Leaf Scans, Resin, CitraSolv

 

Leaf Scans

5 x 5

paper

For Book Arts.  Create a book inspired by found objects.  It has been windy here lately so when I went on my found object walk I found a lot of leaves.  Originally my idea was to create a gradated color book (green to yellow to red to brown).  When I scanned the leaves the color didnt come through the way I had hoped.  Instead I got these really cool images with a lot of depth. The leaves were very detailed where they touched the scanner and blurry as they moved away from the scanner.  I decided to make an accordion book with these images.

California Golden Poppy 

12 x 9

wood, watercolor, venetian plaster, image transfer, gold leaf, antique solution, gold metal paint, matte medium & resin

For Mixed Media.  I took my Golden Poppy piece from last week and decided to pour resin on it.  It makes the piece feel more important.  I was surprised at how easy the resin was to use.  I think I am going to have to use it more often.

CitraSolv
These pages were created by spraying a National Geographic Magazine with CitraSolv cleaning solution. I used editions from both the 70's and 2008.  The pages on the left are from the 70s and the pages on the right are from 2008.  I like the results better from the 2008 ones as I feel the inks are more vibrant and gave cooler patterns.  I plan on using these pages (and making more) to create a large scale flower piece. Stay tuned for updates :) 

Nevermore

Nevermore 

27 x 24

butcher paper, charcoal, watercolor, ink, wood, metal tape, iron metal paint, patina solution

For Mixed Media.  Project 2.  Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven.  The background is the entire poem. I began with a charcoal drawing on butcher paper.  I then added the poem, blue watercolor, and white pastel.  I didn't like the way that looked or how flimsy the butcher paper was so I decided to attach it to something solid.  I used metal tape to attach 6 wood boards together and then attached the paper using the metal tape. I then went over the raven with iron metal paint, added paint to the edges, and added drips.  Lastly I added patina solution to age the metal paint.  

Below are some WIP images. 

Here is an image transfer study I did for Nevermore. 

California Golden Poppy, Me Book

California Golden Poppy 

12 x 9

wood, watercolor, venetian plaster, image transfer, gold leaf, antique solution, gold metal paint, matte medium

For Mixed Media.  Experiment with multiple media.  Playing off of the name of California's state flower, the golden poppy.  I thought it would be interesting to make the golden flowers gold.        

Me Book

2 x 3

card stock, screw, nut & bolt

For Book Arts.  Create a book in sequence inspired by past present and future.  Each page has a number 87-24 and in years where something important happened there is a word- 87 birth, 01 high school, 09 move to California, 12 present, etc.  This book can be read in the round, as seen above, or as a flip book, as seen in the video below.     

My book in action.  I recommend you mute the video as my camera picks up sound easily and my breathing is oddly loud.

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.