More Gelli Love

Yep....gotta love the Gelli Arts people.
As I mentioned in my last posting...I incorporate the use of the Gelli plate in the painting of some of my rice papers for my Torn Paper Paintings, and I also pull prints onto white envelopes.
Well....not only did the fine folks at Gelli Arts do a posting about my fun printed envelopes....but they also did a large posting of my actual artwork!!!

It is sooo awesome to have your work recognized in such a great way. The exposure was amazing. In 24hrs I actually gained over 50 new fans on my Torn Paper Paintings facebook fan page!!!
Thank you and "welcome" to all those new fans!!
I am very fortunate to do what I love and find so many others who love what I do.

 

 

Always inspired

That's how I feel after a day of giving a new Torn Paper Paintings workshop.
The students who come in, not really sure what they are getting into but leave with such joy and excitement (and great piece of art) become a true inspiration to me as well.
This past weekend was another of these fun days. I did a day long workshop at the Wickford Art Assoc. in RI.
I think my favorite comment of the day came after only 15mins of beginning the class when Carol announced, "Wow...I think I've learned more than enough new stuff already...not sure my brain can retain anything more!"  Gotta tell you...as the person doing the teaching, you really can't ask for more....lol  Luckily we got Carol to hang in there for the day without having her head explode...and she left a happy gal :)
It wasn't a huge class, but they certainly were a productive one. They painted up a batch of beautiful rice papers which they were excited to use in their art pieces.
                                                             Here is a sampling of some of the great work that came from the day!

I think you'll be quite inspired as well. Think about it.....these folks had never done this technique before that day.

The next workshop is in a couple of weeks at the Westport Art Group in MA. Registration information is on their website...so if you feel like having a great day of art inspiration....hurry up and sign up now.  Hope to see you!

A Very Tiny Neighborhood

On my regular mail art trading site we are creating a tiny "magnet" neighborhood.

All of the little houses or assorted buildings we do can not be any larger than an ATC. They can take on different shapes, but must stay no larger than that. We must create at least five, and each one must also contain some text.

I've just completed my five little buildings. They all started out with a watercolor wash on rice paper and then attached to bristol for strength. The beautiful colors that were left on the rice paper became the main color of the building.

From there I drew in all the details with pens.

I'm looking forward to seeing what little buildings I end up with after the trade. I've been seeing some really fun pieces being made for this swap!

New Torn Paper Painting Fish

Yep...another goldfish. It had been quite a long time since my last goldfish...so I thought it was time to throw another one of them into the collection.

I know that the beachscapes are the big item at the moment...but I kinda like these guys too.

They do take more time and are certainly a bit harder...but the end result is lovely I think.

Happy Accidents

That's what some of my art teachers would call it when you discovered something wonderful...by mistake.

That just happened to me the other day. I was going to drop some concentrated liquid watercolor onto some rice paper for some colors I wanted to be using in my paper paintings.

The weather has been ugly, so I was doing it in my art room but needed something good and waterproof to put the rice paper on.

I had been given some wallpaper books quite a while ago that were these rather large sheets of vinyl wallpaper. I decided to use those.

I turned the wallpaper over so the most coated side was down, protecting the table surface. Then I got nice and messy with the watercolors. When I was done, I left the room to let them dry.

When I returned and started to pick the rice paper up...the wallpaper was almost as beautiful as the paper I had actually intended to paint!! I couldn't get over it. The colors blended sooo beautifully that, instead of it being something merely to protect my surface, it became something that I just NEEDED to use as well.

Sooo....that was when I decided to make an envelope out of it for the latest mail art swap. The theme for this one was "transportation"...and I think this will work out perfectly.

Don't you just love a happy accident!?!

Paper Beachscape

Well...thought I'd try my hand at a bit of a landscape this time. With beachscapes being one of my favorites to paint in watercolor I thought it would be fun to try it in paper.
Each new peice presents it's own challenge...but with each one I find I learn so much more about this process. The paper I used for the water was some of the rice paper I've been painting with regular water and a touch of twinkling H2O's. Adds just that little extra.

Haunted chunkies

On my favorite swap site I'm involved in a swap for "haunted house" chunkies.
I decided to put some of the rice paper to use that I've been painting for my other artwork. I think the blends of colors made for great background papers for these houses.
For the couple with ghosts, I did the ghosts in alcohol inks on clear acatate then cut the shapes and attached.
The skellie folk are all done on clear acatate as well so that when I attached them they could be seen through.
I had sooo much fun with the skellie folk that I decided to make charms from them.
The charms are done with a skellie stamp onto shrink plastic and then varied heads applied to that.
Just cut them out, punched a hole, and shrunk them! They are soo darn cute I got carried away and did far more than needed.
Guess I'll be ready for more haunted projects!