Mixed Media Collages

I had fun playing around with colors and textures on canvases this year. The quote is from the song "Enjoy the Ride" by Morcheeba from Deep Dive.

 

 

 

Mixed Media Canvas Collage

This is actually the first canvas I created in what became a series of three that I hung in my studio. The first picture is the original color combination I created and the second once I reworked the colors so it would coordinate with the other two canvases I made in the series. The verse is from "Enjoy the Ride" by Morcheeba from Deep Dive.

Canvas once I reworked the colors

Copper Heart Boxes How-to

I created layered multi-media hearts inside boxes for my heart exchange art. I cut irregular shaped hearts out of thin metal sheets and ran them through my Sizzix machine using embossing folders. I used a heat gun on the copper heart to give them a nice patina.
I had some inside boxes left from some Tim Holtz Configuration Boxes that I bought from Michaels. I applied lace with gel medium and then painted them. Once they were dry, I applied a wash of thinned acrylic paint and wiped it off to antique. I assembled the hearts using "screw" brads.

I glued the hearts to a wire, poked a hole in the top and suspended them inside. I strung the wire through a metal bead, added a drop of glue and twisted at the top to secure.

This Weekend's Art

Mixed Media

I had a couple of Tim Holtz's Configuration boxes and have wanted to do some mixed media pieces with them. Graphics 45 has a Steampunk collection, though I don't think of it as much as steampunk as Art Deco, featuring the art work of my favorite, Alphonse Mucha. I bought the paper a while back since I couldn't resist it (wish I had more now). I worked on these all day yesterday, combining bits and pieces from my collections around the studio. I'm very pleased with them. I just need to figure out how to hang them. I added lots of pieces from Tim's collections - sprocket gears, light bulbs, bottles, birdhouse and metal wings. I also used distress inks and alcohol inks to color the metal and plastic chess pieces.

Configurations Box

Finally finished

Several years ago I started a canvas - mainly to test a couple of new products, a crackle and texture medium. The canvas sat in my studio for a while, was stuck in a closet and generally moved from place to place as it go into my way. From time to time I would pull it out and think about finishing it, but the inspiration on what to do never did strike. For one thing, it is a rather large canvas, so it needed something that wouldn't get lost or look out of place. The mask evening class that I took at EDAC gave me an idea. I molded a large paper clay face and glued it to the canvas. Michaels has a fabulous line of flower embellishments from Recollections called Boutique Fleur. I bought several of the jars of flowers and decided to use them on the canvas. Friday evening I stopped by Aaron Brothers and picked up a few items, including some velvet stickers from Stampendous. I collaged handmade papers, stenciled a few words, added the dimensional flowers, painted some grungeboard flourishes and added the velvet sticker leaves to finish the canvas. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out & will take it to work to hang in my cube.

When Patricia Rose offered lessons through her guild program, I immediately signed up. I was very excited to learn from such a great sculptor. I signed up as soon as I found out she was offering the program. I was definately intimidated when I received the first lesson! It was a full body sculpt - of the classic Venus - in other words, a nude. No chance of any clothing hiding any mistakes.

I bravely proceeded, printing off her step-by-step directions. I began sculpting the face. When I finished the face, well, it wasn't Venus. In fact, it wasn't even female - but it was a fabulous face and I really liked it. It was too good to smash, so I set it aside and began sculpting the Venus face again. The second face was better (it was female at least) and I did finish the whole sculpt. All I can say is that it was a good first piece, but the only resemblance to the orginal Venus were the uplifted arms and standing on a seashell. I have it in my studio on a top shelf, but I would never post it. I did, however, still have the orginal face still staring at me, wanting to be completed.

I sculpted a body to go with the head and Tristan was born. He dances through the forests, clothed in leaves. I'm very pleased with the way he turned out.

A little over a year ago I took a workshop with Kathy Davis. While I knew I loved working with polymer clay and I had taken to sculpting in college, Kathy awoke my love a creating dolls with her workshop. I would highly recommend her as a workshop instructor - it was fun, informative and rewarding. I'm hoping to be able to take another workshop from her soon.

In the workshop she taught for our guild, we were to create a fairy or elf. She told us the doll would let us know what it wanted to be. She was right! Mine are Forest Folk. The bigger one was created in the workshop and the little one was created later.

I'm participating in a deco round robin with a group of dear friends. Each participant decides the theme of their book.
The theme of Elaine's deco is Childhood Memories. These pictures were taken when I was four years old and my Mom, younger sister and I visited my grandparents in England. We spent the day at Pevensey Bay, playing in the sand using tin cans and old spoons. Afterwards I remember going to an ice cream shop.


Passages and Portals is the theme of Irene's deco. I chose images of my Nana and Aunt Gladys to use in her book. The picture of my Aunt is from her identification booklet from WWII. I also used a scan from her rations book. I don't know when the image of my Nana was taken.









I also participate in a monthly 4 x 4 fat book page swap. The colors for December's pages was white & grey. I used an image of myself from the same trip to England, taken in a park. I altered the image in Photoshop and cut it out to use. Don't you just love those saddle oxfords? I remember they came back in style when I was in the 5th or 6th grade.