Raven art

Here is an image of my Raven art made to celebrate Halloween. I found an image to copy from the internet, put it onto muslin and then tinted the muslin with walnut ink and Tim Holtz distress inks before placing it over a black heavy cheesecloth-type netting (only heavier) and a piece of shimmery copper organza-type fabric. This was set onto an illustration board covered with old copies of "The Raven" poem, authored by my personal favorite, Edgar Allen Poe.

I used a black vegetable-type netting for the hanger, completing the textural look of the piece.

Bride of Frankenstein

My friend, Ingrid, made me a Halloween gift of a Bride of Frankenstein plaque that she made. It is backed by black foamcore. The image itself was cut from her Silhouette cutter, which is a fabulous tool. She has used black wire in a twisted fashion for the hanger and added a piece of black lace for embellishment.

There is a link to Ingrid's blog on mine. It is called "Living in a World of My Own"if you want to see more of Ingrid's work.

Autograph Quilt from Prickly Piecers

Prickly Piecers Autograph Quilt 

This autograph quilt was made for me by my friends at Prickly Piecers Quilt Guild of Ahwaukee and was presented to me by my friend and the President of Prickly Piecers, Lynnita Knoch. The members of Prickly Piecers all signed the blocks and I will cherish the quilt as I do all of the people who were part of its making. Many thanks to the members for their visits and cards, calls and emails during my recovery from my recent heart surgery. I look forward to rejoining the group and participating in Fall Camp next month.

Thanks again to everyone for this special remembrance.  

Skull & Cross Bones

This photo is of my latest mixed media piece which features a skull and cross bones design printed on muslin and colored with distress inks by Tim Holtz. The skull and cross bones made me think of old time medicine bottles. I

It started with a piece of Soho Board from Jerry's Artarama, covered with old dictionary pages which were "glued" onto the surface using gel medium. Next, a layer of Weathered Wood crackle medium by Americana covered the surface. Distress ink pads by Ranger/TimHoltz were used to add color to the background. I used several colors including vintage photo and my new favorite, at least for this project, "black soot". Next, I used a Distress Crackle around the edges of the dark frame and again colorized it with distress inks.

Two layers of dark tulle were used and then two layers of muslin which had been stamped with archival ink and colored with more of the distress inks. The image of the skull and cross bones was an ink jet image transfer.

All layers were stapled together across the top. A hanging ribbon was the finishing touch. Voile!

Zoe's County Fair Quilt

Zoe is my 9-year-old granddaughter in Ohio and this is a photo of a quilt that she and I collaborated on over the past several months. She entered it into the Montgomery County Fair this week and won a first place ribbon on it for her efforts.

The quilt is made of 25 eight" blocks of multicolored fabrics which are enhanced by machine embroidery in a silver glitter thread by Sulky. After all, girls of all ages love glitter.

You go, girl!

Koi Watercolor Field Sketch Box

Here is my new Koi Watercolor Field Sketch Box that comes in oh-so handy on my travels and quick trips. It features 24 fine quality transparent watercolors including Chinese White and Ivory Black. It comes with a re-usable waterbrush and an adjustable mixing palette for either right- or left-handed painters. It's approximately 5" by 7" and weighs just over 8 ounces. It's the perfect traveling companion and it sells less for under $30. I found mine at my local craft store.

"Happy Birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me..."

Art Unraveled 2012 Inchie Swap

These are my thirty inchies from the Art Unraveled 2012 inchie swap. Each one is a reflection of the artist who participated. The techniques ranged from image transfers to zentangles and from polymer clay to shrinky-dinks.

To learn more about Art Unraveled and what's coming to Phoenix for 2013, go to www.artunraveled.com.

Mellow Yellow

The circles in this piece were created with old paper towel rolls dipped into paint. You can use truly anything to create designs on your fabric or paper. I rarely use yellow in my work but decided to branch out into new colors as part of my experimentation.

Gelli with Hardware Cloth

Here

Gelli print with hardware cloth can result in interesting grid patterns and this is very well-suited to a deconstructing gelatin printing plate. In this instance I was using a homemade gelatin printing surface that was breaking down and developing cracks (one of the hazards of making your own surface). Not one to let go of a project before its time, I incorporated metals into it. Note: this is not something I would recommend trying with a purchased gelli plate. It is hard on the surface as you press the steel grid work into the gel striving to get a good print.

I pressed the grid quite firmly into the surface when applying the fabric (of course you could use paper) so that I would get a replication of the pattern.

By looking closely at the photo, you can see how the gelatin surface has cracked, but this only adds texture to my print.






Gentle firm pressure is needed to imbed the hardware cloth into the gelatin so that you can obtain a successful print. Hardware cloth comes in two sizes at my local hardware store and I tried both, liking them equally well since I did not have a project in mind with predetermined specifications as to size.

Plastic needlepoint canvas might work as well and not be as hard on your surface, but I wanted to push the limits and see what it would take. It really didn't seem to have too much effect on the gelatin itself, but again, it was a heavily used plate, not a fresh one and I would not try this on a manufactured one.

A pattern was created and a ghost print can be made as well. This is where you apply a second piece of fabric or paper to get a lighter print after you pull the original one. This can result in even more interesting geometric patterns.

Completed print

This is a completed print and I am quite satisfied with the results of my trials. You an see areas where the plate was cracked as well as the geometric pattern that was created with the hardware cloth.

The moral of this story is to not be afraid to try anything in your work, to experiment with different textures and materials, items from your kitchen or garage, anything goes. Inexpensive craft acrylic paint that I had leftover from a several-years' old project, combined with a piece of hardware cloth from the garage and an 8" x 10" square of muslin made for a great starting point for a mixed media project. I'm off to create now with my new fabric!

Egg Yolks

Yet another gelatin plate print.This one reminds me of egg yolks. This print is comprised of many layers of paint, free form brushwork, stenciling with paintsticks and it's circles of alcohol ink that make the yolk effect.