Artistic Renderings: February 2013

Recycle Pretties

There are times when I go thrifting or to a garage sale and find glass that is too unique or pretty to pass up. I love something like this for loose change, candleholder, jewelry holder for my dresser etc. I have glued a cordial glass and a cup together to get an item that can be used 2 different ways .... These make great display pieces for boutique events to display jewelry ....
I also like the ones that are not so high like the bottom one, filled with rice to use as a display. It sets in the bathroom with pretty little soaps. It is a beautiful leafed plate glued to a short glass candle stick holder.

So see what you might find on your next outing that can be recycled.

Mr. Roo Mixed Media Assemblage

Mr. Roo is done. I have added a blurred effect to the picture but on the left is a chain with a key on it and over to the right top edge is Mr Roo done in scrabble letters. Legs have been added to the left and right corners and the bell is free standing. The feather at the bottom I made using steampunk scrapbook paper and fringed with fringing sissors... The curtain is a vintage hand crocheted collar that worked perfectly to give the appearance of a window. I "think" the piece is done but one just never knows. It is setting where I will walk by often and will be able to determine "done" or "more".

This is a FUN piece.

Mr. Roo

Mr. Roo started when my husband brought home this loud metal cow bell; from all places, Harbor Freight.

When I completed the bell I thought I was "done" but apparently not as it is working in to be a piece of mixed media assemblage and it has become a process. All of my pieces will be one of a kind...and a lot of creative time is spent on pieces from the start of conception unti the completed delivery.

I should have 98% of the new piece done by the beginning of the week...but the other 2% seems to come after a week or so have passed.

Enjoy your art.

Key Necklace by Dragyngirl

This is the awesome necklace that my grand daughter made me for Christmas..... The key is vintage ( not a replica) and she has wired swarowski crystals and seed beads around the top opening of the key. Around the shaft of the key she has handbeaded a cover which really dresses up the piece making it unique and one of a kind. The chain is gunmetal, and the crystals and beadwork is done in shades of purple and mauve which are just gorgeous. The beading she has done is intricate and very time consuming..

High five Meghan.

A New Niche

In our master bedroom is a little niche that wasn't being utilized and I had the trundle bed in front of the window. (I have had all of my buttons, mailing items, etc. in our dining room, along with my computer printer, etc and the business has grown to the point where I had to have a designated processing area.

This niche area just kinda "was" and so I have taken the 2 corner shelving units you see and placed one on each side of the table where I will do my mailing. The desk has 3 good sized drawers so it holds my baggies and business cards, etc.

I still have the shelving unit in the left corner to go through so this will give me another 3 shelves. (the piece came from a Tole shoppe that was going out of business (handmade) where I took classes, did classes and loved going in to pour over new books, surfaces, etc. so it is a great memory for me.

The unit in the right on the right my husband made for me when we lived in California and I love the scalopped gingerboardy trim on the top... The knobs I got at an antique store in Penna. and they have 3 primitive houses on the tops. This piece holds all of my buttons, jewelry, paintings etc. that are on Etsy and in mini plastic containers.

The shabby chic white table in front of the window is a chippy piece that I got at a garage sale and is one of my all time favorite pieces.

On the right wall which you can barely see is an extra bed....well 2 actually as it is a trundle bed. Might be a neat place to come take an afternoon nap once I am done. I have given myself a week to complete.

I think I am going to look for some different curtains to go on this window so will add it to my "look for" list I carry with me in my purse. I would love to find some Dark Midnight Blue sheer for that window....

NOW.......... comes the "unfun" part. Finding new homes for all of the "things" that came out of the 4 pieces I put here. Hopefully about 1/2 of it I can destash or trash.... I have a mess in the bedroom, dining room, and back down in the area where I work... Shoot.

BUT.......Once again it feels good to be getting more organized...which is something a lot of us procrastinate on, and I am soooo guilty. I am not going to say "tomorrow" anymore ...

Just have to do things in "spurts" and "rests" lol.... learning how to change my lifestyle of living.
My "rests" will be "create time" so that is like my "reward" for doing what needs to be done that is not fun..

I have had this faucet piece for nearly a year
waiting for the right place....so to help tie things together it is on the wall to the left above the desk.

Starting to move things around and add things that aren't just the norm is what is fun....to live with art.
I moved this chair, added a handmade crocheted doily to the seat, a couple of magazines on the rungs
and my stash of Stampington, Jewelry Affaire, etc. arranged this way and that way on the floor. I will have to be more conciencous about dusting. but I like the look....and so for me "it works" and that is who I set out to please....

On the water faucets I painted a landscape on 3 pieces of glass with space between layers and matted that I did several years ago, and a popular spot here in oregon along the ocean up North is a photo I took and have done a painting of.....I need to find that piece and change in out .....

And my final shot was taken a few minutes ago....it is dark out, just one light on and a kinda "closed shop" look......

Giraffe

My daughter brought this back to me when she went to the Tuscon Gem, Mineral and Bead show in Tuscon last week. I really love giraffes and have a giraffe bracelet she made for me so will have to look at it and come up with a way that I can wear the two items as a set...

The item is first of all; and most important handmade. I like that it is unique and one of a kind. To me that makes it an heirloom. ORIGINAL art. When you can take someone elses art work (such as with this piece) and add your own "rest of the item" it becomes really super special in my book....You won't be seeing everyone with one, and I love to say "I made it" and then give credit to the original artist for their part in the design.....

So....another project tray.... and ideas to come up with.

I REALLY miss my groups, and those who were my friends...miss reading what they are doing, etc... but I was just spending too much time on the computer and had to cut it down to be able to create....and keep up my Etsy site... Hopefully I can get myself into a schedule of sorts and can maybe come back ..... if they let me and I have to hope a few will check in here to see what I am up to.

Mixed Packs of Buttons

I am beginning to list several mixed packs of buttons on my Etsy Site. The above is an Animal pack of buttons that are 5/8" and the buttons to the right are 1/2" and perfect for jewlery clasps (ie: on bracelets) and I call this pack Orbital.

My daughter thought these out of the box sets would be ideal for those fashion artists who like things just a bit different, or don't want 3 of the same button when doing mixed media, altered, art etc.

Take a look when you have time.

http://www.artisticrenderings.etsy.com

ATC Glitter Roo

I have no idea who the design artist is of this piece.....but this is my rendition of his/her design.

I have painted on an ATC portrait grade canvas and Liquitex Soft and Heavy Body paints as well as my FAVORITE Glamour Dust paints by Americana DecoArt. It is framed with a gray/green mat which fits in a 4" x 6" frame.

This will be sold on my Etsy site W/O the frame allowing whomever purchases to choose the frame of Their choice.

There are many small pattern designs I have collected and have decided to do some ATC
painting, mixed media, etc. They are small,
inexpensive, low shipping, and all of the pieces will be one of a kind and not copies.....

It would really be nice if I could capture the way the glitter enhances the designs and colors but the light just reflects pretty bad and gives a negative rather than the positive delight of these paints.

Believe Tree Assemblage

Believe is one of my "pay attention words" for 2013. I have wanted to do a Wire Tree assemblage so I decided to sit down

and do a tree..... I wandered around downstairs picking up things that I thought might work well together and assembled this piece

a couple of nights ago.

I am not sure if "this is it" or if I am going to do more. Part of me says leave it alone and yet another part of me says use and go farther...so I think that means making another similar to this one so that both of my whims are nurtured.

I love bare trees, limb structure, whispy, nature, vintage, rocks, driftwood, jewelry pieces and buttons .... so this is a good believe for me.....

My next step will be to go scrounging for another substrate to use.

It is so much fun to create....and create for me. If someone sees something they like. contact me and we will see what we can come up with to customize especially for you.

Markham Gold

At the same place that I got my lampshade today I picked this book up off the floor and very quickly leafed through it to see it was photos of artwork. I looked on the inside first page and it was marked $1 so I decided it would really come in handy with mixed media...and for that price .. what a deal.

I just finished looking at it closer and it is beautiful. There are over 11,000 , yes, 11,000 pages of beautiful age old art. The page edges are gilded gold, and there is a gold ribbon marker.

When I went on the internet to see if I could find out anything on the book there was only one site listed....a bookstore which had the book listed as
$103.00....so I guess that was a good buy. But even more the contents of different artists' work to look at all in one place.

It is fun to look at pieces I like and wonder how they achieved a certain look, effect, etc. and then
how I might be able to do it with acrylics.... You can learn a lot just by looking and seeing....so this book will get plenty of use.

SOooooo 2 treasures this week.

Lampshade (Before)

This is my treasure for today. I saw it at the thrift store last week and it "haunted me" so today I went back and it was still there so it came home with me for $1.00. The framework is metal and good and strong so I will take all of the material off and will be redoing with vintage dresser scarves that I have been purchasing when I found one I liked. Several years ago I took a class at Joannes for "recovering" lamp shades so I have the knowledge I need to do it successfully.

The shade is 18 1/2" tall, the top diameter is 3 1/2" and the bottom is 9" so it is a tall, thin shade.... I may use it for the vintage kerosene stove that I wanted to turn into a lamp....the shape is right and I think will work perfect.

Cigar Box Assemblage

I found a smoke shop here that sells wooden, the heavy cardboard, and the empty cigarette tins at a very reasonable price (at least I am willing to pay the price) so I am hoping that tomorrow I can get started with an assemblage using one of the boxes.

Nothing in mind except some neat wallpaper that looks like tin ceiling tile.....this is where I will start...and where I end up nobody knows....

All of the really nice wood ones were
gone ath the shop when I was there as a man had come in right before me and purchased 80 of them . I will stop tomorrow while I am out on errands and see what he has in stock now. It will be nice to have a "pick" and not just ordering unseen from the cigar company I normally buy from....and I won't have to pay shipping anymore so to pay a bit more for the actual cigar box is "worth it"..... I want to get a real boxy one and make a clock out of it. That should be a fun one to design and work up....or should I say work up and design?

Tonight I was making knit sleeves for a denim jacket I want to redo.. I will add some steampunk elements too on the front and back. I am also crocheing what I am calling a Dred Lock necklace. Seems as if I am flitting all over the place....but I am learning a lot, feel more creative, and spend at least 1-2 hours per day (if not more)working on "something".... Removing myself from a very active Yahoo group has relieved a lot of pressure (much of which I inflicted upon myself) but in relieving the pressure it has allowed me to not think aout what I should and needed to be doing and giving me more time to
be more creative....and channeling my thoughts geared in that direction.

Chair

I am wanting to paint this chair as it has so many different artistic "parts" with vertical and horizonal...but just how?

Surfing the internet has not brought forward anything that I found inspirational so I guess it is up to me .... I think I will start with black or dark brown for the basecoat....and then, and then...well, who knows what might happen to this piece of furniture.

I LOVE tables and chairs....but my husband is beginning to loose his sense of humor and my daughter tells my grandson "count how many chairs Neema has in her house....and the prankstering begins. So I need a WOW factor...

Oeeeee, Boeeeeeeee

Shadows and Reflections

Sometimes we find shadows and reflections in the wierdest places and when I see something like this I marvel at the fun there is in photography art. I will crop this and will use it in a piece of collage art..... what was being reflected? A pair of glasses..... the light was a desk lamp..... This will also work well in one of my assemblage pieces that is "trayed".....

Additions to Studio

Today was a really nice day so I got my husband to do some honey do's for me.

(Left) He hung in a corner my makeshift, non lighting, chandelier which will have ATC's, tags, cards, etc. that either I have received or made myself.

I purchased minature plastic clothes pins which will clip the art to the (Art-delier) oooe, that sounds a bit French and French is in so "make your Art-delier soon.

(Right). Although it might be hard to identify hangs a string of Chinese lanterns with printing on the outside of the rice paper hanging once again from the ceiling. On the cord in between the lanterns I have clipped art work .... I realize that because these two new items are on the same wall, and at different heights I have to add one more hanging item. It looked really pretty tonight when I went downstairs and just lit the lanterns so I am pleased. I prefer atmospheric lighting vs harsh overhead. I may decide to be a bit more artistic with the lanterns (now that I have seen pictures) and maybe have a lantern somehow hover beside or above some of the artwork to illuminate.... I need to go down there and work, or just sit to see how I can make the change. This will eliminate the hanging effect and will be the only off set I will need.

It is so much fun to have "art in progress" with this room and I think eventually (maybe by spring) I will know exactly what direction my art is going and I will be able to get rid of a LOT of books and supplies.

Today's Treasures

Today was Pru's grooming day so I had 3 hours to pass away so I did a little thrift storing and below are 2 of my finds.

The fishing pole is only about 5" long...the plastic wrapper is still on the cork handle....and in perfect shape. (75 cents). Then in another store I got the pool ball stir-ers which were in a shot glass. The little pool balls are just going to be perfect as I have a "mans" mixed media piece I have "trayed". ( and the fishing pole just might fit in also.... hmmmmm ) I got the pool ball stir-ers, the shot glass and an older cribbage board for $1.00 so I feel as if "as far as treasures go" it was a good day.

PS. Pru is "pritty", smells so clean and fresh, and is supporting a very colortive 3 cornered necktie. She will sleep good tonight...

Artistic Renderings