Take a 'Focus Walk' Excursion

Walk with a focused eye,

a purpose.

Below --

my 'homework'

for an on-line class --

to walk,

and to notice

 [LOOK FOR]

text,
numbers,

fonts,

letter shapes,

graphics,

graffiti,

and
'artful' details

in unexpected places.

Try It!

Tuesday Technique'N: Go on An Artists' Date - The Real Thing

The Plan:

The Place:  Grand Lux Cafe, Scottsdale, AZ

The Time:  3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon

The Artists:  eb bunsen and yours truly

The Purpose:  our first personal meeting, tea, and journaling

eb's choice.

I selected Egyptian Chamomile tea.

I also ordered the creme brulee duo,

inspired by a light fixture

directly overhead.

eb's idea of 'helping me'

with the dessert

was to take

One Single Forkful

out of each.

Harrumpph.

Our poor waitress,

Tereshia,

had to come back several times

to actually obtain our order.

eb was teaching me

how to do a photo transfer,

dontcha know.

Priorities!

The wooden spoon?

A critical technique tool.

The lemons?

Picturesque, of course!

We both whipped out our cameras

at the same time,

then collapsed in laughter!

eb said, 'You are SO a woman after my own heart!'

I said, 'Get your shadow outta my picture!'

(no, I didn't really!)

We asked when we came in

if we could take photos.

Yes.

But when we did,

on our way out,

the General Manager

hurried over to say,

'Not allowed, actually!'

[What is UP with that, anyway?]

I'm thinking of creating a

piece of mail art & sending it to him,

so he can see how harmless

we journaling nuts really are

with our photos --

we're not stealing ideas for our own cafe,

really, we're not. 

We just want commemorative

& GORGEOUS

photos for our journal pages,

Dude.

The Result:

*  Discovery of a like-minded soul friend

(one who actually thought me 'mellow',

not to mention 'in my late 30s' - woot! -

I had to say,

"No, Dearest,

I'm hip to the hot flash syndrome myself!")

* A Creme Brulee sugar rush that carried

me through to bedtime!

(Yes, I finished them both, okayuh?!)

* photo transfers that finally transfer

(except now my printer stopped working!!)

*  The realization of how lonely I've been,

working in solitude as I do,

& how incredible it is

to emerge,

to connect,

to 'talk journal'

(& specifically:  JOURNAL)

with someone else who entirely 'gets it',

to put the journal, finally, aside

because the dialogue is so

dimensional,

hilarious,

intelligent,

opening,

to See,

& Be Seen!

Our Advice:

Make it,

at minimum,

an Annual Event!!

We are.

Tuesday Technique'N: Collage Sheet Art with Guest Artist Mary Mata

Collage Sheet Card & ATC Creations
Text & Photos - Mary Mata

The idea for making my collage sheets evolved naturally from my own card making.  At the time I was making cards from my photographs.  I soon wanted somthing a little different.  Collage was a great way to put a lot of 'pretty' in one space.  I was also teaching myself Photoshop so the ideas just came together easier after that.  After making collage style cards for resell, I thought, "Hmmm.  Why not create art for others to make their own cards?"  The rest is history.

Much of the inspiration for my art and collage sheets comes from my own photography and vintage photographs.  I love color, so everything gets a healthy dose of it!

The first project I wanted to share with you is a card made from my 'Raven Hair Beauty Card Collage Sheet'.

Materials used are:
Blank card (cut an 8-1/2 x 11 in two, then fold)
Glue - I like quick dry tacky glue or photo safe glue
Ink pads in colors to match - pigment inks work best
Glimmer Mist - love this stuff
Scissors
Metallic Gel Pens for embellishing
Collage  Sheet(s) of course!
Ephemera if desired

Once you have cut all the images from the collage sheet, start layering them to find a composition you like.  

When you find a look you like, lightly mist the background with silver Glimmer Mist. Let it dry.

Choose your ink pad in the color you like and ink the edges of all your pieces.  Let those dry.  Ink the edge of your card background.   Now you are ready to glue!

Glue background with all your pretty pieces.  Let the glue dry.  And now, if  you'd like, you can embellish with your metallic gel pens.

Completed Card.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The second project I want to share with you is an ATC made from my Seaside Card Collage Sheet. 

Materials use are the same as those above, with the exception of a blank ATC background, and a gold star I glued under the butterfly.

The technique for the ATC is the same as for the card ...  

that's because I have a very short attention span and need instant gratification! 

I do like to glue my ATC to a sturdier background, though, such as watercolor paper or card stock, cut to size.

 

Completed ATC

I also like to use shipping tags to make tags or bookmarks.   Some like to decorate their scrapbook pages.   

 

And transparencies add a further layer of dimension and allure to your project. 

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

About me:

I grew up out in the country in sunny California. We always had a garden, so I developed a love for the earth and all its beauty. I got my love for photography from my dad, but I was always drawing pictures as a kid. I am self taught, with the exception of a few classes I took in high school.  Everything I know about art and photography comes from reading a book, experience, and studying others peoples art. I tend to like the Art Nouveau and Art Deco look, so I do lean in that direction.

I worked as a wedding photographer for over 15 years, so I did teach myself photoshop. But because I was an artist before I was a photographer, I would constantly look for ways to make my photographs look more like art. That's where collage came in. It was a natural progression inside my 'let's go in twenty different directions' brain.

When I started the collage sheets, I was already making my own cards. There were collage sheets already on the market, but most featured clips of ephemera, not something you could create a card from with one sheet. My sheets also tell a story via my use of coordinated images versus just a group of unrelated pictures.

You can find my collage sheets, along with other fun stuff to create with at mataart42.etsy.com
If you have any questions or comments, please email me at studiomem@yahoo.com

* * * * * * * * * *

Mary Mata's collage sheet images have been gracing the pages of my written journal, my visual journal, my hand-crafted cards, and my mixed media canvases for the last three years.  She, along with one other artist, is my favorite source for collage sheets -- they express my internal horizons and visions; they are what I would create if I could!  I couldn't believe it when I discovered them, as if Mary had taken the extended world tour of my mind and imagination!  I visit her ETSY shop just to soak in the loveliness, and for a perfect mental escape!

Mary, my excitement level at

having you here for a

Guest Artist technique post

can't be articulated. 

THANK YOU!!!

Tuesday Technique'N: Make Art with a Child

A Child will Teach You ...

[Journal Pages by Ciera, used by permission,

with approval of Picnik collage play by me]

Saturday Evening

Sunday Afternoon-into-Evening

IT'S ART JOURNALING TIME!!

A round wooden table.

My Love, Ciera, in one chair;

me across from her in another.

A pile of scrap paper in the middle,

a stack of old magazines to one side,

rulers for ripping,

glue sticks,

a pair of scissors each,

& a huge cardboard box

filled with

plastic sleeves of

color-sorted papers.

A child will teach you,

immediately,

thoroughly,

how to take the

'precious'

OUT of your view of your materials.

Ciera roots & rummages

through

papers & magazines

without

hesitation or delicacy,

unceremoniously stuffing rejects back into

some case or other,

crumpling the remains of a sheet into a ball

before blinking, asking,

'Oh, did you want to save the rest?'

Forget organization,

color coordination,

crease-free or

cost --

JUST FIND WHAT YOU LIKE

&

USE IT!!

WHY ELSE DO YOU HAVE IT?!

A child will teach you

to

OWN

each page.

No 20 minute debate over

image or placement.

No acid indigestion

over color combinations.

No fainting spells

over corners not quite glued down.

Ciera creates 3 pages to every 1 of mine.

She likes the dress but not the face

on a woman?

Off comes the head,

& she glues down one she likes better.

Only once, in the 3 years

since Ciera and I have been

journaling together,

has she ever asked me about

a color combination

and that was last night:

'do black & pink look good together?'

Usually when she asks me a

'do you like it' or

'do you think I should ________?'

kind of question,

I'll say, 'Try it & let's see.'

But this time I had an emphatic opinion

& shared it:

"YES!"

If a corner lifts up,

Ciera either rips it off or

applies glue stick &

SHMOOSHES

[with both hands, mind you]

until satisfied.

A child will teach you

editing,

simplicity,

uncomplicated

'putting it out there'.

2 photos of something you want

accompanied by heart stickers

is all the embellishment

a wish page needs.

Flower images

&

a hand drawn self-portrait

with the words

Peace & Love

make a powerful mission statement.

A child will teach you

that less is NOT less,

even if the page appears

deceptively streamlined.

Ciera creates with purpose.

If asked

(& I always do)

she relates the story of each page

articulately & precisely,

& I assure you,

she isn't making it up as she goes along.

A child will teach you

that

ANYTHING

can be connected,

sensibly,

logically

to anything else.

Wizards & Pancakes?

Ciera seemed surprised

I didn't 'get' it.

She was in the mood for pancakes;

wizards could make it happen.

You see?

A child will teach you

that using what you love,

from any area of your life,

always makes a great page:

blue masking tape

(for taping blankets to chairs for forts),

Zebra tape

(because Zebras are her 'best' animal),

& pink paper stripes

(pink being, after all, her signature color)

bring all her favorite things

into brilliant & happy focus.

AND

a child will teach you

to sing your own praises,

to proudly show

everyone in the room each page

as you create it,

to sit back down,

to take a moment to 

fondly pat & smooth the page

with your palms

before turning to a clean sheet.

A child will teach you ....

* * * * *

I love you, Ciera.

Tuesday Technique'N: Freedom Wall

I've been wanting to work big.

I've been wanting to work standing up.

I've been wanting to experiment with

tools

products

techniques

materials

ideas.

I've been wanting to unleash!

And there's this blank wall in my studio, see ...

Hideous.

Definitely underutilized.

Makeover required!

Plastic painter's tarp, $2.99.

Push pins - pack of 100, $1.19 at WalMart!

Creation of Freedom Wall? 

PRICELESS!

My Studio Inspector, inspecting.

Up to code except

a) I've reduced her places to perch by one

(top of filing cabinet covered)

= violation big! 

 and

b) How is she to mosey across

or plunk her "I'm Here" heinie down

for a nap in the middle of projects

if they're suspended mid-air?

= violation extreme!

Permit Pending.

99-cent store pack of poster board.

Push pins, continued.

The photos,

above, feel like

Kansas before the Tornado,

don't they? 

Blah, bland, boring!

WE NEED COLOR, TOTO!  er, Zoe!

Gesso, 

leftover paints from 

cheezo acrylic paint bottles,

one dash of orange sherbet fabric paint,

brushes,

foamies.

PLAY TIME!

A little gesso here,

scrub-a-paint-dub there,

dash, dip, impress foamies.

Whatever I felt like, I did.

Just setting the base, here,

not committing to anything!

But this Detail?

I'm committed to that.

Whenever I entered my studio over the weekend,

I cupped chin in hand,

I pondered,

I consulted with my Studio Inspector,

and I added something.

Or some THINGS.

Detail.

Fun rotation of

papers, products, &

tools.

Truly an opportunity

to pull everything out

& experiment!!

Stencils, tissue paper,

silhouettes,

paint.

Detail.

Both photos are mine

(the pottery, the statues).

Postage stamps from my collection.

Rubber stamps.

Stencils.

Paper scrap.

A favorite silhouette.

More products to play with.

Blurry detail --

but see packing tape photo transfer?

Monk in orange robes,

carrying an umbrella?

& white oil pastel to

highlight some of the circles.

Yummy.

Another detail. 

Zoe said she feels like

she got trapped inside a lava lamp,

looking at this one.

Furry wench.

The point is:

PLAY

The point is:

EXPERIMENT

The point is:

USE STUFF YOU'VE BEEN AFRAID OF.

The point is:

USE STUFF YOU'VE BEEN COLLECTING,

bits, pieces, odds, ends.

The point is:

BE FREE!

It IS a freedom wall, after all.

Reminder:

if you hate something,

a corner,

a color combination,

a runaway drip,

you can gesso, color,

paint, paper over it

and start again.

In the words of

My Faithful Studio Inspector:

"The point is:

RELAX!"

Tuesday Technique'N: Altering Postcards with Guest Artist Lee Kreklewetz

Altering Postcards

[Text & Photos by Lee Kreklewetz]

Lee Kreklewetz

Is a self-taught mixed media artist

Who loves to paint, sketch and alter anything!

You can visit her blog at

http://leekre.blogspot.com/

Supplies:

Watercolor paint, acrylics, markers, pan pastels, pencil,

You can basically use anything you want on this project.

All I used was a pencil, markers, and one pan pastel.

Now let's get started:

Original Picture Postcard

Two ways you can do this:

work on the original postcard,

or

do a photo transfer.

I chose to do a photo transfer,

only because

I don’t have that postcard anymore.

Now you can see

that the photo transfer was not great-- 

it never is for me.

So all I did was take my pencil and outline it.

So to see where I am going,

I decided to paint in the sky.

I used pan pastels

But you could use anything,

blue markers, watercolor crayons, anything.

I decided that I did not want

to make them look

the same as the postcard.

So I determined that one needed a blouse,

one needed a full swimsuit,

and I added different straps to the other one. 

I started with my markers and just

went with it.

Here is a hint:

all the white you see in this picture is

a white out (correction) pen.

I use them all the time -- 

they give me the colour I want.

I started to colour in the sand and

really was not happy with it.

Don’t get upset

 if you make a mistake -- 

just change it up and that’s what I did.

As you can see,

the sand is still not looking right,

but don’t worry about it.

I went right on painting the flesh tones

and finishing up and then it came to me.

If they

were sitting on the beach.

they would be sitting on beach towels!

And you know what?

I think those beach towels

added what was missing .

See it looks different from the

original picture.

and it’s your art.

One tip:

if you are going to work

directly on the picture,

I would rough it up a bit with sandpaper,

so its not smooth.

If you try this technique,

I would love to see it!

Drop me a line at my blog

and I will come over and have a look.

* * * * * * * * * *

THANK YOU, LEE!!!