greenpepperpressblog

Tag: I LOVE ART

  • day seven: cardboard

    Dang!  I forgot to move this post from draft to publish.  So here is day seven of I Love Art.  You're probably tired of seeing me post about cardboard but it's the thing I'm heavily into right now.  I've had some fun reformatting the binding for the upcoming workshops, Debris Journal, and I've been trying out some new techniques on this wonderful surface too. 

    I can't stop making these journals, and filling them up with the stuff that floats around the perimeter of this place.  Here's how it started:  I always use cardboard on my work table or under my spray painted projects out on the grass.  Typically the scraps gets slathered in run-off paint – either acrylic as I paint substrates, or spray paint when I'm f;ailing stencils around.  I could never part with the pieces because they just looked so cool so I began vutting them down and binding them together as a book.  Each page had interesting marks and provided a wonderful start for additional paint or collage. 

    Everytime a break down a box to go into the recycling bin I end up hijacking some of it for the studio stash.  Can't beat easy access to art-making supplies.  These are fun to make and so addictive!  I feel like I'm ready to take my cardboard to a new level, especially after seeing some of the cool dimensional or sculptural art made with corrugated cardboard.

     

    MWILOVEARTcardboard

    MWILOVEARTcardboard2

    MWILOVEARTcardboard3

  • day six: altering furniture

    I've had several furniture projects over the years.  I've reupholstered chairs, painted dressers, tables, and cribs, but this has to be my favorite – our coffee table.  It had these recessed lines that bugged me – always gettings filled with debris and trying to clean them meant the paint was wearing off.  At I first thought a glass top might solve the problem, anf that led to another idea – why not spray paint with some cool graphics if I'm going to be protecting it with glass anyway?  So I sanded it a little to remove the finish, then I taped off the sides and legs and began spraying.  Love it!   Later, while teaching at Valley Ridge, we were outside with spray paint and I looked over at the picnic table – it was painted black, but was a little worn and chipped, so I hijacked it and spray painted the top!  I love that each year I visit VR the paint has worn off a little more, but there are additions to it – evidence of artists working.

     

    MWILOVEARTalteringfurniture

    MWILOVEARTalteringfurniture2

  • day six: altering furniture

    I've had several furniture projects over the years.  I've reupholstered chairs, painted dressers, tables, and cribs, but this has to be my favorite – our coffee table.  It had these recessed lines that bugged me – always gettings filled with debris and trying to clean them meant the paint was wearing off.  At I first thought a glass top might solve the problem, anf that led to another idea – why not spray paint with some cool graphics if I'm going to be protecting it with glass anyway?  So I sanded it a little to remove the finish, then I taped off the sides and legs and began spraying.  Love it!   Later, while teaching at Valley Ridge, we were outside with spray paint and I looked over at the picnic table – it was painted black, but was a little worn and chipped, so I hijacked it and spray painted the top!  I love that each year I visit VR the paint has worn off a little more, but there are additions to it – evidence of artists working.

     

    MWILOVEARTalteringfurniture

    MWILOVEARTalteringfurniture2

  • day five: polymer clay

    I first started working with polymer clay back in the nineties.  A friend of mine, artist Julie Pearson, was making incredible jewelry with it (scroll down to see).  I instantly fell in love with the possibilities it affords, especially when combined with stamping.  Julie is much more than a clay artist, but taught me the magical things that can be done with the inexpensive and easily manipulated medium.  I have used clay in some of my work, and also employ it for making molds for paper casting (which I will show you soon).  Later I discovered Laurie Mika and her amazing Icons built with gorgeous patterns and rampant colors.  I resonated to Laurie's work immediately, and upon further inspection was thrilled to discover she was using some of my stamps in the clay!  How cool is that?  We collaborated on an Exemplar for Somerset Studio (Nov/Dec 2005) and eventually sold the piece in an auction to raise money for Katrina Relief.

     

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclay

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayfigures
    MWILOVEARTpolymerclaycollaboration

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayJuliePearson

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayLaurieMika

     

    Julie Pearson does not have a website but you can find her current work of mixed media assemblage at Gallery 50 in Traverse City, Michigan, click HERE. 

    Laurie Mika's website is HERE.  She teaches workshops around the globe, visit her site for details, and take a look at her really cool book, Mixed Media Mosaics, click HERE.  And good news!  She just launched (finally!) a blog, HERE.

  • day five: polymer clay

    I first started working with polymer clay back in the nineties.  A friend of mine, artist Julie Pearson, was making incredible jewelry with it (scroll down to see).  I instantly fell in love with the possibilities it affords, especially when combined with stamping.  Julie is much more than a clay artist, but taught me the magical things that can be done with the inexpensive and easily manipulated medium.  I have used clay in some of my work, and also employ it for making molds for paper casting (which I will show you soon).  Later I discovered Laurie Mika and her amazing Icons built with gorgeous patterns and rampant colors.  I resonated to Laurie's work immediately, and upon further inspection was thrilled to discover she was using some of my stamps in the clay!  How cool is that?  We collaborated on an Exemplar for Somerset Studio (Nov/Dec 2005) and eventually sold the piece in an auction to raise money for Katrina Relief.

     

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclay

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayfigures
    MWILOVEARTpolymerclaycollaboration

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayJuliePearson

    MWILOVEARTpolymerclayLaurieMika

     

    Julie Pearson does not have a website but you can find her current work of mixed media assemblage at Gallery 50 in Traverse City, Michigan, click HERE. 

    Laurie Mika's website is HERE.  She teaches workshops around the globe, visit her site for details, and take a look at her really cool book, Mixed Media Mosaics, click HERE.  And good news!  She just launched (finally!) a blog, HERE.

  • day four: messy hands

    MWILOVEARTmessyhands

    When I'm in the midst of a project I take over every flat surface within a 20 foot radius.  The floor is cluttered with debris, piles of materials are stacked everywhere, and my hands are filthy.  I have been seen at the local pizza place, picking up dinner with paint covered fingers.  There is paint on my shoes, the phone, the carpet.  Evidence that I'm a slob….but I'm working.  Nothing beats digging in and doing it. 

  • day four: messy hands

    MWILOVEARTmessyhands

    When I'm in the midst of a project I take over every flat surface within a 20 foot radius.  The floor is cluttered with debris, piles of materials are stacked everywhere, and my hands are filthy.  I have been seen at the local pizza place, picking up dinner with paint covered fingers.  There is paint on my shoes, the phone, the carpet.  Evidence that I'm a slob….but I'm working.  Nothing beats digging in and doing it. 

  • i love art: assemblage

    MWILOVEARTassemblage

    MWILOVEARTassemblage2

    MWILOVEARTassemblage3

    Remember back in grade school when you had to make a diorama?  Mine was a science project built in a shoebox.  Later in high school I fabricated scale models of houses that I designed in my architectural drawing classes.  One even won the first place blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair!  I love constructing and assembling art in boxes as it provides the perfect platform for collecting and presenting interesting items – some found, some altered, some invented. 

  • i love art: assemblage

    MWILOVEARTassemblage

    MWILOVEARTassemblage2

    MWILOVEARTassemblage3

    Remember back in grade school when you had to make a diorama?  Mine was a science project built in a shoebox.  Later in high school I fabricated scale models of houses that I designed in my architectural drawing classes.  One even won the first place blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair!  I love constructing and assembling art in boxes as it provides the perfect platform for collecting and presenting interesting items – some found, some altered, some invented. 

  • i love art: visual journals

    MWILOVEARTvisualjournals

    MWILOVEARTvisualjournals2

    MWILOVEARTvisualjournals3

     

    I love my journals.  They chronicle my art journey.  Sometimes I use them to work out ideas, with sketches and notes, and trials of techniques and a playground of discovery.  Sometimes I use them to collect evidence of a work-in-progess with paint strokes of color, collage clippings, and remnants of materials or supplies used.  There are also times I just want to focus on a theme and make a self-contained journal with a recurring motif.  I have big ones, little ones, some finished, some incomplete.  I believe keeping a visual journal is a vital part of my artistic process.