God's Eyes with Sari Ribbons

My friends and i created three colourful God's Eyes using chopsticks and Sari ribbons.

You can read about these miniature weavings on Wikipedia HERE.

 The Sari ribbons are just that - torn strips of silk from old Indian sari's - sold in a bundle for about $20 at a craft store.

 Each ribbon was an assorted length - so you just tied to another one and kept wrapping.

 They turned out so pretty - but could be even more interesting with beads or other danglies!

Art is You - and few More Pics!

 Just wanted to share a few more images from my weekend at Art is You Petaluma.   On Thursday evening i attended a doodle stencil party with  StencilGirl products.  We each got a square piece of foam core and a Sakura Identi-Pen.  Each table had a dozen or so crafty ladies and a big pile of stencils to play with.  We were also given a special stencil to keep designed for the Art is You attendees.  My design above was done with two different stencils, and some random doodling.

 Here is the design i did on the back.  It could look very cool if i coloured it in.  It was a fun casual evening - i made some new friends. and there was cake!

In the hotel ballroom was a semi permanent store set up.  We could come by and shop any time.  there was a  great assortment of found objects and doodads.  I bought many cute things i cannot wait to use.

 There was also something called the DeStash table.  A place where people could leave things they no longer wanted. I picked up a nice bunch of ribbons and trims.

 A couple of faux-vintage patterns.  These are fun images to use in collage.

 Here are a couple of blank plaques i can use for something!

 There was a pile of scrapbook paper - i took a few,

and all kinds of doodads - beads, buttons, trims.

 I love these little brown bottles - i got enough to share.

 Saturday night there was a vendor faire.  

I purchased some vintage paper and ephemera from a local artist.

 Plus i picked up some vintage sheet music. Feather your Nest - for my love of birds.  And a song called Diane, well, isn't it obvious?  in fact my mother used to sing this song to me when i was a little girl.  It was her nightly bedtime lullabye.  It goes, "I'm in heaven when i se you smile. Smile for me, my Diane...."  I am SOOOO happy i picked this up!

Here are some more finds from this vendor - pretty botanical illustrations from an old book.

And from one of my favorite vendor/artists, Anna Corba i purchased this delightful  bag of pink goodies!

and these vintage french house plans - love them!

Painting with Paper

I recently had a fun weekend art retreat with a couple of friends.  We wanted to try creating art with coloured paper in the style of  Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson.

I had an image picked out from a catalog - an abstract painting of a white sea bird.

 I started by drawing the bird on my cradled canvas board.  Then i filled in around it with torn pieces of blue and green paper - to create the sky and the water.

 Then i cut about a hundred feather like pieces of white and ecru paper for the feathers.  I glued everything down with matte medium.  Then i added skinny little strips of brown and green for the fronds and trees.  I gave the sky a bit of a wash of blue glaze to tone it down and make it more cohesive.  I am really happy with how it turned out!

 I started a second piece using two smaller cradled boards.  I did a rough painting of the 5 birds on a branch.

I didn't get very far before we packed it up for the day - just had time to add three different text papers to the branches.  light to medium to dark to try to create the depth and shadows.

My friend S had a plan to create a large canvas with koi fish.  She sketched the fish on paper and glued them to the canvas.  Then she painted a blue background for the water.

 Next she painted the fish if vibrant gold and pinkish tones.

 The she started to do her signature intricate collage work.  All those patterns on the fish are torn pieces of dozens of different hand painted and dyed papers.

She did not get her piece finished  - i cannot wait to see how it turns out!

 K decided to create smaller works - about 5 inch square - one for each vegetable she selected.  She started by drawing each veggie on the canvas.  then she painted each one to see the depth and shadows which she could use as a guide for the collage.

 Here are three of her veggies - maybe almost done.  She plans a background and perhaps some wording.  

Here is a closeup of the pepper - look how much texture there is from the collage.

Here are a few more K painted after i left.  Once you get started, sometimes it is hard to stop!  These will all get collage papers and be the ultimate artwork for a crafty cook's kitchen!  Thanks Elizabeth for the inspiration!  Your work is stunning....!!