Live Laugh Love, Metal Blots, Hidden Book

Live Laugh Love & Metal Blots 

12 x 9

wood, letters, metal tape, black metal paint & metal paint on flashing with patina solution

For Mixed Media. Experiment with metal techniques. In Live Laugh Love I adhereed metal tape over letters then used darker metal paint to add some depth. In Metal Blots I placed metal paint on the flashing pressed the pieces together and then added various patinas.  

Hidden Book

9 x 7

altered book

For Book Arts.  Take a book and make something new from it.  I have always thought false books are cool. Books that look like books but actually hold treasures.  I also wanted a cool case for my iPad.  I went to a local used book store and bought a book for $2.  I made a template, cut out all of the pages, and then glued them all together.  Quite a bit of work.  I love the way it looks though. A cool/ safe way to carry around my iPad :)  

Encaustic, A Dreamless Sleep

Encaustics

12 x 9

wax, wood, image transfer, watercolor, yarn, acrylic, pastel  

For Mixed Media.  Experiment with encaustics. Very fun to do if you never have.  Playing with different ways to use encaustics.  

A Dreamless Sleep 

8.5 x 4.5 

decorative paper, davy board, PVA, waxed linen thread, blank & lined paper

For Book Arts.  Midterm. A compilation of letters written to my grandfather in the week after his unexpected death. The letters bring the reader through the stages of grief. 

Image Transfers

Image Transfers 

12 x 9

wood, image transfer, watercolor, charcoal, ink pen, gouache 

For Mixed Media.  Experiment with image transfer techniques. 

Textured Surfaces

Textured Surfaces

12 x 9

textures on wood

For Mixed Media.  Create textured surfaces.  These use stucco patch, plaster strips, crackle paste, and venetian plaster.  

Textures Book, Paste Paper

Paste Papers 

11 x 15

flour paste and acrylic on Reeves BFK

For Book Arts.  Use flour to create a paste to make a glue to create covers for future projects.  My paste was super lumpy so I found this project to be a bit difficult. I do like some of the affects I got though.  

Book of Textures

9 x 4

wood, twine, metal paint, modge podge, crackle paint, metal, acrylic

For Book Arts. Make a book without paper. To make my book I used scrap pieces of wood, decorative metal, dyed twine, metal paint, patina solution, glitter, glue, acrylic paint, & crackle paste.  It is an exploration in texture.  A book without words.  

Exploring Textures 

various sizes

wood, metal paint, crackle paint, metal, acrylic

I love when my classes inspire each other. I used the techniques in Mixed Media to inspire the book for my Book Arts class.  To create the first pieces, I taped the decorative metal onto wood and painted with metal paint and patina to create covers for my books. The second one is blue acrylic paint, crackle paste, & bronze metal paint on wood. 

11x15

watercolor on Reeves BFK

For Mixed Media, Creating surfaces and experimenting with watercolor, salt, alcohol &soap.

Plaster, The Pauper & The Knight

 

9x12 

mixed media joint compound on wood

For Mixed Media 2  In one I embedded a piece of yarn and in the other I dripped in watercolor while the joint compound was wet.  

The quote reads "The Quesion of life is 'Why?' The answer, "Why not?" I used  watercolor, tea, ink, sanguine, and white charcoal.

The flower is watercolor, and colored pencils.  

 This is what they looked like after the plaster was dry and before I worked into them:

 

 The Pauper and The Kinght

8.5 x 5.5

 handmade book

For Book Arts. We had to create a book based on 5 random words. To find my 5 words I opened my dictionary, closed my eyes, and went with where my finger landed.  

My 5 words are

- purloin

- head

- coat of arms

- ultimatum

- partway

These words inspired me to write a story and illustrate it.  Fine art is my specialty so illustrating the book was a bit difficult. 

The story is about a pauper who wants to be a knight and decides to steal a coat of arms. 

 Below are some models I made to practice different binding techniques. 

3 little books

 Receipts, Quotes, & The Story of a Line

3.5 x 4.57 & 6.5 x2.5  

Japanese Rice Paper and Text weight paper

 My 3 little books. I used an 8 panel folding technique.  The pages are made from a single piece of folded paper.  Each book has its own concept-

-Receipts 1.28-2.4 2012- My receipts from buying supplies for this semester :)

-Quotes- Inspired by a list of art quotes I collected. They are

"There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen."~Helen Frankenthaler 

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."~Pablo Picasso

"Art is making something out of nothing and selling it."~Frank Zappa

"I do not take drugs. I am drugs."~Salvador Dali

"Art is an experience, not an object."~Robert Motherwell

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."~Scott Adams

-The Story of a Line- This is an idea I would like to explore more.  It was supposed to be longer but I got 2 of my books mixed up so Quotes got longer and The Story of a Line got shorter. 

I was going to try and use card stock for the cover but 1) it was too difficult to fold well and 2) it was too heavy of a paper for my light weight rice paper. 

 

Sketchbook Project 2012, Pacific Paradise

A sneak preview of my Sketchbook Project 2012 

I have also created 2 videos one of me just going through the pages and one with me reading the text on the pages.  Im not sure what I want to do with either of these videos but I have to send my sketchbook in today so I thought I would create something while I still had my book. 

I am going to have it digitized and will post here when that is done. 

In other news,  yesterday was my very last first day of school.  When I am done with my last three classes (Book Arts, Mixed Media 2, and Senior Portfolio) I will graduate!  I never thought that day would come.  It has been a long journey and I am almost to the finish line.  

Starting school again means you will be seeing lots me update from me.  I hope you like what you see :)

 Pacific Paradise
iPhone/ instagram
Beautiful sunset a few nights ago.

iPhone- Climb Every Mountain, Currents

I am really loving my iphone 4S and instagram so I am going to be uploading more iphone/instagram photos.

I want to embrace all aspects of my creativity, not just painting.

 

Climb Every Mountain

From a hike my husband and I went on. Beautiful expanses. 

Currents

Beautiful ocean currents. I love the colors and the play of lights, reflections, and shadows.

 Message in a Bottle
Found on Topanga Beach.  The message reads "I want to see The sun At Midnight and feel it to be magical, fulfiling and life changing."

Follow me on Instagram- heartMelinda

Love, Peace, Joy

 Love, Peace, Joy

8 x 10
linocut on printing paper

I make Christmas presents for my family every year. This year I choose to work in linocut. I wanted to create something that could be hung all year round. I love languages so I explored the use of languages as expression. The background is created with the main word in many languages. The each image is 5 x 7 and is printed on 8 x10 printing paper.

Available in my shop

DIY Frame Earring Holder

 Earring Holder

16 x13

I saw this on etsy being sold for $50 and thought "hey I could make that". I usually dont do tutorials but I thought this would be fun to share. 

The sheet of aluminum was $30 but I could use it make 6+ more holders. It is a 3ft x 3ft sheet that I bought at Lowes. 

Let me know if you make this. I would love to see your take.