michelle ward

Using It

Got new stuff recently?  Use it!  I call that "Me First Journaling".   Maybe you acquired a new paper, new trim, new find....use that as an excuse to make a journal page.  After you've used some for yourself you are free to share some, use it on special packages, and maybe even generate some new ideas for it's usefulness before you lose it.  (Come on, you don't buy something and it gets buried before you use it?) 

Cool brown die-cut letter B:  K&Co.  Funky blue velvet trim:  gift from Kristen Robinson last month (when we got to meet for real....no pics, dang!).  Brown and white wrapping paper:  Hallmark.  Lovely feathers:  extra treat that came with a cool piece of jewelry from Karla Nathan as a blog give-away (from her neighbor's pet!)  Curly vellum die-cut:  gift from Tara.  Egg stamps:  HERE 

Bird stencil:  hand cut last week.  Colored staples:  Target.  Feathers:  from our blue non-named parakeet, found at bottom of cage.  We have a yellow non-named parakeet too.  (You can't buy feathers this small, it's a Cheap Trick!)  EDIT:  the feathers were found at the bottom of the cage, not the birds :)

What will you use today?  Heard this in the car this afternoon - reminded me of summers past.  Did you sing to this at the top of your lungs like I did?  Glad you couldn't hear me.  (T'Pau, Heart and Soul, 1987)  (Oh my God, that was 20 years ago!) {EDIT:  Removed video}

team work

We are having a gas over on the Street Team.  So far we have 35 entries for Crusade No. 8:  Cheap Tricks.  You should come see the cleverness and generosity of the players.  The whole point of the team was to build a community of kindred spirits by providing a platform for sharing. 

Here are my favorite inexpensive materials - folders and tags.  Buying them by the case may not seem cheap but it's a small price to pay for such terrific material to work on.  My other cheap tricks are posted on the Street Team blog.  Come over and see.....then tune in later this week to join in the next crusade!

remembering

(music by Toby Keith)

Creative Block?

As a kid, my favorite toys were Legos and building blocks.  Endless hours spent creating fantastical structures.  Love that you can go to a Lego store today and make a purchase of a container filled with your hand-picked selections....lots of colors to choose from AND you can get as many doors and windows as will fit in the container. 

There are always unfinished wood blocks in my studio.  From time to time I will slather them in paint as I'm working in my journal.  They have become a time capsule of sorts, documenting my own growth or interests.  I've made blocks with friends, and have taught Creative Block classes - it always amazes me how differently each artist can express themselves on the blocks.  By the end of the afternoon you have not only your own cityscape but you also have a movable feast of sorts - maneuvering the blocks around can give you all kinds of ideas for composition.  The blocks are also a no-strings-attached way of creating....less intimidating than a page or canvas - a small surface to try out new things.  Inevitably you start to get messy hands as you turn the block to work on each side....and that's where cool things can happen. 

Here's where I had an epiphany for using the blocks in a piece of art.  The pieces turn, like a perpetual calendar made of numbered blocks.   Reflecting on this I guess it's evidence of my balanced brain - making artful blocks and then constructing the foundation of movable parts.  Like I spoke about HERE, you can be inspired by an aspect of another artist's work, but interpret that function your own way.  I didn't realize until now that Mr. Cornell probably influenced this piece.

EDIT:  Found the journal page from this project.  I keep what I call "Process Journals" where I scribble notes and collect evidence from a work-in-progess.  I even clean my brushes off on the page so I can jot down the color titles.  It's been cool to look back at this journal - came across some ideas I wrote down that I haven't tried out yet.  Even if you don't think you are the journaling type, wouldn't it be great to have record of all the cool stuff you've made and gave away or sold over the years?  Start one NOW.

   

You are my sunshine.....

I was looking through some old digital files and found this....seems like a long time ago these pieces were made for Somerset Studio's "With One Palette".  (Just looked it up....Jan/Feb 2004 which means I made this stuff mid-2003) I realize I haven't evolved too much in the color arena except for that I almost always use red.  The book is an old 45 record holder, with my square art sliding into the folders that have circle cut-outs, the perfect platform for exploring sun imagery and lyrics.   

No school tomorrow so our holiday weekend starts early - first up:  Pirates No. 3!   We have been experiencing the BEST pre-summer weather - I can't remember a year this lovely.  Seems the last few Springs were 3 seconds long and we were flung straight into unwelcome heat.  Love the sunny days and cool nights.  Hope wherever you are it is just as nice.

Taking sides

 

Do you ever take those online quizzes?  Of course they aren't really scientific....like Are You A Modern Mom, Who Is Your Inner Rock Star, etc.  Take your pick at Tickle.com.  I've always wondered if I'm Right or Left brained.  My background and interest takes on both sides - art and architecture......right and left.  It wasn't a surprise when I scored Equal or Balance Brained. 

Here's the analysis:   Michelle, you are Balanced-brained

That means you are able to draw on the strengths of both the right and left hemispheres of your brain, depending upon a given situation.

When you need to explain a complicated process to someone, or plan a detailed vacation, the left hemisphere of your brain, which is responsible for your ability to solve problems logically, might kick in. But if you were critiquing an art opening or coming up with an original way to file papers, the right side of your brain, which is responsible for noticing subtle details in things, might take over.

While many people have clearly dominant left- or right-brained tendencies, you are able to draw on skills from both hemispheres of your brain. This rare combination makes you a very creative and flexible thinker.

The down side to being balanced-brained is that you may sometimes feel paralyzed by indecision when the two hemispheres of your brain are competing to solve a problem in their own unique ways.

Isn't nice when a little piece of information like this can make total sense to you - like how come you just can't get started on something even though you have 1000 ideas.  I'm sure many of us wonder what takes us so long to just dig in and get our hands dirty because once we start, there's no stopping us.  Time flies and we think, gosh, it just feels so good to be working, regardless of the outcome. 

No matter how you approach 'making stuff', right or left or balanced, JUST START, dip the brush in and see what happens TODAY.

Edit:  the Tickle test was only for fun....there a scads of Right-Left Brain tests available online....try them all.  Again, it's just for fun.

Love Pattern

If you've taken a painting class with me then this is old news.  Anaglypta:  paintable textured wallpaper.  Here I've used it with gesso, like a stamp, directly on white paper, then painted over it.  The gesso resists the paint so you can buff it off, revealing the pattern.

Above left is using the wallpaper with paint as a stamp (mounted on my favorite foam) over a painted background.  Above right has the wallpaper under the paper, rubbed with crayon, then painted over.  The crayon resists the paint, so once again it can buffed to reveal the pattern.  Your paper can't be too thick or the rubbing won't work.  Notice how the crayon color migrates from turquoise to black, and the paint transitions from black to turquoise.  Much more interesting than if you had used only one crayon and one paint color.

The sampler above clarifies what the wallpaper looks like and how you can use it.  This wallpaper is available on rolls from places like Home Depot and Lowe's, and there are some handsome borders too.  I think I have 3 or 4 different scrolly patterns - love this stuff.  My friend Anne Bagby scored some anaglypta with text on it!   You can use the wallpaper as a tool like I've shown here, or paint on it and you'll see the two-tone effect it's meant for - also a great element to use in your work.

Buy a roll and share some with a friend......OR......here's a Cheap Trick:  get a hunk of it from the sample roll often found in the wallpaper department.  (Bring a big purse).  Over on the Street Team blog this month we our sharing Cheap Tricks.  Come see the fun stuff we are learning to use in art making.

Yellow = Friendship

Dear friends, Happy Mother's Day.

Nothing is sweeter than handmade love.  Thanks Sam.  And Fallon, I love your card.  And Peter, the gesture you made this week, priceless.

I know what you're thinking.....

You think you've seen me do this kind of spray art before. 

Not like this.

Let's pan out.............

shall we?

I cannot tell you how giddy I am!

Ta-da!

Does this rock?

   

It's my coffee table!  Come on, isn't it cool? 

Here's how it started out this afternoon.  The little chips everywhere were really bugging me.  I started sanding and it only got worse.  I thought a little sanding would even the chippiness and give it that shabby chic look.  Wrong.

So then I got out the electric sander and it got really scary.  Wouldn't this scare you?

 

When I wiped away all the dust it looked like this.  Gulp.  Nothing a little spray paint can't fix.  So now what are you thinking?  Got a piece of furniture that needs a facelift? 

Spray on paper, check.  Spray on clothing, check.  Spray on furniture, check.  Spray on mini-van?  Hmmmmm.

p.s.  did you spy the heartagram?

A little birdie is tellin' ya.......

My sweet friend Judi loaned me her copy of Somerset Life.....and WOW!  THIS is a stunner!  I'm one of those magazine shoppers that drifts through all the sections and will buy anything that has one page that appeals to me.  One page!  I admit, I rarely read the text....pretty bad since I write articles myself, don't you think?  But THIS new publication by our friends at Stampington.....this has more than one page that will make you buy it.  Really.  It is pretty, it is handsome, ....there is alot to SEE, and yes - even to read.  Really, go look for it.  It may be placed with the other artsy magazines or it may be in with the lifestyle ones.  I dare you.  Cha-ching, it's in your basket. 

I have never seen a magazine introduce you to an online journal or blog.  Kinda cool that they are acknowledging the community we find ourselves in, like right now.  (Even cooler that they feature this one alongside two others!)  When you are a blogger you tend to know handfuls of other bloggers......then you bring your copy of Somerset Life to show the nice receptionist at your dentist office what it is you do and she gives you a blank stare.  Evidence that there are scores of people who don't know what they are missing with their morning coffee.  I can travel the world by blog-hopping, browse amazing art, read touching stories, laugh with clever and talented writers, visit interesting shops, and see unexplored places.  And the friends!  I have met so many people, just from this little url.....I'll just share the last line from my article.....I say:  As Suess said "Oh the places you'll go. (Just don't forget to leave a comment)."

Photos above taken from Somerset Life, by Stampington and Co.

Worth Repeating

Happy Anniversary to ME.  Haven't even made a journal page about this yet....maybe I'll celebrate by doing it TODAY.

SIGH.

DOUBLE SIGH.

.

EDIT:

WORTH CLARIFYING:  I've gotten alot of private messages wishing me happy anniversary for my blog - I'm not even sure when that was...I think I missed it.  And I have gotten several happy birthday messages - that's later this month.  Thanks for all the well wishes.....but 5-7-06 is when I met my favorite rock star.  Told ya, SIGH.

Just the Ticket

Today, we're joining The Black Parade.  Fallon is ecstatic, not that she looks it here :)

CAUTION!

From Russia with Love?  NOT.  From Greece with CAUTION!  Actually, from Penny in Alaska.  No, more like from Tyler, Penny's son who went to Greece and swiped some police tape (with cop looking on) and brought it home so his Mom could swipe it from him and make really cool art to send me in New Jersey because you know why?  She GETS me.

Layers and layers of bubble wrap and U.S. variety Caution tape.....leading up to.......

 

Can you stand it?  Police tape in foreign text!!!!!  I screeeeeeched with delight.  And look how handsome and cool this collage is - grunge at it's best.  Thanks Pen!   YOU ROCK!  Backstory:  I have gotten to know Penny better through her participation in the GPP Crusades.  In fact, she as our latest winner.  A few months back I posted about collecting barricade tape (crusade no. 6)....and in fact, just last night when I posted the newest Crusade I even mention Caution tape.  I love when the planets align (or is it when there is a full moon) or when you have an open mind, that synchronistic things happen.  Like Megan told me, it's called synchrodestiny.  I'm still reading up on that one.

Going anywhere overseas where you can snag me some police, or caution, or under construction tape?  Let's talk.

EDIT:  Ursula spied it, and so did I, there are stamped images from my Surfacing sheet.....told ya, she GETS me.

Speckled Eggs

In the current issue of Somerset Studio I am very honored to have my Painted Ladies rubber sheet featured for the article "With One Stamp".   Thank you to the artists who made lovely things with the images.  I have had alot of questions reguarding the unmounted sheet and how to use the eggs.  I often suggest leaving one row of eggs to use lined up.  If you do cut apart the rows of eggs you can layer them in varying colors to create a speckled egg.  Be sure to label the back sides of each size of eggs to keep yourself organized.

Here is a sample (above) of using the layers of speckles with PAINT.

 

The above shows layering the eggs with INK.  And below shows the entire Painted Ladies 8 x 10 sheet.  For ordering information, go to the GPP site HERE.

Below shows my mess, but you can see how I mount the stamp images on foam, and store them by size in plastic bags.  I use gel formula contact cement as adhesive.  The foam base is a kneeling pag, meant for gardeners, found at this season at places like Lowes and Home Depot.  Trim rubber close to image, apply cement on the back of rubber and face of foam, let dry, adhere and cut with sharp utility knife.  Tutorial HERE.

And finally, below shows how I store my stamps, in acrylic frames.