Art projects

I've been away from the studio for days and I finally had time to do some artwork there. Bobbi G. gave me two decos to work on for the MMANC group. Cities for Mary, Cats for Sally, and then I got My Secret Garden in the mail for Marilyn. I finished Cities and Cats, and an ATC I started yesterday. Here are the pics.

ATCs

These are ATCs made with a background of deli wrap paper and acrylic glazes, rubber stamped with permanent ink. Some have transfers done with contact paper.

Here's a new feature

Memorial Day Weekend

I spent last few days in the Sierras. The campground was busy. I'm posting a picture of the camp map. Red pins indicate campsites that were in use. Here are a few more pictures. One is the view from the camper window. One is Suzie as lookout! (You just never know when a squirrel will try to attack us. Or a blue jay.) We walked and walked and walked. Buddy and Suzie love exploring nature. No pine needle was unsniffed. No leaf pile was left un-peed-upon.

New art work

The little bird is attached to an envelope done with the shaving creme technique. The bird is pencil and a little watercolor. The second piece is a page in a deco for Bobbi. The subject is "From my Window". I thought about what Monet saw from his window as inspiration.

Little watercolor card

This is a little watercolor experiment - well actually it's mixed media. I had to use white acrylic as I could not wash out all the color where I wanted white. Hope you like it.

Oooops!

I've been neglecting my blog, and hope you aren't getting bored. So, here is something to give you a giggle. Taken by a friend.

SICL Art class

Yesterday was final class day for this semester. I'll miss seeing the others and meeting regularly. It is always fun to see others at work on their various art pieces. By Fall, some of them will have completed their works. I'll be signing up for this class again.

Watercolor lesson

My tutor, Jean Janssen decided we should try a new track with the watercolors. Since I have trouble visualizing what I want to paint, and I lean towards abstract, she suggested I bring some of my ATC abstract backgrounds with me. We painted from them today. We each picked one and did a large watercolor based on the small paintings that I had done in acrylics and cut up into little ATCs. That made it more fun for me, since I'm sure I'll never be a landscape painter in the traditional sense. And she was having fun too, she seldom worked in abstracts, and not for years and years. She is going to work on hers during the week, in fact by now she has probably developed it into a masterful piece. I'll be posting some of her paintings here later on. I doubt if I'll have time to paint for several days, I have to many other commitments.

Family fun

Kids are back from their cruise. Here are a couple pics. This is Matt in the center with Trevor and Nathan.

Next photo is of family with Christina's mom boarding the ship. You can tell they are looking forward to a good time.

There are bears in the woods

Last night bears came and opened the garbage bins and took out the cans and ran off with whatever they wanted. All in all, 13 dumpsters were either vandalized or destroyed by the bears in one night. That means I won't be sleeping in the screen room. 

This afternoon when I returned from a late lunch with a friend (around 5 p.m.), my dogs were highly agitated. I put their leashes on and started on a walk - but they had their own route planned. They headed straight for the back of my car, put noses to the ground and sped ahead of me without looking right or left, or even lifting a leg anywhere. Well, I figured this odd behavior meant they had seen a bear or some other animal from the window of the camper and were out to get it. No way! I don't want to see my little dogs destroyed by a wild animal, so I started to pull them back towards camp. They insisted that we check out a little meadow and sure enough a big pile of bear skat - and fresh. I jerked them back and we dashed back to our place. They seemed satisfied that they had made this wonderful discovery, and were bored with the game so returned for their treat without incident.

The dumpsters and garbage cans are emptied by park staff every morning. I think they should do it at the end of the day instead of the beginning. Our members need to get bear-smart if we want to get rid of them. Forestry will do nothing. We cannot trap them or shoot them (heaven forbid).

I did not take this photo, I found it on the web.

Art techniques and deco

The deco page shown is for Jackie's deco which is being circulated in MMANC group. The theme is Mysteries.

The ATC backgrounds are for a gesso technique swap in arttechniquesatcs online group. I started with watercolor paper, painted it with Dick Blick gesso and turquoise acrylic craft paint. Then layered on pieces of Book of Knowledge, ca 1908. I peeled some of the paper off and then used what I had peeled off to add another layer with gel medium. I used corregated box piece as a stamp to make the grid pattern. I dry brushed gesso and more turquoise paint, and finally sprayed with gold web spray by Krylon.

Cutting up a book

I am preparing a demo book of cuts to take to LaSelva later in the month. Blocks of pages cut into various shapes can be used as small books within a book. The pages behind the cutouts are color blocked with marker pens so the cut shapes will show better. Some of them have other cuts within the cuts, such as a window or a door.

Mountains called, I went

I've been away from the art scene for several days. Went to mountain retreat where I spent my first overnight. Except for the walk I took in the middle of the night with my dog Suzie (who insisted she just had to go right now), I was wonderfully comfortable. It's starting to look like "my place". I cooked, ran the power, figured out the dvd and vcr with alternate power converter, and took lots of walks. Weather went from cold nights to hot days.

Bob and Kris are returning Thursday from China. Matt and Christina and kids are headed on a cruise later in the week. Doug and Sheri put on a birthday bbq at Lake Lahonton for DJ's 13th birthday.

Asian tag book

In preparation for the Mixed Media Artists meeting on Sunday, I had to think up an Asian inspired project that would be do-able there, with our basic tools and papers,  and images that I would provide. I thought a tag book would be easy and quick, and also is so adaptable to Asian art.  I quickly got bored with basic tag shapes so I cut several kimono shapes in various sizes, and used them as tags. I kept thinking I was finished with the piece, but I just kept adding and adding. I'm afraid I got a bit carried away with it.

La Selva Beach

I've been to the beach. This time I really mean it. I actually spent some time ON THE BEACH.
The last few years I have gone to the beach, but not set foot on it. This time I walked the Rio Del Mar Beach - and it was wonderful. And I walked the La Selva Beach mainstreet down to the Point a couple times to the cliff where the view of the water is so wonderful. One of the days my friend  Cat and I took our lunch there and sat on the bench with the sun on our backs, lingering as long as we could, eating Mike's famous sandwiches. (Mike owns the little neighborhood store where they not only have groceries and little bits of everything, but also make the freshest deli sandwiches to order). The Ladies Club was having an event to raise funds for scholarships, and I popped over to say hi to Ruth, Cindi, and the others. Marcia stopped by the house to say hello and we have it arranged for me to give an altered book talk/demo in May. That will mean another trip to the coast and more walks on the beach. I can hardly wait.