YA NEVER KNOW

...and they are soft as a baby's skin :)

Suzette and I are always looking for new ways to use things.  This is especially true of recycling items, but sometimes it's just a new use for something commonly used in another way.  Don't know if it is due to the new grandson, but lately I've been using a lot of baby wipes in my art work.  Seems to me the uses are myriad.  Dry one and then print an image on it--either transfer or straight digital print--is one way.  Torn or whole, these images can then be used in a lot of different ways, adding texture and interest to a piece.  Or use the wet wipe in painting in the same way you might use a finger.  These are just two of the ways. This gives you new options with paint. See what you can do!

Birthday Wishes

Suzette here. Today is my twins 15th birthday! I always like to make them a special card. This year everything seems so rushed...the Sawdust Preview Party is next Tuesday and we are not yet ready!! So late last night I ran to my studio to do a quick photo transfer onto backgrounds I had prepared during our last Sunday Studio Workshop. We are always encouraging students to make lots of backgrounds, and this is one good reason why! When you need to rush a card, you have a surface to work on!!

Now back to getting things ready...Opening day of the Sawdust Art Festival is June 24th! Hope to see you there! For more on hours, classes, special events, and other info click Here.

Judge a Book by It's Cover...

Suzette here. While getting things ready for this Sunday's workshop, I paused to go thru the 'book' I made last year. I had used a number of 6"x9" pieces during one of our two day workshops that ended up being a good record of many of our techniques. I had worked the front and back of each piece, which made me think of them as pages. The only way I could think of containing them as a book was to put them in a box. I just happened to have the right size box at hand. I collaged layers of paper to the outside, added a few more details, and had an Art Box Book. We hope to devote one of our Sunday workshops to demonstrating various ways to make Art Books and Boxes. We will show the results here when we do!

WHY, WHY,WHY?????





We both subscribe to an on-line daily newsletter from a popular craft magazine.  Today's premier article is about stenciling.  While Suzette and Cherril have been using stenciling in their workshops for quite a while, it seems it is "making a comeback."  But most of the recent articles tout spray paint as the way to do it.  Why?  Expedient, perhaps, but both wasteful and environmentally unsound.  So, again, we ask, Why?  Using dry brush methods with acrylics works great.  So...Why?

NO spray paint!

To play with this and other methods, join us in our mixed media Sunday Studio Workshops!

TRAVELS WITH...



What bits can you see hidden here?


Many of us do not have time for travel or just don't travel far from home.  Sometimes, though, it is fun to add a bit of the exotic to our mixed media work.  Cherril's daughter's mother-in-law (who she just loves, btw) just returned from three weeks visiting artists and artisans in Japan.  Before she left she was asked to bring back any dropped pieces of paper or other "bits" that she might encounter in her travels.  Boy, did she!  Cherril can hardly wait to include some of these pieces in her work.  Do you have anyone traveling to far-off places?  Or are you?  Possibilities abound!!  Bring your bits to one of our Sunday Studio Workshops and play with us.

WHAT A DAY!



Matilijas are in full bloom right now

 Who would ever have thought this day would be so fantastic?  Awakening to dark gray that soon turned to rain, I never dreamed that the skies would turn to such a clear blue with visual all the way to the white cliffs of Catalina.  But turn it did and just in time for our Sunday Studio Workshop of Mixed Media Playtime.  A full house of students, about half of whom were new, came to play with the many fun techniques.  Suzette and I had fun as always and think our students did too.  Now we wait for our Postal Art to arrive after secretly picking the names of the one to whom we would send our own special gift.  Life is good.

Playing with Images

Suzette here. A few weeks ago my daughter and I went to the Long Beach Outdoor Antique and Collectible Market. I 'shopped' with my camera, taking photos of items I thought would make interesting image transfers. I have recently found a technique for transfering ink jet images onto mixed media backgrounds that works for me. We have been teaching it in our Sunday Studio Workshops. Below is the original photo which I tweeked abit in Photoshop, printed, and transfered onto a mixed media background. This is so much fun! And full of surprises--although the technique works, it's not always what you expected.