Altered Paint Brushes

At our latest play date we created altered paint brushes.  Our inspiration was a workshop from Michael DeMeng called Good Brushes Gone Bad.  

Artwork by Michael DeMeng from Lemoncholy's blog

(Sorry i don't like to steal/borrow photos - but i thought you should see what i am talking about in case you  cannot imagine an altered paint brush!)

 Anyway, while i did not create a scary monster face from my old paint brush.  I still tried to use some of the concepts. I started with a used large house painting style.  It is about 4" wide.  I soaked it in warm soapy water to loosen the bristles and bent and crushed with my hands to make it look frayed.

 

I gesso'd the whole thing to have a ligher base to work with.  My friend asked "why gesso something?"  Well it is like a primer.  It gives a uniform colour to your surface that dries fast and has a bit of "tooth".  You could certainly use white acrylic paint in this application.  But the drying time is really a nice bonus with gesso! Did it feel weird to be painting a paint brush?  Yes it did!

Next i painted the bristles green to look like grass.  I clipped a few here and there to make it as scruffy as possible.  I covered the handle with floral printed tissue paper.

I got my idea for the grass/bird concept from an image on this blog about the Altered Brush Project.

The one i liked is by Angie Reece.  You can google "altered paint brushes" to see MANY illustrations for ideas!

So here is my finished Altered Paint Brush!  I added some twigs to suggest a nose and a perch for the birds.  The eyes are speckled bird's eggs,  I painted the birds a bit to make them more blue. It also makes them look less, i don't know, less like purchased craft store feather birds.  I took apart a craft bird's nest and just used a few vine-y strings to make a loose nest.  It is wired to the paintbrush.  A bit of eyelash yarn filled it out.  Then to add to the whimsy i glued on some beaded earrings and added a flower to her "hair".  I might add more!

Here is the brush that D. started with.

 

As you can see she is a devotee of DeMeng.  Of course this is far from finished - it needs paint and texture to transform it from a collection of dis-separate components into a completed art piece. Along with the paint brush, there is a protractor, toy lizard arms, a watch strap, a key and angel wings.  Stay tuned for a look at the finished product at our play date next month!

Here is S.'s work in progress.  S. used a watch face for a face and will attach an assortment of keys and metal objects to make her brush come to life.  It will also get painted and texturized to add more artistic flair.

And now - for a change of pace - a used bath brush!

 

Z. started by painting the bristles in a pretty aqua colour.  then she covered the handle with a map of Hawaii.

You'll have to wait to see how it turns out - but she plans to add this adorable mermaid/shell lady to the brush!  It will hang horizontally in her bathroom.  But not before more details are added like glitter netting and more shells.
Check back to see how they all turned out!

Halloween Altoid Tins

 Last month we had a play date to alter altoid tins using halloween as inspiration.  This is one of mine - with a vintage image of a boy and girl - but added a pointy hat and some butterfly wings.  I got little glass bottles for everyone to add potions to their tins.

 Here is another one of mine - with a plastic glow in the dark skeleton and a white rat with an orange feather tail.

 Here is D's box filled with creepy things and black netting to hold it all in.

 Here is S's box - she used a larger tin with a window - there are two sets of eyes inside.

 Here is the back of Z's with a vintage witchy image.

Here is the front of Z's- - with a shiny moon and a creature terifying a young girl.

 Here is the tin from K showing more of those cool glass bottles filled with beads.

Here is a book cover K made to enlose her tin.

L made two tins even thought she could not spend the day with us.  I have images in an email i cannot seem to attach to this blog!  Sorry L.!

Channeling Joseph Cornell

 For our play date yesterday we had great plans.  We were to meet at SCRAP in San Francisco to purchase items to create a Joseph Cornell inspired assemblage piece.  Unfortunatley, SCRAP isn't open on Sundays.  so we had to improvise.  D. , K. and I all "shopped" in my craft room stead for chunky found items to be used inside a cigar box, or some other vessel.  For my piece above, i decided to make use of my fair sized collection of vintage office supplies.  I used a fairly shallow hinged cigar box lined with typewriter ads from an old magazine, circa 1930's.  I added some children's blocks to say TYPE whereas writer was done with some store bought letters in a cool font.  Pretty much everything else was old - the lids from round packets of brads and tacks, the red boxes are pencil leads, some old folding rulers border some vintage stamps, rows of trading stamps create some separation.  Hard to tell in this photo - but the three office machines are on raised block adding some depth to the right side.

 Here is D's box - which she actually started last month at a workshop she took at SCRAP.  This was the incentive for us to all go to the store.  If you have never been, please check out their blog.  It is a wonderful place to find stuff to use in art projects.  Originally founded for school teachers to get cheap art supplies - it is now a mecca for all types of collage and assemblage artists.  Just about everything in her box, an old slide sorter, was found in the store.  That's Amelia Earhart behind a row of test tubes.  assorted plugs and outlets give it that cool mysterious crazy scientist look.

 Here is Z's box -  a work in progress.  Originally a slatted wood tray,  after some struggles with adhesives she covered the back with a vinyl map - cut from a purse!  Hey - no household item is safe in the world of assemblage, people!!  She is staying true to the Cornell aesthetic, with a series of boxes and circular shapes.  Note the repetition of the objects. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Here is K's box - a hinged box from the craft store i think she white washed.  going with a "kids" theme - she used a large auto bingo card on the right and let colours play off of that.  that red car was shiny and new, but after some serious sanding - made it look apropriately vintage.  She's not quite done - plans to add red hots candies to those test tubes for a flash of more red and also more playfullness. Also note the repetition of cirular shapes, so prevalent in Cornell's work. The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round...

One of our play date buddies could not make it due to horrible sunday traffic, and another is driving across the country to spend the summer back east.  Did they ever miss a fun and challenging and rewarding play date!  Next month - canvases with plaster....

If you are not familiar with Joseph Cornell's masterful works - please go right away to google images and check them out!.  Better yet - if there is ever an exhibit in your area - you must go.

Creative Outlet Play Date

Six artsy girlfriends spent Sunday afternoon doing something creative.  With an outlet.  Yes - an actual electrical outlet.  Get it?  A "creative outlet"!!

Micheal deMeng's Creative Outlet

D. has taken many classes with the altered art genius, Micheal deMeng and purchased one of his Creative Outlets so we'd seen a sample of what was possible. Click HERE to see more examples of his work. Even so, there was some intimidation about how to get started, what to bring, what if you don't like his "dark" style?  But as always seems to happen at these lively gatherings, we all feed off of each others muses, share each others loot, and end up with a fantastic array of art projects.  

When gathering up my tools and materials the day before, i saw an angel evolve - with a optical lens face, and brass and capiz shell wings.  The body of course, would be the outlet itself!  I just kept layering and layering until i felt it captured  the spirit of a DeMeng piece - with the interesting juxtaposition of materials so prevalent in his work.  Albeit with a prettier and softer pallet of cream, gold and touches of blue.

Here is after i glued the wings and shell to the back of the outlet, and wired the lens.  The adorable face came from a copy of a vintage christmas card - so angelic.  And here is my finished angel! She has porcelain arms, a copper ruffled collar, a snowflake hat, a blue crystal bodice with a blue wire bow.  Her skirt is a set of carded buttons, a piece of mica and some ecru lace. I honestly had not planned on one, but a bird quite literally landed in my work area, so was added to the final piece, i glued it onto one of the buttons strung on a piece of wire to create a golden halo.

Keeping in mind these projects are at various stages of completion, i'd love to share my friends' work with the blogsphere.  Here is Z's outlet turned face, complete with blue hair barrette eyes and some bling-y earrings.  The metal face part was found in a parking lot!  Treasures are everywhere you look....!

Here is L's whimsical framed box, with an assortment of fimo clay elements adding to the fun.  She has a striped snake tail slithering into the central compartment covered with charms and a piece of measuring tape wrapped in wire. Two metal hands give this a high five, twice!

Here is S's deeply layered outlet, with an open work vine covered round tin box, a faucet crank, a protracter, wings and leaves and flourishes, topped with a locket.  She will probably paint the whole thing and make it look quite different than it does now.

Here is D's creation.  Well - it is hard to really capture it.  It started as a protractor framed outlet with wings and gears and a watch and a spoon and a baby.  Then it got added to a wire airplane sculpture.  and here it is on a tin box, waiting for the glue to dry. As you can tell - she has the most experience with the DeMeng style!

Here is K's piece, still waiting for the carousel horse to be painted and final assembly.  Love her assortment of metals - silver, brass, and her signature copper.  It is fascinating how you take such disseparate items and make a pulled together art piece.

Since i finished my angel pretty quick, i went ahead and created a second creative outlet. Would you like to create one of these for yourself, or as a gift for your wacky sister, aunt, friend? 

Ask your husband if he has any extra electrical outlets in the garage/basement.  Oddly enough, most of them do.  Or go to the hardware store.  I do NOT recommend you actually remove one from the wall!! (yuck yuck)  Then grab two forks (or spoons or a spatula or a whisk would look cool) and wire it to the outlet.  Then add whatever you have in your junk drawer with E6000 or 7800 glue until you have enough.  Whatever "enough" means, it is kinda in the eye of the beholder!  Then you can paint or stain it to make some of the elements more cohesive.  I just used alcohol ink and a Q-tip to add a golden glow to my metals.  Some bright pink craft wire, and some white buttons dyed bright pink add the whimsy.  My little baby is painted gold and dipped with pigment dust and sits on a fork tine stage, behind a western style belt buckle proscenium arch.  Hell yeah.

Cigar Box Assemblage Workshop

I'll be teaching this Sunday, December 7th at Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley, CA. We'll be doing my Cigar Box Assemblage workshop. This is a jam packed, "let your hair down and play" kind of class. We start by prepping a cigar box to be covered with papers. Then you need some focal point images to center your theme. Next you get to play in Diane's stash of found object goodies. Porcelain doll parts, bits of jewelery, rusty metal findings, birds and butterflies - all can be combined together to create a magical box of treasures to keep for yourself or to share as a thoughtful gift.

All materials are supplied of course, but you can bring your own ephemera or photographs to add to the box. Please contact Scrapbook Territory to sign up for the workshop.

Here are some pictures of my student's work.