Something new...

I'm a huge fan of folk and outsider art. It "speaks" to me. Probably because it's created by "regular folk" who haven't been trained in the technical aspects of creating art. There is just something about it that I adore.

You know those faces that you see in folk art... those sweet, not overly detailed, yet so full of detail ones... like these, or these, or even these? I absolutely adore those. Now, let me be clear here, I love those sort of faces, but have never dared trying to create them. I may be "creative", but y'all, I just suck at actually drawing. So, all these years I've been content to sigh wistfully and wish I could.

And then I ran across Lynne Hoppe's site, heART & LIFE. Wow. Talk about loving this woman's work! She isn't just making those sweet faces, she's making them on old book pages. Not only did I fall in love with her work, but her generosity as well. She is one of those sweet folks who not only shares her art, but shares her method as well. Whilst I was checking her faces out I noticed that she has several tutorials on her sidebar. One of them is "how i paint faces".

Obviously, this was a sign from the Universe. Folk art faces, old book pages... and now instructions to boot. Nothing for me to do but give it a shot. And, so I did. My first attempt at that folk art face that I like so much. I didn't follow her instructions entirely, I didn't cover the page with a matte gel. Next time, I most definitely will do that.... but...

For a first attempt, I am not totally disappointed. Actually, I'm pretty pleased with it. Especially for my first try. Will I be doing more? Oh yeah. I'm very excited about the whole stepping out of my comfort zone thing with this. Is it exactly what I want it to be? No, but it's pretty close. I see where practice, and being a bit more bold, which will come with every time I feel successful, will make me better. This will be lots of fun for me!

Now, the goddess doll... I'm still working on her, she's not quite finished yet, but embellishments have been added, and I'll be sharing her with all of you soon!

ArtsyBlogger links...

Everyone has been so busy! Check out what these fabulous ladies have been doing...

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Make custom envelopes the quick and easy way with the Crafter's Companion Ultimate crafting tool.

Mixed Media: I'm Not That Girl
Cherie takes lines from her poetry to paint a mixed media picture.

Laura Thykeson - Taz's Corner
Random Altered Book Pages

Beading Arts
Cyndi works through the first steps in turning an antique key into a lampworked pendant.

A bit more...

When last I left you I'd added paint over some doodles I had drawn on the goddess doll...


Once all the paint is on you don't see the smearing of those permanent markers so much... or, maybe it's just because I took my own advice for a change and walked away from it for a few hours, and it just doesn't look quite so bad when I returned. I actually sorta like the smeared effect... like wrinkles, it adds character.

Now, I've worked with fabric most of my life. I grew up in a family with women who quilted, parents who made a living recovering furniture, I even started sewing my own clothes when I was a teenager... of course I designed and finished needlepoint for 20+ years too... so when I look at her I just "know" that she is going to need some shading or she's going to look pretty "flat" even after she is stuffed. Let's see what soft pastels can do...

They (to me) are such a beautiful tool... I used several colors of oranges and hot pinks to outline her shape, and then worked the pigment in using my finger tips. There are definitely cleaner ways to do that... cotton, another scrap of material... but there is just something wonderful and amazing about really putting yourself into your art. Seems to be the way I create it anyway, all the color left on my hands is somehow terribly rewarding to me.

Once blended, I took a few minutes to look at her. These colors always speak to me. That's probably why I use them far too much in the things I do... but they evoke the most unique visceral reaction within me. It's all at once both passionate and calming, opposite ends of the spectrum, but nurturing and soothing to me. And, as I said early on... this is all about creating something nurturing for me.

A very long time ago I learned to stop over-thinking things when it comes to what I create. When I do that it always ends up too fussy and far too contrived. But, I find that, if I "listen" to whatever I am making, I usually find the path I'm supposed to take. Of course after looking at her for a time my thought was that all of the fire and passion has to have balance, and thus comes the cooling lime green and teals, just touches of it for temperance. Some black and white for contrast... soft pinks for gentleness...

And before you know it, those doodles have been touched with color. Have to tell y'all... I'm lovin' them so far. Of course, you know there is more to come...

Nurturing my soul...

"You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."

Max Ehrmann, (A portion of) Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life

The first time I read Desiderata it resonated deep within my soul. I was hooked with the first line... "Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence."

I am tired y'all. That soul weary sort of tired. And I need some nurturing. My soul needs renewal. Funny how often when I feel that way I turn to creating something. Right now I need something small that I can take on the daily visits to see my father. If he's alert I spend the time helping him with his lunch, and if he is napping, I need something to occupy myself. And I need something that soothes my soul. A spirit doll seems in order to me. A goddess, the mother, the nurturer, the caregiver...


I drew a female shape. I always seem to draw the shape with an ample bust and large hips, as I draw my mermaids. Must be something primal about the shape. If you look at the Venus of Willendorf you'll see that ancient mankind also was fond of the shape.


And, of course, once drawn I added details. First up... some doodles. I used a Sharpie permanent marker with an ultra fine point to draw them.


Once the doodles were on, I decided to add layers of paint using the same technique I do to create my journal pages. I chose not to seal the fabric with anything, it would be interesting to see how the paint gets sucked up in the different areas of fabric. Spreading the paint onto fabric is definitely different than on the journal pages. It does spread thin, but it doesn't spread as far as it does on paper.


With the first layer of paint somewhat spread I noticed that the Sharpie had smeared. Very disappointing. I had drawn the outline and doodles the evening before, so it had dried almost 24 hours by the time I got to the paint. So sad... but, since I'd already gone this far...


Notice that I used yellow? Have you noticed along the way how infrequently I use yellow? I like yellow, especially the beautiful soft shades and the brilliant shades of it, but I don't "love" yellow, so I end up with lots of yellow paint that never seems to get used. I decided that I'd at least challenge myself to use some of it. Of course, you know my hot pink and orange are in there too. They seem to be the colors that nurture me, they evoke warmth and passion to me, important aspects of my soul.

Next post... I bring other mediums into the mix...

Just a teaser...

Just a quick peek... This is what I'm working on... and will be sharing with you next week...

ArtsyBloggers...

It has definitely been a couple of weeks. I'm not entirely sure if they've been good or bad... or maybe just somewhere in between. Rather, there have been amazing moments and not so amazing moments... and some pretty routine ones...

I've got a couple of small, portable projects in the works that I'll be sharing in the coming week... but until then, let me share the ArtsyBlogger links for the week with you...

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Do you have old shower curtains in your linen closet? Make them over into garment and shoe bags. Waste not; want not!


Beading Arts
Cyndi has some tagua nut beads to give away!


Taz's Corner-Laura Thykeson
Hello Strangers!


Mixed Media: I'll Live the Life
Cherie continues working on layers for a picture.


Mo(o)re Whimsies
Happy Valentines Day to You!

And morning breaks...

This was the view that greeted me whilst I was walking into work this morning...

Spectacular, eh?

Sometimes I think that the heavens show me such beauty to remind me that all is well in the world... no matter what is going on in my world... it is my perspective that gives it the meaning it holds in my life.

I am determined to look at the world through the perspective of love and acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness.

"And in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you make."

Sir Paul McCartney

Family and dysfunctionality...

Thank you my friends for all of your kind comments on the post from last week... to catch up...

Last week my father, with whom I really haven't had a relationship, was hospitalized. I was told (through my sister, who got it from my niece) that blood clots had been found in his lungs through an MRI that was conducted because he'd complained about upper GI pain. In other words, it was by chance that they had been found.

After spending some time in a regional, small hospital (remember, much of Kentucky is still very rural, and hospitals, unless you are here in Lexington, are minimal) it was determined that he should be transported to Lexington. My sister provided me with this news... so all of last week I spent a good portion of my days sitting beside a bed that contained an old man that I really don't even know.

I've marveled at how much he looked like my Grandfather. The same facial structure, the same pale, pale blue eyes. He even has a very similar smile. My Grandfather was a story teller. He'd share one with you with a mischievous gleam in his eye, and you were never quite sure if he was telling you a real story or pulling your leg... at least until the end of the story. On the other hand, my father doesn't tell stories. He suffers from dementia. I'm honestly not sure if he even knows who this stranger sitting by his bed is.

Through some seriously dysfunctional family dynamics, that I am not even sure I grasp, my niece, some years ago, was deeded the farm... "for love and consideration"... and was granted my Father's Power of Attorney. Basically, what that means is... unless she chooses to disperse information, no one else gets to know anything.

Let me just say, I'm not sure which is more emotionally draining... being asked by all of his health care providers about his health history, and having to explain, over and over and over again, that I know none of it as we've been estranged all these many years... or being told, "I'm sorry, I can't give you information because of the POA"... over and over and over again. Add to that the whole "why am I here" emotional ponderings that are inevitable... and what you get at the end of a very long week is one very emotionally drained me.

Friday, I went to the hospital at lunch as I had all week, just in time to see a gurney being wheeled into his room. He was being transported to a rehabilitation facility. Of course, as I have no rights because of that POA issue, I hadn't been informed. No family member was there. No one to explain to him what was happening, no one to go with him... and remember, this is a man who is already confused. I did my best to explain what was going on, called work to let them know that I might be later than planned getting back, and followed his transport.

As they settled him into his room I tried to find out from the staff if this was temporary, or a long term move, or if it was just for rehabilitation... of course... I can't be told anything.

I went back to his room, explained to his care providers (yet again) that I really don't have answers to their health care questions as we've been estranged, and then tried to explain to him what was going on, and promised him that it would all be ok. He drifted off in a nap and I went back to work thinking about how horrible and confusing this all has to have been for him. And then I wondered what the end of my life would be like...

After all of this, I'm sorta hoping for some totally random and bizarre accident that takes me quick... but leaves lots for people to talk about after... you know, sorta like those stories Grandpa used to tell... something you really aren't sure is plausible enough to be true... but...

ArtsyBlogger links...

Again, my cable and internet provider service company, Insight, simply does not seem to give me the capacity to connect to Cherie's site... Insight, if you happen to read... you are NOT giving me the service you tout yourself as being so proud of providing.... I'll get the photo from Cherie's site up tomorrow.

In the mean time...

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Eileen made a hybrid Valentine's Day card inspired by a book she just read, I Heart Stationery by Charlotte Rivers.

Layering Mixed Media Papers
Cherie answers a question about layering paper on a canvas.

Beading Arts
Cyndi has lists of fabulous suppliers in all sorts of categories for jewelry makers and beaders. Do you have any faves you'd like to add? Maybe even yourself?

Wednesday

I haven't made it any secret that I am the product of a very dysfunctional family. Close to 30 years ago my father made it very clear to me that he wanted nothing more to do with me. I've spent a portion the last few days sitting beside his bed in the hospital. I'm not sure he even recognizes who I am.

It's strange. Sitting beside a stranger who you know is half of the reason you exist. More strange contemplating the inevitable death of your last parent, even if you really don't know him.

I'm emotionally drained, and I'm sorry for not having anything to bring to this blog right now. One of the great truths of life is that, this too, shall pass. Things will return to their norm, I will have things to fill pages, so please bear with me for a time...

ArtsyBlogger links...

I'm way behind here everyone, but here are the ArtsyBlogger links for the week...

(Of course, my connection isn't letting me post a pic from Cherie's... I will first thing in the morning)

Addicted to Love
Cherie makes a mixed media girl that looks (very little) like the girls in that Robert Palmer video.

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Have you tried using gel medium to transfer images to fabric? Eileen shares the how-to and the how-not-to!

Beading Arts
Nobody ever likes to talk about that necessary evil...pricing!

Now, I hope you will all be patient with me over the next couple of weeks, I'll be here sporadically, my father is in the hospital, and it isn't looking great right now. I'll update as soon as I can though, and, in the mean time... all good thoughts are welcomed.

Let's talk about backgrounds...

Well, let's talk about my backgrounds specifically... and about how garishly bright they are, and how you can make them that way too...

Eileen (from over at The Artful Crafter) posted some of the pages she's been working on. She's loving some of the pages, and some... not so much. She asks in her post, "Can anyone tell me why my colors are so pastel? What kind of paint do I need to buy/use to get brilliant pure hues like June achieves?" Well, Eileen, I'm here to answer that for you. And I'm gonna do it by showing you a page from start to finish.

Because Eileen was somewhat disappointed in her yellow page I thought I'd do a yellow page. Now, let me say, yellow is not my favorite color. Don't get me wrong, it's sunny, and bright, and cheerful... and I like the brilliant yellows, just not so much the wimpy ones. I'm very likely to be not quite so excited by it, so... while yellow may be my base, it isn't likely to be the color of the page when finished. To begin... white watercolour paper... cold press, 90 lbs. The paints that I'm using first are shown up there... notice they are pretty basic acrylic paints... Apple Barrel, Folk Art and one Ceramcoat. I think I spend about 99 cents a bottle for them.

No prep work is done to the paper for this... no gesso, no sealant, I simply put a few blobs of the paint on the paper and started. Let me add here that the paint is pretty thick when I open it, and I tend to like my paint (for this project) about the consistency of pancake batter, so I add a bit of water to thin it. Then, using the Formica chip, I simply spread the paint all around the page. Notice, I don't worry about making sure it is ALL over the page, it's just sort of smudged around. The thing about using the Formica chip is that it takes that itty bit of paint and spreads it in a very thin layer over the page. You do have to use some pressure to accomplish this. And, you really want to be sort of random with all of this. The strokes of the chip drag the paint in all directions, and because of this the paint deposits in heavier layers in some areas rather than others.



Not giving this any time to actually dry between layers (although, the layers of paint are sooo thin they don't take long to dry), I add a few drops of a light orange and a medium orange. Using the same Formica chip that still has the yellow paint on it, I scrape this paint all over the page. This time I even took care to make sure most of the edges are painted.



Taking a second here to actually look at this, you can see where the yellow that is at the base of this whole thing comes through that orange. It actually brightens it through the second layer. You can also see where the orange has deposited heavier in some areas, thinner in others, AND you can see the streaks that are caused by the paint sneaking out from the edges of the Formica chip. Keep in mind, this is a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, and the amount of paint used so far is actually pretty minimal. If you were covering this using a brush you'd have used more paint and have a much more opaque layering. Dragging the paint across the paper with that Formica chip makes the layers very, VERY thin... which is probably why this works the way it does.

Next I add two drops (literally) of magenta or very hot pink. (My preference is the hot pink). Using the very same chip that still has the deposits of the orange paint I drag that all over the paper. (Many thanks to Kate for jumping in here to take the pic for me.) See how thin a layer it makes? The magenta/hot pink tends to enhance the bright orange of the orange layer, and really only looks pink where the thicker layers of pink deposits. That may be one of the reasons it all looks so bright. I know I am harping on this thin layer stuff, but I am convinced that it's important. These colors have all been very warm colors, and now, I want to add some cool colors. Mostly just because I like to stick things that shouldn't actually be together together. Between these layers I actually do give it a few minutes to dry.

Everything up to this point was covered with no particular strategic plan... but when I add a totally different color to a mix, I want to devote a moment of thought (ok, realistically, a few seconds) to where I want that splotch of color to be. It will stand out from the rest, and possibly muddy the waters a bit, so I tend to go along one edge vs from the center. First I added just a tiny smidge of the medium tone of aqua to the mix. After dragging that across a bit of the page I decided it wasn't so bad, so added three more drops. Look at the area where I've dragged the aqua across the oranges and pinks... you can still see some of the yellow shining through from the first layer up in the corner, the oranges definitely show through the aqua, and you even see some of the hot pink color... which seems enhanced by it.

Liked the aqua, but wanted it to be brightened up even a bit more, so I added a layer of lime green. (Do you notice here that the colors I use are not timid colors?)

Having meant to do a yellow page, I thought I might add a bit more of it to bring it back into the mix. I added yet one more layer of yellow paint over the entire page. It added a "spark" of yellow, but the oranges and other colors definitely shone through. (Check out the bit of the paper showing in the photo below.)


Never one to be satisfied unless I've pushed the limits, I opted to add a dark teal to the mix as well. Technically, I added Folk Art Azure Blue. It is MUCH darker than any of the other colors used so far, and the plan was to basically use it on the same side as the other blues and greens. I find I tend to "group" my colors like that, even when I am using such different colors, cools with cool, warms with warm. No particular reason, other than I guess that's my personal preference.

One drop of the dark teal, and a few firm swipes of the Formica chip and I have this along the edge and extending toward the middle. I very much like how the chip draws out those edges of color.

So, here we have a very bright, very colorful background, executed with very basic acrylic paints. But, take note that all of those paints were pretty brightly hued on their own... which probably contributes greatly. IF your personal preference are colors that are not as saturated, you won't get this sort of a page... unless, of course, you step yourself out of that comfort zone and stretch a bit...

Seven layers of paint were built. I began with a (1) bright yellow, added (2) two shades of orange, both light and medium, then a dash of (3) hot pink or magenta... a (4) medium shade of aqua was added, then a (5) lime green... (6) another layer of yellow, and then a (7) darker teal to top it all off. And that just gets the background paint on it... there are likely to be more layers when I actually begin working with the paper... which is what I'll be doing next... as well as showing you some paint and layers using some of the envelopes and junk mail I have.