Mix Media Canvas

Did you ever have something bizarre happen to you? Last September I had a strange phone call from a friend who immediately thought of me after showing her a few of my oil paintings. Someone was looking for artist who could to do a poster for Consulting Engineers of Alberta for their Gala which was happening in February 2014. Well I was overwhelmed to say the least, I had never thought of myself as an artist but someone who just loved to create.  But never having done anything like that, I was wondering if I could be up for the challenge- mostly Graphic Artists do this. The only requirements was that it had to have a Tuscany theme, something with Leonardo da Vinci who was the founder of Engineering and their theme for this Gala. Apparently after I had submitted my canvas they had changed the theme. So I started off using a 12"x 12" canvas which I applied light molding paste using a palette knife careful to mix up my strokes to give that Venetian Plaster texture look. I then took some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst sprays using gold, red, pink and copper, letting them drip down the canvas. After letting the canvas dry, I made a column stencil using blank stencils from The Crafter's Workshop. I then taped the column stencil down and apply light molding paste. I applied more molding paste and used a Tim Holtz stencil 'Measured' to the bottom of the canvas. After letting the canvas dry, I rubbed some acrylic burnt umber paint onto molding paste make it look like marble and scrubbed it off. I also added some Viva Decor inks to highlight the Ruler at the bottom of the canvas. After it was dry I then took another leaf stencil and applied more molding paste, again let it dry. Then I applied some Mona Lisa adhesive and let it dry so I could add some variegated leafing. I then floated some black acrylic ink around the columns to make them stand out. I then printed the Leonardo da Vinci and the sentiment 'Building our Place in the Community' onto acetate. Applied them to the canvas using soft matte gel and highlighted it using Viva Decor inks.

NOTE: I did not get the job but the experience was quite valuable and I had lots of fun!!

Something new for me - Mix Media Journal Cover

In 1998 when my son was quite young, I wanted to doing something with my time while he was sleeping. I discovered Decorative Painting which was quite popular at the time and then one of my teachers  introduce me to oils which I fell in love with because I could dabble and dabble and the paint wouldn't dry like Acrylic does. Then fate intervene while I was looking for school books for my son, I discovered this store that half of the store was for Education Activities and the other was into rubber stamping (sadly the store closed in 2009). Rubber stamping became my life and I had to have every product that came out. I was torn between 2 different aspects of art, painting and stamping. After my husband passed away in 2008, I decided to concentrate solely on stamping, trying out for various Design Teams thinking this is what I wanted to do.  Then fate once again intervene and I was given an opportunity to create/design a poster for a gala event in February 2014. Knowing I'm no graphic artist,  I decided to do a mix media poster for the event (first time) ever doing a mix media project (sadly they didn't pick my design - out of 3 finalists). This woke up my inner artist; because it gave me the perfect fit of being able to paint and use my stamping products which help feed my addiction (can you say bad habit).. One of my supplies that I used to use in my stamping was Twinkling H20's by Luminarte which I had before and I didn't like them so I sold them all. This past August, I discovered Dion Dior's blog on the Luminarte website and I was drawn to her art. When I found out she used Twinkling H20's on her works of art, I knew I had to sign up when she offered classes. So this October, I signed up and found out how to use those H20's & find out why they didn't work for me.  Dion is a fabulous artist by the way and if you ever get the chance you must take some of her classes.
So for my project, I used this sketch book is from Stillman & Birn 'Zeta' series and based my idea on  Gabrielle Pollacco  video how to creating mix media journal cover. Another fabulous artist by the way. So I started off using 7 Dot Studio paper collection called '9th Wave' for the base. I then applied a chicken wire and swiss dot stencils by The Crafter's Workshop using some Tim Holtz distress inks in the following colours  Chipped Sapphire and Peacock Feathers. After it was dry, I applied light moulding paste to the stencils again adding some more dimension. After I heat set, I applied the paper to the journal using gel medium. I added some drywall tape along with some cheesecloth to add more dimension.  I started applying various embellishments such as chipboard letters, chipboard bird with branch, metal butterflies by Fabscrap, buttons, bottle cap, Tim Holtz Muse Tokens, TH Word Bands and some Martha Stewart lace using a strong glue to adhere them. Then I took out my white gesso and started applying gesso to all the embellishments so they would except the colorants that I was using. Then I took out my Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst spray and sprayed the journal using Afternoon Delight Denim, Bells of Ireland Green and Tainted Love Teal. Then I added some water my Egyptian Gold H20's so it would be ready for me to apply. I then took out my Silks by Luminarte applied the following colours; Azurite, Key Lime and Teal Zircon which are really transparent to my journal to add more colour.  I then took my Egyptian Gold H20 to add some highlights here and there. I added my flowers last and again took out my Silks to add some colour to my flowers so they toned in with my journal. I added some Tear Drops by The Robin's Nest in the following colour 'Baby' to various embellishments.
I then took out my Inka Gold by Viva Decor using Cobalt Blue and Turquoise applied them sparely on the chipboard letters and metal embellishments.

Here is a close up the bird's nest using some Tear Drops by The Robin's Nest.

Close up of the Chipboard letters using Inka Gold colours.