Sunday, October 31, 2010

happy halloween

weekly challenge from my friend ludgera
i added a purple photo filter to her moon photo
a graveyard photo from salem, ma
a vintage portrait , bat , text
and tripping paint to look like blood

saturday nite lunacy
















photos taken on my i-phone





Friday, October 29, 2010

playing around

a few months ago i was shopping for jewelry supplies
and found these silver cones
i know at the time i had a brilliant idea
today i found them in my stash and wasn't sure what to do with them
but eventually i came up with a necklace and some earrings



Wednesday, October 27, 2010

encaustic class

fall inspired colours and leaves
i painted the canvas red first
added the leaves in the warm wax
covered them with ocher and gold wax
and while the wax was still warm
i removed the leaves
a photo transfer and oil paint to finish it off

close up of the leaf imprint

corner detail



Monday, October 25, 2010

wandering


Saturday, October 23, 2010

alternative craft fair

what a fun way to spend the day
my friend carmi was selling her wares
at the day of the dead show downtown

it has been a long time since i wondered
throught the doors at the el mocambo
it was filled with some cool venders selling
all kinds of interesting and fun art
plus live entertainment
music, magic and burlesque

left: dj misty
who was spinning all my favorite tunes

centre: red herring
a professional distraction indeed

and right: gabriello pitman

amazing us with his card tricks

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

encaustic class

i'm feeling under the weather
so today's project was something familiar
i've done this project in the past
and have many people wanting to purchase the original
but since it is one of my first and like a baby
i decided to try replicating it using a different image

a sheet of text covered in clear wax
with a photo transfer of a tree on top
layers of white wax to create some texture
i used painters tape to make the grid of squares and rectangles
added black oil paint and mineral spirits to highlite the texture

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

weekend fun

it started out with scrapfest
friday nite and all day saturday
i was designated booth bitch for
my friend carmi
( who btw, made our aprons)
our booth neighbour karen
(her and all the staff made the whole experience so much fun)
karen is wearing a necklace i made especially for her
i tried to reflect her bubbly personality and match her hair!!!

some of the the other necklaces i made



sunday was a glorious day in the country
we drove to carmi's family farm
enjoyed a lovely afternoon with some homemade apple pie
made by her mother and walking it off on the trail cleared by her dad
my favorite is birch trees and for as far as my eye could see
they where everywhere!!
thanks carmi!
for including me , i loved it!



Saturday, October 16, 2010

fall morning







i'm at scrapfest this weekend
helping my friend carmi with her booth
----------
above photos taken early morning
my japanese maple still looks gorgeous
but the tree across the street had lost all its leaves
layer masks from shadowhouse

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

encaustic class


this morning i was thinking about playing hookie
i've been burning the candle at both ends
and felt like a break
feeling guilty by 11 i decided to pack up my supplies

clear wax over patterned wallpaper
ironed and then oil paint rub in to highlite the texture



here i added metallic powders to clear wax



a photo transfer of a tree and some metal found
at an antique market this summer
to finish it off



Tuesday, October 12, 2010

the apprentice becomes the teacher

way back in the '90's (so long ago)
i remember when i got my first computer
what a deal, i went to the ibm warehouse and got a
computer, printer and scanner all for $3500
i had the intention to scan all my photos, crop them in ps
and print them off to make greeting cards
simple right..............
well, after much frustration and wanting to throw
the whole thing out the window
i happened to mention to a then client my problem
lennie, who was someone i always talked about art with,
asked "how can i help?'
long story shorter..... one visit lead to another
and before you knew it i was a scanning, filing, printing machine
eventually our visits turned into classes and a friendship
starting with picture it and then photoshop
thanks to lennie's patience ( lots of patience) and
wonderful teaching skills i got the hang of this whole computer thing!!!

now, my friend ludgera who has been struggling with ps
has been asking me lots of questions
and now i have become the teacher
(now i really appreciate all of lennie's help!!)

ludgera sent me this photo

wanting to know how to make it look grungy




since i love a challenge and to sit and play
i added 6 layers on top of her photo
trying on every blending mode and adjusting
the opacity and erasing here and there
------
above, my finished project
a screen shot of my work
lu's original photo and
the six layers i added on top
5 from shadowhouse and some text
-----------
i do remember that there was times when i just thought it was too
hard to learn, overwhelmed thinking that i was never going to"get it"
and struggling with all the "geeky" stuff
plus i'm sure a few tears where shed!
12 years later, here i am...........
still learning, you can never know it all in ps,
thanks to lennie, marie and susan
plus lots of articles and books
i happy to be able to help someone
------
keep calm
and
carry on

Sunday, October 10, 2010

happy canadian thanksgiving

to all my fellow canadians
happy thanksgiving!
hope you are all enjoying the fall colours,
turkey and all the fixin's

Friday, October 8, 2010

room with a view

my weekly encaustic classes in the distillery
have been moved to a new studio on the 4th floor
on the other side of the building
i haven't had a chance to wonder around
since classes started last month
looking out the window all i could see is this crane
building the new condo
don't know why i never looked down
i noticed these funky sculptures
so i went for a closer look

the base of these sculptures cough my eye

and these chairs for enjoying the view


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

encaustic class

------
i've been watching the trees and my street change colours all week
so with a large supply it was an easy decision on what to do in class
lots of layers of wax with leaves in between
a photo transfer on top and then a few more leaves to finish it off
-------


this one i decided to add a little sienna oil paint to finish it off

Monday, October 4, 2010

autumn

besides the autumn poet sings
a few prosaic days
a little this side of the snow
and that side of the haze
emily dickinson
-----------
photo taken at the beach,
the first tree to loose all its leaves
8 layers in all

Friday, October 1, 2010

keeping busy

now that i've got the jewelry bug
i've been going back and forth from
wire to beads and then combining both
i borrowed a book from my friend
making vintage jewelry
by
emma brennan


the beaded flowers caught my eye
and have since made several
so today i added the chain to
see how they look as necklaces


and of course beanie was there to
keep an eye on things
do quality check
and to help!!!


 
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