The Last Projects of 2010~ Happy New Year!

Trying something new

Where the lampwork meets the "roadsmithed" bottle caps

Opals and rust

Chrysocolla and quartz

A choker of vintage buttons and sari silk ribbons

Lampwork baubles, disks and sari silk ribbons.

It's challenging for me to create a distressed and shabby look that works.

I finally got a whole day to myself to finish some projects that I had started over the last month. In between visitors and parties I found myself craving some time alone in the studio.

While  the Dave-man was off on a hiking in the Grand Canyon I got back to my bottle cap earrings. I had just bought some sari silk ribbon from Mudhound  Studio's Etsy shop and was anxious to put it to use. These are a few of my latest creations to finish out the year.

A very Arty New Year to you all and thanks for your acquaintances  and support this past year. I've enjoyed the journey.

xoxo Kim

More Transfers- Fabric, Paint and Gesso

I got the horse image from some deteriorating fabric that was on a box spring that we had been using as a door for our greenhouse. It was sheer and fragile so I glued it to some canvas that I found in the garage of the house I had bought back in the 90's. I'm talking serious reuse here!

The wooden door-like image was made using a skin transfer technique that I learned in Caterina Giglio's online class (which is still going on if you would like to participate)

This is an ATC (Artist trading card- 2.5 " x 3.5") on gessoed canvas.

The image is a window from a photo I took in Havana.

Practicing some new techniques here.

I allowed a little of the reverse side of this vintage magazine image to remain.

You're looking at two pictures  from the same page against a vintage  physics book page. (the girl on the swing and part of a wicker basket)

This is what happens when your newly purchased special paint spills. You try to use it up on some of your paper that is nearby.

The image from a vintage Grey's Anatomy book also is showing both sides of one page. The text is from one side and the diagram is from the other....magic!

I had a stack of gessoed pages from an old ring bound cookbook. I sewed them together when I realized that the gesso curled the thin pages horribly.

From my trip to Angkor Wat.

 Against muslin with some sparkly paint to enhance.

I'm enjoying pairing this windmill pic that I took in Douglas, Arizona with other images.

The buddha photo was most likely taken on one of my Thailand trips.

This photo was taken in Burma and the piece here is the result of a failure that worked to my advantage. (which I guess isn't a failure after all!)

I've been making some great messes in the studio with my newly learned techniques.
It's always been a part of my process which is to do things in a hurry and go at  my projects with a fury which results in an explosive mess. Just ask my mother or my husband what the kitchen looks like when I'm in the food production zone! I'm fast though, really fast. I recall that being remarked upon when I took my printmaking class back in the nineties as well.


You can view more of my recent transfers here  at La Dolce Vita's blog. 

Torch Time

I'm going to count this as one of my mandalas.

These beads have already been paired and made into earrings and are the result of listening to the Cure and Chris Isaak at the same sitting.

Mandala Al Dia

I've been taken in by the idea of a little mini project a day after seeing some of the collage a day projects and the like on other blogs.  I wanted to try a mandala a day, most likely collage-ing on round paper. I'm trying not to be strict about symmetry within the piece or my own preconceived ideas about mandalas, just that they be circular. The diameter turned out to be a rather random 3  3/4 inches (11cm)  just because the most handy circular object was that measurement. ( which happened to be a miniature trash can lid)

As soon as the weekend hit and we went camping I fell behind so several of these were made on the same day to catch up.

Aug 27, 2010

Breathe!

I think I had a bit of toxic residue floating around my psyche when I started out.

The speck of gold attached itself later.

Aug 28, 2010

Aim! Focus!

Aug 29, 2010 

More than half is sparkly now.

Aug 5, 2010

A Delicate Balance

bits from my old prints, stamping and faux gold leaf

Aug 5, 2010

sharp snips

Aug 5, 2010

One of my favorite etchings from my '91 printmaking class, faux gold leaf, ink on acrylic.

My favorite mandala of the bunch now as well.

Aug 5, 2010

Travel thoughts

enlarged passport paper, ink on acrylic

Aug 5, 2010

Make sure everything is lined up straight!

waxed fabric, old printmaking snippet,

Aug 5, 2010

The ubiquitous mosquito that can overtake the beauty of wilderness.

Alaska Beer cardboard, target practice, Chinese health pamphlet image and stamping.

Aug 5, 2010

I've been thinking about my travels today after looking through and posting photos.

enlarged passport paper and image from Chinese travel health pamphlet

ATC's From Some Rainy Daze

"Make Happy Happy"

It has a good beat.

"School Girls"

Old etching, target practice, vintage storybook image and paper doll head

vintage science book images, inks and paint.

"Does this make my antlers look fat?"

"Budding Artist"

I had been saving this snippet of text for something... and then I saw the brushes!

digitally altered Buddha head from one of my Burma pics along with a diagram from an old craft book.

"Tea on the Dock"

"The Awe of it All"

photoshop Buddha and vintage girl

"Treasure"

Rainy days sent me up to the studio to play with paper. I cut up old prints and paper from a printmaking class from the 90's that I took. I also messed around with some leftover paint with faux glazing medium from a cupboard painting project.

Then using mostly vintage images and other papers from a swap, I created a few whimsical and decorative ATC's, the meanings of which may be elusive and enigmatic or perhaps up to the viewer to glean.

Where This Blogger Creates

I'm afraid I may be posting a day late on this "Where Bloggers Create Party".  We are in the furthest west time zone after all! These photos are mostly a repost of earlier pics. My studio has undergone some changes since most of these were from when I first set the rooms up last year.

one wall of the "glass lab"

Effetre glass rods

This is a pic from my Bisbee, Arizona glass studio since I have to have one at both of our homes.

The "Garaj Mahal"   Delta Junction, Alaska

I get two rooms for studio space upstairs.

I get a view of the Alaska Range from that window and if it's not too windy I do some work out on the deck and soak up the sun. (it's really summer here now!)

My lampworker's station~ torch, kiln, Zoozii presses, glass rods, digital controller and mandrels

The sewing and collage room

Storage for glass rods

Catch-all for various supplies and collections.

Craft Cram Part Deux~ A Hodge Podge With the Mod Podge

And then I ventured into the realm of collage for pure play.

I like that this was my own photo from our trip to Burma.

Anemone picture from a Dover book printed on vellum

Vintage illustration of a Dutch girl holding flowers

I started this piece last year and cut off the parts I didn't think worked so well.

I had a stash of root vegetables on hand.

Pre-painted paper from a color swap.

More experimenting with stamping.

Vintage photo from a blog giveaway.

Not sure why I had to give this seventies era gal a turnip head but she was asking for it.

Must be the diseased blood slide that sets it off although the little guy in the corner kind of looks like a fishy.

Make sure and smell the roses.

Somehow this works, not that there's rhyme or reason to it.

( not any that I'll reveal anyhow!)