Thursday Thought - 001

Welcome to Thursday Thought.  

I have decided to start a new series of mostly art quotes that I find interesting or inspirational.  

I hope you enjoy reading them.

Today's quote is from Helen Frankenthaler - "There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen."

Fern, Quotables; Poppy, Thistle, Snap Dragon, and Sour Grass

 Fern 

12 x 9

venetian plaster, celluclay, found fern, wax, resin on wood

For Mixed Media.  Use multiple media and let the process guide you.  I began with the Venetian Plaster on wood.  I them added the celluclay to the edges creating a berm.  After the celluclay was dry I added the fern and the wax.  I wanted to see how wax and resin reacted so I decided to pour resin on top.  All of the materials are in the natural state.  I really like the play of textures and subtle colors and tones in the piece.  

Quotables: The Traveler's Gift- 7 Decisions of Success

text paper and tape

5.5 x 68

For book making.  Create a book using a leporello format.  I have been reading The Travelers Gift by Andy Andrews and was inspired to create a book highlighting the 7 Decisions of Success described in the book. 

Poppy, Thistle, Snap Dragon, and Sour Grass WIP

11 x 15

tea and watercolor on Reeves BFK

For Mixed Media.  My final project.  Each of these is going to have a flower on it done in a style similar to my Sketchbook Project 2012.  

 

Love Book

Love Book

5.5 x 8.5

davy board, handmade paper, book cloth, cardstock

For Book Arts.  My final project.  A simple pop up book of mine and my husband's love story.  

  Love is a single edition.  Designed, constructed, and written by me. The silhouettes are hand cut and the typeface is Calibri.

-I would like to thank Christine Rolik for her guidance, direction, and positive critiques.- 

You can see a mock up of this book here.  

Moments, Half Clam, Love WIP

Moments

9.5 x 15

ink, gouache, watercolor, charcoal, sanguine on cellucllay

For Mixed Media.  Experiment with additional techniques. This was done on Celluclay, mixed with green tea, and dried in the oven at 200* for 2 hours.  The green tea gave the paper a nice tint and I like the way the tea leaves are embedded in the "paper".

It is super fragile.  As I was peeling off the aluminum foil, the edges cracked off, then as I was painting on the "paper" more of the edges cracked off.  If I was to do this again I would make sure to make the "paper" thicker as it seems to be a bit more sturdy.  My husband thinks it looks like a giant potato chip :) 

The one on the left is thicker.  I painted on the thinner one as the thick one wasn't dry.

Half Clam Tray

3.5 x 2.75 x 2

davy board, decorative paper, glue, book cloth

For Book Making. The case wrapper and liner are done with a decorative marble paper, and the tray is done with a black velvety book cloth. This was surprisingly fun to do.  I really love the way it turned out.  I may make more of these in the future.  

I created it to house my "Me Book"

L<3ve WIP

8.5 x 11

cardstock

For Book Arts.  Mock up #2 for my final project. Here is my first attempt at this project. This one is much more successful then my previous try.   I plan on using the pop up shapes as "bases" and then attaching black paper to add contrast.  The pages will have white card stock behind them.   

Bound, Slip Cover, Love WIP

 

Bound

9x12

wood, wrapping paper, card stock, glitter, modge podge, twine, yarn

For Mixed Media. Experiment with assemblage. Scraps and failures.  The wrapping paper, glitter modge podge, and twine are scraps from various other projects.  The card stock cut out into mine and my husband's silhouettes are from the book making mock up that went wrong. 

Some of the modge podge is still wet.  I really hope it dries clear.  

Slip Cover

5 x 5

davey board, book cloth, handmade paper

For Book Arts.  Create a slip cover for one of your previous projects.  I created a cover for my Leaf Scans book.  

L<3ve WIP

8.5 x 11

cardstock

For Book Arts.  Mock up for my final project.  Thank goodness I did a mock up.  As I was putting it together I realized my structures wouldnt pop the way I wanted them to.  I an going to do another mock up with the pages vertical. 

Hydrangea Collage

Hydrangea Collage

30 x 20

CitraSolv National Geographic on Reeves BFK

For Mixed Media.  My 3rd of 4 projects.  I used green tea to stain the paper so I didnt have a plain white surface. Then each petal, cut from the National Geographic pages, was glued to the Reeves BFK.  I only glued the centers so that I could then fold up the petals to add a 3d element.   Previous step.

A side view so you can see how the petals are folded. 

Before I folded the petals. 

Circles, Hydrangea Collage WIP

Circles

15 x 11

watercolor on paper

For Mixed Media.  Use printmaking techniques.  The bottom and left is a technique called chine colle.  The red circles were done with a toilet paper roll, the blue was done with the top of a plastic party cup, and the green was done with the bottom of the party cup.

Hydrangea Collage

30 x 20

CitraSolv National Geographic on Reeves BFK

For Mixed Media.  My 3rd of 4 projects.  I have cut out each petal from my Citra Solv pages and will attach them to the paper.  I still would like to add some background color and I need to cut out some more petals.

Travel

The travel bug has bit again.  I absolutely love to travel.  I would not have know how much I love it if I had never done it.  There are so many places to see in this world and I want to see them all! I saw this pin on pinterest recently and thought that is what I want to do.  

 And then I realized I have done this! I like Lists so here is a list of my travels and when:

2002 Mexico -1st time out of the USA

2003 Arizona

2004 Caribbean

2005 Mexico, Cross Country to Georgia

2006 Catalina

2007 Lake Mead, Azores, Portugal

2008 Luxemburg, Germany, Mainland Portugal

2009 Spain, Italy, England, Greece

2010 Channel Islands

2011 Lake Tahoe, Catalina, Scotland

2012 Alaska? 

2013 Germany?

I am thankful for all of the travel I have done and I am super excited for all of the travel that awaits me.  I would love to go back to Europe, Egypt, go on an African Safari, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, etc etc etc.  Some day!

In other news I am on Spring Break right now, thus the lack for art posts.  I have some projects I need to work on but I have just really been enjoying my time off.  I have 5 weeks left until I am done with school forever! In May I will graduate with my BFA!!! This is been a long long process but I am really proud that I have stuck with it until the end.  

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.