glue guns are not just for gluing

Been having some art fun with my friend Helen again. This time we got out our hot glue guns.

This is an idea we had seen lately from Traci Bautista and in Joan Bess' Gelli Plate Printing book.

You use a hot glue gun to draw shapes that will become a stencil or a mask when they set. I found some nonstick sheeting that you can use in the oven or on the barbecue,  that meant we could draw on our stencils then peel them off again once they had set.

We tried a number of different patterns to see what they would come out like. Wherever you cross the glue over itself it stays stuck together and you can make a stencil that is one piece.

We haven't had a chance to try them out with the Gelli plate yet but we sprayed Dylusions ink sprays over them to see how they worked as stencils. They worked wonderfully!

Aurelia Circles in blue!

I am about to start a new project! I picked up a fat quarter of fabric from Nancy's Embroidery in Wellington, New Zealand. It is Aurelia Circles from Makower UK.

While I was at Nancy's I saw projects they had as kits that took a piece of quilters fabric that you then doodled over with embroidery threads. They used a fabric called Kaffe Fasset French Panel Millefleur. I wanted it in blue colours but there wasn't one, but fortunately the assistant lead me to Aurelia Circles in blue and I was very happy!!

Gelli good printing!

Still playing around with my Gelliarts Gelli plate. I bought some inexpensive doilies from a Dollar shop to use as masks and stencils. One of them was a light lacy thread one not plastic. But I thought it would be good as a stencil.

When I used it over the painted Gelli plate and tried to pull a print,  nothing came through the weave. The doily seemed to absorb the paint.  I was disappointed that it didn't work. There didn't look like there was much paint left on the plate, but I pulled a print to pick up what was left.

This was the fantastic result I got! The colour paint I used was Paynes Grey. When you look closely it looks like fabric, not a print on paper!

Can I press you to a Gelli?

Having lots of fun experimenting with my Gelli plate.

Using the 'Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed-Media Monoprinting without a Press' book by Joan Bess, tried making my own printing plate with kids coloured foam sheets.

I used a wavy ruler to mark lines in various curves on the foam sheet then cut  them up using a blade. Some pieces I trimmed into short pieces and some I cut into small triangles.

Then using heavy cardboard as a backing plate I arranged them, fixing them with double-sided tape and glue for the tiny pieces.

To make it a bit more interesting I drew grooves into some strips with a pencil.

The Gelli plates were rolled with acrylic paints and the printing plates were pressed in to remove some areas of the paint. Prints were pulled from the Gelli as well as prints made with the paint on the printing plates.

This was very easy to do! The supplies were cheap kid's stationery foam, a wavy edged ruler, a blade, a pencil, double-sided tape and glue, and a piece of heavy cardboard.

So much fun! You should try it!

Hundertwasser influence

 

Been having fun playing with spraying backgrounds lately. Lots of spray acrylic paint colours over stencils and masks that were both found ojects and commercial stencils.

The hard part is trying to make some art on the top of the backgrounds. They already look like artworks and you don't know what to put on the top of them or even if you want to cover them up. But I know that you can't have a lovely complex artwork unless you let go a little and just work up the layers!

So I have shown you the stages of this page. I drew with black Pitt Artist pens and white Zigg pen, then coloured with Sharpies in red, yellow, blue and green.

Not sure if you recognise the influence for this piece ... it is Hundertwasser. The art journaling Yahoo Group "Blissfully Art Journaling" suggested the prompt to be influenced by Hundertwasser, and I rose to the challenge.

Enjoy and tell me about your recent art play!

Red Head

I had a lot of fun yesterday making art with some friends for a day. This art journal acrylic painting is the fruit of my pursuits!

Although I love mixed media, I realised when I went to describe this art page that it is actually pure acrylic paint. The background was done by laying objects on the page and spraying with watered down acrylic paint or liquid acrylic. Objects were also printed positively to use up the paint that was sprayed over them. Once the background dried more objects were layed down and sprayed over again. I tried this technique after doing Traci Bautista's Strathmore Art Workshop.

Then I used a pencil to draw a face over the top of the background and painted it in with acrylic paints.

Lots of fun! I was so pleased to finally use a background painting and paint something onto the top of it. I was never sure what to put on the top of these cool backgrounds. But I love the effect of the background texture coming through the foreground painting and giving it more interest.

I know I need to work on my face proportions a little more - I always make the eyes too big for the rest of the face. I also want to work on making the eyes on my faces more indistinct because they end up so clear and harsh looking - but practice makes perfect, so I will keep trying!

Keep making art guys!!!!

dark journal

These journal pages are in my "Dark Journal." This is an old repurposed ex-library book that I picked up in a library sale. The title of the book is "Cruelly Murdered" and it is about a grotesque murder that happened in England in 1860 and an investigation into who could have done it. The book is full of accounts, and photos and maps and plans, and I knew the minute I saw it at the library that it would be a perfect book to use as a "dark journal" for darker art journalling moments. I decided that I didn't really want darker and more personal art pages in my normal journals.

These pages are all mixed media with acrylic paint, collage, black Pitt artist pen, gesso, chalk pastel, souffle pens, sharpies. The eyes are my own drawing and painting.

Art Deco Weekend - Napier - New Zealand

I love to go out and about with my camera on Art Deco Weekend in Napier, New Zealand each year. It is a looong weekend of Art Deco everything celebrating the Art Deco architecture abounding in our city. This abundance was because the 1931 Napier earthquake destroyed our city and the city was rebuilt in the style of the times. The streets are filled with activities and dressed up people. Here is an example of what goes on:

I promise I will get back to posting some art on my blog soon!!!

frida round robin journal

This is the last Frida journal in this round-robin (sniff sniff) - I will miss Frida! I still have pages left in my journal that has come back to me, so I might add some more of my own pages to that book while I am still fascinated by her! I have learned so much about her from the reading I have done in research for the pages.


This journal is Lee's and I have decided to do a spread on Diego and Frida. I made Diego a frog and Frida a dove. The couple were referred to as the elephant and the dove, but Frida made references to Diego being like a frog. The quote on the left page is by Frida and it says "If you see him naked, you immediately think of the frog boy standing on his hind legs."


The background is acrylic paint, the frog and dove bodies are from the internet, as are the heads of Frida and Diego. I added stickers and rubons, and wrote and decorated with black Sharpie and black Pitt artist pens.

frida round robin journal

Still going on the Frida Round Robin. This is my entry in Tracy's Journal. Her theme is a visual diary or a secret diary.

I decided to do a page about Frida's Communist beliefs. The two excerpts are taken from her actual diaries.

The pages were painted with two shades of red acrylic paint. Then smudged with lack ink pad. The image of Frida is taken from a painting she did in honour of Leon Trotsky. I added the hammer and sickle with black pen. The flags are found images from the internet. I drew the line with black pen also. The images are outlined with graphite pencil.

Strathmore Online Workshop

I recently did a free online workshop offered by Strathmore. This workshop was done by Pam Carriker. I enjoyed the workshop and these are the three journal pages that I produced using her techniques.

We used printouts of our previous artwork and journal pages, altered the sizes and used them in new pages. We layered these images and patterns with colour and texture using charcoal, oil pastel, graphite, acrylic paint and more.

The end result was very different art to the original artwork the pages were made from. I enjoyed it immensely. Below is an image showing the progression of the pages over the four weeks. I forgot to scan week three on the angel page (-_-) sorry.

I was very pleased to do this workshop as it brought me back to my old love of layering and layering and layering!

Steam Punk

Steam Punk card I made a month ago for my Mum's birthday. I absolutely adore Steam Punk. I love that mixture of feminine and clockwork, of olde world and futuristic, I love the clothes and the accesories.

I used some Graphic45 papers called Steampunk Debutante Collection. The image of the lady is from the internet. Also used stickers and stamps.

frida round robin journal

This is my entry in Elena's journal with a theme of anything Frida.

The pages are layered scrapbooking papers, printed image of Frida, acrylic paint, pencil, gesso, stickers and other ephemera. The stick-on letters are really cool! They are puffy and cool colours.
I added texture with punchinella and stencils.

frida round robin journal

This is my entry in Elizabeth's journal with the theme "Self Portrait as Frida"

I kept these pages simple with mainly drawing.

Little bit of mixed media collage, but mainly fine tip felt pen. The patterns on the plaster cast on the second page are actually children's temporary tattoos!

frida round robin journal

I am involved in a journal round robin with a Frida Kahlo theme. This is my entry in Eileen's journal with the theme "inspired by Frida" - anything as long as Frida's influence is felt in it.

I decided to do a mixed media collage of things that make me think of Frida.
Mixed media collage, using ink stamp pad, fine tip felt pen, found images, objects and stickers.