Archive for October, 2010
High Desert Serenity
Serenity is an interesting subject. When I look at my artwork and around my studio, I do not see serenity. Yet the acts of making the art and puttering around my studio give me serenity.
I just looked up the word serenity. The words used were calm, tranquil, peaceful also used were composed, collected, placid…The first set of words works for me, but what I really think when I think serenity, is centered or poised. In this watercolor of the high desert, the entire landscape is poised, waiting for the incoming storm front. This is how I see serenity, standing calmly in the face of any storm.
I fell back on an old faithful friend, vellum, to add journaling to the page spread. On the left is the Serenity prayer and on the right is where I look when a storm approaches.
The Serenity Prayer and Aphorisms
Left side – Serenity Prayer
Grant to us the serenity of mind
To accept that which cannot be changed,
Courage to change that which can be changed,
And wisdom to know the one from the other.
Right side – Aphorisms
Happiness is a function of Acceptance
Love is a function of Communication
Vitality is a function of Participation
Self-Expression is a function of Responsibility
Home made decorative tape!
If you have known me for any length of time, you know I love, love, LOVE decorative tapes. Imagine the ecstasy of learning how to make my own! I took a class with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer in late August. A small part of that class was making our own tape in a nervous, sort of rushed way.
I’ve been up to my ears in Art Camp for Women since I returned from that August set of classes and haven’t had a moment, with all the requisite components, to play with the technique. One afternoon at Camp, I had everyone tucked into their respective places and was looking forward to 2 – 3 unscheduled hours! And there was a small, superfluous craft sheet lying there just begging to be used…
The basic necessity for making tape that I don’t own is a teflon craft sheet. I have a huge craft sheet on order, but it hasn’t arrived yet. [This is a Ranger product and can be ordered from your favorite independent Ranger dealer.]
An alignment of opportunity…
How to make your own decorated tape:
1. Lay down strips of masking tape on your craft sheet side by side
2. Paint with a thin layer of white gesso – let dry
3. Paint with favorite acrylic paint – let dry
4. Stencil with a favorite large stencil – let dry
5. Add another stencil-maybe use a metallic paint this time
6. Add any other decorating technique you wish
I was so excited to make the tape that I forgot the layer of gesso. I think the main reason for gesso is to make the color brighter on the otherwise dull, brownish, masking tape.
…and necessity
The necessity part – why I thought of making tape – one of the campers and I both were using journals that had perforated pages. When the pages got heavy with collage or paint, they were pulling apart at the perforation, thus the necessity for tape was born.
Tape reinforcement two pages
Reinforcements for the perforated page - can you see the perferations on the lower page?
As you can see in the actual usage the larger pattern is, of course, lost. But this gives such a glorious random pattern for your individual strips of tape, that it is well worth it. To save left over tape (rarely is there much left over) I am using an old, cheap, non-teflon craft sheet that has seen better days. I lay down the tape and roll up the sheet and insert it into an old cardboard tube left from wax paper.
