I don’t know of any artist that doesn’t love to try new techniques.  My friend, artist extraordinaire, Joyce Shelton, and I were talking about this very thing the other day ~ how we’ve tried so many different things, then moved on.  I used to feel guilty about buying tools & supplies, only work in a particular medium for a little while, then abandoning it, possibly forever.  But not anymore, I believe that we need to keep trying different things, otherwise you might never find the one medium/technique that makes your heart sing.

So began my foray into collage painting.  Joyce had taken a workshop with the very talented Elizabeth Hilaire Nelson, and when I checked out her wesbite, I recalled that I had read an article by her in Cloth Paper Scissors (Nov/Dec 2008) regarding this type of collaging.  I of course pulled it out and read it again.  I also recalled having read the article twice before (I keep issues of CPS in my car) because I was so intrigued by the process.

Now I was immediately inspired to give it a whirl and Joyce was starting a large-scale “painting”, so we decided to make a day of it at her place.  But first, I had to do some homework, starting with an under painting on Luon (thin board you can get a Lowe’s).  You don’t want to get too carried away with the under painting because it is just a color road map.

Then I spent a blissful Sunday afternoon creating what I would “paint” with.  I used printouts of my own patterns, rice paper, scrapbook papers, old maps, pages from old books, bags I’d saved, etc. and covered them with paint, stamping with both store-bought stamps, hand-carved rubber stamps and anything else I had laying around that looked like it might make an interesting impression.  I concentrated mostly on shades of green, yellow & ivory.

Now, let’s get started!  All you have to do now is rip little pieces of paper and glue them down with medium (we used soft gloss gel).  Well, OK, there is a little thought that goes into which pieces & colors :-)

Here’s Joyce, so impatient to get started on her Van Gogh sky, she didn’t even finish the under painting.

What a glorious, fun mess we made!

And here is my finished piece….  (You’ll have to check Joyce’s blog down the road for hers ~ it’s BIG and is going to take some time!

Let’s  get a closer look, shall we?  My favorite part are the dots in the neck of the bottle.  Ironically, that is the only scrap of paper that is not from my stash ~ I plucked it from Joyce’s pile!

p.s. Elizabeth teaches workshops in this technique all over, so check her site and maybe there is one near you ~ don’t miss the fun!

My very talented friend Robin Zingone has started a wonderful charitable project and made it so easy to participate. Lots of creative goods have been donated and can be purchased for a minimum of $25. Four sets of my Thirsty Stone coasters have just been added.

Check out The Robin Zingone Project to purchase and shop all the other items for sale. Hurry, it’s first come first serve! This month’s charity is Audobon.  With a century-long legacy of conservation in the Gulf region, Audubon was quick to respond to the crisis. Audubon’s mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

A friend of mine’s birthday was several weeks ago and for once, I was on time to getting a pressie out to her.

Then, just as I was closing in on finishing this market bag made from my FreshAire fabric for StudioE, my machine took an unexpected trip to the sewing machine hospital.  They told me it would be home, humming away, in one week.

Well, FOUR weeks later I was able to finish this pressie…..

….and send it out a month late, thus keeping my record for rarerly acknowledging birthdays on time, safely intact.

Sometimes you just gotta play hooky.  That’s what I did last Friday with my mom and niece.  We went to the bead store and had a couple hours of great fun making some new bling.

Another July, another show.  Just back from the Atlanta Gift Show where I walked my feet off, talked endlessly with everyone from clients, to potential clients, to artist friends and random strangers, obtained maximum sensory overload each and every day, as well as indulged in a few good meals.

This lovely display at Kalalou certainly added to the visual stimulation.  If I owned a store, I would do the majority of my buying right here.

They just had the coolest things…

And aren’t these fun from Occasionally Made?  They’re rain boots!  How clever!

Here’s just a few of my coasters now available at ThirstyStone… Do I look distracted?

If I do, it is because I had just spotted Bryan Batt from Mad Men… I was obviously so star-struck I forgot to remove my lovely reading glasses from my head!  Then again, who’d notice the glasses with that hunk standing next to me?

Now for a bit of lunch with my fellow artists, gal-pals, Joyce Shelton and Carol Eldridge.  Wake up, Joyce, there’s many more floors to see!

One of the nice things about a show is catching up with art friends from all over the country…

Pictured here (L-R) Jane Maday, Terri Conrad, Martha Collins, Joyce Shelton, Phyllis Dobbs, Sue Zipkin, Me (seated) with Carol Eldridge seated next to me.  Also in attendance but somehow missing from the shot are Kathy Weller, Tammy Browning-Smith and Janet Wrenke Frisch. Wow ~ what a lot of talented ladies in one place!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the mountain of follow up that was generated by all the great meetings I had at the show.  Certainly not my favorite part of it all, but a necessary part of the biz!

Yup. It’s offical ~ it is now a tradition to go there when we’re in Sarasota.  I will admit, I am addicted.  While I didn’t find any treasures to drag home this time (well, none that would fit in my house or budget anyway), I found plenty of inspiration.

Like these giant wings… I mean what a statement these would make on the right wall, eh?

And I loved the sign taped to them…

There was a sold sign on this baby.  Wonder what the new owner will do with it?  I could see it as part of a display in a cool shop…

I wonder where these doors came from?  They were ginormous…

I have to say what inspires me the most here is always the patina of some of the items.  There are some pretty good faux finishers out there, but I don’t think anybody can replicate the job done by Mother Nature and Father Time…

That’s it for this time ~ until my next Sarasota foray…

I have a thing for wooden trays.  And wooden boxes.  Love ‘em & buy ‘em often at yard sales, thrift stores, etc…  I bought this tray many moons ago, who knows where.  It is small & shallow and in the past, I have used it to hold candles for a centerpiece or to carry a few small things outside.  I did the wood burning on it a few years ago when I got the wood burner, with the intention of finishing it and, here, I finally have!

A little whack with the hammer cured the slight separation at that corner.

While I was working on the back porch table, I gave the tray a swipe of the green stain and another of the dark walnut over that.

Then I finished it off with a coat of polyurethane.

And, since there was glue residue on the bottom of the inside of the tray, I decided to really finish it with a lovely piece of moss green felt.  I cut it to fit, but didn’t glue it so that if it becomes soiled, I can replace it easily.

I love Homefires’ Jellybean Rugs.  I’m not just saying that because they license designs from me.  I am saying it because they truly are a quality product and I am proud to show off my work on them!  Here are my most recent designs…

Gracie was kind enough to help with the styling of this shot…

And this design, similar to the above Jellybean Rug, is for their Home Accent line…

This is just a fun, fun, fun, product.  These napkins stand up for decorating a cute table. There are my latest designs with ThemeNaps.  I understand that this sketchy look is doing very well ~ hooray!

The moment you’ve been waiting for….the finished table!  (click for larger view)

…and a closer look… You can see here the “worn” edges I created…  I think I did a pretty good job matching the top, trim & legs in color.  Not that it mattered to me all that much; it is just a back porch table…

Here’s a closer look at the finish on top which really is slightly darker than it appears here.  And for some reason the little nicks & dents don’t show in this shot either.  But they’re there….

Overall, I would say we’re both very happy with our homemade table and think it will serve us well for many years to come.  I’ve never made furniture before and I thought it was great fun!  Of course, Captain Hubby did the carpentry part and a fine job at that.  What a sweetie he is to help me with all my crazy ideas…

As you can see here, the chairs don’t exactly match ~ they’re just comfy back porch chairs…

And, of course, I had to take my wood burner and sign our masterpiece on the underside…

Now…what do I want to make next….?