2nd Annual 12 x 12 Gala

I’m happy to announce Conroe Art League is having its 2^nd Annual 12 x 12 Gala. It is to raise funds for our work with Art Students within our area, we host shows and provide awards for the winners.

Any hoot these are my contributions to the cause.

  

On Point, collage on stretched canvas

The papers are scrapbook and watercolor paper that I did acrylic washes on.

Visions, acrylic on clay bord

This second one has a VIDEO HERE.

I’m really looking forward to the Gala, it was so fun last year. Please come by and say hi if you can make it. . .

Madeley Building Art Gallery

127 Simonton Street

Conroe Texas

November 19, 2016, 6 to 9 pm

Happy Art’in Y’all

our Friend

Our Art Community loss our friend Raine Phoenix, Oct. 18, 2016. In honor of Raine I am posting here the HOT mess ART gang interview I did for the gang newsletter in July of 2015. Raine we love you and miss you.

 Spotlight Corner

We are happy to present our first member Spotlight, RainePhoenix from Massachusetts.She loves the changing seasons and lives in a house that her family built in 1847. Raine’s grandfather was born in the home and as a child she spent a lot of time there with her grandparents, even then it “felt like home.”

Raine currently does her arting from a comfy recliner, but plans on reorganizing her studio space. She loves acrylic paint and also dabbles with watercolors of various types along with colored pencils. She’s happy with a diet Coke, Word Search puzzles and has been known to “go on scarf-knitting binges.” Just don’t ask about her washi tape collection.

Raine enjoys music some favorites are Rufus Wainwright, Shinedown, Jethro Tull, Green Day and most classical music, especially Mozart. She gave up TV about 3 years ago, but likes the occasional DVD, comedies, classic chick flicks and superhero movies (Robert Downey Jr.). Raine LOVES Trivial Pursuit, when she can get someone else to play. She appreciates ALL art and finds it inspiring even if she doesn’t understand it, it’s the experience that stays with her. Raine’s preferred surface to art on is one found in a journal so without further ado we present the delightful RainePhoenix.

Please tell us about your art journaling; I've been doing it since my very first class with Kelly Kilmer in late December of 2007. Since we made our own journals for that class, I have almost always made the journals I work in. I've made about 50, 45 or so of which I have filled. I get annoyed when I can't get a nice watercolor journal in portrait form. Another good reason to make my own! My art is very eclectic. I don't really have a "style" or have any particular topics or themes. I do have a lot of vintage photo collage sheets that I like to use now and then. I suppose that my art sort of reflects my own life at the time. I really love the freedom of art journaling and that there is no "wrong" way to do it!

After you finish a journal spread, do you see things about it that are relevant to your life or history that you didn’t realize while you were working on it? Absolutely! It happens a lot. I work very intuitively, so I'm not always aware of why I'm making the choices that I make. Frequently in hindsight, things become obvious references to my life and/or what is going on around me.

Is there a non-art thing that you do, that seems to give you art ideas? I am a voracious reader! Last year I decided to keep track of them and it turned out that I had read 239 books. I also read a lot of art magazines and didn't include those in my book list. So far this year I am on my 89th book. Reading takes me to other worlds, other realms. How can that not inspire me? I read a lot of fantasy and paranormal novels. They inspire me to take my art out of the box. There are no limits to what I can try, if I so choose.

Do you have a specific routine for doing your work? I try to make art every day. I used to go up to my studio around midnight and work/play until about 4:00 am. My friends and I used to joke that I got up "at the crack of noon!" Unfortunately, I've had to modify my hours and haven't yet found a new schedule. I'm hoping that once I've made my studio more comfortable and functional, I'll fall into some sort of routine.

Do you ever procrastinate, and if so why do you suppose that is? Oh, I am a very gifted procrastinator! Hence, all the reading! I think that it's the fear that I won't know what to do, that "blank page syndrome" that affects so many of us artists. But I love making backgrounds so I guess that most of my procrastination is fear-based. Fear that my art won't be "good enough." I try not to compare myself to other artists but it's difficult when the Internet makes finding other artists so easy. But I will even pull out my own previous journals and feel like I can no longer produce work like I had in the past.

Do you have a favorite artist and What about them do you admire? Monet! His water lilies are amazing. I was fortunate to have seen some in person a few years ago. I had gone to an exhibit with a friend. At the end of it was a gift shop but it was too crowded and I became uncomfortable. My friend suggested I go into the next room where there were benches where I could rest and wait for her. Well, as it turned out, the room held several of Monet's painting! I was overwhelmed! In person, they actually seem to glow from within. I was literally moved to tears. I just stood in front of one of them, gazing at it with tears streaming down my face. They are just such peaceful images and I'm fascinated by the fact that he was able to paint so many paintings of the same subject without the artwork becoming stale.

What type of art stuff do you collect? It might be easier to say what I DON'T collect! Actually, I tend to collect paints of all kinds, stencils (over 600! Don't judge! *wink*), washi tape (don’t ask), stamps and paper, particularly deli paper within the past year or so. I have quite a few boxes of it. I'm on the search for the "perfect" deli paper!

Thank you Raine for your fun answers and for your time, it has been a pleasure learning more about you.

#ICAlumiHop Journal Giveaway – Diamonds & Gold

a Video HOP 

We were to do a 9 x 12 journal page, use an artist quote. For group 3, we were to also do an ATC . . . 

GIVE A WAY --- You see the different pages have been bound together by Shel C, including an ATC page, the Journal will be given away to ONE blessed person. Deadline to enter is Monday September 26, 2016, 12 midnight CDT (Central Daylight Time) and Winner announced by Shel on September 29 . . . so if you are reading this and have not watched the HOP – what ya wait’in fer?

AND as promised in the description box that appears below my video #ICAlumiHop Journal Giveaway – Diamonds & Gold 

MY Ingredients Were: Canson cold press 140 lb watercolor paper;

Acrylic Craft Paints – Craftsmart Navy, Apple Barrel – Aquamarine (I made this a wash using water & fluid matt medium), FolkArt – Neon Purple;

Liquitex white gesso;

Stencils: TheCraftersWorkshop – Mini Microbial & Mini TieDyed, StencilGirl – Wonky Eyes by Carolyn Dube;

Sizzix Die 660220;

Deli paper;

My own Hand carved fish stamps;

Liquitex Matt Medium;

Sea Horse Stamp – sorry I don’t know

Silks – ginger peach;

Archival Inks – Plum, Vermilion;

White cardstock;

Embossing Dabber by Ranger;

Recollections Embossing Powder – clear;

American Crafts black precision pen;

Soufflé white pen;

For the accompanying ATC – that was NOT included in the Video – Watercolor background, Hand Carved “water” stamp, Archival Ink – Manganese blue, Glossy Accents

Diamonds & Gold.

Within the flowing souls of humanity there is a treasure that shall not diminish, diamonds – glistening of strength and gold - a thread that forever connects us with our Source, our Creator, our very Breath

Pick Up Video - Coral Bits etc. , AND a Watery ATC featuring stamp carving - shows how I carved the stamp used on the ATC

Thanks for Watching, Sharing and Liking

Happy Art’ing Y’all

Paper Press

I was asked for photos of my paper press, I recently talked about in a video HERE.

My Husband made it for me info as best as I could measure follows:

Frame is 14 ½ x 12 ½ and 10 ½ tall; it is made from ¾ plywood

The dowels are about 1” round

The actual press plate (plywood) measures 11 ½ x 8 ¾

the washer like thing on the bolt bottom

handle on the bolt

top

underneath the bottom

The Bolt has a handle on top, it was JB Weld’ed, allowing it to screw up and down. On the bottom of the bolt is a round piece of metal (almost washer like) about 3 inches in round. It is not attached to the press plate, it does press down onto the plate. The JB Weld, did not hold the washer thing on the bottom, so I used some Gorilla Glue on it and it seems to be holding just fine.

So there we go, I hope this helps

Happy Art’in Y’all

Paper Press

I was asked for photos of my paper press, I recently talked about in a video HERE.

My Husband made it for me info as best as I could measure follows:

Frame is 14 ½ x 12 ½ and 10 ½ tall; it is made from ¾ plywood

The dowels are about 1” round

The actual press plate (plywood) measures 11 ½ x 8 ¾

the washer like thing on the bolt bottom

handle on the bolt

top

underneath the bottom

The Bolt has a handle on top, it was JB Weld’ed, allowing it to screw up and down. On the bottom of the bolt is a round piece of metal (almost washer like) about 3 inches in round. It is not attached to the press plate, it does press down onto the plate. The JB Weld, did not hold the washer thing on the bottom, so I used some Gorilla Glue on it and it seems to be holding just fine.

So there we go, I hope this helps

Happy Art’in Y’all

Dye'in to Bind

I was recently in a Natural Dye & Book Binding workshop, instructed by Delaney Smith of Delaney Smith Studio. It was a full day of dying fun and learning some simple binding techniques for our dyed papers.

Y’all know I’ve made a few many journals using the pamphlet stitch, staples, glue, hair bands and whatnotage but this was . . . My first time dying (lol) and my first time Japanese Stab(ing more LoL). Now some of my fellow workshopp’ers (I’m just full of ‘em today) had not done any binding before and some had.

Delaney fixed up three different dye baths for us, explained some of the ins and outs and different stuffs about using natural stuff in dying. One of the main things was to record what we used and the various notes to keep when experimenting (spear mints). You see if you want to try and repeat an outcome, you need to know how you got there.

Here are a few photos from the workshop

and TWO videos can be found here and here, of the little books I made at the workshop. I’m sure y’all will see some dying and stab’in videos in the near ta far futures.

Happy Art’in Y’all

new post

Recently we went to the Pearl-Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring Texas. a very nice little place. It operates on sponsors and donations. It was originally the Barbara Bush Library, but they built on and moved the library into a bigger area and the empty space became the Art Museum.

Current exhibit  - The National Parks, images by Mark Burns, Vital, Margaret Smithers-Crump, and Transcendental Inspirations by Islamic Arts Society of Houston, closes September 3rd. The Museum will be closed for a couple weeks during the take out and take in of new art that will open September 23, 2016.

This is one of my favorites pieces by Margaret. Each little piece is attached individually to the wall, so it will never be exactly like it is pictured again. Margaret works with Plexiglas and acrylic paints. They have great dept and you really want to touch them. . . no I didn't because that would be rude. . . but I wanted too lol. And did I mention how Cool these pieces are . . . they really are!

I will be going back & if y'all are in the area I suggest that you drop by if possible


Happy Art'in Y'all