Baker's in Beacon

The Baker's Daughter - 24x36"

 For the third year in a row I've been accepted by the jurors of the Beacon Art Show.  This month long exhibition is sponsored by the United Methodist Church of San Luis Obispo and features work by artists in the county.

 My piece is The Baker's Daughter, a mixed media collage 

done on red rosin paper and mounted on canvas.

The exhibit opens on Friday March 1 6:00-9:00 pm as part of Arts Obispo's Art After Dark and runs through the end of the month Thursdays -Sunday 11:00-4:00.

A Celtic Fable

 A Celtic Fable - (6x9" closed)

Last October when I took a workshop from Lynne Perrella, she brought, as always, a number of examples of red rosin work to show the class.  One was a piece I hadn't seen before with an Asian theme. She had cut and folded it to make it into a book.

 I was struck not only by the design, but by the feel of the paper - there were so many layers of paint on it it felt like leather.  I decided then and there that I wanted to re-create that leather feel on a piece of my own.

  As usual with my ideas it marinated for a few months in my mind and I came up with the concept of doing something Celtic.  A Celtic Fable was conceived and now is born!

 I started by gessoing the front and back of a 16x24" piece of red rosin paper adding some bits of cheesecloth here and there on the front for texture.  When dry, I painted the back using Lumiere's Pearlescent Blue and then stenciled Celtic knots with Golden's Iridescent Gold Deep (fine) and Quinacradone Crimson.

 I used the same three colours on the front side along with an Unbleached Titanium  from Liquetex. The Celtic knot stencils were employed again (thanks to friend Destiny for cutting these for me!) and the small web stencil from  Mary Beth Shaw's Stencil Girl. Sequin scrim (or punchinella) provided the small groups of dots. Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels in red and blue were lightly scrumbled over the cheese cloth and then hit with a heat gun to bring out the colour and affix them to the strands of the cloth.

 Various bits of Celtic imagery (xerox copies) were adhered with matte medium, I rubbed these lightly with a small amount of paint on my fingers to "ghost" them out and make them sink into the surface. Splatters in all four colours were next. A few bits of red cheesecloth (courtesy of Lynne's friend Steve Sorman fine art printer maker) were affixed with matte medium.

I found a small Celtic knot stamp in Margot's stash (a clingmount - couldn't find a designer's mark on it) and sprinkled it throughout the piece using Ranger's Archival Black.  Gold circles were punched out of joss paper and adhered with matte medium.  Sumi ink was used to add "mystic" symbols.  The final touch a few Celtic charms (from earrings) were sewn on with FireLine.

The paper was folded and cut to turn it into book form.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  The paper does indeed, with all it's layers, feel very much like leather. Thanks once again to the incomparable  Lynne Perrella for not only the inspiration but for teaching the techniques to achieve it.

Life on the Coast

It's that time of year again on the Central Coast.

  The Japanese Magnolia has burst into bloom!

From the Bookshelf

This vastly over-sized volume (12x14") is a treasure trove of Sunday comic strips, graphic art and advertising from the late 1800s to just prior to WWI.  The World was Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper and one of the first to use colour.  The Funny Side supplement featured a variety of different strips which  became massively popular during these two decades and gave the form its nickname of the "funnies." The World  also used colour in its Sunday magazine which featured a variety of  illustrated articles. The book is not only an eye candy treat, but fascinating for the history buff as well.  In this day of newspaper closures across the country I found it rather poignant to re-visit this era, a hundred years ago, when papers were King and played such a vital part in people's lives.

Journal Pages

Here's a few recent pages from my current daily journal.

Several of these were completed last weekend while

 I was having a chai latte in a coffee shop in Campbell.

I used a couple of vintage photos and

 a retro sewing needle pack that

 our friend Leanne gave me.

I write quite a bit in my journals, chronicling the day's events,

and jotting down those ever important lists!!

Tim & Me

 When we went to CHA last month I got to watch Tim Holtz

 demo several new products from Ranger.

 One of the most talked about was the new Distress Paints, 

which are just now becoming available.

When Tim would finish sample tags,

 he would give them to those of us who asked.

After I got home I finished mine off with
two stamps from Stamper's Anonymous ,

an old earring and some coordinating ribbon.

And there you have it - a Tim Holtz and Erin Perry collaboration!

Suitcase Saturday Travel Score

Viva Mexico! And a 10 day trip to La Mansanilla in 2005.  A tiny fishing village about 30 miles up the Pacific Coast from El Mansanillo and 90 miles south of Puerta Vallarta.

 Small though it was, it boasted an amazing art gallery

 with wonderful paintings, ceramics and jewelry.

 We got this piece home as carry on, sort of like

 lugging a very heavy baby along!

 The tree of life sculpture and the above painting of El Mercado, 

fit beautifully into our Mexi-color house.

And this stunning necklace is always
a joy to wear for special occasions.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Heart Day, especially to my beautiful wife Margot.

Thank you for 10 glorious years!

Fun @ Leanne's

 Over my birthday weekend we went up to  Los Gatos and 

spent a fun filled afternoon in our friend Leanne's marvelous studio.

 Isn't this a wonderful statement to read as
 you go into your studio to create?

  I had sent Leanne some Portfolio Water-soluble Oil Pastels a while back and we spent some time experimenting with them. I put one that I did in my journal.

 Leanne was quite impressed with my
recent article in CPS Studios

 and asked me for organizing advice.

 Since this lucky girl is only a few miles
 from The Container Store,

she went right out Saturday afternoon
 and purchased stuff to get started.

Margot worked on a pair of boots -

 glitter toecaps (I mean!)

Life on a Different Coast

A chilly morning on Upper Kimball Pond in New Hampshire,

(yes, the lake is frozen!)