I just wanted to share, with you, some workshop samples, that Kerri and I worked on recently. I love Kerri's wire work with her centers of the frames! The bird and heart are just awesome! I used a transparency from a photo I took quite awhile ago for the center of my frame.
We are awaiting dates from the store owner where we hold our workshops. We are targeting October for this exciting offering called "Plaster Encaustic Fusion". There will be more details, following, in near future but until we nail the dates (workshop will be a two-part session), we are not getting the official word out with specifics.
Kerri and I are always excited about our offerings as it not only gives us some artful time together but we love sharing our own ideas as well as what we know and learn with others. But; this particular workshop has us floating on air! If you love texture, we promise you lots of it!
If you would like to be put on our mailing list, just email me at Artbeliever@gmail.com.
Kerri and I have not eliminated offering online classes in future. But; time is tough to plan everything out and it is definitely one of our goals - in time. There's so much to it and we will get there - inch by inch. :)
In meantime, have a great week ahead. We are approaching the first week in August already! Whew! I can hardly wait for Fall!
Thank you, all, again for your continued support and friendships.
Stay well and at peace! Love ya - Marilyn xxoo
This is a photo of another page in my Me and My Muse journal. The woman is or was, would be a better word, a super model in a magazine. :) I decided to transfer her onto my page and it ran amuck! At first, I was a bit frustrated as I did not photocopy the image in order to save it. I took the jump and worked with the original magazine image.
What was left was a very faint, "ghost" of a figure so I went, with it, and painted over the unsuccessful transfer. I love transfers, of any kind, and my main problem with them is my lack of patience. :) With magazine image transfers, it is highly recommended that I wait overnight to fully let things dry. But; I didn't and especially with the humidity being the way it is, here, lately - I should have realized it. Oh well.
The really neat thing about mixed-media is it is very forgiving. Things can always be gessoed over, painted over, collaged over - it's all good!
I wanted this figure to appear like she was looking through a window and I knew I wanted lace curtains. So; I stamped over white tissue paper with gesso using a piece of embossed wallpaper. It's a dream for collage if you use soft gel.
We have another weekend upon us! I wish, for all of you, a safe, happy, and peaceful one!
Love much..............................Marilyn xxoo
Shortly after I took Dina Wakley's online journaling classes, she came out with her new stamp line via Stampington Co. She offers a very nice array of stamps and when I saw these two silhouette stamps, well; I just had to order them right? :)
Here are two new journal pages that I created using these stamps. The backgrounds for each page are papers I made out of deli paper.
Hope you and yours are doing well and I'm sending cooling thoughts to those still being effected by the heat. We are a little cooler, here, now, but the weekend will heat up again.
Is it September yet? :)
Much love to all! Marilyn xxoo
Well; I've begun my new journal. I am calling this "Me and My Muse" because it's just going to be pages of whatever calls to me to create. There is no theme; just let loose and use everything I can in my stash! That would mean I'd need a larger journal-lol! :) Here is my first page. I used an image from a painting that I sold quite awhile ago - I saved the picture, of it, and copied the image on my inkjet than transferred the image onto the journal page. The image was masked and then I went in and worked on the background.
I hope you all are having a good weekend and your weather is nice.
We've been in a stubborn heat wave and, frankly, it's getting wearing. I am not much of a summer person; I just tolerate it but this heat is just too much. I think I must have been a penguin in my first life :). The heat wave is effecting many states and I keep wishing, with every passing day, that relief will come. I know we are blessed, here, with a/c, but there are many who are not. It makes for a very long, hot summer. Sorry about the whining.
Have a great week ahead; all be safe, cool, and happy.
Much love, Marilyn
Here is the cover of my Hearts-themed journal. The cover, itself, in its original state, is a very heavy black board. I was planning on using plaster, over it, but it would have been much too heavy.
For the base of this artwork, I used a National Geographic magazine page (which I think works the best) and treated it with Nevr Dull. Nevr Dull is a polishing wax, of sorts, that is used for metals. I think it's even used on cars. Nothing is sacred in the art world, even in the hardware store. In fact, I think hardware stores are like candy stores to me :)
Nevr Dull comes in a can and inside are these funky wads of cotton-like material that has the solution on it. There is an odor, to this, so my advice is to use it in a well-ventilated area. But; I love the reaction with the magazine ink and the polish - it's really cool and you can add paints over it, more collage - I will share more of these kinds of backgrounds in my new journal.
Speaking of new journal, I have already started one. It won't have a theme; I've decided it's going to be whatever I decide to do on any given page. Just me and my muse! Hmmmmmmmmmmmm; that would make for a great name for the journal!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. We are heating up, here in the Northeast, and we are in for our first "heat wave" of the summer towards mid week. Oh well; guess I'll have to close myself up in my art area with the a/c on! :)
Today is Part II of the Funky File-Folder Journal workshop that Melanie and I have going. I will be sharing student works, sometime, this week.
In meantime, all take care, hope you're keeping cool and have a safe and happy week ahead.
Love much...................Marilyn xxoo
Well; this is the last spread of my hearts journal. I decided to follow my own heart and go with pages of wonder and hope. I love those words and I relate to them in terms of what my granddaughter offers me every time I'm with her. The "hope" page even includes a transparency picture of Sophia when she was a little younger but it's one of my favorites.Did you all have a good weekend? I hope you did. How's your weather? We're in the HHH's at the moment; not my favorite time of year.
Melanie and I had the first part of our Funky File-Folder Journal workshop, on Sunday, and it was so much fun sharing that with our friends. I will have pictures, eventually, of everyone's cover to share here. All of them are amazing!
I am wishing you all a good week; be safe and happy!
Much love ...................... Marilyn xxoo
This journal spread is truly a mixed bag of everything! I discovered I love working on silhouettes over script paper (i.e. old book pages, newspaper, dictionaries, etc.). I can make up a batch, all at one time, and have them for future collage work. This particular silhouette was created with a rubber stamp I have.
The artist who originally inspired me with these silhouettes is Dina Wakley. She's a marvelous artist and I have seen a lot of her work in the Stampington publications as well as online sites. With my journal work, I thought it was time, for me, to start creating my own silhouettes, and meshing them with some of my favorite techniques. I think the silhouettes are kind of mysterious and they take the labor and stress out of drawing and sketching an image which I still struggle with no matter how much I practice.
I'm now working on the final spread for my hearts-themed journal. I decided to end the journal with Wonder and Hope :) I will share it after the weekend.
I'll be a little quiet over the next few days. My friend Melanie and I are holding our Funky File-Folder Journal workshop on Sunday, at the scrapbook store, and I have things to get organized, for it, as well as work on the written handouts.
Another weekend is approaching and I hope you all can enjoy your time. Be safe, well, and happy and I'll be back early next week.
Much love and caring thoughts to all......................Marilyn xxoo
I am veering away, a bit, from my journal. I seem to be having a bit of a block in terms of finishing it; I have one more spread to go. Maybe I don't want to say goodbye to it :)
Anyway; when I am creating, I always have a "serendipity" piece next to me. It could be in the form of watercolor paper, deli paper, newspaper, cardstock, tags, etc. This way I don't waste my paints or sprays and look at these "serendipitous" pieces as a new beginning background.
The photo, here, is the case. I was working in my journal and was spreading acrylic with an old gift card and scraped some of the unused paint onto a piece of watercolor paper that was beside me. I looked at it, yesterday, and decided I really liked the colors.
I recently picked up Donna Downey's awesome poppy stencil and somehow it called, to me, to use it with this background start. The image of the woman was a gel transfer of one of my own images. I love painting hair with a black Stabilo pencil and gesso. I call this piece "Amongst the Poppies".
There are two photos here and the top one was flipped into my Photoshop program. I recently upgraded to PE 9 and was playing around a bit trying to get to know it. It's going to take me awhile :) Oh well - just fun!
Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.
Love much.....................Marilyn xxoo
I just realized that I have only one page left in this "hearts" journal I've been creating in. Yikes! Where did that time go? I wanted to keep the hearts theme going even though the techniques are all over the place. Well; I guess I'll have to start another journal soon. Hmmmmmmmm; will I theme it or will be it mixed bag? Probably a mixed bag - I have many things I want to try including plaster which I might use for the cover of this journal.
How's your weekend going? I hope you and yours are enjoying it. My husband and I have been getting out for some day trips, the past couple of days, and it's been fun.
Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate and I wish you a good start to your week.
Be safe, well and happy! Love, Marilyn xxoo
