Space Paint

You'll need to wear your mask to view this video because you can almost smell the fumes, but it's worth a trip. Found out about it from Sandy on the Yahoo groups blog for the Stencilry class, those of use knee deep in spray paint and stencils right now with Mary Ann. She, like I, especially love the effect of pulling off the paint with wadded paper. This is from spacepaint.com and it rocks.

Loving My Mess

 

Enjoyed making my stenciling mess in the yard today. Overcast (again) made it a nice day to work outside, with a little breeze to carry the fumes away. I think I like the raw white canvas better than what I did, which was to prime with some chartreusy house paint first. Also have decided to avoid those paint spray cans with the "revolutionary 360 degree nozzle" - you don't have as much control, for one thing, and the blue can kept spraying and wouldn't stop! Yikes! Fun, fun - love making art this way.

The first hydrangeas

 

I always get excited to see the first of the periwinkle hydrangeas. I LOVE LOVE the color of these pretty flowers.

Note to me: Discoveries: Add-to List

Alma Stoller. Who knew embroidery could look like fun? See her "glossy project" here.

Two Cool Cats

 

 

I am immersed in stenciling old and new pages in my many journals a la Stencilry, Mary Ann Moss's class. Have been finding old things I've had around and investing in some new ones. One treasure was my collection of laser-cut cards I amassed in a big Hallmark sale of them a few years back. They are perfect for my stenciling. The two cats now decorate a cover of one of my journals. Aren't they a kick? I'm in love.

90 and Swingin'

Fran & 90-year old Marlo Cowan playing impromptu recital of the song "The Old Grey Bonnet" together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. Married 62 years, one would guess they've had a few happy duets along the way.

Do YOu Want a Bag?

I'm all for saving a bag when one can. I have often been everything-from-amused-to-zapfed at how many plastic bags the grocery uses to wrap up a set of groceries - one item per bag it sometimes seems. If I'm going straight to the car with one book or one item, I'll often say, "Save the bag." But I'm increasingly annoyed at the question, "Do you want a bag?" when it is obvious a bag will be the only considerate and useful way to wrap up a sale of 5 or 6 or more separate and mismatched items, rather than assuming the customer wants to balance them in her arms for a trip to the car or more shopping. YES! OF COURSE I WANT A BAG!" Otherwise, one item may drop along the way, you see - like the most expensive item in my most recent trip to Michaels, where I succumbed to the guilt of a bag and heroically said, No, I'm going right to the car. It seems my most expensive letter stencil set - the one I had to use a coupon for since it was in the high-2-digits pricewise, never made it there. Very, very annoying.

So...yes...I want a bag. Don't even ask me. I'll tell you if you can forget the bag. Don't ask me. Give me the bag. I'll try to remember next time to bring the canvas bag in like a good girl, but until then - give me the bag.

I feel better. I think.

Stencil City

 

 

 

 

Having fun with some of my new stencils on some older journals and pages. The scrolls are from scrapbooking die-cut pages, one of my few forays into the scrapbooking section (not a scrapbooker at heart, but I do love those gorgeous pages and I have no will power anyway) . I made the quickie face stencil from a a flimsy ad page but just practice to see how it would work - fine for my journal. Love the look. I think I'll have fun using bodies and faces from magazines, sturdy 'em up with tagboard. Mary Ann's idea of repositional adhesive on the stencil for clean prints works great, but geesh! the smell of it just lingers, even in the outdoors. They can send a man to the moon, but....

It's Your Fault, Mary Ann

 

My new art hero is Mary Ann Moss. You can find her at her blog, Dispatch from LA. I participated in Remains of the Day, as much as I could while working, and now that vacation has arrived I'm going to finish what I started.

Then, I had to have her stencil class, knowing how super creative the woman is, I'll get beyond what I already know and do. Another good step on my part. Out came the paints, the exacto, the box of junk I've used for background textures. Sitting around me now is a template under glass waiting until I can get a fresh supply of blades, some pages I started out on the lawn, and a roundup of other junk around the house I can use. I've been shopping for anything I can use for stenciling in hardware, craft, art, grocery, and dollar stores in my usual Immerse Myself Don't Wait approach to work and art. The pictures are my latest purchase of (mostly) on-sale diecut scrapbook pages that I love and adore.

Anyway, about Mary Ann. She is a hoot. Even if she had not one idea I can use (she has many) she'd be worth it to listen to. She's somewhat of a loner, I think, not eager to share her work in a crowd (probably won't be in line to teach at retreats, but who knows?), but getting to share online through videos fits her bill well. She and I share a style of work - neither of us are perfectionists, we get bored with repeats and measurements and precision, and we get messy. (I admire the work of many who do beautiful and careful work - talented Molly Hashimoto, watercolorist, and that creative genius Teesha Moore come to mind instantly - but have come finally to realize that it just isn't me. Bring on the mess.)

Go on over to Mary Ann's blog if you haven't already and if you can round up the dineros, sign up for her online classes. You won't be sorry. It's packed full of videos, sources, PDF directions, and inspiration - and she's funny funny funny. Being a fellow teacher spurs me on, too. If she can find the time, I must be able to better at that, too.

Posting some pages I've made with inspiration from Mary Ann next, and links will be added shortly.

Retrospect

 

A page from an older journal I added some stenciling to. Changes the whole look. I like it. I buy big illustrator/design award books at Half Price Books, sometimes for a buck each! They are already books with sewn signatures, sturdy pages, and some great art. I find them a bit challenging and sometimes I get tired of them before I finish the journal - (because I have a short tolerance for the same thing...a reason my journals are all different in format. My tendency to get bored after doing the same thing twice...I must work on that.) I paint over a lot of things or use bits and pieces of an image for my own play. I take out a few because they get pretty big and heavy - not a journal I carry around with me, for sure. When I'm done with them (well..it's never done, since all of my journals still have pages to go back and add to), I'm ready for a different format. I have to say, though, that when I browse through my journals, these are the ones I enjoy the most. I think they force me to be my most creative.

Actually, now that I said all that, I think these pages were from catelog from Anthropologie or Chico's...ready-made signatures I also like to improvise. I never ever looked like those women, though, not even in my prime. I was always a bit disappointed when my pictures did't come out with me looking like Cheryl Tiegs. My streak of vanity at work.

Morning Moo

Okay, so NOW I have to see the Torpedo Factory when I visit DC. Thinking about that trip for next spring. This place is in Alexandria, nearby. I found out about it from Fully Flummoxed. Artists studios and classes. Looks like fun.

One artist I discovered on my virtual trip to Torpedo is Kathy Beynette, a mixed media artist. I think I might have to have Morning Moo, don't you? (Kathy granted me permission to show you her work here. But you must go on over to her site or Torpedo Factory to see more of it!)