Getting Hooked on Painting

I had always said that I would never be a painter. I felt that I saw everything as a sculptor and felt sculpting was natural for me. I also loved working with old or found salvaged materials and using them to tell a story. I avoided painting unless it was a dimensional piece that had to be painted. But over the past five years, I have become addicted to painting. The funny thing is---I had always discounted abstract painting and had little interest in abstracts. I liked art that told a story with recognizable images.

Well, how things change! Now I am drawn almost exclusively to the abstract and I paint almost exclusively.

What changed? I remember the day that I picked up some alcohol inks at a scrapbooking store that is now out of business. I purchased five 40ml bottles at over $12 each. There was a sample of the inks on cards with some metallic markers and I asked how the effect was achieved. The owner quickly showed me and I was hooked. I came home and proceeded to test them. I bought more alcohol inks and painted on all kinds of non-porous surfaces. Eventually, I noticed many effects that I could get based on the different types of alcohol inks and the substrates that I used. I esp. loved the brilliance of the inks and the almost impossibility of knowing the outcome of any particular combination of materials. I was just playing and I was hooked.

I then tried many other paints, dyes, powders and inks along with some glues and salts to get a variety of effects. Some of these similar effects have been achieved by watercolorists, fiber artists, painters and even potters over the years. I have noticed that the painters who work in a similar fashion as I do also are into the process as much as the end product. We love seeing the effects and capturing the effects at a particular stage in the evolution of the design.

Although different materials are being used, most of these painters are working wet on wet. (Not sure about Eric Miller) Capturing the primary layer at just the right moment in time to achieve a particular effect is often difficult due to the porosity of the substrate, the humidity, the temperature, the viscosity and chemical makeup of the inks, paints and glues.

One of the painters who has perfected his technique is William Loveless. In describing his technique, he wrote on a post on Facebook "Watercolor and ink dropped into a pool of wet glue, basically. Part of a larger grid of similar expansion events that are now frozen in time." He paints wet on wet. You may also enjoy seeing some videos that he makes showing some of his process. I am amazed at his technical skill!

John Dempsy works in a similar fashion to achieve similar effects. He explains in his artist statement, "Drops of paint systematically applied to a grid allow me to explore subtle modulations of shape, color, and pattern. Form follows process as the intrinsic character of the paint carves and shapes a distinct topography..."

Heidi Van Wieren works with inks on Elmer's glue. She builds layers of glue and ink to create depth.

Eric Miller's paintings seem to focus on an organic landscape using materials that he says will not fade or crack even when exposed to direct sunlight. I have seen his paintings in person and am not certain what materials he uses, but he states that the materials and techniques are similar to those used in the manufacture of some musical instruments. They could be paints or powder coatings that are heated and that look like an enamel finish. The finishes are a high gloss similar to a resin or clear coat finish. Some of the pieces appear to be a countertop veneer material over a wavey wood frame.

On the blog Artsyville, you can see alcohol inks on ceramic tiles. There is also a link to using a felt pad to apply the inks.

Here's a link to an alcohol ink painting of a peacock and one of a grapevine painting. Karen Walker has used the properties of the alcohol inks to get the effects that work so well with these particular subject matters. There are many artists (thousands) who paint or draw with alcohol inks, but she has managed to make the properties of the inks work for her in representational art.

Porro from Finland has experimented with several products to achieve effects that have been achieved by other artists using a variety of materials. Here is a sample of her work.

Here are my ink paintings. I have taken what I learned while working with inks and glues and applied that to my other types of paintings---dye paintings, powder paintings and salt paintings.

Hope you enjoy looking at these artists' works!

Updated Web Site

I just updated my web site with some new images. I still have to check links and remove some old photos, but most of the difficult work is done. Hope you enjoy!

New Ink Paintings

The Value of an Artist's Work

This past week in the News and Observer, there was a letter to the editor regarding artists donating work for the proposed Lightner Center in Raleigh. I wrote a letter as a response, but the N&O claimed that they could not publish it due to the length and since it addressed a third party. I did edit it and resubmitted it to fit their guidelines, but have not seen it in print so I have decided to publish my original letter here. See below.


Regarding the proposed Lightner Center, Deborah Hamilton wrote, “The office luxuries are extreme and uncalled for. It’s a workplace, not a spa or a jungle gym. And let’s not forget the $780,000 for art work. Why can’t you get local artists to donate their work for display?”

May I offer a response?

Dear Deborah,
I am an artist and would truly love to donate artwork for the Lightner Center. That is, after you secure donated services for all of the other trades necessary to make this building a reality. Let’s start with the land. The current selected site just may need a little more land. I am sure that a major developer here in the Triangle would love to give up a few hundred acres. The architects and the engineers would love to donate their time and resources. The plumbers, the electricians, the painters, the carpenters, the brick and block masons, the glaziers and all the other trades workers could take so much pride knowing that they had given months of work for the center. Let’s not stop there. Home Depot and Lowes will donate all the materials as they realize that their companies receive such great benefits from being here. Oh, we cannot forget that all of our elected officials and government workers will be so happy to occupy their offices that they will beg to participate in the building of the center. And you, Deborah, should not miss an opportunity to donate your time to the building of the center so you can feel proud of your contribution to the cause and to our community.

Now do you get my point? It is high time that artists are no longer considered the main profession to donate their work for the good of mankind. Don’t get me wrong. We LOVE to donate our work. This past year alone, I donated over 20 paintings for fundraisers that I wish to support. But how am I to continue donating if everything I make, I give away?

Just because we donate artwork to a non-profit does not mean that we can deduct all of our time and materials for tax purposes. We can only deduct actual cost of materials even if we spent six months in the creation of a piece. So such would be the case of the Lightner Center artwork. The months and months of labor that an artist would contribute would be all of his time with no tax deduction for that. Only the materials would be deductible and he has lost his productive time to make art for sale by which he makes his living.

When do we begin to realize that art is part of the quality of life that is reflected in so many areas of our lives? Cities and towns that value the arts and have arts included in their plans for the future are usually the cities that have a better quality of life. Whether the arts came first or the quality of life came first does not seem to matter. In the end, an artsy, art-filled city is a desirable city that enhances the sense of community and encourages art in public spaces.

Jeanne Rhea

Tips on Preparing Your Home for Real Estate Listing Photographs

We have viewed thousands of online photos of houses for sale. Having worked in the construction and building maintenance industry for many years, I am aware that many of the photos do not do a home justice. With a little effort, good online photos make a real difference in whether a home is chosen for a viewing. Good online photos also save the agent's time as well as your own. This post is especially for those who are preparing their home for photographs for the listing ad.

Tips on Preparing Your Home to Photograph for a Real Estate Ad

Today most potential home buyers view homes online prior to deciding if they wish to schedule an appointment. Photos that are viewed online can stop them from taking another look by not showing unique features or by showing a cluttered environment.

Most real estate listings have a twelve to twenty photo capacity. You want to make your photos count. For the photographer (usually the listing agent) to get the best photos, the homeowner needs to do some preparation.

Following these tips will show your home at its best.

First, walk through your home and open all blinds and drapes. Turn on lamps and other lighting. Lighting is probably the most important element in obtaining good photos. Now you are ready to begin.

Bathroom
1. Close the toilet seat! No one wants to see the toilet bowl.
2. Remove all personal care items such as toothbrush, shampoos, hand creams, soaps and make-up from the bathroom counter.
3. Straighten the shower curtain and towels. White towels work best most of the time. You are not selling your towels or shower curtain so don’t make them a focal point.
4. Unless the bathtub is a special design, do not use limited photo space to show a tub. We all know what an ordinary tub looks like. We want to see the lay-out of the bath or anything that is special about the bath.

Kitchen
1. Remove the collection of notes, coupons, refrigerator magnets and the children’s artwork from the refrigerator. If you must have a child’s artwork, limit it to one piece per child neatly arranged on the fridge.
2. Remove as many small appliances from the countertops as possible. Limit small appliances to a toaster or a coffee pot.
3. Remove all except the most essential of canisters and utensils from the counters.
4. If open shelving, the shelving should be neatly arranged and uncluttered.
5. If you have a small kitchen, consider removing small throw rugs at the kitchen sink for the photos. This is especially important if the throw rug does not blend with the flooring and it prevents one from seeing the kitchen as a whole.
6. If you have a hanging pots and pan rack, pare down the collection of pots. These racks will often block an entire view of the kitchen in a photograph.
7. The sink should be empty and all dishes stored in cabinets.
8. Remove pet feeding bowls, doggie beds and kitty litter boxes.

Living Room or Family Rooms
1. Streamline collections. Limit a collection to a cabinet and then only with a few pieces as if showing them in a gallery. This prevents a cluttered look.
2. Have a few large wall pictures. Small pictures on every wall will appear cluttered and make a room look smaller in a photograph.
3. If you have one red throw or one brilliantly colored throw pillow, you may wish to put it away. The viewer’s eye will focus on this spot and will not see the expansiveness of the room. Or worse, they may begin to refer to the house as “Oh, yes, we’ve seen that house a dozen times.” But in fact they had seen that red throw a dozen times and had never really seen the house!
4. Store stacks of magazines and discard old newspapers.

Bedrooms
1. A lower bed will make a room appear more spacious. A minimalist look is best for bed linens. Piles of pillows consume visual space.
2. Heavy and large print drapes will often make a room appear smaller and more cluttered.
3. A bed canopy may take a lot of visual space from your room. If your room is small, put the canopy in storage.
4. If taking a photo of a closet, organize the shelves and minimize contents so the viewer can see the space.

Exterior
1. Do not waste a photograph on an azalea or rose bush. They are nice, but if a house is being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, the $20 azalea or rose bush gives the impression that there is nothing more valuable to photograph.
2. Potential buyers want to see the yard as a whole.
3. If photos are being taken on trash pick-up day, do not capture the trash cans in the photo.
4. Unless the sports car is being offered in the house deal, do not include it in the photo.
5. Take a photo of the shop or garage. To many buyers, a good shop or garage may be a good selling point.
6. Do a drive by on your house. Does it have a box storing outdoor shoes on the front porch? Is the yard free of any clutter or trash? Try to see your home as a potential buyer will see it.
7. Trim overhanging branches or trees or shrubbery that makes the home look too confined.

Overall
1. Eliminate floral arrangements that appear as clutter in a photograph. If you must have floral arrangements or plants, choose live plants or a simple vase of flowers. Wall swags and wreaths in every room appear in photos as clutter.
2. Empty trash cans in all rooms. Overflowing trash cans are unsightly and do not photograph well.
3. Straighten all pictures, drapes, lampshades or other items that will show askew in a photo.
4. When taking the photographs, don’t bother taking a close-up photo of a corner of a room. People know what a corner looks like. Try to get the widest view possible.

5. If you have a digital camera, take your own photos and view them online. Analyze them to see if you are presenting your home for sale or if you appear to be selling your possessions. When you feel like you have good photos, then call your listing agent.

6. Unless you have a real cottage home, a minimalist approach to decor is the best.

A special thanks to Ryan Ford of Prudential for being so patient with our search for a new home. If you are ever looking for a good agent, give him a call.

Unfettered Show Entry

36x48"

This is my entry for the Visual Art Exchange's Unfettered show for the month of May. First Friday is tomorrow night. Hope to see you there!

Getting in the mood for making art...

I seldom have enough time for all that I want to do, but sometimes I need a warm-up to really get into the creating mode for my artwork. When that happens---and it often does on Mondays, I fall back on making lampshades, renovating old dolls or making home decor items for Ozarks Americana. This is work that I have done almost all my life and I enjoy it and it is as easy for me as breathing.

To get in the creative mode today, I restored the above doll. She is 12"+ and made of thin celluloid. Her garment was originally stapled onto her body. The metal staples had rusted and her clothing was ruined from the rust. She was so filthy that I did not know if she was salvageable. She originally had some silk ribbon embroidery and crepe paper clothing. Her hat or crown was ribbonwork. I have never had one of these dolls as large as this one so it was esp. nice to see her come back to life. She is on her way to Ozarks along with some other goodies. If you are interested in her, give Ozarks a call and ask to see her first.

Sorry, I forgot to take before photos.

Artcraft Gallery

Bryan Baldwin and son with his artwork at Artcraft Gallery

I have some paintings at Artcraft Gallery at 406 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh during the month of April. There are several other artists exhibiting their work including Mayshanna Pandora, Charlie Burkhead, Stephen Edgerton, Traci Bilbo, Mike Bradley or Bradley Metal Art and Bryan Baldwin.

Mayshanna has a web site, but I could not find a web site for the other artists. If I run across web sites, I will post later. If you are in the area, stop by and take a look.

Jeanne Rhea on The Arts Map

Jeanne Rhea on The Arts Map

Our Lady of Palustrius Unveiling

We had the opening of the M4-T challenge by the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild last night at Artist Alley in Southern Pines. It was so much fun to see all of the creations. We had 22 required items and three free items to use in our pieces. We could use as much of a particular item as we desired. We were to use anything and everything pine as the opening was taking place during the Palustrius Festival.

Originally, I wanted to make this sculpture into (1) a Madonna with her arms holding a baby. As soon as I saw that I could not make her arms (which were gourds) hold the baby, I abandoned the idea of Madonna.

Next was (2) a woodsy, earthy woman with the baby on her back like a papoose. But her face was too young, perfect, smooth without enough character.

Then she was going to be a (3)1930s-40s era woman with a train case and hat and dressed like she was traveling on a train. Southern Pines has a prominent train station and I was trying to make her fit the festival theme and area.

Then she was going to be (4) an all natural woman with long wild hair and sort of the sixties vibe or as a hippie.

Next I thought she could be (5) a bird woman with a bird head as a mask over her face. At that point I was debating whether to cover her in feathers and make her with all kinds of shiney things on her like the bowerbird that picks shiney things up and makes a nest---but I thought that was a male who decorated his area to attract a female so that would not work.

Right before I settled on the last idea I was doing everything that made her look like a (6) saint, but decided that might not fit the theme too well.

I got so frustrated that I threatened to take all of the cut off pieces of pine cone and glue them all over the body in a (7) scale type pattern and just have her face and hands showing and she would be some kiind of fantasy human like reptile. I would have made her headdress with all of the junk and put the rest in her hands. I constantly worked on the sculpture so that if something did not work out, I could fall back on another idea. Finally when I had no time left, I had to commit and so that is how Our Lady of Palustrius came into being the dominate possibility.

These were the seven incarnations from a Madonna to a reptilian anthropomorphic creature before becoming Our Lady of Palustrius. I wanted to use as much of the pine theme as possible in her creation. She has Norfolk Island Pine branches for part of her hair, Ponderosa pine cone petals for one side of her shawl and an immature Ponderosa pine cone for the end of her scepter. Cone petals from pines native to North Carolina were used for her shawl. Her shawl broach is made of pine needles. I used natural materials for most of the sculpture as all of the pine elements worked well with the moss, wood, paper clay, wicker and seven gourds.

These photos are not too good as I was unable to take good photos the day I finished her as it was raining outside. The glare in the windows at Artist Alley also did not allow for good photos. Good photos will be coming in the next few weeks.

Note for Kelly Borsheim: More applied breasts

It's time to make decisions...

Clockworks III

24"x24"

For the past couple of weeks, I have worked on an art piece for the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild's M4-T challenge. We will be exhibiting them at Artist Alley for the Palustrius Festival from March 26 through April 24.

We were given a list of 22 loosely defined items that we needed to use in our piece and we also could use three extra freebies along with paints, inks, dyes, glitter, resin, and any connection device such as brads and wire. Mayshanna Pandora made a blog post about her entry. We cannot show our completed piece (only parts), but you can see that a lot of thought has gone into her creation. Nanette Zeller posted about her dilemma of making her M4-T challenge piece.

After the opening on March 26, I will post some photos of my completed piece and some showing it in the process. My studio was a total disaster during the entire creative process. I would dig out supplies, start an idea, discard it as it was not working well or would change in the middle so that it was becoming a completely different idea and piece than what I had started. I had to finish a couple of commission pieces and complete a few other projects in the middle of working on this challenge. So my studio did not have space to turn around. I knew that things had really gotten bad when I started putting paintings in the shower for the resin to cure as there was not a spot in my studio or the workshop to sit a painting for 24 hours. Here's a photo for you. (Luckily, we have a spare bathroom and this one is in my studio.) I need more space!

Note added: The above piece is not my entry to the M4-T challenge. It is just a piece that needed a place for the resin to cure while I was working on the M4-T challenge.

New Paintings

The Dotted Line

I experimented a bit to come up with some paintings that use the line in order to enter the VAE's Drawing the Line juried show. It is easiest to get a good painting when allowing the inks to do what they wish to do with just a little bit of guidance rather than to make them make a line---esp. since I am using them as if they are paints and not as if they are inks in a pen or marker. I have no idea if they will get juried in, but at least they are painted and I can put them in a gallery if they do not make it into the show.

Z-line

I received good news when I stopped by to drop these paintings off. The painting that I submitted for the Imagine show had sold! It only takes my selling one painting and I will paint five more. It is time I found some more galleries as I am addicted to painting.

I did not submit the painting above as it did not turn out exactly as I had hoped for an organic line. But the next one I do using a similar method as this one will be called Neptune's Garden. I like this one, just not what I thought would fit the theme of the show.

NOTE: These paintings have a high gloss. Some of the white spots that appear on the darker ones are only on the photo and not the paintings.

See more paintings at jeannerhea.com

Interview on Whohub

I just completed an interview on Whohub. It was an easy, fast and fun interview. I have had the link to fill out since June 5, 2009, but it seemed I could never get to it. Tonight I decided to clean out my inbox if at all possible. Hope you enjoy reading it!

Photos of my studio

Kelly Borsheim came in October to speak to our Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild about her life as a street painter in Italy. While she was here, she took several photos of my studio. Since I never seem to get photos of my studio online, I am posting hers for you. These are from one corner.

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are some of the ATCs and some ACEOs that I made for Valentine's Day.

Ink Painting

I just finished the above ink painting and my ATCs for the Carolina Mixed Media Guild. The painting is 16"x20." I will post my ATCs in a couple of days.

A different kind of post for me...

I've had a lot on my mind lately and decided to take a break today and post something a little different. I've worked on painting and sculpting all day so time to do something else.

Last night I had dinner with some friends and one mentioned garlic and how much she had eaten. I have had two cloves of garlic on my computer table for over a week and I have been watching them sprout. They are very small---less than 1" in length. I have been fascinated with the texture, the pearl like bulb and the tiny sprout and had even contemplated trying to make garlic bulb earrings out of polymer clay. I wish I could use them as they are and make earrings. I'm not a jewelry person, but I would love them! Guess the garlic smell though would not be too pleasant.

I won a door prize at our last Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild Meeting. It was Enliven Your Paintings with Light by Phil Metzger. It was a good book and I went through all of it pretty fast. I wondered if any of it would soak in or if I needed to really study it. I should not have been worried! Every time I turn around I am seeing the landscape, plants, a bowl of pears or something similar in a new light.

To illustrate, here are a couple of photos that I took. This is a living stones plant that is in my bathroom window. When the light shines on it in the morning, the top glows as if it is translucent and it is a minty green while the sides are a dark mossy green. When it is in normal light in a room, the top of it is dark green and very much the color of the sides. During the latter part of the day, the plant only shows as a black silhouette in the window as the light comes in behind it. All of the plants in my window go through this same process of changing colors through the day, but I chose this plant as it is the most striking in its differences---probably due to the thickness of the plant.

Maggi, this post is esp. for you. Thanks for donating the book for the door prize and thanks for telling us about the garlic last night!

It's about time...

that I made a post to this blog.

I have been busy, busy, busy and will be posting some photos of what I am working on later in the week. I managed to do 10 ink paintings, but just took photos of a few. So here they are.

Christmas ornaments out of found objects

I'm trying hard to use some found objects for Christmas ornaments as I am becoming buried in many of my collections. I just mailed a box of these beauties to Ozarks Americana in Anchorage, AK. It is the perfect shop for selling items made from vintage found objects or pieces of antiques or collectibles. I also made a lot of small ornaments from vintage gift cards from the 1920s and 1930s. I forgot to take a photo of them!

The first two ornaments were made from a pair of baby's bronzed booties or shoes from 1923. See photo above.

The second is a pair of vintage mini shoes made from some old brass. I added a hanger and French wired ribbon.

The two oval pieces are antique sterling silver with monogramming. I think they may have been made to go on the top of a box. Now they are fine ornaments.

Happy Holidays!

Art and Craft Books For Sale

After reading an article in the newspaper on what bookshelves should look like, I know it is time for me to get rid of some books. The article says that bookshelves should have 1/3 books, 1/3 art or collectibles and 1/3 EMPTY SPACE! My bookshelves are filled with books. The tops have some objects or art, but there is not a spare inch anywhere else.

So if you are into collage and assemblage and using found objects and ephemera in your art, these books are some good ones. There are many techniques and lots of good instructions. All are in excellent condition. Although I always thought I would do "traditional" collage (if there is such a thing), I have found that I am drawn more to assemblage. Most of these books have never been read, but just thumbed through. Here is my Etsy link.

Meandering Scaffolding

In the book, Master Disaster, Tregay lists about 15 design strategies to unify paintings. There are line drawings in black and white that one can use to determine where many of their paintings fall especially if painting abstracts.

As soon as I saw the category of Meandering Scaffolding, I knew that at least 75% of my abstracts fall in this category. According to the author, this strategy was the signature of Jackson Pollock and the strategy is an all over pattern that fills the page from top to bottom and from side to side. They usually have small points of interest and it is the interweaving lace and webbing that makes them work.

There is a reason that my ink paintings fall into this category. Where Jackson Pollock was a slinger, pourer or dribbler of paint, I am a dripper, slinger and pourer of alcohol inks. I am often asked how I am able to get particular patterns and how I can get some feathery effects. I work with the fluidity of the inks and the chemical reactions with different inks and resins. I only use eyedroppers, squirt bottles and I tip my board for flow. Except for the first layer of ink, I rarely use a paintbrush and even then, I often tip the board for the first layer. Ball styluses act as my paintbrushes, although they rarely touch the board. The alcohol inks have a distinct difference with many paints as alcohol inks dry almost instantly. Although alcohol or an extender can be used, this interferes with the various effects that one can get with the inks.

I cannot count the number of times people who have seen my paintings or have watched me paint have exclaimed that I paint like Jackson Pollock. Since I have never been drawn to his work, I never thought much about it. But when seeing the diagram of Meandering Scaffolding, I saw my painting style perfectly. I cannot even say that I was influenced by Jackson Pollock as I never got the connection until after I had been painting with alcohol inks for over a year. Now I will use some of the other design categories that Tregay mentioned to get a different unity in my paintings. The fast drying of the alcohol inks will prevent my using some of them, but I will still expand my design strategies.

You can read more about Pollock's painting methods here.

Serendipity and Reworking Paintings

Jerry's Artarama gave the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild an evening of demos and refreshments this past Tuesday as a thank you for the guild's work at the Art of the Carolinas show this November.

I won one of the door prizes that included a book, Master Disaster, Five Ways to Rescue Desperate Watercolors by Susan Webb Tregay, a watercolor kit and boards. I think they were holding this specific door prize just for me! There were at least seven door prizes and I can't believe any other door prize would have been more suited for me.

I read the book the next day and tackled one of only four paintings that must be reworked or tossed. Although the book is written for watercolorists, most of the techniques to rescue paintings can be applied to other media. I sold the painting the following day!

Rarely do I totally give up on a painting. I usually chop paintings or add layers or do anything I can to make them work. Since I work mainly on Ampersand Deep Cradle Claybord and they are not cheap, I cannot afford to toss them. Occasionally, I have added 1/8" Claybord or painted on acrylic laminate (Formica or Wilsonart) and applied the laminate sheet over the Deep Cradle Claybord. I work with alcohol inks and once the inks stain or settle into the Claybord, there are few options to rework the painting on that particular surface with alcohol inks. On the countertop laminate materials, I can clean off with alcohol and start over and over until I get something that I like. There may be some staining, but with 91% alcohol, I can remove any color that would affect most of the paintings.

I had tried unsuccessfully to get a floating bubble look using alcohol inks. I had a painting that would have to be tossed unless I could make it work. Working on a failed painting gave me the freedom to experiment and I discovered a technique that gave me this floating bubble effect. Here are two other paintings that I played with while trying to discover how to make this happen.

I also had an ink painting on laminate that just was not too interesting, but I liked some parts about it. I had already applied a resin finish so I assumed that I had to toss it. Since it was going to be a loss anyway, I started to experiment. I removed the resin layer by peeling it off from the corners. I noticed that it was leaving a little of the ink behind, but was giving me a good sheet of transparent colors. After peeling it off, I applied gold, silver and copper leaf in selected areas and reapplied the resin skin on top. The painting is like jewelry for the walls.

It is difficult for me to start a new painting like one that I have already made as it never seems to be as fresh and I am not excited about it. Something always seems to be missing in one that is trying to be like the first. However, when I have reworked a painting, I seem to connect with it easily. Maybe I feel good that I have not wasted so much time and materials. Or maybe I just cannot stand the thought of a painting being worth nothing and relegated to the trash bin. Or maybe I just love a challenge.

More Paper Pulp

After working on the World of Art challenge and making paper pulp, I decided to see what other effects I could get with different papers. I particularly like the finish on the heart hanging down on the twine on my entry and wanted to see if I could replicate that and try to determine if it was the paper pulp I had used or the watercolors mixed with the acrylics or the gold powdered pigments that gave me the look that I like.

I used some large sheets of a heavy textured paper that we were given at the end of the Art of the Carolinas show in 2008 for making paper pulp. Anything that I do not use in one year is up for experimentation other than its intended use. Since I am not a conventional painter making paper pulp seemed to be a good use---I just hope it was not expensive paper as cheap paper works for this application. I used the same Cold Porcelain and water to mix into the pulp mixture. I did not have the same brand of acrylic paints and had no more gold powdered pigment in stock. So I used Golden Fluid acrylics as close as I could get to the same color as the red that we were given in our kit. I used Golden fine gold acrylics instead of the powders. I did not get the same effect, but this is acceptable as it is just the base for the art.

World of Art Challenge

These are the individual mini pieces on the right side of the painting.

This is a close-up of the head.

(I started posting this days ago, but just now realized it was still in draft as I never got the photos together for it. I have tried to put the photos in the proper spots with the text, but it doesn't seem to want to work. And I can't get them to enlarge so they can be easily seen. Sorry! This piece has taken enough of my time!)

Here are some photos of some individual pieces that I made with the supplies that we received for the World of Art Challenge. We could add two pieces, but we were to use part of every item that was provided. We could also use adhesives or items to attach the pieces and these did not count as additional items. (At least these are the rules as I understood them.) Since I did not see any other entry that had wire as a connector, I am hoping that I did not misunderstand the rules.

The kit had items such as rubberbands, wood pieces that were cut at odd angles, a cork, Liquid Pencil, magazine pages with text, watercolor paper, origami paper, several other types of papers, Claybord tiles, a piece of twine, some playing cards, a piece of torn canvas, a yellow ticket stub, three colors of watercolors, three colors of acrylic paints and a 16x20" stretched canvas. This all came in a Jerry's Artarama bag. I had planned on cutting up the bag for some text, but was told the bag was to return our completed piece so I passed on using it. But I could have sure used it! There may have been other pieces that I have not listed here, but I can't remember them now.

I first went through all of my papers and miscellaneous items and kept out anything that I thought I would need to make my piece. I saved any English text or text that I could combine to make into words that I might use. I saved all text from packaging of paints and canvas. I decided to put all of the Korean, Japanese or Chinese (I do not know which language they were.) text pages into my pulp as I could not tell whether I had them upside down as had I cut them up. I also did not know what they meant. I received some great fashion photos along with a few ads and a page that looked like it was part of a catalog or index pages.

After selecting anything that I thought I might use, I made paper pulp out of about 1/3 of the papers and used Cold Porcelain as my paste or glue to hold it altogether. The Cold Porcelain took so long to dry that I almost did not make the deadline. I put it into the oven several days at 175 degrees for hours at a time. Water had to be added to make the pulp as well and I just realized when writing this that I did not count it as an additional item. (Maybe everyone used water to thin their watercolors and to wash their brushes.) The water has all been removed by now as it has evaporated. I used over a quart of the Cold Porcelain as I wanted to be sure the paper pulp was strong and was adhered well to the canvas. When I realized 1/3 of the paper was only about half enough, I used the majority of my paper and mixed more pulp. I strained the pulp and used the coarse pulp for the face and on the canvas. I saved the pulp that had no clumps to sculpt the hands. I even made one sheet of paper! I had never done this before and I loved the way the watercolor paints mixed with the acrylic paints looked on it.

This is a list of how I used the different pieces in the kit.

1) I cut the wood into strips to use as armature for fingers. It was not enough, but at least enough for the thumb and one finger so they would have some support. I put the sawdust created from cutting into the paper pulp.

Left side of painting

2) I used the cork to carve a few designs to stamp on the circular and triangular pieces coming out of the head. Most did not turn out too well so I ended up drawing small designs instead. I threw the small shavings of cork into the paper pulp. This proved to be a problem later as they would drag when trying to sculpt and I think I must have picked most of them out in the end.

3) I used the rubberband to make round designs in the wet paper pulp on the canvas. Then I used the rubberband to wrap around the wires to hold them together in the head until the glues that I poured in set up.

4) I kept out two playing cards and made ATCs out of them and the rest were used in paper pulp. I used two of the fashion images on the playing cards. I used all except four other images in paper pulp and had one small image that I never used.

5) I used the origami papers to make a small Japanese lady similar to the ones that I made when I was a kid. Pulp was used for the head. I used the lining of the paint tubes for the hair ornament.

6) I twisted the twine in some curlicues and placed on a stack of newspapers. I wet a small piece of the watercolor paper---at least I assume it was watercolor paper---and placed it on the twine. I sprayed the paper with water and then set a block of marble on top of it so that it would take the impression of the twine. I used the paints, pencils, and Liquid Pencil etc to make the design pop much as I used to do when I was a kid and used a pencil to get the impression of a coin onto paper. After I was finished with the twine, I added Cold Porcelain to make it stiff. It would hold the heart also made from the paper pulp. Originally, I had planned on making the heart one-sided, but it would not hang properly so I made the other half so it was the same on both sides and it would not matter which side was showing.

7) I had some paper pulp that had dried into an interesting pattern so I used it as I had used the twine above to make a small painting.

8) I cut the rectangular Claybord tile into two pieces so they were about an inch square and used them for charms on the bracelet. I used a watercolor image that I painted with the watercolors in the kit and used two images on the sides of the other one inch tile. I carved the large Claybord tile with an image inspired by some tapestry in an image that I received from the magazine pages. I used to do crewel embroidery in this style so I was drawn to the image of this tapestry.

9) I cut out the words on the bottom of the yellow ticket stub. I can't remember the words (seems like it was something about art or paper), but I applied them to a bracelet charm. The remainder of the stub went into the pulp or is in the baggy of pieces I did not use on the back of my artwork.

10) I used the canvas as a charm and then shredded the remainder for the paper pulp.

11) I used words mainly from the packaging from the paints and the advertising insert and canvas. Some were cobbled together from text for the charm pieces.

12) The paintbrush was made from a rolled up piece of paper. The ferrule was made from the metal part of the empty tube of acrylic paint. Paper pulp was used for the bristles.

13) The miniature deep cradle canvas was made by layering paper on a dried layer of paper pulp. I then used the acrylic paints straight from the tube for the painting.

14) The last of the paper pulp was used to sculpt a bird (I love birds and try to use them whenever I can.) for the headdress and for the mini sculpted nude. I had about three tablespoons of paper pulp remaining.

15) Three types of pencils were included in the kit. I used them for writing on the circular and triangular pieces and then cut them up. I used the top ends of the pencils as charms on the bracelet.

16) I used almost all of the paint in the kit. I used gold/copper powder (One of my extra items) to change the colors to something that I could work with. I also used them in all of the sealers and added them to the sealer to write the words on a lot of the darker circular or triangular pieces on the headdress. I mixed any and all of the colors except for the rectangular deep cradle piece mentioned above.

I think that is pretty much it! It was a fun challenge. This is what I learned.

1) Cold Porcelain with water in paper pulp takes forever to dry out. I started on the paper pulp on September 1 and it was not hard and dried until November 1. The heart was still slightly damp even then, but it is probably 2" at its thickest point.

2) I have not figured out yet whether it is the watercolor mixed with the acrylic and the gold powdered pigments that I love or it is this combination on the paper that I made that I love. Mixing the watercolors with the acrylics and then adding the gold powder allows the powder to sort of float to the top and gives a shimmer that I did not get when adding the gold powder to the watercolors or acrylics separately.

3) I learned that making a specific type of paper pulp is very difficult when adding any and all kinds of paper. Some of the paper becomes very fluffy and other pieces might as well be small rocks. But I persevered and made my first sheet of paper. It is not a strong paper, but worked okay for now.

4) I learned that adding gold powdered pigments to a finish/sealer does not work well for writing. I am not good with a tiny paintbrush (I tried!). The gold powders kept separating from the sealer and I wasted a lot of powder as the sealer dried quickly and I would have to constantly discard the solution. I ended up using a Speedball calligraphy pen, but the solution would not flow well and it was more scratching than writing. Every line could take up to four dips in the solution to make the line bold enough to read. Luckily, the red and blue acrylic paints in the kit gave me a dark color to use for text on light colored pieces.

Added on 11/13/2009: The second free item that I added was a sheet of paper that had an image of music and some text. I used the musical notes and three of the words on the charm bracelet.

World of Art Challenge

Hands, Head and Heart

This method of creating is different and more difficult than how I normally work. I usually approach my artwork with an idea and then find techniques and materials to capture the concept. For this challenge, I had the materials that I had to use, but no idea of the process or where I was headed. I decided to use a quote as the basis for my submission. I think it captures the work of artists all over the world.

A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.
Louis Nizer

I will post photos of some of the pieces in progress later. Related Posts 1 2

World of Art Challenge

Here are some photos (I'll get better ones later.) of the World of Art Challenge. As I previously posted, the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild members accepted a bag of art supplies put together by Jerry's Artarama. We will be exhibiting our pieces at the Art of the Carolinas November 12 through the 15th.

We could add two items to the kit's contents. I have already used something out of everything in the kit. We were allowed to use any sealers, finishes, glues or items such as wire to attach the pieces to the canvas. I first looked through the magazine pages or other pages of text and images and picked out any words or images that I thought I may use in the artwork. I used half of each piece of the papers that I received with a cold porcelain paste as a glue to make paper pulp. I also cut up the wood pieces and added the sawdust into the pulp. As of right now, I have half a sheet of some Winsor and Newton heavy paper and a few other small pieces of paper. I have used almost all of my yellow paint and have used over half of all of the other paints. At this point, I have used duo gold/copper metallic powders mixed in to the paints and sealers and glues as my additional material. I may rearrange the headpiece when it is all completed. The pieces are on wire and will bend as needed to make each piece so it can be read.

In and around her left hand will be the completed small works of art. The right hand will have more pieces that have the words of art materials and supplies on them. I am thinking of making them into a bracelet instead of in the hand...but will just have to wait to see what I have materials to do.

This was a difficult challenge for me as I don't usually work with any of these materials. But I am almost finished. Good thing as I have to turn it in on November 3!