MIXED MEDIA CANVAS

Hi. At artastic this month the focus has been on stencilling. For this challenge I have created a canvas wall panel.

The background is a 30cm x 40cm deep canvas which was firstly painted with white acrylic paint. To this I added steaks of greys, ochre and umber to make a weathered appearance. Stencilled fronds to represent seaweeds were added in various shades of grey to create a layered effect. The stencils were also applied to the sides of the canvas. In addition to this I added mesh fibre which was then sprinkled with embossing powders, beads and sequins which were then heated.
This method was also used on the smaller canvas board with starfish skeletons.

The glues used for this technique are PVA based and when applied thickly, give fabulous bubble effects when heated.
The inspiration from ARTastic was based on the work of William Rose.

Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

REST!

Hi and welcome! At the moment I'm having heaps of fun experimenting with different mediums to make background papers, some of which I've used to create the layout for this month's ARTastic challenge. The added criteria was to use wood veneer.

The background was part of a paper created in a class held at timetocreate last month. On this we sponged paper soft- colour, through different-sized stencils. This paper soft is a wonderful product which gives fabulous effects. The shapes made were stamped. In the white sections remaining I added some of my tangled patterns with a black sharpie. I also used green, purple, copper and gold sharpies to some sections of the design.
The leaves were made from another piece of background paper I had made last year, using a distress ink smooshed tissue paper glued onto cardstock. This was then stamped with distress and archival inks.
To go with the quirky inspiration art piece, I used a photo of a tawny family from a few years ago. The youngster was definitely AD/HD and stayed awake quite  few hours during the day when it (and parents) should have been sleeping. This was just one of the photos we were able to capture of its antics!

The wood veneer came into play with the speech bubbles, title, butterflies, leaves and owl.
To complete the piece I added some fibres.

Pop on over to artasticchallengeblog to check out what the team has done with this amazing artwork.
Thank you for coming by. Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

RAINBOW LORIKEET

Hi and welcome. Today I'm sharing with you the layout I've entered into this months ARTastic Challenge, with the additional criteria of adding paint.
The photograph I used cried out for the rainbow colour spectrum.

For the criteria of paint, I had first applied a thin layer of gesso and then brushed in layers of different coloured acrylic paint over a stencil. Once the original stencilled background had been made, I was able to create my 'mop-ups'. The background behind the photo is one of these. The negative stencilled effect suited the photo more than the original piece made.
To create the leaves I used a number of different green- shaded distress inks smooshed over white cardstock and used the Tattered Leaves die. The base cardstock was stamped with archival inks.
Pop on over to artasticchallengeblog and check out how the team has used this fabulous inspiration artwork.

Catch you soon,
Cheers, Di

CHANNELLING POSITIVE VIBES!!!!

Hi! It has been a while since I last posted, but I have a major health issue I'm coming to terms with at the moment. Doing what I love is helping greatly and today I'm sharing a couple of projects.
The first I'm entering  into the Kraft Plus challenge. You can see what the team has done over at:
kraftpluschallenges
This is the first time I've participated in this challenge, but when I saw that the criteria was to add the element of zentangling I couldn't resist!  This was done while recuperating  from my last lot of surgery..... very therapeutic.
I've created a fantasy garden, based around a Bird of Paradise plant.

 

The second was my August DT piece for ARTastic, using a black and white photo of one of my Tawny Frogmouth visitors to the garden. The additional criteria was to add texture so that it was a feature of the background. I've stencilled leaves using modelling paste and added gems and fibres.

 

 

 

Pop on over to: artasticchallengeblog  to see how  the rest of the team has interpreted this month's inspiration artwork.

 

 

Cheers for now. Di

GRAB THE BROLLIES!!!

Hi and welcome. As I'm writing this post, the temperature outside has dropped and I know we're in for another chilly night.... just right for snuggling up in a warm doona!
Our inspiration at ARTastic this  month was based on the artwork of Shirley Charlton (aka Shirlroma) called "Umbrellas, wet street". 
I loved this piece, with its wet, reflective appearance, the pops of colour from clothing and umbrellas and the texture on the pavement. 

I had a photo taken on our last holiday in Tasmania, showing the reflective view of yachts and old buildings on the waterfront area of Hobart, and the rain falling on the nearby Mt Wellington. This, was just right for our theme and added criteria this month. Minutes after taking this photo we had to make a dash for cover... no brollies on our holiday!

The background was stencilled onto white card, using a new stencil which I thought went so well with a flagstone look.

 

This was left to dry slightly before spraying with various ink sprays and building up layers of colour using Glimmer Mists and Lindy Stamp Gang Sprays. These gave a beautiful metallic , watery sheen to the whole of the background. Once these were dry I sprayed sections with Dylusions Ink Spays and let them dribble freely down the page... helped by misting with water.

 

 

 

Umbrellas were made from papers which had also been sprayed or inked in some way. This one I stamped with versamark and heat embossed using a white embossing powder. It was then overstamped and coloured with Inca Gold 'Rose Quartz'.

 

 

Two of the brollies were cut from smooshed Distress Inks, using some of this year's colour releases. two were cut from paper sprayed with Dylusions Ink Sprays, and the remaining one on the centre of the grouping was cut from tissue paper which had been painted with Dylusions Acrylic paints (the most yummy colours!)

 

The title was also cut from the same types of paper and then given a coat of Glossy Accents to give them a wet look. This was also applied to the ribs of the umbrellas.
A lot of messy fun, using techniques and mediums I love to play with.
If you want to play with us, pop on over to:artastic and check out what the team has done. We'd love to see your art here.
Cheers, for now.
Di

 

 

FLIGHTS OF FANTASY!!!

Hi and welcome. My DT piece for ARTastic this month has been formatted around two photos taken of some rather unusual markings on  tree with the required additional criteria of wood veneer and/ or birds.
I see owls, one in flight and the other on a branch.

I wanted a quirky look to reflect that of our inspirational artwork this month., a painting by Luka Va called "Bird King".

 

 

To achieve this, apart from the photos, I smooshed some manilla card with Distress Inks directly from the pads ( fossilized amber, cracked pistachio, abandoned coral and mermaid lagoon) and then stamped with archival black. The stamp I used was a funky mushroom edging. I added wooden mushrooms, inked with some of the same colours and then glazed with Glossy Accents.

 

 

I also added some additional wooden birds which were treated the same way as the mushrooms. To the whole of the background I glued cut and broken pieces of timber veneer to give the whole, a rustic look. Timber veneer leaves were also added. 

 

 I cut some feather shapes from my leftover smooshing and stamped on the letters for the title. Some extra words from Darkroom Door completed the piece.

I wonder what you see in the photos. I know some of my teamies have seen different things. It would be a hoot to find out.
While you're here, why not pop on over to:artastic to see what the rest of the team has done. You will be amazed! We'd love for you to join in.
Catch you again soon. Thank you to  those who have left such encouraging  comments.
Cheers, Di

STARS IN OUR EYES

Hi and welcome. This month's inspirational artwork at ARTastic is "The Return of the Young Prince" by Sarah Beetson, with the additional criterion of the use of stars.

For my layout this month I have chosen some of the colours depicted in the artwork and constructed an iris folded star as the background mat for the photo I've used.

One of the papers used for this was one of my experiments with a new stencil and Neon inks.
The photo I've used was taken of my soon-to-be husband and self, not long after our engagement in 1973.  The photographer was one of my bridesmaids to be.

Additional stars were made from some of the same papers and were highlighted with dots using black or gold Sharpies. The border was done with a gold Sharpie and I added black stars.

Thank you for dropping by and while you're here, why not pop on over to:artastic and check out how the rest of the team has used the artwork. We'd also love to see your art here.

Catch you again soon. Cheers for now.
Di

NATURAL BRIDGE

Over at ARTastic this month, we have a fabulous inspirational artwork to use... a piece called Frozen Music,  full of colour ad suggested movement  by Roy de Maistre .

I have taken advantage of our added requirement of swirls to complete a double-page layout, with doodled flourishes and swirls using a silver Sharpie. This has been done as a vertical piece in keeping with the photos.

The photos are of the Natural Bridge at Numinbah,on the rim of the Mt Warning crater, about 30 minutes from the small township of Murwillumbah on the far North Coast of NSW. My layout is reflecting the photos showing a flow of water from a creek and its progression, tumbling down a steep rocky outcrop into a cavern where it cascades into a pool before once again splashing out into a small creek. As a child I enjoyed visiting this area and wandering along the track to the cavern beneath. We always called the site the Natural Arch but somewhere over the course of time this was changed to Natural Bridge. It's a great place to visit, especially after a period of good rainfall, when the cascade is even more spectacular. At the right time in the evening the cavern is filled with little bursts of light from the glow worms.

Close up of page 1

Close up of page 2

The background is on a pearlised cardstock and water drops have been cut from glitter cardstock. I've added strands of glitter yarn, fabric and paper orchids in the colours taken from our inspirational painting, acetate butterflies and dragonflies and painted chipboard mushrooms. The edges have a drawn border of water droplets, again using a silver Sharpie.

We'd love to see what you could do with our inspirational artwork and of course the added criteria of swirls. These can be in the form of doodling, swirls on your background paper, or added embellishments. Pop on over to: artastic and check out what the rest of the team has done using our artwork for this month.

Catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

STRIATED SUNSET

Hi and welcome. This month's criteria at ARTastic is to use a quote on whatever you create. As the colours in the inspirational artwork were reminiscent of some of my sunset photos, this is what I decided to go with.

A quote from John Ruskin, 'At sunset nature is painting for us... day after day... infinite beauty."   has been used for this, along with some of the colours, stripes and splotches from the inspiration artwork.

The features of stripes, patterning and colour has also been extended onto the black background through the use of stencilling with swipes of colour using texture pastes, sprays and dimensional pearls. Some of the background colour was also applied using the serrated edges of plastic knives. I have also used sprayed and torn tissue paper, again using the colours from this month's artwork.

Background showing stencilling and scraping. Coppery tones were added later.

Please drop by the ARTastic site and have a look at how the rest of the team has played with this month's theme. You'll be in for a real treat! Check it all out at:artastic



Thank you for dropping by. Your comments always give me a buzz and brighten my day.
Catch you soon.
Cheers, Di



CANVAS MINI-ALBUM FOR ARTASTIC

Hi everyone.
ARTastic  Challenges this month has a wonderful inspirational artwork and mood board to tantalise your creativity.
For my take on this I decided to start a mini album, with the first page using the colours from the mood board. The photo is quite an old one so it's showing a bit of wear and tear.

The canvas page was painted with acrylic paints and stamped with a slightly deeper shade of dusky pink. the photo ( me, aged 2) was mounted onto a frame of pearlised pink paper. The edges were pinpricked with a scallop design. This didn't take as long as you would have expected because I have some Pergamano tools which made it a lot quicker. I chain stitched some vines on the edges with variegated pink embroidery thread and then added the lace and button flowers.

Cut out leaves from a wall paper sample were decorated with Liquid Pearls and tucked behind some material roses.

Additional lace was tucked under the photo mat and chipboard butterflies, also painted and decorated with Liquid pearls, were added.

 

The vellum quote was also pinpricked around and the canvas page mounted to black cardstock to give some extra support and stability. I added Liquid Pearls in flourishes and dots around this to complete the page.

As you can see from the gorgeous artwork by Josh Miels, we had the opportunity work with beautiful colours.
Pop on over to artastic and check out what the rest of the team has done with this. We'd love to see your art work here.
Thanks fro dropping by. catch you again soon.
Cheers, Di

DORRIGO: DT Piece for ARTastic

Hi and welcome. I hope your new year has been everything you'd hoped for so far. ARTastic has a fabulous challenge this month, using as their inspiration, some street art by Fintan Magee. Fintan is an Australian street artist known for his murals throughout Queensland and later, in New South Wales.

 

I've taken the bricks from the mural as my inspiration for my layout.
The background has had double layers of stencilling. The first layer was a light coat of gesso was done over a smooshed  and sprayed background. Then I used a brick / stone wall stencil with Modellier Creme (Chocolat)

To this, I also added torn pieces of washi and Tim Holtz paper tapes and various stamps in black archival ink. Under the photo (which is of a mosaic tile mural on the wall of a building in Dorrigo, NSW), I have used torn cardboard from packaging. This was embossed and then smooshed with distress inks. The journalling was done on crumpled glassine paper. A white Sharpie paint pen was used for the writing.

There is still time to join us at  artastic this month, so why not pop on over to the blog and have a look at what the rest of the team has done with the inspiration image. We'd love to see your art.
Cheers for now.
Di

DISENCHANTED

ARTastic this month has a great challenge which can be Christmas -themed if you wish and has also added a colour palette.

I've chosen to use a photo of my son's first Santa encounter at 15 months of age.... he was so NOT impressed, as can be seen by his facial expression. Normally he would have been smiling as at this age he loved having his photo taken ( how THAT has changed!).

The background was originally done as an explore piece at timetocreate  and involved colouring- up  this diamond checker-board patern with Pan Pastels... the first time we had used them. To the layout we also added a decoration (made in the same class) and an embossed frame with added highlights of Inca Gold. The background has been sitting around for about a year now in my UfP (unfinished projects) pile. The title I originally went with didn't work out, so I cut out sections where it had been, as well as additional segments,  and placed  the lot onto a smooshed red background.  Green,blues and yellow, as suggested by the colour palette, were also added to the embellishments and parts of the diamond paper. This was done by inking with chalk edgers.

The gold stars are tags, which I've also smooshed and decorated with Perlene Pens.

Pop on over to artastic and have a look at what the rest of the team has done. You'll find amazing ideas to inspire you. I hope you can join us this month.

Cheers for now,
Di

1974 PLUS OODLES OF DOODLES

 

Hi and welcome.

This month at ARTastic, we are using doodles to create added interest to our artwork. I've probably gone overboard with my doodling for this layout, but I find it quite therapeutic! This originally started out just in black and white, but I decided to add some colour, using Pan Pastels in some of the segments.

 

 

Doodles done with an ultra-fine sharpie.

The photo I've used is one of self, taken in 1974. I was dining out at the Italo-Australian Club in Lismore with my husband. This was one of our favourite places to have an enjoyable meal, authentic Italian,  followed by dancing in the auditorium.


The inspiration picture of these quirky hens have lots of loops and dots doodled around them. I chose these elements when designing some of the sections. I also used music notes... the chooks must have music to dance to, mustn't they?

Picture by Antje Collis... "Tra-La-La"

Also, I was given the opportunity, at ARTastic to present the Tips, Tricks and Techniques segment  for the month and continued with the doodling theme, producing some card fronts using the same techniques. This time, instead of using a photo as a focal pint I used stamps. I took some of the stamp features to turn into design elements.

Black and white... again ultra-fine black sharpie

Laser paper smooshed with distress inks before doodling

Colour added with ultra- fine sharpies.

 There's till time to show us your doodling. We'd love to see what you come up with. Pop on over to:
artastic to see what the rest of our team has been up to.
Happy doodling.
Cheers, Di

MAISIE VICTORIA DAVISON

This month at ARTastic, the inspiration photo was a beautiful heritage styled painting depicting a fabulous jacaranda tree in full bloom.  To see this painting, pop  on over to the ARTastic blog at:
http://artasticchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/  and also have a peep at what the rest of the team has done for this month's challenge.
Jacaranda trees are out in all of their gorgeous blooms throughout this area and particularly in the not- so- far- away city of Grafton, where they hold a Jacaranda Festival each year in October. Although not native to Australia, they have become an icon in many streets and gardens. Personally I love these planted next to an Australian native, the Illawarra Flame Tree, also in brilliant bloom at this time of the year. This tree has a gorgeous coral/red flower which looks stunning next to the vivid blue/purple of the jacaranda.
 But enough of these musings and onto my layout!

The photo I' ve used is of my mum, taken in 1929 when she was 18.  This particular photo is a reproduction of the original, made about 40 years ago and given to family members at a reunion in 1974. Mum loved roses, blues, mauves and laces, so I have incorporated these into the layout.  She was also a fabulous crocheter and I've also used some snippets of crocheted doilies.

I've chosen to reflect the hues of the jacarandas in the papers I've made the roses from and in the laces I tinted with Distress Inks. (Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac). The same Distress Inks were also smooshed onto the papers.

Some of the papers for the roses and flowers were made from smooshing the colours onto a white cardstock and also giving them a light spray of Glimmer mist. Other papers are from cardstock I've had for ages. The roses and some of the other flowers were diecuts using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die. Others were punched.

To go with the heritage style of the painting I have given my layout a shabby chic/ distressed look with distressed and punched edges and inserts of laces and different papers. These have torn and rolled edges which were also inked with the 2 lilac colours as well as Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The chipboard flourish has been daubed with distress stains and sprayed with glimmer mist.

I've used a material vine to complete the piece and hidden journalling tags (also edged with lace).

Thank you for popping by and for your comments.
Cheers, for now,
Di