Vacation Inspiration

Posted on by under Inspiration

We went to Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. It’s a beautiful area. We did a lot of hiking, bird watching and taking photos. We also had a fun outing of paddle boarding. Here are a couple of photos (I have tons more) of the area.

This is a photo of Lake Tahoe from the California side. We were in Sugar Pines State Park.

This is Eagle Lake. It’s a gorgeous lake but the climb is a bit steep to get there. I am off to our annual art retreat for the weekend. We’ll be screen printing and gelli printing. So hopefully, I will remember to take some photos and I’ll post about it later. Have a great weekend!

Screen Preparations

Posted on by under printing, surface design

I mixed up some print paste today to prepare some screens for screen printing next week. Our group is having our annual art retreat and we’re planning to do some deconstructed screen printing. So I completed the first step so it could dry and be ready.

This screen was placed over a gridded packing material. I used a variety of blue and blue green dye.

Then I used red and yellow dye over a textured shelf liner.

The last screen was created over plastic wrap with blue and red to create a variety of colors.

I had leftover dye on the shelf liner, packing material and plastic wrap. So I printed some papers. These will make good papers for collage or for layering further paint or dye on top. I am looking forward to seeing the screen printing results next weekend.

Tree Fragment Series

Posted on by under collage, mixed media

I created the first two of these “Tree Fragments” quite a while ago and then they just hung around the studio being UFO’s. I was invited to include some of my work in the “Uncommon Threads” exhibit at the Bigfork Cultural Arts Center. It is the same time as the exhibit for Whitefish Gallery Nights that I posted about here. So I needed different work for the Bigfork show. I decided to create one more piece to make this a series. I have created a post about that piece over on The Felting and Fiber Studio which will publish on August 13th. But I will show you the other two pieces here.

This first one is called “Chemo Leaves”. I used a rust printed background and covered a 12″ x 12″ canvas. This pattern was created from the curtains when my husband was taking chemotherapy several years ago. This is a combination of printed, screen printed and machine stitched felt as well as ice dyed cotton fabric.

The second piece is called Aspen Leaves and is created from printed and stenciled felt, iced dyed cotton fabric and machine stitched and painted silk. The background is an eco printed piece from my friend Paula. Thanks Paula!

I tried to fit these into some frames but it didn’t work. So I think they will stay unframed. Now I just need to finish up the backs and put on a hanger.

Glacier Lilies Complete

Posted on by under Level 3 Art and Design

I finished the Glacier Lilies painting. I added the outlines with a black marker in a “sketchy” fashion. To me that means imperfect lines and going over the line several times. So a bit messy, but overall you don’t even notice that. I also added a bit of yellow ink for highlighted areas.

Here’s the finished piece. You can click on the photo to get a larger version.

And here are a few details so you can see the outlines a little better. It was a fun method of painting by cutting paper resists and stencils plus lots of layers.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.

Glacier Lilies and Pow Wow

Posted on by under Level 3 Art and Design

Last week I showed you the start of my Glacier Lilies painting. I worked most of the day on it and I’m still not finished.

I finished cutting out the flower resists. These are on freezer paper so then I ironed them down to the canvas. They didn’t stay completely stuck down but it was enough to hold them in place while I painted over them.

I then used a variety of green paint and sponged over the top of the resists. The photo on the right shows the piece after I pulled off the freezer paper resist.

I then used tracing paper over the canvas and drew in the leaves. The photo on the right shows the freezer paper stencil that I cut to paint the leaves. I used a darker green paint for the leaves and sponged it through the stencil. Then I painted the stems that were still red/purple with a brush.

This is how far I have gotten. Now I want to add some outlines around the flowers. leaves and stems. I want it to look “sketchy” so I’m trying to decide what to use to achieve that effect. I was originally thinking I would use a black marker but maybe I’ll try charcoal or some type of pencil. Any suggestions?

I also promised some Pow Wow photos. I was a little disappointed because there weren’t that many dancers participating. But here are a few of the photos.