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!!!

Steampunk notebook!!

Life has been hectic lately with not enough hours in the day.  However, you can never be too busy to play with art supplies!  This notebook cover is something I made a few weeks ago but had not photographed until today.

I haven't put the pages inside or applied the binding yet.

I see steampunk in there!

 This started life as a hard back, spiral bound notebook from Sainsbury 21 x 15 cm.   The rest is all from my art supplies.  I started out withe steampunk sections.  Most parts are made with grunge paper with a little plastic used for the gears and some half dome pearls for bolts.

 Various layers of paint, washes and dry brushing give it a metallic look. The final dry brush layer was silver paint, which you can see has hit the high spots.

The 'metal' strapping is actually grunge paper with the holes made with a hole punch.  The punch pieces are then used in other areas as rivets.

Inside the front cover is a page from a 1931 edition of Punch with a phrenology head stamped over it.  The edges have been given a faux burned effect and I stamped some 'blotches' in a rusty orange colour.  The circle around the eye is Golden Iridescent Bronze - gorgeous paint.

The back of the book inside cover is the same except no circle around the eye and the outer back cover is plain 'rock'

Translucent Angel

The Take a Word challenge this week is Stone Angels and this piece is based on a photo of a stone angel that Captain Slow took in Salisbury Cathedral a year or so ago.  I've been missing from the challenges for a week or so as I worked on various technique experiments.  I've used some of those techniques below.  I'm also working on some assemblage art which is great fun.

Translucent lady

The substrate is 5" x 7" canvas board and has some vintage paper collaged to commence.  Then came some stamping onto tissue paper using Archival ink in French Ultramarine and stamping direct to canvas with London Fog.  There are so many  layers of paint, wash and glaze that I can't list them all the paints are Quinacridone Crimson, Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold and Iridescent Bronze (Fine) all by Golden.
I also stamped with the Crimson and Bronze paints.

The angel was printed from my computer onto white tissue paper (took a while to figure this out) and then made translucent before attaching to the canvas.  Next came many more layers of paint.

Stamping and background visible through the stone angel

The cross was made with polymer clay and when hardened I painted it with a faux ivory technique before attaching to the substrate.  Now that I have created the mold, I will be making lots more crosses for future pieces.

Looks like tortured souls

Thanks so much for looking and taking the time to leave a comment, it is always appreciated.

Art means what?

When I saw the Take A Word challenge this week I thought it would be easy to do, but it's not proved to be the case.  What does art mean to me....
Without telling you my life story or rambling on for days, all I can tell you is that 'art' in some form or other has been an incredibly important part of my life, always.
There are two major milestones in my artistic endeavours, the first is below:

Acrylic on Canvas - Symbolism

This is a painting I completed in 2003 and marked a change from small almost introverted pieces to large, displayed pieces.  This piece is the largest I have ever done it's 100cm x 78cm and it hangs in my dining room.
The second milestone was when I started this blog and actually shared my art.
I would love to say there is massive meaning behind the piece but in truth, there isn't.  I cant even remember where the idea or ideas came from. This is the first time I didn't use a ruler or masking tape on a painting with my aim being to create something organic and primal.
I can't begin to describe what art is to me, so I will let my piece explain it :)

Elegant or completely mad?

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week is Winter Elegance.  Whilst looking for inspiration I came across a French fashion advertisement from the 1920's showing a woman in a very fine winter coat.  Without thinking any more about it I decided that I would paint it.

Stop following me you creep! 

The more I sketched and painted the more ridiculous the image became.  What on earth was being depicted here?  They are supposed to be selling coats and dresses!  Instead they have a rather elegant lady in high heels perilously close to the edge of a drop, while a man in a car looks on horrified.  Love it :)

It is painted on heavy duty card stock using Golden Fluid paints in a lose style.  I finished off some pieces with inktensils and coloured pencils.  I really should have put more work into the detail, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Peek a boo!

I have always loved tribal masks and own a few that I hung on the wall.  A few years ago I decided to do a painting of a tribal mask from the Pacific Islands  (I lived there most of my adult life).  This is a piece that I've had hanging at home and I decided to post this, rather than do a quick painting of a mask for the challenge at Three Muses today.

I can see you!

The piece is painted in student grade acrylics on stretched box framed canvas and measures approx 60 cm x 50 cm.  I should print him out and use smaller versions in my journal pages!

Bits of Life

I had read the buzz about Smash Books and Junk Journals and really wanted to make something where I could put all the little bits of life that had no financial value but for some reason I wanted to hold on to.  I have a desk and drawer full of bits of practice art that I just think is nice.  Things I doodle while I'm on the phone, or things I find that amuse me.

So was born my 'Bits of Life' book.  The cover is made of matt board and covered in patterned paper inside and out.  I used my zutter binder to hold it all together and then attached a Tim Holtz faceplate to the front.

There is lots of room inside for me to write, draw or stick things.  I started out with the things that were just lying around on my desk.  A thank you tag I'd made and never used.  A paper heart I had left over from doing the Jennifer McGuire techniques class, I made into a face.  Just random bits of my life I want to keep.