And The Winner Is....

It's time for me to announce the winner of the giveaway from the All Together Now blog hop I participated in last weekend (my first one, and it was so fun...)

First, I have to say how difficult this was - everyone left such sweet, supportive comments that I wanted to give this piece to everyone!  If I had any more of these made I'd be mailing them off!  So I was determined that the winner be absolutely random, and never having done this before I found Random.org, and made it do the work.  Now, when you hear who the winner is, you may be a little suspicious, but I swear on Michelangelo's grave that I ran it through Random.org, and only once!

Okay - the winner is - our beautiful hostess Amy McDonald!

I know what you're thinking - "Oh sure, her name begins with A, and she was so generous to host the blog hop, Terri just couldn't resist."  But I swear - there were 21 comments, Amy's comment was #20, and the randomizer picked #20 - see below for proof! 

However, if any of you want to try this fun cracked plaster on burlap technique (which I adapted from Stephanie Lee) just let me know, I'd be more than happy to walk you through it!

True Random Number Service

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

20

 9

 8

21

 3

 7

18

 5

19

13

12

 1

 2

 6

17

15

 4

14

10

16

11

Timestamp: 2012-05-22 22:54:14 UTC

All Together Now

                                                   

The wonderful Amy at butterscape.blogspot.com is hosting a blog hop where we have to brag about ourselves and have a giveaway (the much easier part!).  Amy's talent and unique personality are impossible to miss on her blog, so do yourself a favor and check it out if you never have...Oh, and prepare to laugh so hard you pee yourself just a little...

Okay, the bragging.....*squirm*.... well, I've only been at this art thing a few years... I always thought there were artists, and then the rest of us....the artists were the ones whose talent was obvious since they were young, the people who "could" paint or draw, as opposed to the rest of us who couldn't.  I always managed to find creative outlets, which I didn't really consider "art".  But a few years ago a fortunate set of circumstances caused me to buy a few stamps, and buy a copy of Stampers Sampler.  This then lead me to buy an issue of Somerset Studios in which I discovered mixed media art, and I've never looked back. I have a full-time job, so my time is limited, but I try to make the most of it. And it's changed my life.

Oh yeah, the bragging... Well, I will pretty much try anything. If I see something that intrigues me, I will find a way to try it, even if I don't have the correct supplies.  A piece covered in beeswax?  Saw it, tried it, loved it. Actual encaustic painting?  Saw it, tried it, loved it. .... Working with plaster?  Drawing a face? Well, you get it...   I'm always insecure about it, but there's just nothing to lose by trying...

Ummm....I am absolutely loyal to those I love, I don't judge, and I can make people laugh...

Okay, that's all I got....whew....

To me, joy is realizing that I really love a piece that I'm working on.... Here's a few I've made that I love, not necessarily for their technical perfection or anything, but because they represented a progression for me that made me happy...

 

Okay, the giveaway... it will be this cracked plaster on burlap on canvas piece below, and it's 10" x 8".  The "A" is a wonderful vintage find that I found difficult actually using (always an isue for me).   In order to win, just leave a comment, and either have come from Amy's blog, or go there (trust me...)  And please let me know if you'd actually like to receive the giveaway - I don't want to send it to someone who already has more art than they know what to do with!  I will pick the winner at random next week.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, now go check out the rest!

Encaustic Paint

I know that I've waxed poetic about encaustic wax before (he he, get it?), but I had never tried encaustic paint before, in spite of having the intention, and the actual little paint blocks, for quite some time.  Last weekend I decided to dive in and try it, and it was a lot of fun.  I've been thinking about it for so long that I was kind of overwhelmed by all the possible things I could do ( actually, I spend too much of my "studio" time in that state), but finally managed to settle down to something.  Making the Dragonfly was really fun - I know you can't tell from head on, but it's about 1/4" high.  You press a cookie cutter into the wax layers til there's a tight seal, then pour melted wax in, it only takes a few minutes to dry, and then you pull the cookie cutter off.  I've done that before, but much more satifying with colored wax!  And brushing colored wax over the circle stencil was really fun too.

 I think that all the mixed media goodness we love - layering papers, image transfers, and incorporating 3D objects is just that much more fun with wax.  If you've been tempted, don't wait as long as I did - you don't have to have much equipment, I hardly have any.   And I'd be happy to help if you have any questions...

Fini!

I am such an idiot. I finally finished my first Moleskine journal (it took me a LONG time, but in my own defense I did work on others at the same time), and for the final page I wrote "finished" in French, and managed to spell it wrong.  As I was putting the title on this post it suddenly ocurred to me that I might have, and I looked it up and sure enough... I don't know why I chose French, when I've actually studied Italian! Oh well - this doesn't even come close to the time when, after my first visit to the kitchen store Sur Le Table with several women, I pronounced Table just like it's pronounced in English.  I had no idea that the word is spelled the same in the two languages, but pronounced "Tob" in French.  I've never lived that one down...

Below are some of the final pages in the journal.  The scans turned out terrible because the journal is so fat now and right at the end.  And it's possible I may have rushed the pages just a bit, in my desire for the journal to be completed.... they aren't my best...

Finally....

I've had this piece of burlap with white cracked plaster on it made for months...many months...not sure why I didn't do anything with it - what we're motivated to create and when is probably something of a mystery to most of us.  For some reason I decided to finally do something with it last weekend, then the rest of the weekend was a blur, as always happens when I dive into something...

I love working with cracked plaster - you can get such great texture, the color seeps into the cracks, and the more you rub color on and off the more beautiful the patina of the plaster becomes. And this old glass slide - I scored a beautiful box of these, they're from England from the 1920's, and apparently belonged to someone who traveled all over the world. I wish they'd had a way of writing the names of the places in them...

I did lots of digging through my metal stash, and ripped another page out of my 1917 Pharmacy ledger - it's a good thing it's really fat!  This project was probably an attempt to distract myself from the fact that one of our cars, which we thought was in the shop getting some work done that was under warranty, will now require $4,500 to fix, which it's not worth, so we now have to buy something new (to us anyway).  Is there much worse than having to spend a bunch of money on car problems??

Drippy, waxy fun

This is my most recent project, and it was so fun. I just totally indulged what I felt like doing, and didn't let myself think about if anyone else would like it, or worry about the end result. Sometimes I get so invested in the end result I don't end up enjoying the process (I know I'm not alone in this...)  I just used things I love - wonderful old pages with great handwriting, drippy paint, lots of wax, actual old paintbrushes and old hardware/metal pieces.  The center part actually does spin - I handed it to my boyfriend and asked him to make it happen, which he always does...

I love wax, how it allows what's under it to still show through, buts adds softness and mystery. I love how you can rub ink or paint over it, then wipe it off and how that brings out all the wonderful texture and imperfections. Or, as I did here, words or even carved designs can be brought out.  Voila!  Instant character....

Art Journal Catch-up

I thought I'd share some of my more presentable art journal pages, I don't know why I don't post them as I do them...  I guess I'm lazy and like to scan them all at once, usually when I want to use a copy of a part of one in something else...

This is a birthday card I made for a friend. One advantage of almost no one I know being aware that I have a blog, is that it makes it possible for me to post cards and gifts I make...

And finally I have to share this link : http://now.msn.com/now/0328-dog-saves-life.aspx#scptmd.  I don't know if it's because I have a Basset Hound too, but it actually made me cry with laughter, and for my English friends, you'll be proud to know this was on your turf!