my own. Instead of painting a background or cutting the image out and gluing it onto something else, I cut out various papers I had in my stash to fit around the image. Through this I decided the piece would have uneven edges. I also liked that to fill all the space and just use scraps, I had to use five different papers. A little red fabric filled in gaps, and some embellishing final touches helped to pull the paper designs together. It was such a fun afternoon of art for me!

Here's to good health, experimenting with new styles, people who inspire, and to Bronwyn Francis, who was born on February 6th in California to my dear Jennifer and Greg. There's nothing like new life to make you feel happy and full of hope.