Shiny Objects

Nancy's December calendar page is going to be late....I just lost track of time. 

 

I'm letting myself get lost in whatever is in front of me.  I've spent hours rearranging shelves and handling and sorting little piles of painted papers and fabulous fodder as I try and organize my studio.....yet it doesn't' even look any different (yet).  I'm giving myself permission to watch art how-to videos....or Netflix....or get absorbed and sidetracked in whatever happens to be the shiny thing of the moment. 

That's how the striped card happened. I was cleaning off work table...and came across a pile of painter paper off cuts from previous projects...and was compelled to glue them all together.  

I want to head into the rest of this holiday season with a calm spirit and grateful heart.  Whatever gets done gets done....and whatever shiny object grabs my attention is going to get it. And....I'm going to enjoy it all.

The theme of Nancy's calendar this year has been handwritten hearts....and once again the background is our sister Angie's handwriting.  I even found a line from her writing that said "here in my heart."

The scrap card is a little goofy....but I did try and use some of the lessons learned from the last one.  

I tried to use the design rule of thirds and I did do a light whitewash over the whole piece which unified the collage and knocked down some of the bright colors.  I added the little green squiggle cutout at the end....just because I found it.  It was probably better without it....but there it is.  

I'm understanding just now as I write this that IT was one of those shiny objects that grabbed my attention!  Now I love it there.

I do want to share my new favorite tool for collaging.  I went to an art store looking for a hand held squeegee type thing to smooth out collage work and pull paint across the page.  They didn't have one....but I picked up this spatula thing.....and didn't start using it until recently.  

Acrylic paint and the mediums I use for gluing and collaging are plastics and should NOT go down the drain.  I'm being careful to clean my brushes really well BEFORE I actually take them to the sink. 

But I'm finding this spatula perfect for much of my collage work...and it's super easy to clean.  I can spread the matt medium on the substrate...smooth down the paper....and cover it with a top coat all with this tool.  Then I can scrape off the extra into the container and just wipe it clean with a rag.  And I use the same rags until they can stand up on their own before I throw them away.