Thursday, September 24, 2009

A new venue


I am going etsy!

This is the listing I chose to begin things rolling with.
Glass platter gently rippled. the design is "painted" using the old master's techniques of crushed glass fused in the kiln...then the piece is sagged in the kiln...happy dragonflies to cheer up any space!
come for a visit
thank you

Monday, September 21, 2009

...TwiSter...



This is "ghost writing" a background technique offered in Julie Prichard's Super Nova class
http://www.julieprichard.com/lostluggage/





I decided that it would make a good beginning for the sketch in the sketchbook4project with my theme...and suddenly...








nothing is more sudden than a twister!!

I have to remember these are sketches...not finished paintings
move through them quickly!

Monday, September 14, 2009

And Suddenly....

Torrential rainstorm!

Living on the Plains lends to a lot of nature drama...INTENSE storms...last week was no exception to her display for a rain shower.

The wind was swirling around and brought the rain coming down in every direction at once...just incredible!!!

in case you can't tell that is the creek filling with the run off water...FASSSST swirl there too!

Here is sketch 3 for sketchproject4 through Art House.

Acrylic washes...

Wild Angel...

As tired as I am after this long weekend of work work work...I went to sleep to just wake up and not be able to get back to sleep after just an hour
so
I had a nap!

Since it will be awhile before I am caught up enough to post anything new that is being worked up on the table at the present,
I bring to you

Wild Angel

I was listening to Martina McBride belting out the tune
Wild Angel and she sprang to mind
she has the blond hair because I imagine her as Hannah (my granddaughter) when she is a teenager.
Hannah is a living angel, but the tribute is hers.

She sports colored wings...a little prankster just having crossed over to receive them.

I doubt this picture enlarges.. or if it does a little you probably won't be able to get the close up view so...
to describe her
I begin with sketching the face on draft paper
so i know where i want the stain highlights...
and then start staining glass and firing in the kiln. (time intensive and many kiln visits)
she is stained on mouth blown antique glass.

Her face isn't blemished...she has a celestial glow and emerald green eyes...with plum and gold shadow...then the gold flecks over her face as well...
It is kind of hard to see without the sun coming through and actually catching the glass from behind and allowing the piece to glow as it should...

This is an example of another panel...

Thank you for stopping in.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Collaged Book Board

Putting those collaged pages to use...the book board is made! Makes an interesting chunky textural journal book!! Ready for covering with journal words or to use in so many other ways...such as background for a picture album!
Shows a page open..

Now...I KNOW better when using acrylic products...just because they are dry doesn't mean they won't stick! Here shows a stuck spot...in collaged work I really don't think it makes that much of a difference...however, in retrospect, I will uses separating pieces before I bind the book together the next time...and alleviate the sticky situation.
Thanks for looking...this is book two of Julie's class, if you didn't take her class you might wish you had...I think you can...I believe her classes are ongoing once they begin.
We are learning the 3rd booklet of the class this week...a fabric book!
Stay tuned, I also need to do another sketch soon or I will be miserably behind.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Collaging Backgrounds...

Collaging can be intimidating...especially when you are careful and exacting in placement...don't.
Pick some complimentary colors...texts what have you and glue it down.
These pages will become a journal...pretty cool if you ask me... I am being inspired by Julie from lost luggage...we take this journal to the next level when part 2 of the class come into play.
We decorate the pages journaling!

I only have 6 of the 12 pages side 1 finished for this afternoon....
Even after i loosened up it is still a fairly time consuming job...it will be worth it though!!!
Her book example is amazing!
I hope I didn't go to dark...I plan to have some lighter pages too to mix into each other.
Thank you for stopping by...I enjoy our visits a lot!










Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sketchbookproject #2


Sketch number 2 "and suddenly..." when you turn the last curve of the driveway the view of the building looms quick...this is the window where the computer sits
a really grand view...it is a pretty boring sketch.
We'll see what the next one produces.
Used Golden acrylics as a watercolor and India ink. Onto these horribly thin journal pages from this journal sent by the project.
Thanks for looking...

Friday, September 4, 2009

Three More...

Made 3 more journals from Julie's class.
Inside cover showing I did well with my corners and have better coverage of front and back covering of the book block.

Shown are the pages loose.
I would say it takes 2 days to make the book...but it can be assembly lined...as I did with these 3.
Super easy to make books...if you feel like you would prefer a little guidance take Julie's class at Lost Luggage.
Or if you are the muddle through kinda artist just get in there and make a book!



Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Book Binding with Julia

Julia Prichard...http://lostluggage.typepad.com/the_land_of_lost_luggage/ is offering another wonderful series of class.

The first part is book binding. Seeing what another person uses for ingredients is often the most informative...as with Julia you will learn some nifty asides that are most helpful

My cover doesn't exactly fit...not the fault of the instructor, but more ruler error than anything.

the front and back flaps glued in.



Here is book style 1 completed...she offers 2 more styles!
While there are a ton of different ways to make books...and I already know about 6 different ones right off...I think seeing different and alternative materials are never a wrong way to go...
So even an seasoned book maker I think can benefit from Julia.
Thanks for looking and that is about all I got to today.