Set your drink down anywhere on this coaster.

I did try to clean my studio a few weeks ago, I swear. I managed to widen the path a little bit! And I threw out three--count 'em, 3!--small bags of garbage. It's just that, well, I think it multiplies and I end up with more of what I thought I had less of.

Take, for instance, ceramic tiles. I have two boxes of them. At least they are painted and sealed ceramic tiles. Last summer, I dyed them for an outdoor project. I didn't use them all, and now they've migrated back upstairs. There's about 80 tiles lurking in boxes on the floor, underneath a bag of empty plastic milk containers (don't ask), tissue paper, and what I think might be a cutting mat. Or cardboard. It could be cardboard. It's probably foam board.

Anyway, tiles. Tiles make good coasters. Sturdy, pretty, kinda fragile. I dyed a bunch yellow, mod podged some red starbursts, added dabs of hot glue for feet, and voila! Coasters!

The down side? 80 is A LOT. Nobody needs that many coasters. I stopped at 14. So, the remaining tiles were shuffled off to a new spot underneath the easel that is holding 4 paintings in progress.  Another time, tiles. Another time.

Twisted Trees

An artist usually has a favorite subject and I am no different. Trees, female nudes, and most recently, music, are my go to topics when I'm in the studio. These subjects feel like they relate to each other and I've been known to combine them from time to time. 

Wire hangers have become one of my favorite mediums to work with. I like the versatility--they can be twisted into just about anything or used as a frame or support. This is also a material that is easily found and free. I get boxes of wire hangers from neighbors and friends who find dry cleaning a necessity. And the only tools needed are a pair of needle nose pliers and wire cutters. 

My favorite part about working with wire hangers? I love the physicality of it. It's hard work to bend wire into shapes. There are a lot of differences in wire hangers; they are not cheap white ones from the dry cleaner. Some of them are made of pretty thick metal. 

The first wire trees I made were over two feet tall and used to display necklaces at a craft fair. I've used them to display ornaments at Christmas. I've made smaller trees, about eight inches tall. I've given them to my daughter and her friends to display their jewelry.

I also made a tree for a friend who harbored a strong dislike for a particular ornament....

.....she now fosters an intense feeling of happiness regarding said ornament, and keeps this tree in her yoga studio to inspire her and her clients. 

"A guitar is meant to be played!"

.....said my daughter's guitar teacher in a hollow voice. He followed that up with, "it's pretty," but I understood he did not approve of my mosaic/mixed media piece. Oh, well. Can't please everybody.

My daughter has been playing guitar for two years now. I bought her a 3/4 guitar when she started, which turned out to be damaged, and would cost me more to fix than I paid for it. The recommendation was to buy a full size guitar, as she would grow into it. So I did. But what to do with a pink, damaged, 3/4 guitar with a fairy on it? Turn it into a fairy house, of course! Since my goal in life is to use up all the stuff in my studio, this is a perfect way to do that. Perfect and painstaking.

Here's a list of materials used, because I know you're dying for a list: tiles, buttons, beads, brads without the pointy parts, the pointy parts of the brads (waste not, want not, et al.), fabric, wooden beads, glass beads, glue, and grout. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, I went through several boxes of materials here.

 The best part? Cutting out the hole in the front and removing the strings. I've always like breaking stuff. Don't judge.

A little sawing, a little sanding,and there's a whole new space!

I eventually did make this into a fairy house. I added a ladder on the inside, and a wool floor where the wooden braces are.

I agree, guitars are meant to be played--unless they are broken, then they are meant to be turned into works of art.

The Studio: A Love/Hate Relationship

I am fortunate enough to have enough space to convert one of the bedrooms to a working studio. It's an artist's dream! This is the love part. 

This is the hate part:

I am a very messy artist. I jump from project to project, leaving destruction in my wake. No matter how many times I "clean up" in here, within 10 minutes, it looks like this again. I'm like a gaggle of unsupervised toddlers in toy store. As a result, most of what I start rarely gets finished.

Recently, life has changed dramatically for me. There may come a point when I am no longer as fortunate as I have been, and looking at this room only contributes to the clutter in my mind. The stress has been overwhelming at times. I have been trying to line up my ducks, but they are disobedient little fuckers, and refuse to snap to. I am forced to start shooting them.

Duck #1: Clear out the studio. This has been my goal all along, but it needs to move faster. I have given myself until 5pm today (it is 12:33pm EST right now) to make it happen.

Challenge accepted.

Painting on the Ceiling, Or, How to Permanently Pinch a Nerve in Your Neck

I have a friend who commissions me to paint murals in her house. I love accepting commissions from her because she tells me the subject and encourages me to do WHATEVER I WANT. This is the greatest blessing an artist can receive from a paying customer! 

I've done several projects in her house. Her safari loving daughter got a giant, twisting tree along a bedroom wall. Her son got a multimedia life cycle of a dragon. And each family member got their initials painted on a canvas in Celtic lettering. 

My friend is Irish. She loves Celtic circles. Naturally, she wanted one painted on her dining room ceiling. She found one she fell in love with in a book. This illustration was no bigger than the diameter of a 1/4 c measuring cup. She wanted it 4 feet in diameter on her ceiling. 

Sure, no problem. 

I spent 4 months standing on her dining room table, working on her ceiling. (Insert Sisteen Chapel joke here. there were plenty). I often had an audience. Her children run around the table trying to show me a variety of books about dinosaurs. Her father would grab a beer and make himself comfortable for a few hours. Who can blame him? Cute chick on a table? Seriously. Her two dogs tried to climb up there with me to hang out, and on one occasion, the bearded lizard attempted to leave his cage because I moved out of his line of sight! And I left the project with crick in my neck from being in the same position for so long.

To date, this is the most difficult project I've done. I enlarged the image on mural paper to the size specified; then used an Exacto knife to perforate the paper. Enlarging the image changed how the circle looked, something I hadn't planned for. The mural was taped to the ceiling, then traced with pencil. I retraced the lines after removing the paper. Then began painting. I used latex interior flat paint, which needed three coats. 

I'm sure there was an easier way to do this, but I was on a budget, and needed to make the whole thing work. In the end, my patron was happy, and her dining room does have one serious WOW factor. Oh, and that nerve unpinched itself, eventually.

Bookbinding for Amateurs, The Tutorial

I love books; the feel, the spicey smell, the excitement of turning the pages to find out what happens next. I've always wanted to learn to bind my own books, but realized I don't really have the patience for it. I do, however, have the patience for a bookbinding for dummies type of technique. 

Step 1: Gather some paper. I used 12x12 in scrapbook paper cut in half here, but printer paper, drawing paper, construction paper all work. Fold four sheets of paper in half and use a ruler to make a sharp crease.

Step 2: Gather a needle and some thread. Professional bookbinders have their own specific tools they use, but I don't have any money, so I used a bigger sewing needle and the thread from a sewing kit. Depending on the paper you're using, you might need an awl to poke a hole, but I was able to push the needle through four sheets of paper without a problem. Stitch along the crease to bind the pages together. Now you have a little mini book!

Continue to bind the paper until you have several mini books. I made thirteen of these. 

Step 3: Using the same needle and thread, sew the bindings together, so all of the mini books are attached into one book.

This is what it will look like when all sewn together. It's not the prettiest binding, but it does the job. I now have a 104 page book! 

This project took approximately an hour and forty-five minutes, blogging time included. It's a fun little activity for a rainy day. It's a nice gift as a journal, or as a scrapbook. Convenient, as mine is made of scrapbook paper! 

The Beauty of Watercolor

Watercolor is by far my favorite medium. I love the way the water and paint move over a sheet of paper. I love the way the white of the paper is used to highlight. I love the fluidity and suggestion of watercolor. I suppose these elements are achievable in oil (and acrylic, for sure!), but there is just something about ethereal about watercolor that is not present in oils or acrylics. I'm sure there are artists out there who would disagree, but hey, to each his own!

I love (okay, obssessed with) painting the female form. I can never find a model, because my friends get a little silly when I bring it up, so I end up becoming my own model! The above painting is a self-portrait, photographed in front of a window. I began to experiment with blues and greens instead of my usual yellow ochers. For awhile, I insisted on realistic skin tone, but became bored with that real fast. This was the first of incorporating different colors.

Alas, the painting is no longer with me. A friend loved it so much, I handed it over without complaint! I know it is appreciated in it's current home!

My obsession with wire hangers continues.....

.....I had made these to show off jewelry at a craft show: 8 wire hangers twisted into a tree. It's almost 2 feet tall! Now they sit as centerpieces on various tables in my house. Excellent for displaying ornaments for the holidays. Or pictures...or notes....or anything, really. 

These are not hard to make, just awkward, and a little hard on the hands. I ended up with more than a few blisters! 

A quick and easy way to use up the multitude of wire hangers lurking in my studio. 

And a shameless plug: there are several smaller versions for sale on my online Etsy store,

www.watercoloredwindows.etsy.com! 

I love trees. I may have mentioned that a few times already.

The Life Cycle of a Dragon

My friend's son loves dragons. He and I have that in common. I love dragons, too. When he asked me to make him something for his room, he wanted dragons. My friend gave me free reign over the project. Sometimes, that's not always a good idea; I can come up with some outrageous stuff.

This is a 2'x2' mixed media piece, on plywood. It's damn heavy. I used all kinds of materials: raw wool, brass sheet metal, stones, wire hangers, an oval canvas, fabric. It was a blast to make, and his reaction when he saw it was priceless. 

I really don't know what to do with all this crap sometimes!

I really have a lot of random junk in the studio. People are aware of having an artist in their midst, and like to drop stuff off on my porch, or hand me odds and ends, assuming I will come up with a use for it. Most of the time, I can.

But not always. 

To make things worse, I have a tough time throwing anything out. I'm not a hoarder (I think), it's the guilt. I hate the idea of chucking stuff into a landfill, destroying the environment, killing off the bees, we'll end up with no strawberries, the world will starve,  Monsanto will create genetically engineered bees to pollinate plants, but they mutated into a superflu, kicking off a zombie apocalypse, all because I threw away some old paintbrushes. 

........

What? It could happen.

Below is my effort to prevent the annihilation of the human race:  the shamrock storage box.

A small, clear, 12 compartment storage box with a decorated lid. Tissue paper and glue, my friends. 

This tiny project barely made a dent in the amount of materials in my studio. Not to mention that I can't find this box anywhere. Thank goodness I had pictures of it stored on my hard drive.

I'm pretty sure the box is under a stack of canvas, to the left of the exercise ball, behind the paper making kit. 

Maybe. 

Allow Me to Introduce....the Wire Hanger

I have developed an unnatural attachment to wire hangers. I use them for many purposes they were not intended for (admit it, you've hollered "no wire hangers!" a time or two). My fav way to use them is to bend them mercilessly into trees. 

This piece is made of chair legs and wire hanger trees. 

The chair legs are glued together with Elmer's school glue (a surprisingly excellent bonding agent, who knew?) and hand planed. A friend once asked me if it would be easier to use an electric planer, but that would take something out of the process, don't you think? And, besides, I don't know how to use big power tools, it's safer that way (long story). Trees were drawn onto the wood, then filled in with black ink. The background is brown ink. The wire trees are stapled (I also have a love affair with the stapler) onto the wood, and a wire hanger is used for the hanging mechanism, held in with drywall screws. 

This piece hangs in my dining room. It's heavy, it's three dimensional, and it's really cool. Also, it could put your eye out. Good to know for the holidays! 

For the Love of Trees

I am fascinated by trees. A tree takes carbon dioxide, and creates oxygen. A tree also houses countless flora, fauna, and insect life. Paper, fabric and a variety of dwellings are made from their branches. Some are edible! when the tree falls or dies, it continues to be useful through decomposition. Such an amazing testament of a life cycle. My favorite part of a tree is their shape. And I am fascinated by their shape in winter, against a white, sunless sky.

To honor my friends, the trees, I used wood that was from a previous project, and fabric that was not much more than rags. I found jeans to be a really great canvas material; so are old dish towels and tablecloths. Fabric was stretched and stapled over the simple square frames, then primed with white latex semi gloss paint. 

I traced the branches using a projector onto the canvas, then filled them in with black oil paint. This turned out to be one of my favorite projects to date. The paintings really pop against a red wall.

I enjoyed the task of canvas making so much, I gathered the rest of the miscellaneous wood and fabric and made about 35 "new" canvases. How's that for environmentally friendly art?

"Mooooommmmmm!!! I'm Bored!!"

Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of mothers than hearing her children shout "I'm bored!" twenty minutes after school lets out. This year it took a full 90 minutes before I heard the dreaded statement, sung in my daughter's dulcet tones. But I was ready for her. Bring on the "I'm Bored" bucket. 

I am far from the first mom to think of this; a quick search on Pinterest will reveal dozens, if not hundreds, of versions of this concept. Mothers everywhere, rejoice. It's filled with such wonderful activities like "call a friend" or  "create a collage." There's also "organize your toys" or "clean the toilet." Come, child, put your hand in the bucket, and choose. It fills me with glee. 

My daughter stuck her hand in and came out with "practice guitar in your underwear." Needless to say, she found something else to do (after chastising me for putting that in there in the first place. I still think it's funny). Summer might work out after all!

Creating the bucket was simple. It's an old paint can, cleaned up and de-labled. Scrap paper covers the inside and outside of the can in blocky designs. Repurposed paint can = happy mommy.

Emma's Guitar

The members of the Pocono Arts Council (Stroudsburg, PA) participate in an annual exhibition. I usually enter the watercolor category, but so does everyone else. It seemed a good strategy to enter a piece in a lesser used category. Mixed media it is. I won second place in my category, YAY for me!

My daughter plays an acoustic guitar, and this has heavily influenced my work recently. Building these pieces is like composing music; the materials are the notes, the canvas is the staff paper. I have a new love affair with mixed media because of this.

Mixed media is a work of art combining two or more mediums. I think I covered that here! I used as many as I could add in. Wood, fabric, crushed glass, beads, brass sheet metal, embroidery thread, and the all important wire hanger. Where would I be without wire hangers? Third place, probably.

Back to Blogging: So Much for the 1 Year Challenge

the studio, 2012

4/2012: the challenge: to only use the materials found in my little back bedroom studio to create art for 1 year. The rules: (1) don't buy any new materials; (2) blog the heck out of it.

6/2013: the result? one deleted blog, a roomful of frustrating odds and ends, and several small purchases from the craft store.

Was this attempt a failure? Yes and no. I created plenty of interesting art (some of which is for sale on www.watercoloredwindows.etsy.com). I also created plenty of crap (most of which is dismantled or can be found in the trash). I have decided to try this challenge again, but with a slight change to the rules. (1) Limit the amount of new materials purchased. I found out very quickly that hot glue and staples are very necessary when attaching stuff to other stuff. (2) Blog the heck out of it. I simply didn't blog. What's the point of having a blog, if one does not blog?

the studio, 2013

I'm also eliminating the time frame. That's where the pressure came in, the calendar pages kept turning, and it felt as though I was getting nowhere fast. In reality, I was able to come up with some interesting ways to upcycle or repurpose (you know, the hip new way of saying "reuse") all kinds of stuff. Old jeans and dishtowels make interesting canvases, and wire hangers are more than just a cliche. 

The journey begins.......again.....