Texture Cuff

Ahh...the weekends.  Very different for us right now without our William playing travel baseball.  I kinda miss it, the interactions with other humans and watching him play.  But man.....it was really nice having a weekend to do, well.....NOTHING.  Saturday morning I woke and got my 14 mile run over with before anyone was up.  It was perfect weather.  A little misty rain the entire time with the bottom falling out right at the end.   I tried the audio book and that was awesome.  2.5 hours flew by.  No really.   Here's proof I survived the longest run in the history of my 41 years.  This picture cracks me up.  I look like a bobble head!

 I'd jokingly put a box of Gluten Free pancake mix on the counter the night before and said to Billy, "You can make these for me tomorrow if you want."  (Just a little background, Billy is the pancake man.  He loves making them for all of us.  I bought the GF because I have to limit my wheat intake the rest of my life.  To be honest, everything GF I've eaten so far has tasted better than wheat products.  Even Billy agreed the pancakes were amazing.)  Seeing my man in the kitchen makes me all smitten with him again.  It's the little things when ya been together 22 years.

After a hot shower and a movie with William (We watched Oblivion which totally sucked.  I was like what?  What was that about again?   Don't waste your rental mola.) I headed on down to the studio for some art making.  I took an online class with Claudine Hellmuth this past month.  It was a month of techniques....a lot a techniques I have to add.  One stood out to me and so I trotted off to buy the supplies for it last Monday.  I mean what the heck....it's not like I don't have enough art supplies in my studio right?  It was called faux leather I think.  Using sticky back canvas and embossing powder.  And although I enjoyed the technique and it pushed my thinking, the stencils were a pain, expensive and limiting.  I made a bunch, which I'll sell.  But I kept thinking there has to be a better way......

So my wheels started spinning and I thought, can I use embossing powder on leather?  Why yes Jenni, you can.  And so this happened:

 And then these happened.

 And now I am kicking myself for the binge clean out where I got rid of all but these 8 leather cuffs.

I never got back into the studio to finish adding the metal stampings to the embossed cuffs.  Next weekend I hope to get back.  Mostly after the few hours in the studio I laid around the house.  Sunday was church and more laying around.  William and I Sunday rented another movie in which both of us fell asleep during.  Hilarious right?  Billy and Mailey just piddled all day while we snoozed.  William actually slept I think about 5 hours.  Football is kicking his booty.  Mine too obviously.  Haha...actually I'm pretty sure my napping was due to the 2nd week of school exhaustion and my running schedule. 

So....big week ahead.  Open House for me and the kids, Football Jamboree and more.  Oh and after school art classes start back this week too.  Pretty sure I won't be back here until next week.  So have an awesome creative week!

New Toys....I Mean Tools

I love a new hammer.  Can't have enough shiny pliers for every jewelry making job, and my new Dremel tool, well let's just say we have a relationship that's a little unorthodoxed.  But the newest toys...I mean tools, in the toy... I mean tool box, are amazing!!  This is my new punch tool for those copper blanks I love to use:

And finally I broke down and purchased a multi tasking texture hammer.  It has like 10 different texture blanks.  And yep, I've been hammering away this morning, trying each out.

I think my favorite though is the one above with the little square grid.  I love the way the darkening catches as much or as little of the squares as you want.  Ooooweeee...this is going to open up a new avenue for me. 
Oh, and should you feel the need to add these toys to your box, you can find them in the lovely Hodgpodgerie's etsy shop.

Where Have you Been this Week?

I just realized that my last blog posting was Monday. Tisk..tisk. I love to blog alot usually. SO... where have I been this week? OH YEAH, Art Walk is next Friday night, September 18th, in Downtown Newnan. I'll be one of the artists on display at the fabulous Vintage-Flea. So I've been painting a lot. But there's more, I temporarily lost my sanity and decided to do a two day show September 19th and 20th in Peactree City. It's called Shakerag Festival. A super fun little show. I'll give location to that next week. For now, I am trying to doggy paddle my way through the new paintings, and get all my printed products ready. So why are you rambling about all this you say? Well, it's just my way of saying I may be absent a bit from blogging......I just may be on an island for the next week. I am not a last minute or under pressure person. So off to rework the SMART goals. They will need to be less SMART and more get it done goals. Here's a sneaky peaky at my new look for you. I am working on more collage and acrylic on canvas. I also tried one today with collage, acrylic and texture. Ooooo...I am liking it. Hope you've all had a great week!

"Here Comes the Bride(s)"

So here I am, painting. It's about hour 20 and I am going strong. It's strange how the hours flew by while painting these lovely ladies. Although the images were totally out of my comfort zone, I was able to find my way with ease. I even added some textured flowers. They are by far my favorite part of the entire composition of course. Here are Alyssa's flowers:

And here are Isabella's flowers. And folks, this is all I am showing you. Yep. I've decided that I want Amy and Ashley to get the whole effect when I bring them up to Nashville on August 12th. Photos really never truly show the texture and colors correctly I've found.

Speaking of working long hours, I really meant what I said above about the hours passing so quickly while painting. In fact, I am a little sad that the project is over. As much as I stressed over starting, once I got going the entire process flowed seamlessly. It's funny how when moving in the right direction, things can and will fall into place. When I spoke to Amy last night she said she was working all the time. It's good for you, I said. When I look at how far Valerie has taken the Flea over the past year on her own and now Amy and Ashley with starting the business, I just have to stand in their light and bask a little. These women have all taken a huge leap of faith and opened doors that have been along their life path, but waited to be opened at just the right time. It's funny how we travel, walking past the opportunities. We get married, have children, volunteer, play taxi, and all those other roles that follow with being a mother and wife. And some women are completely satisfied with never opening any more doors. But then there are women like Valerie, Amy, Ashley and myself who yearn for more. Who open the door and fall right in. And thrive on the successes and failures that come with turning the knob. I've closed some doors the past year that were so hard to do. But with those closings, opportunities have presented themselves I'd never had seen had I not been right here. And I am so very thankful that through it all these women mentioned above have been there by my side. And now I stand with them.

I Painted Today!

I painted today! Yipee! And this called for none other than a PARTY painting! Mattie and Sweetie Pie are having a little party in the summer field.

It was great to be back. Summertime I find myself concentrating more on art camps and kiddos than my work, but the ideas are really congesting up my head and I had to get at least one on canvas. I've been reading these fabulous books which offer new techniques in collage and acrylics. Today I had out the credit card, bubble wrap, spray bottle, gesso and more! It was so liberating that tomorrow I'll have Billy wake me early again so I can get a leg up before the kiddos wake. They are 9am sleepers in the summer....yes I know. Lucky Mommy. And yes, I do sleep that late sometimes, but with these ideas swimming, there's no time for sleeping late! Have a great night!

"Please insert 25 cents"

Here's another in my series of the American Still Life. I actually have an original payphone here at my house. My father worked for Bell for years and somehow we ended up with a payphone when I was little. My sister Molly and I would spend hours playing with it, placing coins in the slot and pulling the lever to release the coins. At some point I decided to place paper money in the slots however, and now they are jammed. My children played hello on the phone as babies, but no coin fun. The lighting is a bit off in this photo, I'll get a better one outside tomorrow and re-post the pics. I was just dying to share tonight the final product! Of course I played up the colors in the phone. I don't recall ever seeing a turquoise blue payphone. It was fun adding the numbers and letters to the dial. My daughter Mailey helped and thought it was weird that the letters were out of order a bit. I don't understand why, but I am sure there was a logical reason there was no Q or X. I still love the sound of the dial phone. And I'm not that old either...just in case you were wondering. My 37th birthday will arrive in promptly 2 more days. Ahhhh...that means CAKE!

Just Whistle While You Work.....

Here's a fresh batch of incised boards ready to go! As I've posted before, I do love this texture technique. The one drawback is it's time consuming. These are all primed and incised waiting to be painted hopefully today! A Nest, and two simple flower landscapes below. In the window are the two bikes (which are to be pink this time around), more flowers, nest and a birdcage. Oh, I'm whistling now! These all have to be painted, oil sticked and rubbed then framed by Thursday. Phillip is sure to follow through on his end of the deal tomorrow. I'll be sure to post a few finished pieces by Friday!

Just thought you'd get a kick out of this scene. Yep. That's my AJ. He's under the wrong impression that this yellow chair is for his napping. We fight for it, and sometimes, like today I just give in and let him stay. Usually Lily is in my lap as well. It's a wonder I get anything done really.

***After I posted this I saw in the background of this picture my husband's Christmas present. Hehehe.. Do you see what it is? We are saving for a rainy day and want to be safe about it. I am a true Republican by the way. Shocker I am sure...conservative artist?

Another Sneak at Texture Paintings

Mailey and Mattie on the go in this painting. This one really shows the texture off. The peacock feather is prettier in person because you can see the gold edges better.

She stills needs a face I just realized. Well, best be off to do just that!

Give Me A Little Texture

In a need to do something more textural with my acrylics, I decided one day to add a little joint compound to my canvas. About 6 months later, and I am still enjoying this new technique. So here's the nitty gritty if you are wanting to add a little texture to your paintings. First, purchase a thin board and some joint compound from your hardware store. I use birch mostly. I've done this technique as large as 24" x 24", but smaller tends to be more manageable. Plan your design ahead of time so you can transfer the image in a timely manner.

1. Apply a thin layer of joint compound to your wood. Let this dry until you can carve into the compound without it being mushy. I use my dry point needle from printmaking days, but you can also use a sharpened pencil. Wipe the tip of your tool between each stroke to get a clean line.
2. Let dry overnight.
3. Use your pencil tip to clean out the etched lines and use a paper towel to wipe the rough edges away.
4. Paint using acrylics, at least that's what I use. The compound is super absorbent, so I really prefer my cheap acrylics from Michael's, you know the Apple Barrell kind. 5. Using a natural bristle brush, encaustic oil sticks, canola oil and a bit of patience, fill all the lines with color. I use R&F Pigment sticks because they apply very smoothly. It looks scary doesn't it? Covering all that painting, yikes!

6. Once all the stick is applied, begin rubbing lightly with a paper towel. You will also need to dab the paper towel in canola oil top really remove reside. Canola oil is your friend during this stage.

7. I use a ton of Canola Oil and even more paper towels.

8. Lastly, I use my Sennelier oil sticks to bring out the textured lines.

The finished product is always richly textured. I just love working with this medium! It has an almost encaustic appeal. I do like to paint in encaustic, but this gives me the texture I want and more control over the paint pigments. Now you try!

New Textured Paintings

"Oh Happy Field" 18" x 18"
"Orange Bike" 19" x 24"

Just a peek up close at some of the new textured paintings I've been working on. This week I am in high production mode getting ready for the Norcross show. I cleaned up my painting area to work on some felted bird sculptures and fun appliqued pillows I can't wait to show you. I've also decided to offer prints. Of course in the midst of all my chaos are the kids practices and my husband's campaign. Busy is the key word around here. Busy and organized is what we strive for always. Somehow it all gets done and I sleep quite soundly! My focus remains on getting through until next week when I can't wait for it to all come together. I am thrilled to be participating in the show and can't wait to share all this joy I've been stashing in my garage with happy buyers!

Dreaming of Antique Lace

I love to watch the medians in the highway and on the ramps as I am driving by. This time of year the antique lace is in full bloom, and most inspiring. Here is my interpretation. I also love the wheaty grass that grows so naturally with the lace. I used my new joint compound technique, acrylics, and oil sticks to give this painting an unusual texture. I plan to get Phillip to make me a frame which will really make the entire thing come together. Right now though, you will find this at The Vintage-Flea for sale.

Juried Art Show

This summer I participated in the Newnan Coweta Juried Art Show. The show was held in our gorgeous Centre for Performing Arts right here in Coweta County throughout the month of June. It is an amazing space for a show. The reception was last Wednesday, so I packed up the family and we headed up for an evening of art. There was a ton of reception food, fellowship and people. It's the NCAA's 40th Birtdhay, so they did it up good this year! The association made up a really nice program with one piece from each artist featured and a quote from the artist (I said something so stupid, I have no idea where it came from!). On the back of the program they pictured the top ten in the show and I nearly flipped when I saw my "Spring Awakening" painting in the mix, out of 140 pieces. Yipee! I don't know who was judging, but there was some absolutely amazing works of art in this year's show. So I was completely honored to be among the top 10. My friend Martin Pate won best in show, which was very deserving. He is the most gifted portrait painter. Really. His images literally illuminate from the canvas. They mesmerize me. I sooooo want him to paint my little ones one day. This is the second piece I entered entitled, "Summer Horizon". It's a mixed media- joint compound, acrylic paint and oil sticks.
This is me and my mini-Mailey.
This is "Spring Horizon". I let William be in charge of photogaphy that night and did not realize until just now that this picture is so blurry. It looks better when you squint! I have it pictured in a prior blog if you'd like to see it not so fuzzy! Both paintings are for sale. Please contact me for information on them.