Fun making art with Friends

My friend Marianne just built a new studio in her backyard and invited a bunch of her friends to come visit/play/drink wine/make art. Pictured above is Nancy in the red jacket working on her prints for the "Leftover" project, in between her snacking. :) Patti (maroon) working on a project for her kinder class. Lynn (Sculptor) talking music and Marianne (white t-shirt) holding court and working on her "Valentine for Aids" and new work for the Art Source Gallery.

I was busy in the corner working on the 5 pieces of art I promised from my facebook post to Ellen, Patti, Marianne H. PennyLea and Denise. and the 2 ATC's I promised from my blog to Amy and Rebeca.

Thanks Marianne K. it was a productive afternoon and lots of fun!

Valentine for Aids

I was invited to participate in the 18th Annual Valentine for Aids Silent Art Acution held Feb. 3-13, 2011 at the Flying M Coffeehouse in Downtown Boise. This is a benefit for SNAP, Safety Net for Aids Program. So what might the above items have to do with this, you might ask?

I created my piece out of a yellow block of wood leftover from a pergola, two small white plastic boxes from an order of business cards, a clay pin with beads from a garage sale, the inside of a dental floss container and a switch and gauge given to me by my friend Nancy, which I think she got at the Reusium. And the book was used for ideas on Electrical drawing.

I painted all with gesso and then planned the layout. The papers are candy wrappers and the envelope from the invitation.

I looked up electrical stuff in the Mechanical Drawing book and drew some symbols around the edges.

side view

These are the products I used. Gel medium to glue down the papers. Pickling gel to wash over the entire piece. Glitter/glue on the light switch. Alcohol ink to cover the metal on the light switch plate.

Finished piece: LOVE, you turn me on

Leftovers

Today I finished up my prints for the "Leftovers" print exchange. The whole idea behind the project name is to use up small leftover papers from previous projects. Well as you know I am all about using leftovers. Above photo is were I left off yesterday after carving the flower design and printing it with acrylic on Joss papers...today was a lot of trial and error.

My idea was to mount these on black paper. I cut out these two and it looked great with this handmade red paper with gold leaf design. On the side is a piece of red acetate that Vicki gave me on Sat.

Well those plans fell apart as I could find no more solid black paper. I did find four sheets of this scrapbook paper (leftover from my daughters scrap booking days) with words printed on it. This would work. But the design on the red paper was now too much. So I decided to go with just the red acetate.

I was going to use my handy xacto paper cutter but it wouldn't cut through 4 sheets of paper at a
time...

so I used my scissors...

I wanted to use spray mount for a perfectly flat adhesion but the pieces were so small I could forsee problems with that. I remembered a technique from a book making workshop I attended using white glue and a piece of cardboard and laying a smooth coat of glue over the entire back. Well this didn't seem to work too well...

Plan C was to try this little doohicky and it worked quite well.

The finished set.
Not the best photo as the gold and silver leaf reflected the flash and my scanner is not working...oh well they do look better in person.

Sunday Night Musings

Fun weekend hanging out with girl friends, eating, drinking, watching movies, skate skiing, hiking and making art..and speaking of art...got to play in Marianne's cool new studio.

When Marianne came over the other night she thought this piece above would be good for the Valentines for Aids Auction...looking at the invite, it's all electrical stuff and it says "you turn me on" Nancy gave me the pieces below...I may play around with them this week and see what else I can come up with.
In my last blog I also mentioned the print exchange "leftovers" I started on that project today. I drew out a design of some flowers on a disk that Vicki gave me, then carved out the design. I inked it with black acrylic and then printed it on Joss papers , with gold and silver leaf that I bought at the Asian Grocery.
Next I will mount them on black paper and then see if I need to add anything else. Photos to follow.
This week lots of meetings. Docent recruitment and Boise Open Studios on Monday. Wed. and Thurs. Treasure Valley Artist Alliance Board Meeting and Education Committee meetings. :)

Boise Bike and 5 things to get ready for!

Boise Bike
6" X 8"
$25

This piece was done by starting with a collage. I then melted wax over it. Most of the 3D objects are actually found objects collected while hiking or biking.

My husband was cleaning out one of his backpacks the other day and started pulling out bits of metal and discarded items that I had forgotten about in a pocket, and he was like, what the??? and I said oh! wait... don't throw those away, they are mine. His response, I should have known.

What's next, well after unpacking everything from the Gypsy Show in December and the end of 4Q Gallery this past week. I was thinking to myself that I needed to get my art back out there for the new year. Well within a week. I have 5 events/projects to work towards!

There is a new all ages art/ music club looking for consignments. I sent an example of my work and have an appointment on Wed. to possibly consign with ColorCube.

I received my coveted invitation to create a piece for Valentine for Aids. I was on the waiting list for 2 years.

During First Thursday I stopped by Atomic Treasures and visited with Cindy, the owner and she invited me to be the guest artist for the First Thursday in February. The store motto is Repurpose/Reuse/Reinvent. Just up my alley!

Amy over at Wingtip Press is doing a printmaking swap called Leftovers. She is looking to get 100 artists signed up, so I signed up. If you have an interest -click on the link.

And last but not least Marianne, Queen Gypsy has found a cool venue for The Gypsy Gallery for the month of March with an opening reception on First Thursday.

See you around!

Playing in the Studio

This piece was started with a box with a hinged lid that I bought at a thrift store along with a picture frame. I told the lady I didn't want a bag. ( I usually bring my own or just carry the item without a bag) Well I promptly dropped the box on the floor and it broke, she just looked at me as I said a not nice word. I picked it up and walked out and thought to myself ... well you can't just throw it away, so I glued it back together and then collaged it with tissue paper.

I have been saving used tea bags to use in a project. I saw some stacked in an art piece in a gallery about a year ago and then I saw them used again in the winning piece in the We Art Women Show last year and really liked the look. When I saw how well they fit, I knew what I would use the box for. I had a copper kettle to balance out the piece along with some scrabble pieces that spell out TEA.

Texas/Old West Collection

One of the top New Years Resolutions every year are organizing and cleaning. Today as I was doing just that...dusting my shelves, moving items around, unpacking from my last two showings and making room to make more art. It dawned on me that I was playing just like I used to as a little child when I would rearrange my doll house miniatures. Now I rearrange my collections to get ideas for possibilities new assemblages.

Chinese/Japanese Collection

Saints and Royalty

Budda, India and Nepal

Fairy Tales Do Come True!

What if Cinderella was a dragon?

This collage/assemblage was created using a thrift store gold frame. I added rhinestones and paint. The collage is red and gold handmade paper with the word "fairytale", a cut out of a dragon with words that start with d surrounding it, and a partial label from a crown royal bottle. The main feature is a Cinderella carriage/gold rhinestone pin given to me by a friend and tucked into the carriage is a dragon that has been part of my collection since 1968. This piece is 7" round and has a hanger on the back.

Viva La France

I haven't blogged much over the past 2 months as I have been virtually on the road since Thanksgiving when I spent the week in Death Valley. (See art of the desert previous blog.)
Then was home for a day to repack and leave for France with my sister and nephew to visit my daughter who was spending the semester studying abroad. From there it was onto Texas and then Oregon. Just got back this week and had to do some art. I created these two collage frames of our trip to France for my sister and nephew.
While we were in France the worst snowstorm since the 80's hit. Our 2 hour drive turned into 12. We missed a day of shopping and sightseeing in Paris...
but since we arrived at 2 am admist the snowstorm, the roads were virtually empty so we got to zip around the arc de triomphe and...

the Eiffel Tower.

Moving my camera phone while taking this picture created an interesting feel.

Even the food presentation was an art.

We stopped to see what was in the cave, after all the sign did say "Ouvert"
It turned out to be a winery. Up the icy stairs to the right was the vineyard, and somehow they had constructed it so the grapes could go through the ceiling of the cave for processing.

Upon entering, the smell of mold was all encompassing.
As seen above everything is covered in mold.

Chateau de Pray in the Loire Valley that we were able to spend a night at
and enjoy a 7 course dinner!
What a great trip.

Art in the Desert...

A motel that any self respecting artist would stay at...

A ginourmous prospector and penguin??

A mosaic couch....

A giant naked lego woman...

A house made entirely of bottles...

The first person to leave a comment correctly guessing were any of these photos were taken will receive an artist trading card handmade by me!

Idaho Triennial Artists

Geoff Kruegger

As some of you know I am a docent at the Boise Art Museum. One of the perks of being a docent is a "behind the scenes" look at the work and the artists showing at the museum.

On November 1st John Killmaster came and shared with us his 63 year perspective on being an Idaho artist. His work, Owyhee Canyon Lands is part of the Triennial Tour. Killmaster has donated 600 pieces of his artwork to the College of Southern Idaho, where it will be preserved.

On Nov. 8 Christine Raymond regaled us with her mysterious ventures with gold leaf. Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Boise Art Museum and is also featured at the Idaho State Captitol.

Today we were privy to enter the studio of Geoff Krueger. He not only answered questions from the 30 docents but also demonstrated how he starts a painting, sketching with a brush using a very loose oil based medium. His studio will be open this coming First Thursday in December from 6-9. Stop by and see for your self his great talent.

Feed The Imagination

Color My World
$25
Mixed Media Assemblage with Quote:
" How one crayon fed my imagination, and made seeing it come to life all the more thrilling."

What have you done this week to feed your imagination?

High Horse and Giveaway

High Horse Found Object Assemblage $50

The base is a block of wood from a construction site I was helping get ready to build a yurt on. Some of the pieces collaged on the sides I bought at a garage sale for 25 cents, they are leftover from some "stained glass" contact paper our neighbor put on the window of their front door. I also used transparency's that I bought at a thrift store that were already printed on by a teacher. I love reusing things that would normally be thrown away. Then collaged over that with tissue paper from old sewing patterns.
Next up is the round shape which is a collaged tuna fish can. With an altoids tin and a wooden block. They are attached with e6000 glue. Around the edges of the can I used DAP adhesive caulk and made the "fence" using little wooden things leftover from building some shelves. I painted the caulk to look like grass and dirt.
I then put a thin line of Elmer's around the caulk and glued seed beads, when the glue was dry I rubbed brown metallic dry pigment on them to blend them in.


One of the blogs that I follow is celebrating their 2000 post! Go visit Peggy and leave a comment and you might win one of her great prizes: Peggy's Mixed Up Art

I don't even know how many posts I have done, guess I'll add em up and maybe I'll give something away too.

Contemplation

Contemplation
Assemblage $25

Assemblage Techniques Workshop

Yesterday my friend Nancy and I attended Sue Latta's Assemblage Techniques Workshop. We got a LOT of information on just about everything you can find at a hardware store and possible applications for your art. I now know the difference between a screw and a bolt and even know about tap and die. We went through all the different kinds of glues available and the application processes. Who knew there was such a thing as liquid tape?

Using the "third hand"

Sue explaining difference between a rivet and a grommet
.

Now, it's time for me to apply all I learned to my art!