Playing With Papers

Lynn, one of my favorite artist friends shared that she was inspired to start playing with gel plate printing after reading my blog....and I have Elizabeth St. Hilaire to thank for inspiring me.  Needless to say that just makes me just giddy.

These are Lynn's first printings....and I can't wait to see where it takes her.  She's so talented and creative and her art has always been an inspiration to me.

I love making these texture rich prints on the gel plate and I told Lynn I may actually like making them more than I like doing anything with them.  I just need to tap into my inner artist to figure out what I'm going to do with them all....so I've been experimenting.

One of the things I did was cover this little block with some coordinated papers.  I bought several of these for $1 at the Goodwill Store a while back knowing there would be a use for them. They had ridiculous images on them....but nothing a little gesso couldn't fix.

Now I'm auditioning some possible ways to use this background layer....maybe a quote or some sort of image or design.  The blocks are about 5 inches square....and very deep so good for just sitting.  There could even be something displayed on the top like stones.

I like the look of this black and white cut-out....just part of the brainstorming and auditioning.

I'm also working on a piece inspired by strip quilting.  I'm just winging it....and that doesn't always work in my favor....maybe I'll get lucky and I most certainly will learn some lessons.

I'm woking on a wooden paint panel and using cutouts from this graphic print I made with a stencil as a focal point here and there.  The panel is actually one of the ones I did an underpainting on for the class....and you can still see the lines of my sunflower coming through.  Clearly I painted over it but it was all primed and ready to go for another project.

It just occurred to me that I could use the strategy from the class and do an underpainting with basic shapes and colors.  Hmmmmm....that might have been smart. As I look at this picture I'm not wild about the lavender....nothing a little paint or another layer of paper can't fix.

Once I get the board covered I can add more details using paper, paints, and stencils.  It's so easy to cut skinny strips or other shapes....and unlike fabric paper doesn't fray.  Although I do try and get it smooth I don't even mind the little bit of wrinkling that happens....I think it adds more texture. So far all of the papers I've used are from sandwich wrap.

I added these little strips to gold piece on the left.                                                                                    

I'm back in Lexington now so it will sit for several days and I'll do some auditioning and planning before I continue.

Going Green

I'm celebrating Margie's finished puzzle today...1000 pieces of spring!

And we're going green for March on Margie's door wreath. 

 

Working Small...

...and simple.

These warmer days have me thinking about spring....and there's nothing that reminds me of spring more than crocus.

I tacked the little bloom together with a  glue stick before adding it to the background.  Then I used matte medium to glue everything down.  I enjoyed working small and simple.

I Spy

I may be a bit of a broken record....but once again I'm celebrating some things I spied on a morning walk. If every day I see even just one beautiful thing from nature...it's been a good day for me.

Janet was very patient with me when I played a little I Spy and had to pause.

The sky was a little overcast so it was easier to photograph the beautiful witch hazel.  It's such a fun blast of color in a mostly brown landscape.

Do you see what I saw in the photo below? You might have to zoom in to see the water droplets all lined up on the vines....they looked like strings of pearls. It was just beautiful and the photograph in no way does it justice.  The fact that the pearls were horizontal in what is largely a vertical landscape made them stand out even more. 

Janet encouraged me to get a closer look.

And this little lichen heart was a fun pop of color.  I didn't realize until I got home that there is also a dark spot on the tree trunk behind the lichen that is kind of heart shaped too. 

I hope you spied something beautiful today.                                                                                                                   

See and Smell

While I was out and about my car seemed to be drawn to a local garden center all on it's own. 😉  It was good for my soul to see and smell some hope for spring.

I put together these little photo collages in my Pages program.

Hope

We have to have hope....and that seems more and more important with every passing day.  This quote came across my Pinterest feed and it originated here.

This was one of those sunny 60 degree winter days when it actually felt more like spring....and that kind of a day just feels hopeful.

Anita and I had a lovely walk this morning and we both smiled when we came across a whole bank of blooming snow drops.

 

And this witch hazel looked like sunshine against the deep blue sky.

We have very little snow left in Lexington....and the warm weather melting sometimes creates interesting little sculptures.  How fun is this!

Perfect segue to my finished winter scene puzzle here in Lexington.  It was a bit different for me...but fun....thanks Linda!  Now I get to start a new one here in Lexington and in Portland.

Paper Quilts

I did a couple quick quilt square experiments this afternoon with some of my hand painted paper.

I wanted to avoid using glue so I ironed the strips onto a piece of fusible interfacing which held them in place until I did the top stitching. It seemed to work pretty well....so I'm certainly going to explore this further.

Most of these papers were printed on sandwich wrap so fairly lightweight.  I used a piece of release paper for a pressing cloth so I wasn't ironing right onto the painted surface.

I also tacked down 1 1/2 inch squares on another piece of fusible interfacing and will do some top stitching tomorrow.  

I'm not quite sure where this is going....I'm just experimenting at this point. This might make a good background for something.  I only brought a handful of papers home from Portland....so was a little limited in my choices.  

And just for fun did this little cutout....I was going for a bit wonky....and wonky it is.  

Collage Puzzle

We drove back to Lexington today....and I left the finished vintage quilt puzzle sitting on the table and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

And here's the next one I just bought this evening at our local Gallery Twist here in Lexington.

Boston based collage artist Betsy Silverman gave a talk and demonstration on her amazing collages.  Every single element in her pieces is created with bits and and pieces from magazines....absolutely no paint. 

When you first see her artwork they look like photographs...or at the very least paintings.  But when you look closely you can see the bits of paper, text, and images she meticulously layers and glues to create the components in her piece and her background in architecture and that really comes through. She chooses her paper bits carefully looking for just the right colors and textures...but she also includes text and images that add bits of humor and whimsy.  To see her finished pieces in person is mind boggling!  What a wonderful way to spend an evening!

You can view her pieces on Instagram and watch a time lapse video of a collage in the making using this link:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz6gJb9ncbO/

Negative Space

When I looked at yesterday's experiment in the light of day I knew I needed to try to loosen it up.  So I started with a med blue paint and carved in some negative space.  I could see that it was vastly improved....but I thought it needed to be brighter near the top. So here's the progression in reverse order....I think there's something to this negative space thing!  I don't think it's done...but it's where I left it today....and it's much better than where I landed yesterday. I can still see some areas that need attention...practice...practice...practice.

Experiments

Paul and I are in Maine for a few days....and I took advantage of the drive to delete some unused apps on my phone.

One I didn't get rid of was "Photo Splash" where you can turn a photo into a black and white and choose where you want to add back the color by just rubbing your finger over the screen.

I experimented with this photo I took a few years ago at a farmers' market in Copley Square in Boston.

I also spent some time late this afternoon doing a collage experiment inspired by the colors in this puzzle.

I'm not sure it was all that successful.....but I'm learning. There are a couple little moments I like but there is WAY too much going on and overall it's too dark. I got a little carried away with some of the flower clusters and they just kept growing.  And the more I tried to fix them...the bigger they got...ha ha. Then I tried to soften them with more greens.  I'll see how it looks in the light of day....and maybe I'll be brave and go in with paint and give it some breathing room like I did with my class piece.  I also took the photo this evening...and that never works well and the light distorts the color.

I do like pops of color in the stems....and I tried to let a little blue sky poke through too. But there are too many different papers making it too busy. The only way I'm going to learn is to practice....and I hope you don't mind me sharing some of my little experiments.

Rounding the Corner

Anita and I thought this dramatic sky looked like a painting as we walked the bike path through Lexington.  It was a glorious morning to be out....a great way to start the day.

We still have a lot of winter ahead of us....but when I see the snow drops poke through the frozen ground I know we're rounding the corner.

It was time to start a puzzle in Lexington....I haven't had one here in a while and I've missed it. And before I actually get around the corner into spring mode and I'm doing a winter country scene one from Linda.  

I had to chuckle because there isn't a normal shaped piece in this puzzle either.....just another visual spacial challenge to enjoy.

"Land Art"

Sometimes you just have to take a day and clean.....and when I do it's quite satisfying...but it doesn't make for a very interesting blog post. So today I'm celebrating Tamas Kanya, a Hungarian artist who also creates art from nature.....similar but different to Jon Foreman I wrote about a week or so ago. Tomas sculpts with stones, snow and ice, driftwood, and other natural elements.

This was the image that came across my Facebook feed and I had to look twice to realize it was rocks.

Tamas' Land Art Facebook page is worth checking out...especially the video at the top of his page.  I't a backward mind bender....and you just have to see it to understand. You can see it here:
https://www.facebook.com/romaipartikokert/

I was quite taken with these simple snow cairns....

...and his interesting driftwood sculptures.