The Long Horn State

 This is the 3rd project on my series using baby wipe container lids. My usual Modus operandi is to use items I already have in my possession or to purchase used but I could not find anything to fit this lid. So I purchases a new 5" x 5" canvas.

 I took the label off the lid and covered the back of the canvas with modeling paste. 

When the modeling paste was dry, I covered both the lid and the canvas with acrylic paint. 

Then I pulled out my miniature collections. Having lived most of my life in Texas I used a Texas theme.

 I inserted (using e600 glue) the blue Texas shaped magnet with a red rose that I had bought while visiting Tyler Texas and the Rose festival years ago and on top of that I glued a miniature cow skull and an illustration of a saddle from a business card. I also painted the black lava texture gel over everything.

 I then started adding details with "dot" paints and attached the hanger with Apoxie Clay.

Inside the lid I attached some letters and distressed them with acrylic. 

The finished piece without the lid.

The finished piece with the lid.

Making Art in a Secluded Winter Cabin

The lovely view from the table were I was making my art!

 My husband and I were invited up to a cabin for the week. The men were going to go back country ski and do manly stuff and the women were going to go into town and shop and eat and do women stuff.

Well right before we left I found out that the woman of the house was sick and would not be coming up until later in the week, so as an after thought I packed 2 bags of art stuff. Glad I did. She did not make it up at all and neither did the other woman.

I cross-country skied on the lake everyday and saw an eagle and a fox.

 So as the men drove off every day, I was left to my own devises! With no distractions such as a computer or people, I had hours of uninterrupted time which I put to good use. Below are the five projects I made...

Horse Racing- found object assemblage 5 1/2" x 51/2"

Bright Beautiful Butterflies Mixed Media-5 1/2" x 7"

The Long Horn State- Mixed Media/found object 5" x 5"

 Around this time I started running out of substrates (a layer that underlies something). So I had to get creative...I went outside but everything was covered in snow...except for the wood pile and there I found this shard of wood which reminded me of something from a shipwreck and then I even went digging in the grand kids toy box and found this shark. (I still have to confess taking this and risk not being invited back)

I had brought my baggies of alphabet pieces so I could pull the piece together. The starfish, seashell and scuba tank were all in the S bag. The card on the left under the shark, is a little ATC I made onto part of a cardboard box of noodles I found in the recycling bin.

SCUBA found object 9" x 4"

For the next piece I used a piece of a map and a page from a dictionary as the substrate and made a collage. It is a weird size, so I think I am going to find a frame from my stash and so it may change a little.

17 Postcards from Peru 81/2" x 9"

So even though it was not the week I thought it would be, I had a great time and made a lot of art! I did take lots of photos and will go into more detail on some of these pieces in future blogs.

Joint Compound 2

untitled 12" x 12" mixed media

 Here's another project I completed this week using joint compound. The square background is a metal tin piece from the thrift store and the rectangle in the middle is a very thick piece of water color paper with a layer of joint compound spread on it, a tree transfer from a book using gel medium, sketch of some flowers scratching into the surface and some leaves cut from hand-made paper.

 This photo shows an earlier stage of the piece and how I added joint compound around the edges to make the tin look it was emerging from an old wall. I used a lot of very thick adhesive under the watercolor paper, put a sheet of wax paper over it and stacked books on top to weight it down over night as the paper wanted to buckle. This technique worked very well. It dried nice and flat.

I needed something to tie the water color piece to the background and found this embossed sheet of paper which I cut out pieces of it and glued it and painted it around some of the edges as seen below.

Then I added some 3D berries

and last I added beads of metallic paint along the edges of the watercolor paper to further blend it to the background.

Playing with joint compound and other fun stuff.

First I taped off the bottom of a wood tray I had picked up at a thrift store.

 Last week I borrowed Plaster Studio from my friend Marianne. I decided to play around with some of the techniques. In the book they mention using joint compound which comes pre-mixed, this sounded good to me as I didn't want the mess of the plaster in my studio. I used to do plaster projects with the kids every year, mixing batch after batch of plaster and breathing the powder and making a mess, and then you have to know how much your going to need, because wet plaster doesn't wait. So.. even if the joint compound works a little differently I was all up for ease of using it.

After I taped off the sections of the tray I spread joint compound all over it and let it dry. Then peeled the tape off. Then wished I hadn't peeled tape off as I wanted to paint it without getting any paint on the wood. Well this was a happy accident. I re-taped it using wider strips of tape which then gave a nice white border around each square.

painting the white squares with acrylic paints as well as using Adirondack color wash sprays.

 Then I pulled off the tape and had these wonderful miniature paintings. To add more depth I painted melted way over the top and fused it with a heat gun. I then scratched into the surface of the wax and rubbed burnt umber paint into the scratches to add more texture.

I like the way this turned out. But I am considering adding a few 3D objects and then covering it in resin. What do you think? Leave it alone or keep going? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Tomorrow I will be presenting at 10 am, "How to tell a story through Found Object Assemblage" at the SCHOLASTIC ART AND WRITING WORKSHOPS: Timberline High School 701 E. Boise Ave.

from 9 am till 4 pm - 1 hour Art and Writing Workshops.  All are welcome...the workshops are free.   Bring your own brown bag lunch.  Invite your friends and peers...this is going to be fun.

Then from 1-3 tomorrow I will be over a Green Chutes with a free make and take table of a Valentine Pin. Stop in and say hi. :)