DeMeng Delivery -- DELIGHTFUL!!!

Yesterday's mail held a delightful package. As I pulled the container out of the mailbox and noticed the return address, I knew immediately what it was and hoped I did not manage to drop it from excitement before returning to the house! It was the prize from the colorwash competition held in Michael deMeng's "ArtLab #1" on line class. (ArtLab #2 is coming soon to a computer near YOU!)
I gently peeled the tape off and nestled inside was this utterly amazing piece of art.....
Let me say this; photography is a wonderful medium and you, my readers, know I love it. But to hold an actual piece of art IN HAND that you have only seen on video, from an artist whose work you have studied in books....well....it is day and night. The attention to tiny details absolutely blows me away.
This close up gives an idea:

The work is 3" x 6" but is so incredibly rich and textured, it visually reads much larger. The eye has much to consider  and soak in; the juxtaposition of delicate and industrial is perfect. That is the part that I find hard to express through photo or word.
It is balanced art in so many ways.
It is a gem in a weathered container.
Tough and delicate, dark and light, heavy and fragile.
Exceptional!
Also enclosed was one of the show announcement cards from the opening of "Strange Angels" and I have to say, I would LOVE to see this one *in the flesh*....or in the assemblage...  ;-)

"metatron: the scribe"

Today I am off to try and finish some art I have percolating, if I can get my attention away from my little shrine. And if I spend time meditating upon it, well, it's all good. I'll consider it "Assemblage Theory 101".
What a cool way to study art!
Thank you Michael!!!




Pax....

Final Treatment of Heart And Daggers

Final treatment......happy Anne!

I did not realize, as I have been in way too much of a rush lately, that I had not posted the photo of the completed "Heart and Daggers". I finally mounted it on a birch cradled panel, rounding the edges with my handy dandy bench grinder and then had a ball with techniques I learned in Michal deMeng's class.
I had to jump out of the box, and this is from a girl who seldom is IN a box, let alone knows whether she owns one to stand in! LOL! I went for my hardware drawer in my table upstairs and one in the cellar and pulled any likely suspects out. There spread before me were insulated staples, tacks, wires, washers.....you name it. I was treading into uncharted territory! I was on a MISSION!
I didn't really have a clue what I was doing......
I knew I wanted a specific feel for the background, so painting that wasn't too hard. 

"New Orleans Tomb" color combo....neutral, effective.....

And I had treated some of the insulated staples and washers with molding paste, so that seemed okay.
I just had to put it all together....
Normally my work consists of everything being held together with Golden gels, but this piece had a bit of heft, so I thought, well, if I use the washers, I need another *industrial feel* piece to accent them, and the insulated staples did the trick. Series of washes had brought them up to the nice *Crypt Corrosion* color and when I had the piece drilled, hammered, swathed in paint and all together, I liked very much.

*Crypt Corrosion*~~doing it's thing! Left panel shows the layers of color washes

It's okay, but just not quiet there......not tied together enough.

But it still needed a hanger and if there was something sticking out of the TOP, then there had to be something to balance out on the bottom.
I had changed out an old chandelier in the living room before the holidays, and still had the monster sitting around because I wasn't sure what to do with it. But the clear gold wire was perfect to take paint with the help of some heat, and it became the hanger on top.

I knew that butt-ugly chandelier was good for something....WIRE!!!

I had rooted around and found (while looking for other things...oy!) some cool Fleurs that I had bought with the intention of jewelry, but I grabbed one of those and went to work on it, aging and corroding.

Insulated staples *holding* things together; lovely, aged Fleur.....Oooooo! Too good!

What destructive fun! :-D This is right up my alley!
So, the final piece is greater than the small work I had originally. I was hoping to not overpower it, and by keeping colors somewhat neutral, it worked. Everything fell into place.
I was also hoping to not hammer the wrong thing while putting the corner staples in; I did NOT know how I would replace a broken plastic sword.....
The gods of industrial tools were smiling on me......
(except that one that rules the heat gun, and he is a little STINKER......)
Now go make art! Have fun~~get outta the box!


Pax....

A Quick "THANK YOU"!!!

Beautiful winged shrine from Barbara Mason

 I am hopping in quickly to say THANK YOU to two wonderful bloggers I met during One World One Heart~~and lucky ME~~I won a couple of prizes! (generally I am the last person on the planet to win something, so this was a nice surprise and also makes me wonder if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are getting the tack down and saddling up their steeds....say it ain't so!)
The winged shrine above is from Barbara Mason @ An Art Soul......Barbara, it could not have found a better home with my love of Nichos and Shrines in any form! :-)
Visit Barbara and enjoy her work!

Incredible digital collage sheet from Rian

The second item I won is from Rian in the Netherlands, from her blog Freubel-Art and the colors there are a sensory overload! Check out her digital work~~it is what I dream of doing and know it will never happen here! LOL! I mean, I have accepted my limits.

In fact, I am about to have a Blogger rant this morning, but that's not polite when thanking those who have been kind to you by sending you some of their art.

I BOW!!!
Mille Grazie!!!

As to my normal dose of pith and vinegar, I'll be back--give me a couple more days. I am frantically working through what is quickly becoming the end of two delightful months of my on-line class with Michael de Meng and I have to admit, my brain can manage only one direction at a time anymore, and sometimes even that is iffy!

But I have to include one of the color wash samples I made, and it pretty well speaks for itself.......

That sums up my current mental state.....what I am left to work with as opposed to nice, fleshy, thinking matter! LOL!!! I should have called it *Brain-Fart* but then it would have been a totally different selections of colors, and they might be icky, ya know....

BTW------It is going to be GIVE AWAY TIME here at El Milagro when I get my stuff together, so stay tuned!

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!!! (if you're old enough to understand that, well, welcome to the club...)

And this is a nice give away too.....

Until I waft into blog-land again, swearing my way through trying to get another post up, I remain you loyal and mentally stained servant....

Pax.... 

Art With Warm Colors In The Frigid Winter

Okay, I am whining. 

It is miserably cold here (I am sure other areas have it worse and to them I send condolences), to the point I cannot even get out without being socked with a migraine. For once in my life, I am glad I have no idea what the temp is!

So the few minutes I could be upright over the weekend, I managed a little art time, and with VERY WARM COLORS. Yes, it helps. A little.

I had been working on texturing backgrounds for my online class and finally everything dried--rain and snow have kept the dehumidifier busy and honestly, there is only so much it can do. The rest requires patience......wait.....wait....wait.

 

substrate with several paint washes and my fat finger (I love the colors!!!)

When the work was totally dry, I decided to start with the smallest substrate I had made, and while waiting I was working with paper clay for one of the elements to adhere. Which I just HAD to pick up the next morning and the flames broke off....oh well. That turned out to be good over all; I could deal with them separately before attaching them.

heart in hand, and flames too!

a better look at the details....that hole was a PIP to make and not bust everything....

Then it was a matter of trying to get the heart reamed with the Dremel to accept the tiny cocktail swords that had been aged to look, well, old and crusty.

Note here: CLAY SHRINKS

So the holes I had made before drying the piece did not fit afterward and  I had a LOT of quality time with the Dremel and retouching with matching paint. (don't try and do detailed art when your head is pounding out a Conga beat...you really need those grey cells!)

The swords required a lot of trimming and touch up before it was over, but finally submitted to my will, went into the paperclay and behaved. I really liked the transformation on the heart. Sorry about the photo burn out--all the lights in the studio are working now and I have so much light I don't know what to do with it!

Above is the heart with daggers in and the flames basecoated and set in place....

 

....An overhead view showing everything after the pieces are reattached with part of a pin and E-6000; a bit of the *aging* on the flames for some depth....

And from the front showing the addition of red acrylic and tar gel; a few convincing drips.

This still has further to go. Everything is nice and bright, but a bit too *nice and bright*~~I want a little more earthy feeling, and that is for another post. I'll leave you at this point and hopefully get further down the road with this project.

As an aside, I have discovered that I am clueless as to where I stored a goodly amount of photos in my computer and am going to have to spend a day (or two) retrieving things. I do not know how my mental filing system works.....it doesn't leave me clues. I have a few images I need for the large background this will be attached to, and I have no idea where they are.......

Maybe I'll sketch while I think.....

Maybe I'll just sketch.

Or not!

Pax....