Carol
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Bird House

3/31/2018

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I was honored to be asked to create a birdhouse for a fund-raising event for the Ronald McDonald House in Denver.  As you probably know, I volunteer there for 3 hours a week, manning their front desk and everyone knows I'm an artist since I bring my sketchbook there to work on when things slow down (which is not very often!)

But as soon as I said "yes!", I started to worry whether I could create something that everyone would love.  (Yes, most artists I know are a little insecure when doing a commission — including me!)  I finished it today and I actually like it!  (I hope they do too!)

Here's how I made it.

I bought a wooden birdhouse from Amazon to serve as my substrate.  I covered it with gesso and then stenciled on it with moulding paste to create the textured surface.   I spent a good amount of time figuring out what spray acrylics (Marabu) would blend into the look I was going for and starting with the yellow at the top, lime green in the middle and blue at the bottom, I sprayed away.

Thinking it needed a more rustic look, I dripped some Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold (Golden High Flow) on the top and sprayed it with some water.  I painted the windows with Paynes Grey fluid acrylic.

Bought a fake bird and some fake leaves from Michaels.  I cut the leaves into smaller leaves and glued them onto the roofs to make them look like shingles.  Attached the bird to the top and I'm done!

I've never done anything like this before so it was very challenging to go out of my comfort zone (fiber) and into a mixed media zone but now I'm thinking of how to make a birdhouse from fabric!  We'll see how that goes!
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Political Art

3/24/2018

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I'm getting more and more political with my art.  Not always in fabric, more often in paper.  But one of my "projects" is to start using political signage in my art.  I've been collecting words from these signs from many marches.  Today, was the March For Our Lives, organized by the Parkland teens.

I spent the morning crying after watching the march in DC and then, I went downtown to participate in the march in Denver.  Thousands of people of all ages, races, religions, status, -- yes, we are a diverse community.

​My grandkids are 9 and 11 years old.  They live in the gun-toting state of Texas.  I'm marching for them so they can grow up, feeling safe, and surrounded by love.  I hope they can have a care-free childhood and not worry about being shot at school.

I grew up in the 60's and marched against the Vietnam War.  It took many years but finally, it was over.  This march felt the same.  I can only hope the teens won't get discouraged.  But after hearing their speeches today, I am hopeful for the first time in many years.
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Artist Highlight - Diane Samuels

3/18/2018

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Words are my inspiration and lately, I've been getting even more inspired by fiber artists that use words in their pieces.  I recently discovered Diane Samuels and LOVE her work.  
This piece (this is a detail shot) is currently being displayed at  show called Piecework at the Pavel Zoubok gallery in New York City.  If you live nearby, I highly recommend taking the time to visit.
Here's what Diana says about her piece:

POETRY QUILT Poetry Quilt, is a personal anthology of 198 poems that Samuels has loved throughout the years. It is made of fifty of Samuels’ 1980’s drawings of her studio and from her window that she ripped into 3-1/2” by 5/8” strips, collaged, and then hand-transcribed in micro-script the poems of her personal anthology. The side-bar of the quilt is a bibliography including translator, editor, book title, publisher, year and an index to the poems’ position on the quilt.
Size: 90″ x 87″ x 1/2″ (w x h x d)
Materials: paper, paint, Craypas, ink, glue, backed with cotton fabric
Date: 2017

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Gelli Plates — A New Distraction!

3/10/2018

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Many years ago, I took a class on gelatin mono-printing.  Fun, but messy!  

Then, a company invented a new way to achieve the same results but with a plate you didn't have to make (you know I don't cook!), didn't deteriorate after using and could be stored and taken out to use at a moment's notice!  The Gelli Plate!

And now, they have introduced larger sizes which is more to my liking. I just received the 9"x12" plate today.  You can bet tomorrow, I will be experimenting with my acrylics and other media to print on paper and fabric.  

Gelli Arts is a woman-owned business (as you know, supporting these kinds of businesses is my passion!) and, FYI, I have no financial relationship with them.  I just love their products and wanted to share with my readers.

They have a lot of helpful videos on their website to demonstrate how to use Gelli plates to create art in both paper and fabric.  I'll share my own experiments in a new blog in about a month.  Stay tuned!

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New Obsession

3/4/2018

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I have found a new obsession. Watching videos from Shawn Petite on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fnj0OXkeag
So I have spent my last week, collaging papers onto Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journals with matte medium (first layer) and once I have enough pages to play with, I will be adding the second layer with gesso and acrylic paints.  I like to work in more than one journal at a time experimenting with different looks and waiting for everything to dry is agonizing.

Because I love texture and color, Shawn's approach really appeals to me.  As you know, my mantra in fiber is "more is better" but I keep thinking, how can Shawn keep adding more and more?
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Just when I would say "done" she adds another layer that changes everything. I also love her stencils so I ordered some from her website.  We need to support the work of artists so I hope you will take a minute to view her videos and order something from her website!
https://www.shawnpetite.com/

P.S.  Of course you know I am not compensated in any way from my recommendation.  I just think she's a talented artist and I wanted to bring her to your attention!

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    Carol Ann Waugh

    I am a mixed media artist and love color and texture!

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  • Home
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