One Last Splash Of Glitter........

I know this cannot compare with the last post, so let's not even go there. No eye candy, just nominal art.

*SIGH*

Sorry kiddies.

Alas, a boring heart....no Pirates.....

As with most of what I do, occasionally things just take off in another direction and it is NOT what I had in mind. This is the case with the post today; the four heart stencil that seemed like a good idea but was a devil to pull.
I started with a simple scrapbook paper heart, then wanted to use the gold German Glitter for contrast. I do want to add here that the gold glitter is made up of metallic glass and yellow tinted glass, which disperses color when added to the soft gloss gel. (as I found out....)

I did tape this stencil due to wanting straight placement....I could just see it take off....NOT.

Well, first off, I almost could not get the stencil OFF. I mean, those little edges were just not nice at all. I pulled and gently wiggled, and added some spicy words to see if that would help (it did NOT, btw....), stomped my feet and threw a little fit.
After a bit more easing, I finally got the foam off and had to readjust the edges of the gel with the palette knife. Yes, you can do that. It requires a light touch. A very light touch......and yes, the temptation to throw this one in the trash occurred to me several times.

But I decided to let it dry and see what would happen. The problem was simple; I had put so much gel on, it ended up drying without the paper showing through as I had envisioned. So, lesson learned. If you want the glitter AND the background to show, don't pack it so full.

Yeah, yeah, it could be worse....maybe not.

Hmmmph.
While I was waiting and waiting (and waiting.....) for this to dry, I decided to do a very unsophisticated sample chart so everyone could see the other possibilities for additives to gel. I even remembered to write on the back what I had used.....will miracles never cease.....LOL!

1. Fine German Glass Glitter in black

2. Black glass beads (no holes)

3. Fine German Glass Glitter (black) mixed with Budgie Grit

4. Used and dried green tea from tea bags


5. Used and dried coarse loose tea

6. Crushed flakes of leftover mica sheets (they're too expensive to waste!)


7. Gold German Glass Glitter (notice the yellow bleed into the gel)

8. Commercial Golden Black Mica Gel Medium


I wanted to put one of the specialty mediums on the board to see how the other items stood up visually against the real deal. And frankly, I think they do okay. #3 probably comes the closest to the Mica Gel, but it also has a lot of the texture of the pumice gel when you touch it. I probably should have done a wash of paint over half of each sample, but remember, it's ME and I have a short attention span. (and I've been working on several other things at once too....ack!)
I will say the coarse loose tea is wonderful if you are doing a 3-D type area and want to imitate weeds, twigs, etc. Just add the right color paint afterward.
Next post, I will wrap this up with the one completely finished canvas, so that you can have an idea of where these can be taken. I am really hoping my husband does not decide to check the blog, because it is his Valentine gift and I would like to surprise him......*wink*!!!
I've had fun with this tutorial, and hopefully you have been able to learn a bit along the way.
Of course, gel medium is one of the best collage mediums out there, though I recommend matte for that purpose. I probably will do one post on the Diva Gels; the ones you cannot mess with, but are worth the cost.
It won't have cool pictures of Cap'n Jack.
Life is hard.
Sometimes you just have to deal with words. ;-D
Okay....one more piece of eye candy......

"I likes me gel additives too...Savvy???"

Now go make art!

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....

Fruits Of My Labor....."With Love"

 

(Paris, copyright AMH-Lockard 2010)                       (Love Entwined, copyright AMH-Lockard 2010)

Well, finally!!! Some finished work to share....  :-)  It is with great pleasure that I write this post because I have been so happy with the pieces and also anxious for feedback on the different ones.  I am hoping, as you are reading this, that I am again ready for a day at the table, but that could still be up in the air. We'll see.....

(Damask Hearts series, copyright AMH-Lockard 2010)

These two presented opportunities I had not thought about when I covered the panels with the thin paper. I knew I would go for shading and the addition of some color, but then there was this particular *blah* with the patterened background. I wanted to preserve it, it was elegant in design, but it needed something--in the words of Emeril--to *kick it up a notch*. I sat them aside and worked on the other pieces. "Paris" was pretty easy....it made itself; I just applied the right colors and mediums.  "Love Entwined" was a bit more demanding in that I used some gel medium with color added on the bottom and had to wait and wait for it to be thoroughly dry before adding shading. The background though needed something else, and a bit of glitter paint seemed to add the magical aura necessary for this cheery and almost child-like heart piece.

And then I was back to the "Damask Hearts".

Hmmmmm.........

Somewhere in the back of my addled brain, I remembered buying a bottle of a crackle agent I had never tried, and after finding it, took a deep breath and painted it heavily onto the B&W backgrounds. And again, I waited.

These are products that cannot have the drying time forced. They won't crackle if they are hit with a hairdryer or heat gun...though I have singed a few pieces in trying this! And lost all crackle in the process. (it says on the containers....don't try and speed the process...I read that every time....)

I was very, very happy with the results. Enlarge the above photo and see what a lovely effect it gave! I felt it was similiar to a piece of old, crazed china or printed ironstone ware.

Then the outer edges were coated with very fine German glass glitter in black, the finishing touch to these elegant little numbers!

 

The final application to all the hearts is a heavy coating of high gloss varnish and sometimes a touch of glitter. That makes them pop from the backgrounds, which I occasionally vary by using a satin varnish, thus adding more depth and visual seperation.

And now, I want to get back to work......enough resting.....I want to paint and cover myself in gel and glue and generally make another creative mess!

We'll see. The health is first.

Hope you've enjoyed this description of how these progressed. It really is hit and miss, isn't it???  ;-)

Have a great creative day, a good Monday and for the whole week.....

Pax.

Further Down The Road Of Hearts.....

I have to admit this morning I am neither my perky, pithy self, or on time getting the post up, for good reason though----I actually slept all night! Straight through, so I am a bit comatose, even with the help of the 40 weight coffee.  I am waiting for it's effects to kick in at any moment......

Nope, that wasn't it........but I digress. I spent most of the day yesterday between house and studio, working on the pieces below.

Not bad for the time spent, or the fact I still can't sit or stand for any great amount of time. The small square hearts I had posted before got a wash of blue around the edges and some fluid acrylic and the long canvas came into being. I had cut the hearts for it but was trying to decide how/where to place them.

For some reason, when these were uploaded, the blue turned out lighter and the reds a little washed out. Hmmph! Too early in the morning for real photo manipulation to try and correct this stuff.......it is what it is! Anyway, the background is regular acrylic; at this point mostly a wash, the large hearts are put on with the heavy gel medium to add dimension (which does not show well here on any shots) and then the *stems* are penciled in, waiting for the clueless blog mistress to make up her little mind on what color they will be and what medium will be used. The bottom *dirt* is acrylic mixed with a gloss gel, to give some texture and ground the piece. More washes of color will be put on, as they come to me. (which is NOT now...or any time really soon!) I love the idea of the hearts being attached to a *plant* and the two seperate stems being one at the base......taken directly from a Frida and Deigo piece I did a couple of years ago.

I also took some time to use fluid acrylics to heighten the color on the hearts, also used them for the blue around the edges and then ink to darken the sides of the canvas panels. These are getting close to what I had in mind and I am sure will get some of the black German glitter at some point, somewhere! I might add a scroll in the middle with something sappy like *Love* or *Amor*.....printed on tracing paper, it would allow the color to come through. I don't know yet. I'll get them mostly done and think about it.

I have a few ideas requiring the use of PaperClay and may mess with that today so it can begin the drying process. That I can put in the toaster oven, but I prefer to let it dry on it's own. We'll see if patience wins out or if I am cooking clay! LOL! What a tasty treat!

I am dreadfully behind on blog visits and I apologize for that. The one thing that I have discovered is small every day things that used to take no time to do take me FOR-EVER now and there are only so many hours in the day. I am not ignoring you; I just feel the need to make art, and of course try and have food ready and I have given up on housecleaning.....but seriously, I am running at the speed of a sloth on muscle relaxers and that takes up a lot of the day for only a few items....please bear with me.

It is snowing here this morning, the start of the winter storm that is coming in or coming close. The quality of the snow is such that you know without checking the weather what you're in for. Everything is a bit *different* with storm snow. DH works late tonight (and this weekend too....geez) so I am hoping he makes it in safely to our humble casa.

And here is hoping y'all are safe, warm, and ideas are popping so fast you can't keep up! :-)

Pax.

P.S. The coffee still has not kicked in, and I am at the bottom of the second mug......sigh......I guess it will be one of THOSE days!!!

The Results of Yesterday's Studio Time....

Although I worked on a few other things, my primary focus was with the French piece. It just called to me, which was odd because of the original ideas floating in the matter of my brain, this one wasn't there at all. It was a last minute whim from the time spent not being able to glue.....just cutting papers and fitting.

I decided the background, though lovely, was taking away from what I wanted the focus to be; the large heart, the flowers and the Eiffel Tower. So I mixed a bit of gesso and soft gel medium, and put just enough on to tone the areas that were too bright. (see yesterday's post for a photo of how it was without the gesso. there really is a difference, though it seems subtle)

Now things moved forward and there was a bit of pleasant visual depth forming, the picture frame and necklace seemingly floating, but anchored by the diagonals of the flowers, heart and tower.

I added the three small heart to the necklace chain, pulling in the reds from both corners and the larger heart in the upper left. German glass glitter was added around the large heart, and a bit of fluid acrylic to bring up the color.

I then decided the tower needed some emphasis and softening too.....and grabbed a graphite pencil and a tortillion (paper stump) and worked around the edges of it, laying down graphite and rubbing it in with the paper stump. When it is given a coat of workable fixative, I think it will be where I want it.

And finally, a close up of everything.....to see the texture and shiny bits a little better!

Today, if I feel like it, it's on to finishing this one and then starting another I have peices cut for, plus working on the two little 4"x4" panels posted yesterday. They don't need a lot, but they need things that are downstairs, in the wet studio.

See, I told you before it was all over I would have everything upstairs on the sewing table.

Sigh.

Ah well, that's how it goes!

Now off for a bit of work before good old nap time rears it's ugly head and I am forced to the couch with a soft and lovely afghan!  ;-)

And onto the list of other things  not working today, my signature code doesn't seem to be behaving and showing up in lovely red script......there may be a blank box. I just too lazy to change it!

Have a beautiful, productive day, whatever it is you choose to do!

Pax.