Saturday, June 30, 2012

when i saw this on facebook i thought about painitng it on the street in front of my house
i live across from a high school and always see the kids walking by with there
heads down, texting

so look up!!!

We'd never know how high we are, till we are called to rise;
 and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the sky
. ~Emily Dickinson


Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes, but I'll work it out...
  ~Dave Matthews, "Dancing Nancies

I never get tired of the blue sky.
~Vincent van Gogh

The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun
and the moon keep their diary.
 ~Alfred Kreymborg


Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water,
or watching the clouds float across the sky,
is by no means a waste of time
. ~John Lubbock

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

classes with marie

just a "heads up" for anyone interested
my friend marie is teaching two of her fabulous classes
starting in the next few weeks
i have take all of her classes and
have really enjoyed them and learned a ton
marie's classes are filled with wonderful project
and lots of tips and tricks for creating
beautiful photos
see some of my projects i've learned from
marie on my flickr page here

Saturday, June 23, 2012

barn quest

someone asked if i had any photos of barns
which sent me on a quest to rifle through thousands of photos
to find some of my favorites
above, a beautiful red barn near claremont
i must get a shot in the fall
below, barns from the back roads of
ontario and upstate new york






Wednesday, June 20, 2012

abandoned

on one of my country road trips i found this abandoned house
since no one was around and i was feeling brave
i decided to take a closer look

the kitchen had the best grunge and texture
from the floor to the ceiling

the upstairs bedrooms had the best wallpaper

i wish i had gotten a sample

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

resin and photos

i've always wanted to try this
adding  resin over my photos
i had tons of small wooden boards just siting around and
lots of my photos so i finally decided to give it a try

with all the supplies laided out and a level table i got started

i was a little nervous but my friend carmi, aka the resin goddess , assured me
that if i used a brush and "painted" the resin on my photos
i would get great results.................fingers crossed......
and a little prayer for no bubbles

the next day i woke to some beautiful images
i wish the pictures did it justice
but take my word for it , easy peasy, then perfect photos that really pop!!

Monday, June 11, 2012

encaustic class

it's been a while since i got out the shellac
today i just wanted to experiment to see what could happen
above, an old piece from last summer
it was just sitting in my studio looking really plain
so i thought it would be something i could play with
 i used a thin brush and just started adding shellac
along the water lines and the reeds hit it with the blow torch
it was too thin, so i added more shellac with a bigger brush and tried it again

for this board i started witha map and a few layers of wax
i wanted to create a landscape so i covered the bottom with shellac
after waiting a few minutes i hit it with the blow torch
since today was all about experimenting i decided to cover the bottom
again with shellac and only hit some spots with the torch
then i added just a bit more in a few spots to add some depth
once i was finished the top was looking a little bright so
i did a thin coat repeated the same process
now i will decide if i want to add a photo transfer

for this one i added several photos first and then the shellac
i think i will play with this one some more

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

resin and wire jewelry

my favorite so far

on my last trip to   john bead   i bought several bezels with matching wire
my friend carmi gave me a package of the new jewelry resin by envirotex 
she also has a fantastic resin blog where you can find out all kinds of tips and tricks
i used some of my favorite photos to get me started and then used the resin
it worked wonderfully, no bubbles!!!
next i drilled some holes around the bezels and then they sat
i wanted to add the wire but with a twist, so i kept looking and deciding
finally a spark!!

one i started twisting i couldn't stop, the beads started flying and before i knew it
i had several done

Sunday, June 3, 2012

one thing always leads to another

for weeks now i have been working on a flagstone patio
first i had to dig up the sod, then level the ground, added some fabric screening and
i was ready to head to the local landscaping store
4 trips with 200lbs each
did i mention i love my bug!!! it's great for any job

once i got all the stone moved from the car to the backyard the puzzle began
it took me several day to finally get it just right
i used sand to level and heighten some of the stones
once it settles a bit i will add in the mortar

while i was at the landscaping store i found some really interesting rocks

and of course the forklift had some great texture on it
which lead me to photoshop where i converted it to b/w and added it to my poppy photo

i duplicated the poppy  and texture photos several times
tried on several filters and played with all the blending modes
finally i added a layer mask from shadowhouse

 
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