My Drawings

I've been drawing since I was a child. My drawings started out as likenesses of things in the outer world. They have since become images from my inner world. Here are two examples. The first is highly pigmented markers on watercolor paper. It was done over the course of several days in May of this year. The second is acrylic paints on a grocery bag. It was done several years ago over the course of a few weeks.



By clicking on the pictures you can see the detail up close and personal!

I framed the grocery bag art. It became the first piece of my own art I hung in my home.

Bleached Flowers

I got two great flower stamps designed by Zeborah Loray for After Midnight at the St. Paul Expo and decided to try them out today using a bleach painting technique. The first one is just stamped, embossed and bleached. The second one is stamped, embossed, bleached and colored with chalks using a water barrel brush.

I went back then and glazed the flowers. I glazed one leaf of the chalked flower with Diamond Glaze from the bottle and realized I didn't like how thick it was looking for such a large application. Plus, it had bubbles in it. So I switched to Golden Self Leveling Gel and brushed it on the rest. I like that much better. I've never tried to brush on Diamond Glaze. Maybe that would have worked. You can see the difference if you look at the larger version of the picture.



I used a sheet of black cardstock from The Paper Company Black & White Value Pack. Got it on sale at Michaels.

I use bleach straight from the bottle. I gave up on a gel bleach pen. I couldn't get results with it. To keep the bleach from bleeding outside the lines, I heat emboss the image in the color of the paper I'm using.

I haven't done that for a long time. Sometimes it's nice to go back to the simple techniques.

Wood Heart

I've been cleaning up my studio to make room for all the products I bought from After Midnight Art Stamps at the St. Paul Expo. I found a bunch of wood shapes that I've had for ages. Can't even remember why I bought them. I wondered if it would work to use Opals and Fantasy Film on them. I gotta do something with 'em!

I smeared the wood with my Versamark pad and coated it with black Opals. Then I melted it with my heat gun and added the Fantasy Film. Here's how it turned out.

I had one problem. After it cooled the Fantasy Film separated from the Opal layer. Perhaps I didn't use enough of the Opals. Probably should have done more layers so it could get more molten before I applied the film. I used Crystal Lacquer to reattach it and it's been fine since.

What I like about this is how light it is. It would make a good card embellishment.

Inchies

OK, I did it. I went smaller. I participated in a couple swaps of 1-inch x 1-inch squares. Fun format. Unfortunately, my scanner never picks up the irridescence of the pieces.



The gold on the first one is much more shiny than it shows in the scan. I punched the dragonfly from a blank notary certificate sticker I bought in an office supply store.



The shrink plastic tag printed with Chinese characters on the second one is barely visible. The hole in the tag is threaded with curled red wire and a gold bead.



The third one is painted with irridescent watercolors and topped off with sequins stars that don't sparkle at all when scanned. I'll have to experiment with photographs to get the glitz.

Dandelions

I had an amazing crop of dandelions in my front yard this Spring. Flowers blanketed the hillside. They were even beautiful when they went to seed. Don't you just want to make a wish and give it a good blow??



My two new friends, Alex and Sonetta, were my assistants for these photographs. Thanks you two!

Faux Repousse

I was playing around with HVAC metal tape and die cuts last winter. I cut these tags from chipboard and then covered them with HVAC tape.

On Tag #1 I used my metal tools for the designs.

On Tag #2 I used an empty ball point pen and tiny bit of burnt sienna acrylic paint.








On Tag #3 I placed an angel under the tape and tooled the metal before applying Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks.






On Tag #4 I placed stips cut from decorative scissors under the tape before applying alcohol inks. I wasn't crazy about how the tags with shapes underneath turned out. I need to work with that some more. I think it has potential if executed better.




And Tiny Tag #5 I just added this one because it's so darn cute!! Another one of those "little things" I love.