Paris On My Mind (Another Petite Eiffel Tower)

I've had Paris on my mind lately.  

I can't escape it.  I want to go back so bad!  Last time I was there was 12 years ago for our honeymoon. It's calling me back.  So is Italy.  So since I won't be going anytime soon, I'll let my dreams of travel spill out onto my canvases instead.

   I've been wanting to work on a Europe series, inspired by my photos from my travels, for a while now. I think now's the time to get started on it.  I still have other non-Europe pieces to finish up first...or during.. but I'm excited to see what comes from this inspiration.  It's been brewing in my brain for a long time and now it's time to take action!

Speaking of... here's a sweet little textured Eiffel Tower piece that I just finished. I started it for the Petite Valentine art show at Zinnia, but it didn't get finished at the time so I pushed it aside for a bit. 

This is done on a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch piece of wood.  I copied one of my personal photos of the Eiffel and glued it down onto the wood.  The heart and the 'ribbon" across the bottom are both made from plaster cloth. I used Heavy Gel Medium to create raised stenciling and the rest of the texture, then painted over it all with acrylic paints and glazes.  I also drew over my photo with a Pitt Artist Pen to bring out some details.

 

So I know making these pieces is not the same as traveling there, but it still inspires me.  Maybe if I make enough art inspired by Europe, and sell them, I'll be able to go there again sooner than I think? 

  Maybe? 

 A girl could dream right? 

And while I'm dreaming, I'll continue to create these pieces so you can enjoy them and dream along with me.  

Deal?

Au revoir!

A Close Look At Amour...And Two Other Mixed Media Art Pieces

Hi There.

Here are the close-ups of the other three art pieces that'll be for sale (only $35!!) in the Petite Valentin art show at Zinnia, starting tomorrow.  Stop by and say "Hi"!  The opening is Sat, the 11th from 6-9pm, but the show will continue for the rest of the month, ... what doesn't sell right away that is!!  They're going to be selling the art right off the wall so you can take yours home right away!  Zinnia is an amazing little art store in South Pasadena.  I'm planning on hanging out at Zinnia for a while, then cruising around the area.  The opening is part of the South Pasadena Arts Crawl, so I want to check out some of the other galleries too.  I can't wait!  There's going to be lots of art, live music, and food in the area!  Yahoo!

Ok, speaking of art...

This is "Amour".  

It's made on a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 piece of wood.  I started it off by glueing down vintage French book pages, then layered some heavy gel medium over them.  I used a stencil and the gel medium to create the word "amour", then when it dried, I painted over the whole thing. I drew the Eiffel Tower with graphite and glued down a piece of black lace across the bottom.  I added copper tacks, a tiny crocheted circle, and a heart I cut out from plaster cloth and painted red.  Then, as with all six pieces, I sealed it to protect it and keep things from smudging.

Next up is "Be Gentle".  

I love this one.  OK,  I love them all, (each one is a favorite!?), but this one doesn't look as great in photo as it does in person..the subtle colors and textures, etc..  It's done on a 4 3/8" x 5" piece of wood.  I also started this by gluing down the vintage French book pages and covering them with heavy gel medium and paint...

 I cut a piece of plaster cloth, wet it, folded it in half and layed it to dry on a piece of wax paper.  When it was dry, I used an exacto knife to cut out a heart (I used the inside heart shape on "Be Still") and glued down the "heart window" over the base.  I painted and antiqued it, and added copper tacks and twine.  I filled in the center of the heart with clear crackle paint (to show how fragile the heart is) and when dry, I antiqued it to show the cracks then used paint to stamp the message, "Be Gentle", on it.

The last piece below is titled "Treasured".

  It's on a 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" piece of wood.  I wet a piece of plaster cloth and wrapped it around the wood, smoothed it a bit then left it to dry on wax paper.  I painted over it all and scratched into it with a sharp tool, then antiqued it...

I glued down a stamped strip of paper across the bottom with heavy gel medium, and added a small crocheted circle.  I made the heart years ago by stamping the heart image then I covered it with glue and tiny clear beads.  I love that some had fallen off.  I added a few more touches with paint to finish it off.

So there you have it, the rest of the six art pieces that I made for the Petite Valentin art show.  To see my other three pieces that will be in the show and get more info (if you missed my last post) click here or just scroll down one post. 

Hopefully all will go well and you'll see me and my (not-so-Petite) Valentine David cruising the art scene.  Oh, and happy birthday Honey!!  I love you!!  You're the best husband ever! xoxo

Hope to see you all here!!

I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday.  To join in or check it out click here.

Plaster + Burnt Umber(brown) = Happy Goodness...And SSS.

 This week's color for The Summer Of Color challenge is brown... rich, warm, luscious brown.  But to be honest, when I first heard it was brown I thought "blah" (even though I love brown... weird).  But then I realized brown = burnt/raw umber, chocolate, latte, etc.. Ooh, now we're talkin'!  I also realized I didn't have to make the WHOLE piece brown...just the main focus.

I've been longing to work with plaster again since I did this piece for green week.  It's so much fun.  I learned so many cool techniques in the "Plaster Studio Workshop" and needed to start using and experimenting with them more.   So I decided to work with plaster again for this week's color challenge (happy for an excuse to play with the stuff really!)

This piece combines several techniques from class, mainly transferring with CitraSolv (above), and carving into the plaster.  After I did the transfer, it wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be, so I carved in details (the white lines) over the transfer with a sharp tool.  I also carved other details like the frame, etc..., then antiqued the whole thing (except the transfer) with Burnt Umber paint.  Mmm hmmm....happy goodness.  As a bonus challenge we could incorporate a "pop of color" to our brown piece.   

 With that in mind I added some aqua blue.  I don't know if it qualifies as a "pop" (huh..Kristin..?), especially since you barely notice it in these photos (argh), but it's definitely there and I really like the effect of just the two colors. 

 I know the above photo has a bad glare...it's not really that shiny (I think the sealer was still wet), but I like how the photo shows some of the depth and texture created by the plaster.

Ok, moving on.  Sadly I've missed several Shadow Shot Sundays (SSS), so I couldn't let another week slip by. So for this week I have several photos.  The first two are of an amazing door that I saw at Arte De Mexico last year.  Beautiful, beautiful doors, sigh.  The first photo is the one I used for my CitraSolv transfer on my plaster piece. 

Aren't the details on this door amazing?!  

In these photos you notice the highlights more than the shadows, but where there is light, there is shadow, eh?

But just in case you aren't satisfied with the above shadow shots (hmphh!),  I wanted to find a shadow shot from our Kern River trip to keep with the brown theme of this post.  This was the closest I could find in the brownish tones.  Do you see how hard I was working while my husband was lugging us and our trailer up to Kern?  Yes, it's another shot taken with the Hipstamatic app.  Sorry... you'll be seeing a lot of these. ..it's way too much fun (is there such a thing?!).  To join in our shadow shot fun, go HERE.

Next week's color for the The Summer Of Color is RED in case any of you want to play with us!  It's not too late!!