greenpepperpressblog

Tag: cool stuff

  • Finally….evidence of Crowning Glories

    This is a long post…..visually loaded. I'm finally getting caught up on presenting all the terrific students and their work from the two Crowning Glories workshops back in May.  I intended to do a montage of photos but we had so many, and my hand was ailing, so it was easier to take advantage of the photo albums here.  I'm sorry it took so long to manage the uploads.  These ladies created fabulous stuff!  You can see the artists and their work from the first weekend here:  Crowning Glories One.  And the artists and their work from the second weekend here:  Crowning Glories Two.  (When you get to the albums you can click on the thumbnails to enlarge.)

    Since Lynne and I are about to announce our next workshop for May 2015, I thought I better get the evidence from our recent one posted.  Below you will find the work we did prior to the workshop.  

    Crowning Glories Recap

     

    Crowning Glories Lynne Perrella 1

     

    Crowning Glories Lynne Perrella 2

     

    Crowning Glories Michelle Ward 1

     

    Crowning Glories Michelle Ward 2

     

    Crowning Glories Michelle Ward 2 more

     

    Again, the link to the photos albums, CROWNING GLORIES ONE (May 2-4) HERE and CROWNING GLORIES TWO (May 9-11) HERE.  (When you get to the albums you can click on the thumbnails to enlarge.)

    CG Workshops

     

    Next up:  our announcement for the workshops in May 2015!!

     

  • happy hand

    Late March I came down with a bad case of trigger finger on my right hand.  For weeks I wore a brace to relieve the tendon, which helped with the clicking, but then it wouldn't straighten, and if it got bumped or pushed to full extension the pain was excrutiating.  Finally, I met with a finger doctor and he gave me a cortisone injection.  While I admit I initially regretted the decision as it was very painful and remained that way for several days, I can happily say that all symptoms have vanished (one month later) and I have a fully functioning finger.  It feels so good to be uninhibited and no longer limited by my temporary ailment.  If it should return I will scoot back over to get another shot sooner rather than later, but for now I'm watching my behavior with preventative measures.  Let me say this:  if you are on the fence about seeking care for a worn out body part, don't delay!

    MW HappyHand

  • happy hand

    Late March I came down with a bad case of trigger finger on my right hand.  For weeks I wore a brace to relieve the tendon, which helped with the clicking, but then it wouldn't straighten, and if it got bumped or pushed to full extension the pain was excrutiating.  Finally, I met with a finger doctor and he gave me a cortisone injection.  While I admit I initially regretted the decision as it was very painful and remained that way for several days, I can happily say that all symptoms have vanished (one month later) and I have a fully functioning finger.  It feels so good to be uninhibited and no longer limited by my temporary ailment.  If it should return I will scoot back over to get another shot sooner rather than later, but for now I'm watching my behavior with preventative measures.  Let me say this:  if you are on the fence about seeking care for a worn out body part, don't delay!

    MW HappyHand

  • how does your garden grow?

    It's been six years since we began planting roses in remembrance of Shannon.  While today's anniversary brings a tear, I am also filled with joy to have been blessed with such a sweet sister.  I will never forget your arms wrapping around me when I needed it most, thank you.  Here are two of the four walls of roses, and evidence of their rampant growth.  I never imagined they'd grow taller than the fence!  Reaching toward heaven…..xo

    MW SisterGarden2014

  • how does your garden grow?

    It's been six years since we began planting roses in remembrance of Shannon.  While today's anniversary brings a tear, I am also filled with joy to have been blessed with such a sweet sister.  I will never forget your arms wrapping around me when I needed it most, thank you.  Here are two of the four walls of roses, and evidence of their rampant growth.  I never imagined they'd grow taller than the fence!  Reaching toward heaven…..xo

    MW SisterGarden2014

  • NEW stencils debut at CREATE NJ

    It's a busy time, packing and prepping for workshops.  I'm also excited that I will be accepting delivery on a batch of new stencils that will debut at the event on Friday.  These are designs that I cut by hand and have been using for a while, some samples below.  Gothic Collection Additions will be available online July 14. There will be coordinating stamps to follow in August.

     

    GPP Gothic2 MW sample stencils

     

    GPP MW GOTHIC COLLECTION ADDITIONS

  • NEW stencils debut at CREATE NJ

    It's a busy time, packing and prepping for workshops.  I'm also excited that I will be accepting delivery on a batch of new stencils that will debut at the event on Friday.  These are designs that I cut by hand and have been using for a while, some samples below.  Gothic Collection Additions will be available online July 14. There will be coordinating stamps to follow in August.

     

    GPP Gothic2 MW sample stencils

     

    GPP MW GOTHIC COLLECTION ADDITIONS

  • pulling (out) the gelli prints

    As I'm sure you know, if you're a Gelli Plate fan, you can't pull just one print.  In an hour you're likely to have run out of paper while still filled with enthusiasm to keep at it.  Here are some prints I worked on with some stencils last fall.  In two days I had boxes of prints – lots of experiments that taught me valuable lessons, and lots of papers that will be fashioned into a journal.  I pulled out the pile today to start making selections and sort what will become part of the journal and what will get put in the collage files.  So much to choose from – can't wait!  I think I will start with the turquoise + taupe + leaf motif shown further down.

    Be sure to check out the upcoming book by Joan Bess, Gelli Plate Printing:  Mixed Mono-Printing with a Press, due in September.  We already know she delivers when it comes to demonstrating the gelli plate – her blog and videos are terrific.  The preview of the book looks grand!  I'm honored to be in the guest gallery.

     

    MW GelliPrints1

    MW GelliPrints2

    MW gelliprints3

     

     

  • pulling (out) the gelli prints

    As I'm sure you know, if you're a Gelli Plate fan, you can't pull just one print.  In an hour you're likely to have run out of paper while still filled with enthusiasm to keep at it.  Here are some prints I worked on with some stencils last fall.  In two days I had boxes of prints – lots of experiments that taught me valuable lessons, and lots of papers that will be fashioned into a journal.  I pulled out the pile today to start making selections and sort what will become part of the journal and what will get put in the collage files.  So much to choose from – can't wait!  I think I will start with the turquoise + taupe + leaf motif shown further down.

    Be sure to check out the upcoming book by Joan Bess, Gelli Plate Printing:  Mixed Mono-Printing with a Press, due in September.  We already know she delivers when it comes to demonstrating the gelli plate – her blog and videos are terrific.  The preview of the book looks grand!  I'm honored to be in the guest gallery.

     

    MW GelliPrints1

    MW GelliPrints2

    MW gelliprints3

     

     

  • even more b&k

    Wow!  There's been a ton of feedback on the cardboard journal tutorial I presented on Stampington's blog.  Many visitors left comments, there are hundreds of pins from the post, and a huge amount of likes and shares from their facebook page.  I've even rec'd emails from artists who have jumped in and made their own.  HCIT? 

    A little background – I first started making these cardboard journals about five years ago.  One was included in the Artist Portfolio feature in Stampington's Art Journaling (Issue: Summer 2011)  The first one, called Table Scraps Journal, made it's debut on this blog in August, 2011.  Then I started showing you others, which I started calling Debris Journals, in December 2011.  I taught my first cardboard journal class at Create NJ 2012, and again in 2013.  I will be teaching The DeComposition Journal this October at The Ink Pad in NYC, along with my cardboard sculpture class, What a Relief.  My last two columns in Somerset Studio have been about cardboard, and the next one will also feature it.  What I love is that the material is versatile, readily available, and unintimidating to work with.  As I continue using this humble supply, I find new ways to manipulate it, and can't stop pushing my expectations of how it can perform. I'm currently working on an end-of-the-year article that will make you re-think cardboard for the holidays! 

    Here is more from my Black&Kraft:

    MW BlackandKraftJournal3

    I love to leave a peek at some of the markings from the cut up cartons that show up on the pages.  I've used some of these spreads to document my collections of black&kraft papers, and have made some deliberate cuts with stencils.  I just love the look of this color combination.  Just think, if Borders bookstore hadn't closed, where I used to get my kraft paper blank journals, I may never have conspired to make my own, and found out all the cool things that be done with recycling bin treasures.

    This week we had to get a new table for the deck as the glass top on the old one shattered.  You should see the stellar specimens of cardboard that the new table came wrapped in – a full sheet of mini-honeycomb plus several full sheets of perfect corrugated goodness.  I'm delirious about the possibilities!