Abandoned art!

In the run up to Christmas I have decided to create pieces of art and abandon them in the local area, in the hope that someone will get joy from them.
This morning I worked on a grey board tag and using, modelling paste and embossing powder I managed to create this.
The background has some franrage elements that I applied with glossy medium and then heated.

Photo to come

Farewell Summer

I'm sorry that I've been such a bad blogger for the last few months.  I've been working on various assemblage art but have not done as much art as usual.  I think my muse went on vacation!  I'm pleased to say the wheels are rolling again and I'm back to slapping around inks and paints with abandon again.

I produced my final three ATCs for a swap group I belong to and thought I'd post two of

them here.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside......

 I loved making this, it was so much fun.  The lower portion of the card is base coated with sand medium, and then painted with Titan Buff paint.  The water is water soluble pastels and the sky is distress ink with a mask applied to create the cloud.
The beach hut is a wooden embellishment I found in my stash and the jandals (flip flops) are made from shrink plastic.  I found the idea on the net and copied :)

The final ATC below is stamped and painted and then dipped in UTEE and then in gold and silver flakes.  These were then rubbed back to remove all the loose flake before being redipped in UTEE.

Thanks for taking a look and sorry it's been so long!

Zombie Baby !

It's been a while since I posted anything but seeing as how this is my 100th post I thought I'd do something, well different.

I'm currently doing a Michael Demeng course on distressed and disturbed dolls.  It is actually a course on paint techniques but the substrate is dolls or more specifically, their heads.  I know this isn't to everyone's taste but this is the first of my little critters.

The night of the Zombies.........  mwaaaaaa

The effects are all done with paint, there is no texture other than that created with the paint and the paint effects.  I lost count of the number of layers on here but it must be 20 or so if you include the preparation layers.

Thanks for stopping by and .....  sleep well :)

Adventures with mica!

I've played with various types of mica for years, mostly because they sparkle and I like that.  However mica powders and mica flakes are not a patch on mica tablets or sheet mica!
I ordered some a couple of weeks ago and have been playing.  You can see the results below:

Looks like a stained glass window

 Mica is a rock, and when it arrived it was in a relatively thick sheets (like mount board thickness).  I was surprised to discover it didn't snap when I bent it, I wobbled it and eventually took a pair of scissors to it!
When I ran my thumb nail over the edge I found it was easy to de-laminate various layers, until they became super thin. and even more flexible.

You can see some minor de-lamination in the sheet above

The piece above is alcohol ink dripped onto glossy card stock as the substrate.  Unfortunately, you can't see the reflective quality of the mica in the photo's.   I peeled off a thin sheet of mica and stamped it with StazOn ink.  So far I haven't had much luck with other inks, but that is experimentation for another day.  After stamping, I glued the mica sheet to the substrate with Glossy Accents and once dry, I cut it with craft scissors.

Reminds me of ice!

I then tried embossing it in a folder.  The piece I embossed was almost full thickness and I was absolutely stunned with the result.  The various layers de-laminated where the embossing was and turned the whole thing into a beautiful mirror like finish.  Unfortunately it was too thick and reflective to see the substrate, so I carefully peeled off a layer.  It isn't as easy to peel whole layers once they are embossed.  There is a tendency for it to split away, but you get some lovely pieces that can be used elsewhere.

Close up of embossing and de-lamination

This piece is also alcohol ink on glossy card stock, with a layer of embossed mica over the top.  The stamping was done after it was put together and I added some blue dewdrops to finish it.

Thanks for looking and back to the experimentation!

Morpheus Complete!

What do you get when you combine, a recipe box, broken jewellery, an old drawer pull and lots of other found objects?  You get a Morpheus box!

This was a Michael Demeng course I did and have had great fun playing with it.  The centre block is turned by either the key at the top, or the hand at the bottom.  I loved how the late afternoon sun cast shadows on the wall.

Yes, that is an eye at the bottom!

 From the side view you can tell this piece is quite deep to allow the interior panel to turn.

Paint techniques - faux metal / copper

The centre panel is made from wood and each side of the panel has a vintage photo collaged onto vintage book paper and is treated to various paint techniques.

Doctor Deranged

The top piece is a drawer pull that has been given various layers of paints and texture to make it appear old and distressed.  The hand at the bottom is from an old dolly and has also been painted extensively.

Roger, the portly landlord

The key at the top is a radiator bleeding key that was painted and textured.  

Mr Evil

The studs down each side of the front are half pearls painted to resemble metal that has tarnished.  

The round piece at the base is the back from a brooch and the ivory face is made from a mold of a Star Wars figurine.  It is made from polymer clay and painted in faux aged ivory.

Alice the office werewolf

I'm so pleased I did this course, it showed me how to look at familiar objects in a very different way.

Little Daisy is bright today

Better late than never with my submission to the Sunday Postcard Challenge - Journal on a postcard!

I used a sample tube of paint I received from Liquitex in Quin Magenta and mixed in some Golden fluid primary yellow and primary cyan.  I also mixed some Slow Dry medium into the magenta, before I applied it.

This is amazing stuff I think, the acrylic paint stayed open and workable for about 40 minutes!  In fact it wasn't the best idea to try it when I was in a hurry to finish it :)

My beautiful garden

After the background I pressed some white gesso through a Dylusions stencil to make circles and squares, stamped some checks in Archival Monarch Orange and Deep Purple, before stamping my crazy lady in Deep Purple also.
The flowers were drawn with Posca pens and the text is a cheap rub-on I bought in a kit at the Pound Shop!

Gothic Arch Demeng style

The challenge at Three Muses today is Gothic and a little dark.  I chose to work in the style of Michael Demeng, who does some very spine chilling assemblage art.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time for all of the layers of painting, sealing and washes to dry properly so I've got some crinkling and buckling but all in all, I think it's OK. (I was going to glue a small eye to the flower but didn't want to spook you all out)

What an evil looking dude!

The card is 300 gsm cardstock painted in Paynes Grey.  Once dry I painted over the top with PVA glue (creates a gentle crackle).  While that was drying I cut out the Gothic arch from old text paper and adhered the evil man to it.
Then came lots of layers of various paints until the vintage text almost fell apart.  I painted some paper ribbon with Van Dyke brown paint for the bottom and a flower embellishment to the top.  Then attempted Demengs signature dots and wriggly things!
It was certainly an interesting exercise in what happens to various papers, paints and varnishes when you rush through and dry them with a heat gun!!!

Why worry...

Orange is a great colour and it's hard to be unhappy when you are looking at such a cheery colour.  This is the challenge at Take A Word this week.
I have made a simple piece with orange as the primary colour

I sprayed the card stock with sunshine yellow Dylusions spray ink.  Next I stamped the background motif with Versamark and rubbed over with Perfect Pearls Blue Patina and Perfect Copper before spraying with hair spray.
Next I stamped the lady (who reminds me of Maid Marion in the old Robin Hood series) in black StayzOn Ink.  Next came some doodle string hearts and some rub on lettering.

Thanks for taking a look.