Trinity School Atlanta

Quick post today. I'm so far behind in the studio. I could stand to be a better boss. 

Anyway...

I thought you might like to see my latest collaboration...with 8 year olds! Yup. I remember third grade being my fav when I was teaching in the schools. 

I had two groups of kiddos to work with, 40 each. I started by drawing flowers, birds, and leaves onto heavy water color rag. (Flowers and birds? Shocking!) I tore out the shapes and mailed them off to Atlanta. 

I've been working with the sweetest parent volunteer from Trinity and I sent her instructions for working with our mini-Picassos. I made up a list of 4 color pallets so that when the kids were painting their color mixing would be fool proof. Each child was instructed to paint one piece. 

A few weeks later they sent back all of the goodness. Oh My!! It was like Christmas opening up that box. I really loved seeing how the kids used the paints to personalize the drawings. 

After drawing out the idea on canvas I started experimenting with collage. I find Liquitex Heavy Gel Medium Matte is the best product for these heavy papers, especially when I want to paint over it later. And since I like really heavy water color paper, a strong glue is essential. 

Then I just started my usual painting routine. 

Can't you just feel the kid happiness evolving?

And there you have it! 30"x40" I haven't named it yet. Pretty darned cute if I do say so myself. I'm working on another painting right now using the pieces from the other two classes. This one is a little girl. I'm making a time lapse video of this piece. But Mercury is retrograde and I've never done this sort of thing so anything can happen. 

It's Friday. Make someone smile today. 

Hugs

Staci

Day ??-stinky stuff

I've lost track of the count:-) and I'm posting from my phone so I imagine the post will look all wonky. 

It feels so good to be back hard at work in the studio. It's not like I've left, but I've been working on so many other projects that I put aside my woodland animals on their glamping trip.

BTW, I fixed the problem with posts and comments on the blog. Please feel free to chime in here. What are you working on? Someone emailed me about a fabulous rug they remembered from their childhood that she is using as her inspiration. LOVE that! What's your inspiration right now? Hone it! Own it! Exploit it in your art making and see what comes out the other side! 

It's ironic that I'm sitting here working on a book of instructions for making my ideas when I'm all about making art with your own personal meaning. Maybe the book will serve more as a 'how to' for techniques and will inspire people to use that for their spring board. And if you want to make these projects just as I have, well I'm cool with that too!!

So  yesterday I worked on my little skunk girl and her humble abode. Here are a few progress pix. I'm going to felt that knit piece in the bottom of the cottage. I'm diggin' the vintage look of the wall paper I collaged into the walls. Not nearly finished painting all of that. Don't you love the beads going down her back for stripes? OMG! And her tail is divine!!

One other thing, please share my blog and comment. I'm going to do a give away at the end of the month so let everyone know. I'll be picking from my followers here and on Facebook.

I'm thinking it will be a small painting. Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors! Tell Washington! 

Gotta go and pack. We are off to visit the inlaws. And I'm having lunch with my BFF, the inspiration for the little skunk girl. She's a handful that one!

Tah!

staci

day 63~a little inspirational peak inside my head

I recently fell down the rabbit hole that is The Hermitage.  Oh. My. I love the way she writes and the way she sees the world. There is a magical sweetness to it all and I get lost in the fantasy. She makes me want to continue to bring to life these images and thoughts that swirl inside my brain. Pop over there and take a look.

by Rima Staines of The Hermitage

I'm also smitten with Slavic Folklore & World Dreaming. It is a page on Facebook and is just a wealth of information and inspirational photos. The other day I spent 90 minutes looking at photos of Russian architecture and reading about painted villages. Now all I need to do is convince the hubby that we need to take a trip to Croatia...

from Vladstudio.com via Slavic folklore and Dreaming

I've really got to get to work on my assemblage pieces. Today's the day! It's Tuesday. Think Pink!

staci

day 62~my dog ate my homework and other excuses

she sheepishly peeks from behind the curtain to see what kind of mood holds the crowd. well, not a crowd per se, but at least a small gathering. seems everything is ok and no one is the worse for wear at her absence. guilt is a terrible thing.

i've been a little under the mental weather as it were. i like getting my posts written early so that they hit your inbox before 8am and in order to be able to do that i either need to write at 6 when we get up or write in the evening and schedule my posts. i've done neither lately. i'm in a mood about trying to sell my house. i've come up with several plans to make it work for me, but my enthusiasm for all of them wanes as quickly as the ideas come. spiritually i know that i need to remain positive in order to attract what i seek in my life but there are days...

but enough about me. you tuned in here to see what's been going on and to stay motivated on your path. last we spoke i was working on the ursa minor assemblage. i love the way it turned out.

I'm happy with the result. I probably could still add some color to the bear/night sky without losing all of the detail. But for now, I'm just leaving everything along. Although, they say it's going to be another beautiful day here and i love working outside on the deck outside of my studio in this weather so maybe i'll get motivated to put the finishing touches on all of these new pieces. 

I used my birch bark technique on the outside of the box and i just LOVE the way the colors turned out on that. if you look closely you can see the incorporation of the constellation of the little dipper on his body. clever, aren't i? well, maybe on occasion. 

i went a little crazy with the glitter and glitz on the inside of the box. i'm considering tiny lights stuffed in there somehow. the natural alpaca wool was the perfect nest for the camper and the tree. maybe some little lights tucked up underneath all of that. i've got to do a little research to see what's available. and that's it. that's what's been going on around here. that and a painting i completed for the trinity school in atlanta's art gala. i'll write about that later this week. 

got to go send the hubby off to work. it's monday gang. give thanks for 10 things today. hugs!

staci

comments

I think I've fixed the problem, again, with the comments section. Turns out that if you have Google+ comments turned on, whatever that is, that the only people who can post on your page are people with Google+ accounts.

so I turned it off. Hope it's fixed now.

Let me know!
staci

day 51~night time dancing

Turns out there are 2 sisters who manage the dawn and the dusk and they guard over the doomsday hound, who just so happens to be tied to the star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor. Yep. And if the hound escapes he will gobble up the constellation, yes, the entire thing, and the universe will end. Needless to say that cute honey seeker is really kind of valuable.

don't you just adore the vintage button on the door of the camper? 

in a rare moment I got out the glitter. oy!

Except that the Slavs refer to the Ursa as the Wagon, which you can sort of see when you look at the stars, but not such a grand nomiker for such an important guy. Ya know?


Just a little useless information to digest today while you go about your creative chores. Meanwhile, I'm liking the way this new assemblage piece is turning out. And considering the wagon reference, I like that I included a mini camper.



I'll try to post a picture of this finished piece once it's all put together. A few questions to finish out the morning. Do you think I ought to offer any of these projects online? I don't even know where to begin. Second, how in the hell do you get other people to see your blog? I think I live in a cave. ..with my little bear:~)

Well, actually he's enormous at 95# as we approach his first birthday. I wonder if we could attach a small wagon to him...aaand we're right back where we started.
Tah!!
~staci

day 49-exploring the neighborhood

It's time to get back to the journey. Not that I ever left, but I haven't offered up any thoughts on where I'm going or how I'm going to get there lately so here you have it.

Here's an excerpt from my notes from a while ago:

1. exploring the local neighborhood

1. collect scrap wood from the garage, tin roofing, card board, foam core, buttons, found objects, plaster gauze, more 
2. create miniature “house” and “barn” pieces to be used later
3. experiment with materials

What I mean by all of this is, make art using what is immediately available. Personally, I've been using cardboard and scraps of anything and everything from around the studio to create those sweet characters. And instead of making miniature houses and barns, I think I'm going to expand on that to create miniature campers as well. I just love the idea of the teardrop.

Yesterday I started building a birch tree and today I need to paint it. I also started a pine tree out of cardboard and it needs it's plaster gauze and paint/collage. While I originally intended to over simplify my house and barn theme to it's minimalist roots, today I'm thinking of creating a cottage a la Baba Yaga. Read about Baba Yaga here.

from Slavic Folklore and Dreaming

All of these pieces I'm doing seem to be combinations of slavic/southern/native american themes that keep swirling around in the noggin. I suppose the cottage will be similar.

found this pic online of a colorful home in the Ukraine.

I'm also working on creating environments for these figures and yesterday I thought about a nighttime landscape inside of a box with a large bear on the top that embodies Ursa Major/Minor. 
Obviously I've got a ton of work to accomplish. 

guide book: How can you reduce the main theme of your artwork to it’s bare essence? What do you have in your immediate environment from which to create a piece of art exemplifying your theme?

“home” work~ create a piece of art using found objects and cardboard. 

Looks like I've got a busy day ahead and I haven't even walked the pony, I mean the puppy yet. 

Enjoy your day folks. Be true to yourself!

staci