Let Your Creative Juicer Fly

You've heard the phrase 'Let your Creative Juices Flow', but have you heard of 'Let your Creative Juicer Fly'?  Well, now you have.  This is my latest found object canvas.  I have featured a thing with wings that actually began it's life in 1950 as a Foley's Aluminum Lemon Juicer. I rescued this vintage kitchen cast-off at a thrift store for 60 cents and took it home to meet other wayward utensils in my stash.  I am sure most of you are thinking the same thing I did...this juicer needs wings and a crown! And for those of you who weren't thinking that, please let your Creative Juicer Fly!  

I have created this whimsical piece for Mixed Up Mag for July.  I would love it if you and your imagination have a moment to fly on over to the blog and check out my slideshow tutorial and supply list featuring Prima products, including some of the stunning new paint colors of the Finnabair Metallique line which I won in a Prima Marketing Giveaway!  (Me, winning a drawing is completely unheard of!  Unless you count my winning a yellow yoyo in Kindergarden...but then again, everyone in my class won one...) 

 

Smiles,

Leslie

 

 

She Is Of Nature

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am so fortunate to live near one of the most beautiful places on earth, Glacier National Park.  The mountains, waterfalls and crystal-clear lakes are beautiful to behold.  The hiking and horseback trails take you to viewpoints that are breathtaking.  To stand still in the woods and just listen to the deep stillness is good medicine for the soul.  I know it, I've done it. 

The title of this piece, She Is Of Nature, embraces the theme of nature's soothing solitude.  Am I the 'She' in the title?  Heck no! This is Grizzly Bear Country!  

Safe and sound in my art room (no bears for miles), I decided to try an experiment with my latest DecoArt products from the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Program.  I love the look of Encaustic Art and wondered if I could create a faux encaustic effect with acrylics and mediums. I knew I wanted to include natural elements which also happened to be the theme for July at Mixed Media World.  

After preparing an 8 x 10 canvas board with DecoArt Media Gesso, I added features of a female face using Andy Skinner's 'Baroque' stencil and black archival ink. The first coat of DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze was applied.  I immediately placed 3 freshly picked leaves on to the glaze and used a heat gun to set this layer.  Another coat of crackle glaze was applied. Upon drying, I worked DecoArt's Antiquing cream into the cracks, wiping back with a soft cloth. Onto this base, I added torn sheets of pattern paper, music sheets and book pages; stamping, stenciling, string and DecoArt Media Modeling Paste, and several layers of Matte Medium and Ultra Matte Varnish.  I sculpted the woman's hair with more modeling paste and highlighted with DecoArt Metallic Lustre wax.

I made a concoction of DecoArt Media Modeling Paste, Gesso and Sea Salt to create texture on my wood rectangle chips.  After curing, I added Crackle Glaze, Modeling Paste and DecoArt Media Antiquing Cream.  I 'rusted' 5 tiny nails and used them to attach my prepared wood chips to the canvas board.  

I just love the 'waxy' effect I was able to achieve by combining DecoArt Media products!

 

The final touches were circles cut from a dead branch, excelsior, a phrase from 7 Dots Studio and gesso highlights.

Below I have prepared a little slide show of my faux encaustic process.  

I hope you have enjoyed my experiment with faux encaustic.  I have included a product list below. Thank you so much for stopping by and don't forget to check out the July Challenge at Mixed Media World!  

Product List

DecoArt Media:  Gesso, Matte Medium, Crackle Glaze, Ultra Matte Varnish, Modeling Paste: Antiquing Cream in 'Raw Umber', 'Titanium White', 'Carbon Black' and 'Patina Green'; Fluid Acrylics in 'Interference Gold', 'Burnt Sienna', 'Transparent Red Iron Oxide'; Metallic Lustre in 'Champagne Ice'; Andy Skinner stencil 'Baroque'; DecoArt Stencil 'Button Alphabet'

7 Dots Studio:  'Dreamscapes' word sticker

8x10 canvas board, old sewing pattern paper, book pages, wood rectangle chips, nails, string, 

 

 

 

 

 

Sneak Peek: Echoes From a Schoolyard

Happy month of June everyone.  Days are getting warmer, flowers are blooming, vacations are planned, and schools out for the summer!  Today I would like to share a sneak peek of my latest canvas that I have created for the blog at Mixed Up Mag, Echoes From a Schoolyard.   Head over to the Mixed Up Magazine Blog to see more images, a product list and a tutorial including acrylic polymer image transfer!  I'd love to share my creative process with you.  

As you know, I draw a lot of inspiration from my memories, and this one is an oldie from my childhood.  Only a block from my childhood home was a very special place called the St. Thomas Home, a children's orphanage.  I remember a beautiful, mysterious building.  I write 'mysterious' because I could not see the playground, but I could hear the sounds of kids like myself laughing, shouting and playing games.  I could also hear the enticing squeak-squeal of the chains on the swings (my friend told me it was the biggest swing-set she had ever seen).  And on a nice day when the windows of the kitchen were open, I could smell fresh bread baking and the rich aroma of spaghetti sauce.  Our senses are truly remarkable; I didn't have to see inside the schoolyard or the building to 'see' it!

After the orphanage was long closed and scheduled for demolition, you could still hear the wind moving the chains of the swings, which for me carried with it a faint echo of the long-ago children's voices, singing and playing.

"In 1908, the Sisters of Providence founded the St. Thomas Home, a children’s orphanage, in Great Falls, Montana. But the sisters opened more than a home for orphans – it was a school and a boarding house for children who lived in rural areas, and a safe environment for children whose parents were faced with hard times.
St. Thomas Home became a Child and Family Center in the mid-1960s as the needs of the community changed. St. Thomas evolved to become a childcare service at a time when support for working-parent families became critical.

For over 100 years the programs and services at St. Thomas have impacted more than 5,000 children through the orphanage, and over 3,500 children through the early childcare and development centers."

http://www.providence.org/stthomas/about/history

http://www.providence.org/about/providence-archives/past-forward-newsletter/winter-2001/historical-photos-from-st-thomas-orphanage

St. Thomas Home

Mind Wings

“Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
— Plato
“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”
— Anna Quindlen

The plane, the train, the road, the time machine...books take you places.  I've traveled all over the world, mountain heights and beneath the sea; I've floated the Congo and solved more mysteries than Sherlock Holmes; I've witnessed the past, present and future.  I am a reader.

I love to read.  When I finish a book, I start another immediately.  Art and reading (and bacon) are my anti-crazy therapy, and this altered book, Mind Wings, is my merging of those passions (I ate the bacon).

Every October in my town there is an annual book sale at the public library. People donate books and the proceeds go to the American Association of University Woman for scholarships.  Great cause, great sale and I've attended since a was a little girl.  Unfortunately, the books that do not sell go to the landfill.  I always go on day one, but also on the last day to see which books need rescuing.   Mind Wings was born in 1915 under the name The Camp Fire Girls In After Years by Margaret Vandercook.  This is the first book I have altered, and the 'literary side' of me argued with the 'art half' whether I should proceed.  My 'art half won'; I am still retaining the written word; only changing the cover.

I began with masking tape and plastic wrap to preserve the inside cover and the pages of the book.  After applying black gesso, I added crumpled tissue paper.  I changed gears at this point and added white gesso and crackle medium.  I always leave the crackle medium to dry overnight.  In the meantime I will read...

The next day, I applied modeling paste through a stencil of handwriting.  When that was dry, it was time to add some neutral colors and a touch of blue and turquoise by painting, spraying and dripping.

Embellishments were next.  The spoon was a victim of the food disposal at work (luckily the boss man knows not to throw out potential art supplies).  I applied Mod Podge to the spoon and adhered some torn pages from another book.  I created flowers from other pages as well.  I die cut a background for the inside of the frame and colored it with Distress Oxides before stamping a phrase on it.  The wings and door handle were rubbed with Bronze Art Alchemy wax. 

Assemblage: Frame, spoon, flowers, wings and handle.  The final touches included vintage lace, bronze micro beads and the 'Favourite Tales' phrase.

Combining my passions for reading and art, this project was a joy to create.  

I would love to enter this into the fantastic 'Book Pages' May Challenge at Scrapki-Wyzwaniowo

Product List

Prima:  Art Extravagance White Crackle Paste; Art Basics 3D Gloss Gel, Art Basics Modeling Paste; Art Ingredients Art Stones 'Bronze'

Lindy's Stamp Gang:  Moonshadow Mist in 'Tawny Turquoise'; Starburst Sprays in 'Creme Brûlée Cream'; Flat Fabio Spray in 'Sandra Dee Sepia'

DecoArt Americana:  Chalky Finish acrylic paint in 'Primitive'

TCW:  6 x 6 mini stencil 'Art Is'

BoBunny: 'It Is Written' stamp

Sizzix:  Tim Holtz Thinlit Die #660220

Tim Holtz Ideaology: 'Regal' and 'Clippings Stickers'

Ranger:  Tim Holtz Distress Oxides Inks in 'Walnut Stain', 'Vintage Photo' and 'Faded Jeans'; Tim Holtz Distress Inks in 'Antique Linen', 'Vintage Photo' and 'Walnut Stain'

Paper Studio: Spare Parts 'Small Metal Handle'

White gesso,old book, book pages, spoon, tissue paper, wood frame and vintage lace