A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

dyed papers

I've been experimenting with dying/painting papers using a technique described by Traci Bautista in Somerset Workshop. Basically, you use watered down acrylic paints soaked onto paper towels to dye your papers. She also combines a glazing technique and stamping onto the dyed papers. I am in love with this new technique!! All I want to do now is paint papers--who cares what I'll ever do with them. I'll just sit and look at them and be happy. I love the randomness of the process and each batch of papers is so different. Enough going on about it. Here is a sampling of some of my favorites:

I ironed the dried papers flat and then embellished with some stitching. I also played a bit with the glazing idea (after painting the papers you cover them with a glaze--part acrylic, part gel medium), but these weren't my favorites.

I also came across another technique using reinkers and water that I want to try. I bought some new art paper today and want to use my pretty new papers to make some books, something I love to do and haven't done in a while.

I will leave you with one of my new favorite artists: Jennifer Black. Her work is amazing! I couldn't even go through the whole website at one sitting because, like reading a good book, I couldn't stand for it to be over with! You can also see her work for this week's Inspire Me Thursday. Oh, and check out her blog, too. A talented artist and writer!

Altered Imagery

I have been reading Karen Michel's fabulous book The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery. There is so much to gleen from every page, but I am especially excited about her techniques using water-soluble oil pastels. I had read about these pastels before but had never actually seen any, so after making it only about halfway through her book, I ordered some from Texas Art Supply. (It was totally worth paying the sales tax to order here. I received my order in about 2 days during the week before Christmas, and the prices are excellent!) I have to tell you these things are so awesome! So versatile and the colors are just as vivid as they are in Karen's beautiful artwork. I have been so inspired by her use of bold color, and have been venturing quite a bit beyond my comfort zone color-wise. It is good for the soul to let a little more color in your life. ;-) Some of my newest pieces inspired by this must-have book (Thank you, Karen!):

I wanted the colors to stay as true as possible so I photographed this collage outside. If you can't read the text, it says: "She closed her eyes/and imagined/a place/where her flowers/bloomed the year round./When she opened her eyes,/something strange/had happened."  The next one is a dollar store wine box that needed a new dress:

All stamps are by Leave Memories - Rubber stamps for memory artists. A friend pointed out to me that the birds are popping up more frequently now....

Quilted Memories

Last week was a blur with sick kids and planning to go out of town, but then came the day that the post brought something special from my wonderful Aunt and Amazon: Lesley Riley's new book: Quilted Memories: Journaling, Scrapbooking & Creating Keepsakes with Fabric. Not only are the projects and pictures beautiful, but there is such wisdom and insight to be gleaned from her writing.

Whether you consider yourself a quilter or collage artist, a scrapbooker or the creater of mixed media and assemblage, this book is intended for you. It is for you because the bot tom line is that we all enjoy the process of making art and we really don't need to define ourselves by any word other than artist.

I love that!  Thank you so much, Aunt JE!

discover quiet

I finally got a few quiet minutes to myself AND I'm not exhausted. The house is completely quiet except for the rhythmic hum of the dishwasher. Everyone is at the park enjoying the brief cool spell, and there are only 1 or 2 things--besides sleep--that I want to do with my precious and dwindling quiet time.

We went to the bookstore today and I finally found Claudine Hellmuth's new book Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond the Unexpected. This one has been on my wishlist since CHA Atlanta when I actually got to meet Claudine and tell her how much I loved her first book.  After this quick update I'm going to sneak into the bath, lock the door, light a candle, and submerge myself in artistic inspiration! I love Claudine's new whimsical style. You can just see how much fun she must be having creating her collages! And that's what collage is all about. I haven't been doing so good at adding to my art journal. I still fall into the trap of overworking every detail. This is the perfect book to bring the fun and spontaneity back into things.