Wednesday, October 29, 2008

More Fantasy Film

I tried my ironing technique with the Fantasy Film on a gourd. Wow!!! I love this piece.
I applied some Stewart Superior black glue pad to the gourd and then ironed on the Fantasy Film with a layer of backing parchment over it.
I used some micaceous iron oxide with copper buffing wax to texture and cover the top and bottom that weren't covered by the Fantasy Film.
I coated the whole thing with a layer of clear spray finish when it was done.

I'm going through a lot of Fantasy Film. LOL It is gorgeous on everything.






Friday, October 10, 2008

The Shrines

Shrines were our main project for this retreat - and all of the classes provided inspiration and artwork for creating unique assemblage pieces using large, rough-hewn wooden shrine boxes.

One of the things I appreciated most about the format for the Midnight Art Retreats is the opportunity to really immerse yourself in a major project. Having the entire five days to work on a major piece gives you the freedom to think about your work, redo parts that you aren't pleased with if necessary, and let your muse guide you without being rushed.
Each class builds on skills and techniques that enhance your work. You can pick and chose which mediums and techniques you choose to incorporate in the finished piece.





Patricia and I (Zeb) both ended up using Memory Mist sprays to do the backs of our shrines.




Patricia added some embellishments using techniques from Jeni Calkin's classes.
We'll let Patricia post her completed shrine on her blog. I think she wants to add some finishing touches before it is shown in it's entirety.
It is going to be a fabulous piece.


Linda tried out some of the Golden gel mediums on the inside doors of her shrine.


I thought it was wonderful. Rich and highly textured with a lot of glitz.


But after thinking about it for a couple of days, Linda decided to scrape the inner doors and go in a completely different direction.
I had to admit- I like this version much better.

Linda has used a beautiful copper embossed initial that was a gift from Lynda Abare.
Her focal piece is an encaustic painting under glass with a copper tape frame.
She even included some items from her favorite local winery.
Items she collected during our field trip and some of the grasses from her field and interesting rocks were added. One of her wire wrapped chandelier beads hangs from the top center.
The Welcome words are done with Grunge Board letters distressed with Ten Second Studio tools. The same tools we used for the pewter work.


This horseshoe was donated by a neighbor and beautifully decorated by Linda.


The front of Linda's shrine has a pewter embellishment and a piece done with PMC.
The "Thank you" sentiment, mounted under mica, is for the realty agent who found them their wonderful new home in Sonoita AND donated the shoe from her horse. :)


I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with my shrine. I knew I wanted my pewter piece to be the focal point.
I printed one of the sunflower photos I took on our field trip and added that to the top. I used some gel medium to strengthen it and to add texture by gluing on Essential Elements organic bits.
I made a swirl flourish with Duo adhesive and applied some Metallic Fashion Flakes.


Then I started adding things that would bring back the memories of this stay in Sonoita. These were all thing gathered at the Midnight Art Ranch or on our field trip.


I had a great time playing with techniques for the front of the shrine.
I used papers from the class with Jeni and also some of the slump glass pieces.
A Krafty Lady butterfly mould perfectly symbolized all of the beautiful butterflies I enjoyed in the yard.


I am sooo in love with the new technique Jeni taught me. I added a few layers of other mediums over it and got this amazing texture and color. I even took close up photos to print out for background papers in the future. :)


You might notice that the flourish on the inside door somehow turned into a lizard.
LOL
That's what I mean about being able to allow your art to evolve and develop at its own pace during the retreat.

Being at this retreat was so much more than "taking classes". It was learning and creating with plenty of time to think a project through.
It was wonderful to be able to go back and tweak pieces. I don't think I could have turned out a piece I would have been nearly as pleased with if I had to try and finish it during one or two days of class.

The camaraderie of the participants was so inspiring.
I loved every minute of it.


Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Working with Precious Metal Clay

Linda Hanson, our hostess for the retreat and owner of After Midnight Art Stamps, is a certified instructor for PMC, Precious Metal Clay.

She is so talented with this medium. Taking her classes is great fun and a wonderful learning experience.

See what we made!!!
99.9% fine silver pendants - hand made by us in only one evening.



Pat made a beautiful, very heavy cameo using one of the Krafty Lady Art moulds. I can't wait to see what she does with this.
I'll be watching her blog to see her other PMC pieces posted.



Linda used one of her PMC pieces as an embellishment on her shrine.



I had fun creating some new pendant designs. I was doing some "heavier" looking pieces than I had done in my previous classes. The little charm piece is the dab i had left over rolled out and stamped. That will go on a charm bracelet I'm working on.




Linda used the Celestial Horse stamp to make a fantastic pendant.
The Celestial Horse stamp in this size is only available to artists attending the retreats.
She wore this a few days later on a trip to Tubac and had a couple of gallery owners ask for the name of the artist who made it.
It is great to be able to say "I'm the artist" when people ask that question. :)



Even the back of the pendants are beautiful.


Field Trip

We took off for a day trip to the Empire Ranch and the town of Patagonia.
We did make one wrong turn on our way to the ranch. Quite the adventure!
We ran into some locals on a back road.


They asked if anyone would like to have their photo taken on the pony cart. :)
Linda jumped right up. LOL



The horses were beautiful and the people were so friendly.

Then we were on our way, driving through gorgeous landscapes to the old ranch.

It really is a working ranch.


There are still plenty of wildflowers blooming.


The sunflowers are spectacular at this time of the year. The fields are covered in gold.


These sweet little guys were perched on a ledge of the front porch of the ranch building. We got to see the parents bringing the baby swallows their lunch. They were just beginning to learn to fly.


I love taking photographs of the buildings.
I think this one will show up in one of my collages. :)


I always seem to be drawn to the rusty things. The old ranch house is open to the public. I found it totally fascinating.


I think this is the only group photo we managed to get. Zeb is behind the camera.
Left to right: Patricia Dunbar, Linda Hanson, behind Linda (in the cowboy hat) Tom Hanson, Jeni Calkins, and Lynda Abare.


Great place for photos.

Then on to Patagonia.

I love the Day of the Dead Museum.




There are many other interesting galleries too.




Wonderful day out, fun and refreshing.


This is a photo of a rose that was greetings us by the front porch when we returned in the early evening to the Midnight Art Ranch.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Working with Pewter

Lynda Abare of 5 Acre Arts shared her expertise in the art of Repujado.
I LOVE working with pewter. I think Patricia fell in love with it too.




You can do amazing things with a few very simple tools.



This is a practice piece that Patricia started and I played around with after she left. I accidently punched a hole in it. Ooops! But I made it look like it was on purpose by setting a stone in it. LOL
Linda added this piece to her shrine. She wanted something done by each of us to be featured and this collaborative element by Patricia and Zeb fit the bill. :)



This is Patricia's piece while still a work in progress. I'll let her post the finished piece on her blog. :)




Linda used her pewter to cover a frame and embellished it with more pewter work. It is the focal feature on the book she did in Jeni's class. Such exquisite detail.




You have to backfill the pewter pieces to protect them from getting flattened. Pewter is very soft. It is like tooling butter- so easy - and you can get so much more detail than with harder tooling foils.


Remember our alpaca friends from down the road?


I made a quick sketch of Cheyenne (Linda's new boyfriend) to use with the pewter.


This was my second class with Lynda Abare. My first time attempt to do something other than just a design element with the pewter was a little scary, but Lynda broke it down into simple steps and I managed to get a piece I was happy with.
This piece ended up as the focal point for my shrine. :)


Sunday, October 5, 2008

Classes with Jeni Calkins

I always enjoy working with Jeni Calkins from Studio Jeni. She is such an innovative and creative artist.



I couldn't wait to see what she had in store for us at this retreat.







We made papers. But not your ordinary papers. :)


Linda finished her gorgeous squishy book.

Pat and I are still working on finishing touches for our book projects. We'll post them a bit later.


We also worked with slump glass. We created pendant pieces using various art glass including some dichroic glass. This can be fired in the same kiln used for PMC (Precious Metal Clay).



Is this not incredible stuff!?!



I added one of my Jeni papers and some of my glass pieces to the front of my shrine.
The triangular glass is Midnight Art glass with Fantasy Film and Opals embossing enamel. It can fool the eye though. Fits right in with the "real thing".