Sticky, Delicious Golden Graphite Gray

Ah Golden's.....my love, my weakness!

Yes, I am entirely too mushy about my art supplies. But I love Golden's products. They just make the coolest things! (and I'm pretty sure I have made a significant contribution to their retirement plans....)
Okay, so you ask, "Anne, why is a tube of Gray Paint so exciting???"
(I see you nay-sayers out there...)
Well, because of the word *graphite* being included with it. This is a paint with some properties of a pencil, and the ability to transform into something spectacular. 
Hey, trust me. Don't burst my bubble...

Sticky, ooey, gooey....

First off, one thing you'll notice is the consistency of Graphite Gray. It is, well, dense and sticky. I am not sure how well it would handle in fine application, but the way I've used it (and a few other ways I plan to try) have lead to success. 
You'll need some high-tech tools for this~~
Waxed paper for your *palette* and the following:

Praise for CHEAP WINE!

Yep, that's right, a fake wine bottle cork. Or a non-cork bottle stopper. Whatever you want to call it. The material it's made of makes interesting pattern in the paint.
I put a bit of paint out on waxed paper, smeared it about a little with an old brush, then loaded the cork as you would any stamp, except I kept the paint application thicker. You want some density on there.
Then stamp randomly. (I also used Gesso to do some spots)

Just a little DOTTY.....

The very middle, dark *dot* is the paint, dried in it's natural state. You can see the fake-cork provided a nice pull-up design in the paint.
Now for the fun part.
Wait---the not-fun part first.
WAIT UNTIL THE PAINT IS TOTALLY DRY BEFORE PROCEEDING.
Go eat a Pop-Tart or solve the issue of World Peace or twiddle your thumbs, but don't mess with the paint until it is DRY. (a hairdryer is allowed--no heat guns)
Okay, back to the fun part:

What dust cloths are REALLY FOR....

When the paint is dry-dry-dry, get a soft cloth you don't mind getting dirty. I use dust cloths, as they don't seem to get much use in the house, but they sure do in the studio.
Wrap a bit of it around your fingertip and rub that paint HARD. Burnish, burnish, burnish!
What you will see is that the paint is beginning to take on the characteristics of lead pencil that has been smudged. and yes, on some papers, there will be a bit of the graphite that bleeds over, and sometimes it can actually be erased too!
The longer you work, the higher the shine:

Is it a TREE? NO! It's shiny Graphite Gray!

And the best part of the thick application with the faux wine-cork-stamp is seen above~~a very organic pattern that burnishes up brighter and no two will be alike.
Actually, you could use any solid stamp for this; square, oval, heavy lines, etc. I am assuming it could also be painted heavily around a collage section where more emphasis is desired. I mean, my little mind is spinning at the possibilities! (yeah, more than it usually spins, thank-you-very-much!)
So if you want to add one small supply to your art-arsenal, give this one a try.
I think you'll love the versatility.
I do.
You could tell? ;-)


Pax....

Thinking....

....you know where the brain is going with this. I love my big composition books, collaged and filled with journal text, so why not do something with those LITTLE composition note books???
Debating the merits of trying to put staples in the black binding or leaving them as is, where the pages can be pulled out, for little notes to take along.
Decisions, decisions.....
Still cropping photos to show the finished piece of art that I had posted the beginning of the background~~my poor mind has been going ten different directions at once, and putting a post together seemed impossible.
MAYBE TOMORROW.
In the meantime, I value input on whether or not to *try* to staple the edges of the baby-books!
Hope your day is creative and productive!


Pax....

Studio Color....

I've been lucky to spend a good deal of time in the studio since the last post. Granted, most of it has been this Spring-motivated urge to clean and purge (before it swallows me into a pile!) but there has been some fun stuff too.

The texture of knitting with varied yarns...oh so yummy. Can't get enough!

These fine little knit and felted hearts, pattern shared from Silke and waiting for little tiny embellishments to be sewn on. (to cover the holes where it didn't quite felt....these are a learning curve...)

And YARN! Noro YARN! 
It looks like Spring and the Summer flowerbeds and knits up soft and dreamy. A stash indulgence....but is it a *stash* item when things are getting knit from it? Hmmmmm......I wonder.....

Between cleaning and sorting, I allowed myself some creative time and this is what developed from moments well spent. I think I could enjoy a dozen cards like this. Dear Frida and the parakeet. Sweet Amor!

And this sight makes me happy! Six hats knit, and hopefully one more before next Wednesday, to take and share. Fun, funky, bright. Bringing life and light into dark corners.
Life is very, very good indeed!
Color in the studio and color in my heart~~hopefully yours too.
Let it overflow.


 Pax....

Papers, Papers, Papers.......

I'm really hoping Blogger plays nice today~~loading photos has been a challenge to say the least.
Anyway, the long promised paper tutorial. I decided to just do a highlight page first.I often do these and let them sit when I am brain addled on other work. They are pretty easy~~some are a bit more involved. The nice thing is if you have a day or two to mess with this, you can have some good papers for collage, ATC's, mixed media, etc. I even suppose you could scan some if you do digital work. Since I am still a ninny in that respect, I'm not sure!

Well, so Blogger is NOT playing nice. I didn't want the photos stacked, but hey...it's only MY BLOG...why should *I* be able to make decisions! grrrr....

Anyway, the tute will cover three types of paper; a printed scrapbook paper (or really any paper with a patterned background), a text background from vintage paper, and finally, my favorite~~using stamps and ink to make papers from left over tissue sheets.

I save all the tissue paper I get in boxes, on packages, etc---if you have sent me something of late, your paper may be here awaiting a make-over! (Jan, the piece above was from something you sent me as I found your address label on it...)

So stay tuned.....I'll be back with details.

In the meantime, here is what I gathered:

Liquitex Clear Gesso (a must)

Patterned paper

Old book pages

Assorted colors/prints of tissue papers

Assorted stamps

Staz-On Ink--two colors (I prefer brown and black simply because they work with everything)

Golden Fluid Acrylics (you might be able to use craft acrylics as long as they are transparent,  don't know)

Brushes (for gesso and for slathering on washes of paint)

A large palette

Something to smooth out gesso, such as a piece of plastic, etc (don't use your brayer)

Okay, I'll start writing, thinking and trying to insert photos~~and hopefully by the end of the week everything will be up.

If it's not, blame Blogger! ;-D

Not ME!!!!

Pax....

Shiny, Happy Gelling! (with my apologies to REM for ruining their song title...)

Well, in my defense for that awful title, there was music involved.....

This is a quicker and easier post than the next to come. What I was looking for was something glitzy that could possibly be used in place of one of the shiny mica gels.
A lot of us who have done any amount of mixed media have snagged some great German Glass Glitters~~the real deal, the type that cuts your fingers if you don't pay attention to how you handle it.
That's what we're using here.
When deciding between the silver or gold, I grabbed the silver on a whim. Which was GOOD because the gold will be in another post, and it has some unique properties.

The music is from a book I had while taking lessons...and I thoroughly enjoyed ripping the pages out...

I tore a piece of the sheet music into a shape I found pleasing, and also would accommodate the fatter heart stencil. Yes, I really enjoyed tearing into that book...pun intended! It was adhered to the canvas with some regular matte Collage Pauge (Traci Bautista's product; I love it! No smell, no tacky when dry!) and I made sure to wipe the excess from the background. Then I gave it a shot of watered down Quinacridone Red and used a blow dryer to help the drying time.
I am still having trouble with everything drying slowly, thus a little space between posting.

Nicely filled!

Again, mix your soft gloss gel with a small amount of glitter; if you feel like there is not enough, add more before filling the stencil. This is sort of one of those hand/eye coordination moments.....how much gel to fill that hole....??? I can usually hit it pretty close, but since the medium stays wet, if you have to mix a bit more, don't panic, just mix and fill. In fact, when you put the second load in, give it a bit of a gentle mix in the stencil, just to make sure it's all pretty much the same.

Oh! Naked heart!!!

Then repeat as before, pulling the stencil straight up. Take your time and let the canvas and gel come loose from the stencil. Of course, wash it immediately in cool water and watch the fingers if there are shards of the glitter left, because you will find them... 
Then patiently wait for said heart to dry, and lo and behold!

Tah-Dah!!!

This one dried completely clear with the silver glitter very visible. There seems to be a more glass-like appearance to this heart, though I can't tell you why. Gel has a mind of it's own; I have learned to respect it.
This is another nice simple base to take further into a Valentine, but I have a rather snarky one I am working on at the moment, and it will probably be two posts, providing it is DRY in time......
If you have comments or questions on anything (in other words, I frequently miss whole steps and never notice it, or lose the photos in the computer) please ask! I will try and answer, and if I should not know the answer, maybe I can make up an excellent story instead...heeheehee!
Now go sling some gel and have fun!

Pax....

Welcomes! and A Peek At My *Doodle~Time*

First things first; we have a few new followers at El Milagro and I would like to extend big and hearty WELCOMES to them! You never know what will be found on these pages; it is about as mixed up a media as you can possibly get! LOL!

Second, I have to thank Roberta at rcs creations~just a girl and her art for the inspiration to start this project. The link above takes you to the page of her journal project.

I had never started an art journal for many reasons...one being I really do not sketch, two being everyone else is doing them (which means I have to dance to the different drummer), three was I had seen so many that looked alike I was utterly discouraged with the thought of it. Roberta's project changed my mind. And that's not easy!

Well, we e-mailed about it, and I thought, hmmmm, I should be able to paste papers into a book, just to clear my head and also use some of the POUNDS of scrapbook paper I have acquired. (dirty little secret.....I love the stuff! I love all paper; that's the problem!)

But when I sat to start, I just stared at that blank journal page and nothing at all happened.
For several days.
Finally one evening, in a fit of pique (or just a good old FIT!) I took a couple of drawers of paper junk, slapped it on the floor, started cutting and tearing and somehow, out of some dark recesses of this thing I call a mind, I made the piece above.
I have called it "Creation" due to the fact that with the Hebrew writing, I was immediately struck by the text in Genesis about the creation of the world and the seperation of light from dark. And that was how I felt getting it done; I had created something and stepped from the shadows back into the light. Click on it to enlarge it to see a bit more detail.
This is not "ART". This is *art*. No pretense, no planning, just letting the creative mind wander and see what it comes up with.

What I used in this:
♦ glue sticks
♦ prismacolor pencils
♦ permanent markers
♦ gel pens
♦ assorted papers (save everything!)
♦ a foil candy wrapper that looks like a coin
♦ a die that cuts the rounded corners like the journal pages

The beautiful thing about a small project like this is there are no rules. You can use tidbits, you can plan if you really feel you need to---I don't. You can experiment with color combinations you like--or ones you normally don't like. You have no obligation to fill the book, though once you start, there is a delight at a page being done and then those scraps for another.....and another.....and another!
If you are in a state of creative block, this is a good, relaxing, nonthreatening way to get the artist skills awake and moving. It let's you attain *the zone* without a lot of effort. It really is a meditative process.
And, it is FUN.
Just plain fun.
So why not give it a try? I dare ya! Go ahead.
HAVE FUN. (and let me know if you do!)

Pax....

Your Chance To......

.....Take this class over the phone and have a ball while making a mess in your own home! No pressure, no competition, no worrying if someone else's work looks *better* than yours;  just a great teacher, lots of fun and lots of things to learn!
I am adding a link to Sarah's Blog so you can check out the requirements---this is a perfect opportunity for anyone who would like to work in mixed media/collage again, or hasn't before and wants to give it a try with some guidance.
This is too good an opportunity to pass up folks! Go visit Sarah and see for yourself!

I will try and get back to regular blogging and reading as soon as this heat passes. I am really behind in the studio; the humidity is darn near 100% (it was earlier as it rained long enough to steam everything up! LOL!) and the few things I have been needing to do will not dry. I will, though, take photos as I get elements done and THEN put a post together. Plus I have been fighting heat migraines again.....like I need that????
Heck, I had not planned to blog today, but thought y'all might want to give this a whirl!
And if you haven't, join the Creative Women of Facebook. It is the most supportive group of people you'll meet, and you'll enjoy the photos posted there!
Okay, time to make the donuts......  ;-D

Pax....

El Milagro 100 & Counting BLOG GIVE AWAY!!!!!

El Milagro "100 & Counting!!!" Blog Giveaway!!!

Loot!

Fun!

Friends!!!

"With Love From Mardi Gras"

8"x10"

canvas/collage

"Love Letters....."

8"x10"

canvas/collage w/crackle paste

Okay kiddies! The two items above are up for grabs in this blog giveaway to celebrate 100 followers! I decided that TWO winners are better than one, and you know the last time I had so many people sign up, I put together some second prize packages too, so I might with this also. I can't promise because I am sort of, ummmm, over-wrought with work at the moment!

So here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment  for ONE entry.

2. Become a follower for TWO entries. If you already follow, please put that in your comment and I will count it as TWO.

3. Post about this on your blog, or in your sidebar and link back to this post and that is a THIRD entry. And please pop me an e-mail or leave a comment you have done such...you know I have Blond Moments......

4. If you feel overwhelmed with greed, tell your followers to mention your name when they comment and I will add you again! (and let's face it, we all have those greedy moments....it's okay....I won't tell)

5. I do ship overseas, but I will ship the most cost effective if it is a long way. (the recipient is responsible for all duties and taxes upon receipt) Do the words *Starving Artist* mean anything? LOL!!!

Now, a little about these pieces. They are bright fun little paint and mixed media collages; the first with a real Mardi Gras Doubloon attached. The second has heavy built up hearts of crackle paste. Both have hints of metal leaf and glitter, papers, stamping, etc.

The canvas is NOT gallery wrap. For some reason, I grabbed these and started working and it wasn't until I realized I had staples on the side that I was too far along to stop. But the sides are painted, and it can be hung as is or it can be put in a frame. I personally like the bare and quirky look.

These were done with some of the techniques I learned in the tele-class with Sarah Bush (her blog is Make Great Stuff ), and it was fun trying the prompts a second time!

I've included some small images for you to snag and post......let's all have a ball with this and spread some blog-love!!!!

I will post the winners on JUNE 30th!

Now get out there and have a great week!!!

Pax...

"La Nouvelle Orleans"--Finis!

Finally....the end of this journey. As I had mentioned before, rough emery boards come in handy for many things. I decided the top of the piece needed a visual *finial* and a small branch of two leaves and an acorn seemed appropriate.

But the acorn was roly-poly and I needed it to sit flat.

Enter the heavy emery board...some sanding...some checking......

.......A good portion taken off, down to the nut center.....

....And there you have it. A self-supporting acorn embellishment to go with the leaves!

And then I had those marvelous metal fleurs from Marie, which I knew just how to put to use, but they needed a hole driven through them with an awl, then a small esceution pin to hammer them in place. I really should have photographed one of these next to a penny so you could realize how delightfully tiny they are!

More grit and gel, and the addition of some leather salvaged from old gloves (very soft), the fleurs hammered into the wet mixture, and a trip to the.......

....handy dandy hair drier to get everything good and firm during this humid weather. I had several photos of the grit area being painted, but evidently the Photo-Pixies were in a humor that day and each and every one was out of focus. (couldn't be that I had my contacts out...no.....)

Below, I decided to add a thin layer of crackle finish to the four sides, just to bump up the texture a bit more. If you click any of the pics, you should be able to see all the detail much better. I coated this with some acrylic, working it in with an old brush and quickly rubbing off the excess so it would not dry. A lovely, light crackle-craze finish. Very subtle.

Okay, this is not so subtle. Sometimes elements just won't behave and you have to remind them who is in charge!!! That leaf was having NO PART of staying stuck down with the gel! It was most stubborn, so I called up the reserves.....and put them to work!

A while later, everyone was behaving nicely and the new focal piece for the top was in place and dry. All the leaves are outlined on the canvas with a bit of acrylic, smudged on and most of it wiped away; only enough left to look like a slight shadow.

Another view, with the corners finished and the leather aged and given a bit of the black mica gel. I liked the way it gave it a more fragile look, as though it was starting to flake.

This also shows off the layers of color drybrushed onto the grit only that was in the gel medium.

I felt the central background was a little too clean and plain, so I used the black mica gel there also, laying some on with a brush and rubbing it in with my fingers, to get it exactly where it needed to be.

Another close up with the addition of the black mica, and that delicious texture showing through the paint in the center! The only thing I really felt needed one more bit of bumping up color wise was the golden glow around the central elements. I felt the color was too close to that of the acorns.

 I added some Quinacridone Crimson mixed with float medium, so I could control the build up of the color and  it was perfect! That tiny bit of extra warmth brought the whole piece alive!

And finally, finally, may I present my labor of both love and insanity:

"La Nouvelle Orleans" 

......looking through Jackson Square (or as it was known before, Place de Arms due to the military keeping live armament there) to St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabidillo.

That ends this trip through process and time and city......thank you for your patience and for coming along. At some point, I hope y'all have the chance to see this beautiful vista in person, sipping cafe au lait and enjoying the Mississippi breezes and the soft notes of jazz floating on the balmy, magnolia-scented air.

I bid you.....

Pax.

One Break From The Series......

....Sorry for jumping around on you. I had the opportunity to do beta-testing for a teleclass on collage, and it was just too good to pass up! I spent a day gathering supplies, rearranging the table and trying to have everything I would need (or could possibly think of!) close at hand, because once it started, there would be no time for scrounging about.

I am part of the "Creative Women of FaceBook" which is a project of Sarah Bush. She also started an *R & D* group on Wiggio to get ideas and discuss realtime issues for artists. Anyway, I had only once before been on a teleconference call, and to say that I was LESS than impressed is a gross understatement. It was BEDLAM. That was sort of what I was expecting.
Wrong-O!!! Things went incredibly smoothly.

I worked completely outside of my comfort zone in both amount of time and colors, and working with creative prompts from someone else---which, for anyone as anal as I am, is a bit like handing my LIFE over.......

Below is the product of a fast paced, fun hour and a half:

Please click on the photo as there is much detail and color that shows up only when it is larger. This is a fair size file, so you should be able to get *up close and personal*! LOL!!!

Our prompts were as follows:

1. Color---anything to remove the glaring white plain substrate

2. Drip---I was dripping before the prompt, so I used to hair dryer to blow drips in different directions

3. Layer---I used the round stamps and a few pieces of painted paper toweling for this

4. Repitition---we were given a number to use, 5, and would repeat an image five times; I had not really worked consciously with repitition before but found it fun with the butterfly punch and stamp

5. Connect---using lines/color/paper to connect elements; Sharpies were great for this!

6. Erase---or cover; any way to void an area of the underlying design. I chose the paper and hand stamp, since it was so neutral, plus gave a little central visual punch

7. Stamp---well, I *had* already stamped, but I had grabbed some beautiful stamps that came on a package from Bunny in Canada, so I took the prompt *literally* and included some of these. I was amazed at how it grounded the hand image!

8. Text---again, I had used that "A 1" stamp, so I looked at the paper the hand was on, and yes there was text there, there was text on the postage stamps, but I pulled this little "love" stamp I had not used before and put it on.

I would do one of these again in a heartbeat! Sarah is a good teacher, gently guiding any level of artist over the stumbling blocks or artistic blocks we all encounter. I highly recommend her.

Now, I will be back to the remainder of the New Orleans piece and hopefully can get it up on here by Friday. The humidity is up again and there is some heavy gelling to be done, which means I may be dragging the hard bonnet hairdryer out like I did for the medical piece.

I am really pumped to finish it for y'all, and then move further into a large sewing project that will earn me some Art Money! ;-)

And that is always good!

Now go be creative....make something wonderful!

Pax.

Bringing It All Together--or--Dirt, Stain & Aged To Perfection

The second part of that title is NOT referring to your blog-mistress, despite what you might think, or how much paint I am wearing at the moment......
Even through the visit from M. Migraine, (for three days....the lout!) I kept some focus when I could and started pulling the diverse elements of the collage together. This is the slow part of a design, and requires getting in the zone and staying focused long enough to *allow the work to guide the hand*. It is truly the almost unseen details of any piece that make it become more. There is always a point where I know I could stop, and the work would be good, and acceptable.
But it is that next step....the slow work....the attention to minute detail---that is what I think I do best.

Firstly, I discovered a wonderful eye-to-eye-socket dialogue going on between the serpent and the skeleton, and it was caused by sheer luck on how the gesso laid down in the final application. It gave a very subtle direction for the paint I was rubbing on to stick in, thus bringing a diagonal into the background that was just PERFECT!

I was working over the staff and snake with colored pencils and a colorless blender, bringing more contrast and definition to them when I noticed it. At first I though I was just imagining the link was there, but with a bit more color added, the connection was obvious. These are the moments of serendipity in art that I love; the reason I choose this painstaking method of collage over something quicker.
If you look long enough, you find what it right before your eyes. And this never ceases to amaze me.

(although most of the time in life, I miss most of what is before me and someone else brings it to my attention.....)

After rounding out color with the central object, and bringing up the background texture a bit, I decided to apply some fluid acrylic on the top side of the skeleton, making it a more defined figure in the composition. The extra white brought it forward (putting it down with the gel made it lose just a bit of the punch it had before) and I was able to highlight certain parts of the bones.

This should not be overly obvious....it should just feel right when you see it. I also felt that the *ground* the figure was standing on--the drawn earth and grass--stopped too abruptly so I continued them to the left with marker and colored pencil. Neither looked right alone; the combination of the two worked well.

This also connected the strong right/vertical element with the bottom horizontal, which then flows more organically up the left side.

Yes, I really do know something about proper composition, though I love pushing bounderies....  ;-)  .....or ignoring them altogether if I think I can get by with it!

I also had the sides that needed attention, so I went back in with a dark color and my finger and pushed paint into tiny crevices and along edges, increasing the look of the piece having been stored in less that pristine conditions. It is much easier to simply use a finger to apply paint at this point than to try getting the right touch with the brush. With your finger, you know, precisely.

There were also tiny areas that I took the colored pencils to; things too small to take a photo of but that added a slight more bit of depth to the over all composition. Always remember to use all tools at your disposal, as long as you know they will work together.
Finally, I opened the small jar of gel with black mica flakes; the one I had mounted the rubber stamp on.

I admit openly this was given to me by my friend Vicki, and at first I had no idea how I would use it. It is not something I would go buy. And it was EXACTLY what was needed for the final touch of age! Thank you Vicki! Which goes to show that having other artists around to try different mediums is a great way to broaden your own horizons.

So now, I am at a resting point before final varnishing. I am sure I have missed steps; this was a long, difficult post to put up and I hope I have covered all areas of question. If not, you know the routine.......ASK!

I am very happy with this.....I have brewed this piece in my head for ages and finally, finally it has come to life.

Well, you know......more or less.....as much as a skeleton can be!

Pax.