Calm

I finished painting  "Calm" this past weekend.  I entered it into the JCAA 24th Annual Potter Center Juried Art Exhibition yesterday. If it makes it into the show it will be on display at the Potter Center Gallery from September 28th to October 28th.  This gallery is at Jackson College's Potter center 2111 Emmons Road Jackson, MI.

I started out this painting by creating layer upon layer in the background.  I wanted a rich textured background to peek through the painting.  It is fun and therapeutic to create this way without worrying about getting it perfect.  This is the finished background.    

I painted the picture on top of this.  I used glazes in some areas so that I could make sure that the background showed through. In other areas I used opaque paint, but the texture still shows through. I used acrylic ink to add drips under the plant and at the top.  Some of the dips are pearlescent and some are matte.  I like the combination of shimmer with flatter areas.  I added butterflies with iridescent medium which shimmers and stays raised as well, to add another punch of texture, which I love so much.
"Calm" is 18" x 24"  It is painted on a gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides and is ready to hang.  It will be up for sale soon.     
"Calm", a force for calm and peace in a chaotic world.  Be well grounded, but participate fully in life and the beautiful things that exist all around us.
Have a great week,
Janelle

Hot Glue Stencils

I read Traci Bautista's book PrintMaking Unleashed this summer.  I would recommend this book, it is full of fun ideas for making your art uniquely your's using all kinds of printmaking methods.  One of the techniques she talks about in the book is making stencils out of hot glue.  I had been wanting to try this technique out since I heard about it, but I had lost my glue gun. Last week I found my glue gun and started playing around making stencils.  I make as many can fit onto my nonstick heat proof sheet at a time and then let them cool.  I tried them out with paint and with ink sprays.  The two different mediums create different looks.  I'm planning on making more of these and trying them out in different ways.  I'll show you my results so far, though.
Here are the stencils that I made last week.

 Here are the stenciled patterns using paint.

 Here are the stenciled patterns using ink sprays.

You get different looks depending on whether you use paint or sprays and what tool you use to apply the paint.  
This is a fun technique that is quick and easy.  I can think of many ways which I would like to use these stencils.  

Have you ever made hot glue stencils?  If you have I would love it if you would share your results with me. 
Janelle

Empryreal Weald

Empryreal Weald is the name that my lovely sister suggested for my new piece of felted art.  

This name means a heavily wooded area or a wild uncultivated place that belongs to or is derived from heaven.  So this is aHeavenly Wild Forest.  I feel a sense of mystery and wildness when I look at this piece of art.  When it is viewed in person you can see the layers and depth and hidden areas in the felt.  It has a lot of sparkle too.  This is a piece that invites you to go and lose yourself for a time in the wilds of the deep forest.

This felt was needle felted, then wet felted, then needle felted a bit more.  It has wool, silk, and Angelina fibers.  I added hand stitched details and then hand stitched it to a canvas that I painted just for this piece.  The felt is about 9" x 9" sewed to a canvas that is 14" x 11".  It is for sale for $144.00.  

This painting is called meadow flowers.  It is 8" x 8".  I used a splatter technique and then went back in and added details.  It is for sale for $80.00. 

I made these bookmarks/tags by adding layers of gelli mono-prints to the cards.  These are a lot of fun to make.  They are finished with silk sari strips that were reclaimed waste from a factory.  The strips are beautiful and I love using something that would have otherwise been thrown away.  Plus providing jobs for women in these low job areas feels great too.  These are $2.00 each.

All of these will be added to my website early next week.  In the meantime preparing to sell at the Grass Lake Harvest Festival is taking all my time.  I'll be back next week to tell you more.  Have a great weekend,
Janelle