Fiber Optics 24/7

I presented the Group of Eight challenge for the quarterly due date of November 2015. This challenge was to be art that could be viewed 24/7. It had to have built in lighting into the piece or be glow in dark...whatever it takes so that the art could be viewed day and night without exterior lighting. I had been dreaming of this challenge for years waiting for my turn and I was really excited about it. Not sure the group felt the same way but the results of this challenge were phenomenal.

I created this piece knowing that I wanted my 24/7 to incorporate fiber optics. This is the first piece I made with this technique and I will hopefully do more in the future. I started out with a machine embroidered tree that I made many many years ago in a workshop hosted by Sheree Schlote. I then created the cloth from a distressed canvas base, layering and painting as I went.  The fiber optics were hand stitched into place. It was then mounted on a wood art board and my husband cut the holes and he wired the fiber optics up to a battery. This piece lights up when switched on. The tree trunk bleeds yellow light and the tree tips and leaves light up red and yellow. I have not successfully been able to take a night shot of it.

Shopping for MORE...

This past week was a beading break. I was in the studio & pricking my fingers endlessly until the air was blue...that's enough...time to clean up & just stop pricking my damn finger. I read articles from magazines that had been sitting in the book pile and I just enjoyed my time researching new products on-line. When I go through books & magazines I mark pages with tabs for future reference. I make notes in a little book I carry with me & when I have some time I go through the tabs & do in-depth research into the products & how they're used.Then it's all about shopping. Where can I buy some of these products... So that's what I've been doing...Shopping for future art paraphernalia. Hopefully I'll be able to show something I've done using TerraSkin paper or my new Ampersand Claybords...not today but hopefully soon.

Once again I used canvas that had been sealed with gesso. I then added molding paste using a stencil for texture. Painted with metallic paint & then I added another used, painted & melted dryer sheet. I really am addicted to dryer sheets and as much as I use them...the pile just never seems to go down. Every week I have another batch to add to the stack.

 

MIxed Media Journal Cover 2

 Here's another journal cover that I made using canvas. It started as plain canvas that I painted with gesso, copper metallic paint & then I added the design. The design is made from a used dryer sheet that was painted with alcohol inks & then I heat gunned it to melt parts away in order for the base colour to show through.

I attached the design using a gloss gel medium. It turned out to be a very sturdy journal cover.

There's Beauty in Rust

Spoiler alert...the current, quarterly GOE challenge is a picture of a rusty grate. Not just any grate, it has to be something with this particular grate. It's in a golf course in Mexico & it's surrounded by grass. 

 Isn't it beautiful....I thought so but I just didn't know how to do it and make my piece interesting. I've actually been pondering it for 2 months & still nothing was coming. So I did some more intense study on the internet & decided that I was going to schedule Saturday for my encaustic bench. Now here's the spoiler part...those who don't want to see it until the reveal...don't look...all of those who would like to see it...check it out on the read more.

ATC

If you've been following my blog you'd notice that I've been working on art cloth. I took this ATC sized section from one of my art cloth experiments, hand stitched it, added beads along with a tyvek bead and copper wire. I thought that the texture was interesting. I'm really starting to like working with the tissue and cheese cloth. This particular sample was done with alcohol inks that I spritzed with water so that it ran down the length of the paper. It was quite stiff when complete and perfect for an ATC.