layer upon layer

I've been busy getting ready for Fresh Paint, held August 16-17 at the Everett Marina...
its a juried art show sponsored by the Schack Art Center here in town...

I've taken a new direction with my art this year...combining paper collage...with digital photographs... and then adding dimensional vintage elements as a finishing touch.

Though any one step by itself is not very involved or time consuming...when placed in the context of a completed piece, the time and effort can take months...

I thought I would share a condensed version of what goes into such a creation...to both inspire you as well as cultivate an understanding of my process...











The germ of an idea for the main collage of my highlighted piece started here...

Above are two scanned images of original paper collages from a commissioned art journal I constructed in October 2013...With techniques I acquired through the Photoshop Grunge class that I started in January 2014 (and I haven't even completed all the lessons yet) I found a way to merge these two images together while adding two more photographs of mine...so that's 4 images that went into this montage...with additional layers of textures and grunge...the resulting collage looks like this...

I then produced a high quality print...and started creating the larger multi-media assemblage...

At this point, the print sat on my studio table...for many moons (you can't rush inspiration...it sometimes takes its own sweet time)...











I often use old drawers as the foundation for my larger collages...but this print was an odd size - 10" x 16" ...and was confounding me...until I was cleaning out the basement...and found an old typeset drawer that was falling apart...it was perfect...

From there things came together quickly...wanting to pick up the blue tones of the collage, I covered the surface of the typeset drawer with a sheet of blueprint diagram (friends of mine had to scrape a remodel project and I happily snatched up a set of plans that were going to the trash) The white background of the paper was a little too bright...so my favorite patina to the rescue...

Several coffee washes later, I'm ready to put the photo print in place...finishing with a light sanding and a wax buff, this process of waiting for each layer to dry before proceeding takes about a week...

Wanting to keep with the original intention of the typeset drawer, I pull out my wooden type...and cobble together two words that express my message...

running short of traditional letters...you've got to use "poetic licence"... that number 3 is now an "E"

The inside edges still needed something...so it sat another couple of days...until I decided to add a length of metal measuring tape...secured in each corner with the letters n, s, e and w (for north, south, east and west)

At this stage, I leave the collage at a place where I can look at it each day - in this case, the dining room table - deciding whether or not it is complete or if something else is needed...once I'm happy with it, hanging hardware is attached then signed, labeled, ready for the show...

Come visit me at the show...I'll be in booth 21...and you can see this piece up close and personal...

Here and now

My last art piece is ready for Fresh Paint..what started as an old typeset drawer...

has become one of the largest multi-media collages I have ever tackled...

I removed some of the wooden dividers so there would be a greater variety of size...which gave me 77 compartments...I left some compartments empty...because all art needs negative space...right?!

The piece took me about a month...a little bit here, a little bit there...it evolved as I worked on it...
and the theme of a passage of time emerged...

the past...

the present...

and the future...

I enjoyed tinkering with it...figuring what worked where...and how to attach/secure everything soundly...
it really is imbued with...

It will be the pearl of my booth at Fresh Paint...I hope you'll stop by to see it...

idea...

I've been cleaning up at home...making our nest feel like summer...lots of ideas percolating...
previews later in the week...

Its all connected...

I recently purchased 72 vintage metal letters and numbers on etsy...

I bought them from Vintage Supply Co...

I wanted to make a couple of lamps in the same vein as this one...

Since I don't have an over-supply of brass stencils...when I saw the metal aluminum letters & numbers, it got me thinking...

I mentioned to Jeanette of Vintage Supply Co,  while we were emailing back and forth about the etsy purchase, what I planned to do with them...

She was flabbergasted..."I've pinned this lamp on Pinterest!"...

And so it goes...I'll post about the lamp when I get it finished...and then I'm sure it will be showing up on Pinterest...

Have you caught the Pinterest bug?  Follow me on Pinterest here
Have you ever seen all the great stuff there is on Etsy?  Visit my shop here
(and while you're at it...hop over to Facebook and "like" my page here - thanks!)

The sum greater than its parts, #4

Going headlong into the holiday...still working on projects that use what I have at hand for inspiration and materials.  I wanted to create some original art that could be a gift...or an ornament...or both!


I had these paper napkins that I picked up at a summer yard sale...the napkins had a bird on the front - birds always catch my eye...when I looked at the package more closely, I saw that the design was by Gwen Frostic...I love Gwen Frostic...she was an artist from Michigan who was known for her woodcut designs and her inspirational books...she was very big among the camp counselor crowd I hung out with in the seventies...her look is very iconic and even Martha wrote about her designs in the March 2005 issue.  How fitting that I should honor her with a collage piece...




I had a half dozen of these mini canvas frames...they had letter designs on the front...a coat of white paint obliterated all...I glued the paper napkin with the bird image onto the front of the frame using my gloss medium method described here...

You can also see the old gummed label at the bottom edge...it was the same bright red tone as the cardinal...it was the perfect highlight...after I typed in a single word...

I have an old Royal typewriter just for designs like this...there is nothing like the old ink from an old typewriter to give that authentic vintage vibe...

I carefully placed the label so that the type would be centered...since the labels were so small, it took a few attempts to get it right...

After I was done with the front, it was time to finish the back of the frame...they were pretty ugly looking on the back...a square of vintage map with that perfect touch of red would be ideal...


















Then there were the sides of the canvas...something more was needed...I recently bought a couple of rolls of that fabulous Cavallini paper tape...with the numbers and letters on it...but this project is about using what I already have...and wouldn't the vintage original cloth tape be better than the imitation paper variety...
I thought so...

Once everything was dry and all the edges sanded smooth, I waxed each mini-collage and tacked the cloth tape around the perimeter of the canvas...and this project was done...

the backside of the collage...love the colors of the map complimenting the colors of the bird...the red ribbon hanger (a single length of red satin ribbon held in place with a trimmers tack) was attached afterward...I remembered that if these are to be ornaments, they need a hanger!

 peace, joy, cheer, wish, hope...I think that sums up the season just fine...

Linking up to Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors...ornaments are the feature this week...

Letters & numbers

I changed out my space today at Faded Elegance...its taken on an autumn vibe...but with a twist.  I've always been drawn to the the graphic quality of letters and numbers and decided to play this theme to the hilt...the "numbers" fabric I purchased at IKEA was the perfect backdrop to setting this fall table...

Since I've been playing around with stencils lately, I had some fun with a couple of large size cardboard stencils...

and of course, with letters comes my fascination with words...

and dictionaries & language books of all kinds...

My vignette of Letters & Numbers runs until late November...stop by Faded Elegance and check it out...

Give me a "T"

After upcycling all my available silverware for lampshades (see posts here and here), I cogitated what else I could use to make an interesting/unique/one-of-a-kind shade...and since I love old metal...my mind quickly thought of...Brass Stencils!

I had quite a collection of stencils already but when my sister discovered a bagful at an estate sale and graciously let me buy them, I knew I was set...









I started with two lampshades that had seen better days, but both had interesting shapes which would add to the appeal of the design...I began by deconstructing the shades, ripping off the silk material, lining and trim...

Once I had removed the material, I kept the seam binding wrapped around the edges since I liked the colors and tone it added...

I assembled all my stencils and laid them out to get a good mix of letters, sizes and patinas for each shade...

After I finalized my collection of stencils, I used heavy weight linen thread to tie each set of stencils together.  I used my metal punch on the smallest setting to punch holes in each stencil.  Since the lampshade frame was divided into 8 sections, I composed 8 sets of letters, tied them together and then attached each set to the top of the frame.

For each base, I used a brass lamp I bought at the Yakima ReStore and spray painted each with the same Anodized Bronze Rustoleum color that I used with my first silverware lamp...I like that the color is kinda brown/kinda gray/kinda vintage looking...after all of the stencil sets were attached, I applied a light coat of Elmer's Glue to each knot to insure it would be secure....

Lamp #1...

For the second lamp, I tweaked my design...since the shade frame had quite a rounded shape to each of the eight sections, I didn't think that a lot of straight edges would work.  Again, I scrounged around my studio for what would inspire me...and found some vintage clock faces...used four faces...and spelled out T-I-M-E  around the perimeter...

I used an Edison bulb for the lamp...plays up that vintage vibe...

Linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special....

11-06-11 update:  since so many have enjoyed my "letters" lamps, I'm linking up to The DIY Showoff to share the inspiration...lots of great ideas over there...

Love of letters

To say that I have a love affair with type is an understatement..there's just something about the graphic quality of letters & numbers that is so appealing (which helps to explain my fascination with clocks and typewriters!)  So when I saw this idea on the blog, Anything Goes Here, I knew that I just had to try it for myself.  I emailed Joan to ask for permission to recreate her idea and she said it was fine - but please link back to her blog - so visit Anything Goes Here - it is filled with inspiring ideas, great photo vignettes and a link to her etsy shop where you will find wonderful vintage items for sale...

I have a healthy assortment of wood type so I knew I had plenty of raw material for this project...what I didn't anticipate was the amount of patience I would need...trying to configure a composite block with all of the sides flush and no empty spaces between letters was a challenge...much like putting a puzzle together...

Once I had the blocks designed, I used a little dab of Liquid Nails on the sides of each letter...I worked on top of a piece of wax paper...I've learned from experience not to leave glued projects to dry on top of a table without protection...

With some of the blocks, I incorporated words into the mix...others were random.  I let them sit overnight to ensure the glue was dry and then I brushed on a light coat of matte medium - this gave a light sheen to the letters, brought out the wood tones and added another layer of adhesive. 

I drilled a small hole into the top of each block and inserted a metal memo pin; I covered the back of each block with a piece of black felt to give it a finished look...

...and they were now ready for their "photo shoot"!

thanks Joan for the inspiration! 

And you can see plenty of fabulous, inspiring ideas at Funky Junk Interiors where I'm participating in Donna's Saturday Nite Special.