Another Project

I joined another workshop group at Artful Gathering in something completely unrelated to what I've been doing, just to keep the "little grey cells" (as Poiroit calls them) from becoming stuck in a rut. The workshop is only for 6 weeks and it's another one of those that I can take at my own pace since it is already on video. I have been working with clay, and the instructor  is well known (in the art world) for her clay work, especially in whimsical Santos. So that's what we started off with. She also has instructions for whimsical animals, but because I have not been doing very well this past week, I am not sure how many I will get done. But! On to my Granny Santos! (Warning - a lot of pictures today!)

Here's all the supplies. Doesn't it look like fun?

And first off, I found I do not have the requisite doll head (it looks like a bad Barbie imitation), so I scrounged around in my "toy box" and found the eyepatch I had when I had eye surgery. Soooo, pop off the blue rubber rim, attach a small cork for the neck and a small Styrofoam ball for the head and voila! (So, yes it pays to be a pack rat!

The clay has been added, I decided I'd add beads to the wire halo, and a filigree piece to the neck. The white beads are only on there to make indentations as it dries.

another shot of the head

Now the lampshade for the body; the instructor uses the kind that has wire "ribs" and tears the shade fabric off. I had these lampshades left over from the closing of my antique store and I could not let them go to waste, even though they have no "ribs", so mine is going to look different. Well, it already does since I decided to use beads!

Using dry floral foam to give my torso a way to top the shade. We also used a product which dries hard like plaster casting.

upside down view

So now she is on the shade! With extra girth, I might add.

She now has some hands, and some stamping in the torso and everything has been covered with gesso and then dry brushed with paint. The trim was removed from the shade.

side view

back view

Sari ribbon. The instructor uses white sari ribbon (strips made from making saris) but mine came in a bundle of color which lit my heart up because I prefer color to white!

Before the beeswax is applied

The finished Granny Santos! (my name for her)

Finished - side view

Finished - back view

So that was a new adventure and I enjoyed it very much -3D art! - it was great fun and I will probably make some more, if only to use up my supplies; but it will still be great fun! My instructor loved it!

What do you think?

Click on any photo you would like to see closer!

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Simple Card

A very thoughtful lady from our church gave me a good sized box crammed with rubber stamps and many different colors of inkpads. I was floored with how much stuff she put into that box! Although I usually use rubber stamps when I make cards, occasionally I will use them on artworks, or frequently on postcards. It was like an early Christmas, or a late birthday! So I made her a simple card to thank her.

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The card size is 5.5 x 4.25, cut out of card stock. I then crumbled some green paper that had come from a bouquet of flowers and glued that to the front. I chose a heart stamp which had been in the box and using red ink, stamped it on some paper that had faint printing on it, then tore it out. It's attached to some colored paper which I spritzed some ink on. The little ribbon with the birds was glued on the top. I hope she likes it! 

John and Tabitha left today for New Jersey to help celebrate his aunt's 90th birthday. They will be gone for 6 days and it will be the first time I've been alone for that length of time since I came down with this illness. But I am not really alone - I have the Lord and 2 dogs here (and a cat and fish, but they aren't very sociable)! I'm hoping that I can get some art work done and work on knowing when to go rest. I hope they have a wonderful time with the relatives!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

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Another Collage Postcard

The reason I do a lot of postcard art is because with this illness, it's a lot shorter timewise to create a postcard, so I can still have the joy of creating, and yet go back and lie down! But I miss making bigger things, so I have started a painting which I've wanted to do, but have been putting off. For right now, here is the latest postcard for you to enjoy!

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Mixed media includes collaged tissue strips, various paper bits, acrylic paint, rubber stamping, part of a lace doily, texture strip, stabilo pencils oil pastels, and then the top images and gems. The original postcard was a black and white advertising card. The texture strip is something found in the sewing notions, but I forget exactly what it was. The bird is a Dresden Scrap, as it was originally published in the 1930's. 

While I was on the porch photographing this, I could hear a storm coming, so I tried a few shots of the sky and clouds, and even took a couple of shots of one of the 6 hanging baskets we have on the front porch.

AngelWings Begonias, Petunias, Sweet Potato Vine and I don't know the name of the really small leafed hanging plant on the left.

Click on picture you want to see closer.

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Postcard Art and Tuesday Story Series: 67 Plymouth

Recently we purchased the dogs some new toys - stuffed animals without the stuffing, so they are very flat. Well, not having the stuffing took all of the interest away for our dogs! But I took a photo of one of them because it is a great illustration of how I felt this morning when I got up. Or tried to get up. Last night was very rough and I honestly can say that I felt just like this:

Yeah, he looks cute, but I didn't!

In the afternoon I began to feel like I had a little life in me, so I finished a postcard I had started yesterday evening.

On My Way

(click for details)

Mixed media includes collaged tissue strips, cheesecloth, rubber stamping, Russian postage stamp, acrylic paint, vintage earring, metal sun, gem brad and liquid watercolors. It also has some gold accents.

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'67 Plymouth

56th in the Tuesday Stories Series

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we had once lived in the community of Goose Creek. Before we moved, we had been living in a small rented brick house where we had started married life. When we met, John was driving a nice, navy blue Buick Skylark, and I was driving a slightly run down red Ford Maverick. John, being the true southern gentleman that he was (and still is) insisted that I keep the Skylark for when I needed it and he would take the Maverick to work. This was a sacrifice in several ways on his part - the car used a quart of oil a week, was not reliable and as the head of the agency where he worked, it was a step down to be driving that car. It left him stranded several times on the Interstate, and sometimes he would come home with a face as red as the car's paint! 

After Tabitha came along, we decided we needed to get rid of that car, and find something more reliable. We knew a man who fancied himself as an expert on cars, especially old ones, and had several contacts in the car world. We asked him if he could recommend someone to us for buying a used car, because our budget was tight, and he said he had just found out about a good bargain. One of his friends had just rebuilt the engine on a 1967 Plymouth and the body was in great shape. He took John over to see it and give it a test drive and talk with the owner. We decided that the price was right, the owner was honest and the car was much more reliable than the Maverick. So, it became ours. It was huge, a white boat of a car, and when in it, you had no fear of being squashed if you were hit!

(This is not a picture of our car, but the one we had looked just like this, except it had hubcaps on the tires)

Soon after that, John was offered the job in Goose Creek, we found a place to live, and started packing our belongings. It was summer in Charleston, it was hot, we were very tired and after our friends had taken the truck on up to the new place, we loaded the rest of the things into our cars, including a cranky baby, and gratefully drove off to meet with the rest of the moving team. I mentioned in the other story that Goose Creek was some distance away from Charleston, so we had several miles to go on the Interstate. John was driving the Plymouth and I was following in the Skylark. Suddenly, white smoke came billowing out of the Plymouth, so thick I could hardly see the car ahead of me. I didn't know what was going on, but we were near our exit and John was able to keep the car limping to our new condo, where it died. It seems the engine blew. The new, rebuilt, engine.

A couple of days later we sold the car to a scrap dealer who came and towed it off. As I stated before, we spent our time in Goose Creek with just one car. At John's next job, in Charleston, it came with a car as one of the perks and once again we were a two car family. When we mentioned to our friend what had happened to the car he recommended, he said he was really sorry. It wasn't his fault, necessarily, but we never asked him for advice again about car purchases!

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Canvas Postcard

I had a 7 x 5 canvas which had something painted on it, and it was in my scrap box because I really did not care for it. So I pulled it out and spent some time altering it for a post card.

INFINITY WITH RED

Using a light coat of gesso, and then wiping some of it off, I stenciled some black dots, and added some stamped stars. Next was a cutout piece of red paper, and a rusted iron ring, then using my favorite number stencil, I added a layer of heavy gel medium. After it dried, I started layering paints and wiping and laying some more. I also used micron brush tips and spica pens. At the end, I used some touches of gold Rub & Buff. If you are wondering why I bothered stenciling the dots and adding the stars, it adds depth, and if you look at it closely, they are there. Your mind sees what your eyes cannot sometimes and so you perceive depth!

And it goes into the mail today!

Feeling very tired today, and not nearly as up as I was yesterday. Will probably be spending more time today resting. Still learning about pacing and eventually I hope I will get the hang of it. Thankful for all of the prayers which have gone up on my behalf! And for those who asked about the address of the Etsy Shop from yesterday's post, I haven't forgotten - I will list it for you as soon as I find it! :)

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Another Postcard In The Making

Using the leftover piece of milk carton paper from yesterday, I folded it in half to make another postcard. This time I glued a piece of baby wipe which had been used when I was working on a painted piece of art, and was nicely stained with colors of paint. After gluing it, I stitched it just to make sure it wouldn't move, since it's textured and it will eventually go around the world. 

(click for detail)

I also used some rubber stamping over the baby wipe

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I briefly considered using some images cut from wallpaper samples....

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.......then looked at some international postage stamps....

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....and chose to go with the stamps, plus an interesting scrap of ribbon.

Next, I put a stencil over it and pushed heavy gel medium through the stencil and am currently waiting for it to dry to continue with the creation. Hopefully, you will see it finished tomorrow!

We've had a rainy day here today and yesterday. A cool front came through with rain, which we really needed. Yesterday morning and this morning, I even had my studio window opened for a few hours, it was so pleasant. Never would have happened in Charleston! I know it will get hot again, after all it is July, but we are enjoying it!

Also, something which is good news is that ampligen, the one drug which showed promise for ME/CFS/FM sufferers is finally back on track for continued testing. It will be a while yet before it becomes available, but the idea that it could help millions of sufferers is very encouraging! If you're interested in reading about it, here's the link.

PS - I notice that I get a lot of people reading my blog, and I would LOVE to have some comments, even if it's just to say "hi"! I feel like I'm speaking into space and nobody's listening. Since I am not able to get out and socialize, it's brings a smile to my face to see your words. Please comment!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!