I have spent the early portions of the year working in the studio doing my annual cleaning/arranging and, this year, PURGING! I was prompted to do so by the creation of this event coming up on March 21st, 2020 in Lafayette. “Create space – Earn cash” how could I not be excited! Instead of moving items I rarely use from one spot to another I will actually move them OUT of the studio! It feels so spacious now!!
I have a LARGE collection of arts, craft and vintage items I’ll be bringing to the event, in addition to all the other artists participating! If you are an artist, crafter, Scout leader, need supplies for classes for adults and children or are just a bargain shopper you should plan to attend! I don’t want to clog this post with too many images but below is a small collection of images/items that I’ll be bring to the event:
I hope that is enough to tempt you into shopping! Mark it on your calendar NOW so you don’t miss out. 😉
I recently found out about an awesome art challenge that I plan on participating in this summer. “Index Card A Day” (ICAD) is a 61 day challenge that gets you to exercise your creative muscles each day during the months of June & July! Just a note – this is NOT my brain child (I wish!) it’s all part of the Daisy Yellow blog and it’s creator. You’ll find details, inspiration and prompts for creativity on that site. They’re also on Instagram and have a Facebook page for this challenge if you want to follow along there.
What I’d like to do is encourage you to play along and will help get you ready for this challenge by providing a set of index cards and some fun marking tools. I’ll include blank index cards for you to do your own thing plus some that have gelli printed backgrounds on them to get you started when you need some inspiration. Here are some of the cards I printed in the studio yesterday:
gelli printed index cards
Along with sending you the cards I plan on adding in a dual-tip black Sharpie (how could I not?), a mechanical pencil and my favorite gel pen – a black “glaze” by Sakura, as well as a clear glaze pen so you can add some shiny “pops” of highlight to your creations.
ICAD starter kits
As you can see, I’ve got two sets to give away – one set to someone who leaves a comment on this blog post and one set for a commenter on my Facebook page. No strings attached! And, yes, you can comment both places to double your chances! Of course I’ve got a couple “strings attached” ways for extra entries too. 🙂 If you’ve not subscribed to this blog yet, that can earn you two additional entries (click on the “sign me up” button at the top/right of this page) and if you’ve not signed up for my newsletter that will get you another two entries.
SO? Wanna play? I hope so! I’ll be selecting the random winners on Tuesday morning, May 19th so I’ll have time to get the packages shipped to you before the challenge begins (yes, it’s even free shipping!). Good luck!
Lynne
For more info about this challenge click this image to visit the FAQ page at Daisy Yellow:
Ahhh, back in the studio after a few days off. This week is going to be a little more sporadic than I’d like but sometime family matters take priority over art time – as much as I’d rather they didn’t! But a few hours here & there will do for now. 🙂 Today’s progress included a decision on a design for a new project, a happy accident when I was floundering, an exciting supply delivery (see above) and some fun new collage pieces! Oh, and guess what else? A long-forgotten residency application came back with a YES! Woo, hoo! Now that was a wonderful surprise! In my last studio update I showed you an image of the newly/brightly colored 2’x6′ mixed media artwork I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks. When I had first started the piece it was entirely black & white and I thought painted a few areas with a copper paint would really make a nice pop of color. Which it did, in black & white. After I added all the bright colors the copper just looked out of place. SO, I decided to paint over the metallic with black and add more black in different areas.
Hmmmm. Well. Better? Maybe? But now what? I pondered it for a few hours and then decided I would add a layer of clear acrylic gel to get more texture on the surface and then probably add some more color once it dried. (This is the happy accident part!) I decided to put the gel on with my hands just for fun (although I did wear plastic gloves) so I smeared it on each painted section of the artwork. Once I’d covered them all then I went back to the first section and began to start roughing up the surface by patting the wet gel to make it stand up in peaks here & there. I had forgotten one slight detail though, I had used acrylic INK not acrylic paint. Acrylic paint dries in a permanent layer but today I discovered that acrylic ink well, it doesn’t! So when I began to work with the surface the color underneath began to lift & blend with the clear acrylic. So I just went with it….lift, blend, pat, smear, blend, even mixed colors in from one section to another.
It looks better than I could have imagined! Woo, hoo! I still have some other touches I want to add to it but I’m really happy at this stage. I’m waiting to see where it will lead me next. 🙂
The last thing I did today was to create some new mixed media/collage pieces on wood. After my delivery of all the wood boards I couldn’t resist working on some of them! I choose six of the 6×6″ square boards to work with, and ended up designing two sets of 3 pieces each from them.
After the papers I decided to add a few extra touches to each set…bits of feathers, metallic string, beads. Although they weren’t dry enough to take final photos of them here is a close up of the group while it was still wet.
I will try to get them properly photographed so I can share them with you tomorrow. I hope to make more process with the mixed media wall art that I laid out today. Now that I know what pieces I want to place where it should move a little more quickly. Or that’s my hope, anyhow!
I can’t speak for other artists but I can say that, for me, seeing the FedEx or UPS truck pull up to the house with a delivery of fresh art supplies is one of my happy moments. Oh, the possibilities that lie within the protective layers of cardboard. The smell of fresh paint, the texture of paper, canvas or wood surfaces to create upon…mmmm, heavenly! As I’m always exploring new mediums and techniques often there are undiscovered avenue waiting within these boxes of fun. Maybe a new tool, new media, new surface…I love the anticipation that comes with opening each box, unwrapping each item and finding its proper place in the studio. Some don’t even make it to their assigned spot but go directly on the work table. 🙂
The overwhelming thing that the process reminds me of? Being a child again, sorting and packing treasured school supplies for the first day of school…especially that precious new box of crayons all shiny, with their wrappers intact, smelling all wondrously waxy and looking glorious in their unbroken newness. A new beginning, a fresh start, all compliments of Crayola. Most years it was the box of 16 which was an improvement over the standard eight colors. If you were lucky enough to get the box of 64 colors with the built-in sharpener in the back of the box? Wow, you were the envy of your classmates!
What are the happy moments in your life? Do you notice and treasure them?
A Randomly Creative Blog 