Second Childhood

I have been having so much fun playing with air-dry clay and making art dolls. I feel like I am in my second childhood thanks to my wonderful new friends on Lorrie Jonas and Pamela Joy’s Joyful Art Ning site. 

Last month I wanted to make an art doll using a beer bottle as my armature. I decided to make a jester like clown because the long neck of the bottle reminded me of some of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ images. I used Super Dough air-dry clay designed for children to make the doll. I purchased it last year to make Christmas decorations, but I did not use it. I wish I had, as I would have never used it for this project. Although the dough is smooth and easy to work with, it takes a long time to dry and it never really becomes completely hard. I believe it is because of the wheat ingredient in it. It is actually dough. The other problem I had was all the cracks from shrinkage. My Friend Laura Thykeson  read on Dick Blick’s site that all air dry shrinks to some degree, especially when it is applied to a rigid armature. Because of the designs I embed in the clay I was able to disguise most of them with the addition of more clay when the doll was dry. I used metallic paint to enhance the festive appearance. All of this fantasy stuff is new to me, but it is a lot of fun to play like a little girl again.

Here are a few of the steps:

Printer Unplugged!

I have always been an Epson printer fan, but when my last one died, I was unable to replace it due to costs. The least expensive pigmented ink printer I could find was the Kodak printer. It is a poor replacement for the Epson, but since I am currently not generating that many prints, it is doable. I decided when my office Lexmark printer ink needed replacing, to buy another Kodak printer because it came with ink and I found one on sale. Unfortunately, the printer head eventually plugged up and I did not have the receipt or other proof of purchase to have it replaced. My son said he thought he could clean the print head. He sprayed a little Windex on the back of a folded paper towel and placed it in a Styrofoam tray. Holding the printer head in hand, he poured distilled water over it and some on the paper towel. Then he placed the printer head on the towel where it sat for a couple of days. I did not want to waste a lot of good ink to try the cleaned print head so I ordered some cheap generic ink online. Low and behold it worked! I have decided to use only the generic ink in my office printer, (which I can buy four for the price of one) and continue to use the pigmented ink in the studio. Do you know printer ink is the one most expensive liquid consumable we buy and the least expensive to produce? Check it out here

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Challenges

My wonderful groups of online friends have really kept me busy with challenges. The last two challenges made me aware of some of my preferences and how it affects my creativity. One of the challenges was to create get-well cards for hospital patients. At first, I was gung ho, using clip art, some copies of my paintings and then composing them in Photoshop. I was right in my comfort zone. All I had to do next was print them out and add a little embossing and bling. Right? Wrong! One of my friends uploaded her cards for us to see and my heart sank. She had created some wonderfully simple, loving hands at home, cards. Mine looked, by comparison, like something from the Dollar Store. Needles to say they went into the collage pile and the project was back to square one. I sat at my drawing board, covered with every kind of paint, ink, pen and pencil I own and leaving very little space to work. Where do I begin? For some strange reason I was creatively blocked. I realized I did not know how let go and play unless it was some abstract design. I managed to paint a couple little watercolors and find a few happy accidents that pleased me. I added some bling and mounted them on card stock. After assembling five cards, although created from the heart and acceptable, I decided that Hallmark would never employ me and turned in my card maker badge. 

ATC # 1

The piles of scrapes have now become fodder for the next challenge, which is ATCs. This one is more my speed. I started layering with the stained tissue scraps, using some rubber stamps that have sat idle in their tray for years. Most of my inks pads have dried up so I used a sponge with bottled inks and gouache. After getting back into my zone, I realized the theme was fall! I was using the jewel tones from the scrapes of my get-well cards.

Digital ATC

In search of fall inspiration, I turned to my digital files.I found one I created a few months ago in Polyvore and cropped it to an ATC size. It has the feel of what I want. I think I will transfer it to my card like a digital rubber stamp then layer it with tissues and other handwork. I’m actually feeling playful again :O)

Rent It

I recently bought the latest video by Ann Bagby and unfortunately it did not live up to her other videos. Although I was fascinated watching Ann draw the portrait and preparing surfaces in her altered book, she spent a lot of time showing how to mix and apply resin coating to the covers. Maybe it is because of where I am now in my life that I was a little disappointed. Being retired I live on a tight budget and I try to spend wisely on art supplies, etc. Resin coating is not on my top must have list. It is tricky to work with and messy. A Krylon triple coat gloss spray works great for me. I discovered after I bought the video, I could have rented it for a day at Artclick.tv for only $6.95, (which is all I would need). I guess another thing that hit a nerve was that she recommended using a Wall Street Journal newspaper for words and collage fonts. Hello? I have too many free papers thrown in my driveway and I do not subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. I know I am being overly sensitive, but even what appears to be a corporate male subject, represent all of the things that upset me now. I prefer her clowns and more ornate women. Just saying

A Paper Bear Art Journal Tumblr | touba: Untitled (2003) and Untitled...

A Paper Bear Art Journal Tumblr | touba: Untitled (2003) and Untitled...

A Paper Bear Art Journal Tumblr | touba: Untitled (2003) and Untitled...

A Paper Bear Art Journal Tumblr | touba: Untitled (2003) and Untitled...

It appears when I share something from this site to Polyvore it shows up on my blog. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do.

Polyvore Collage

Nine by emacie on polyvore.com

It seems it takes more energy for me to do anything now. After making the rounds to lads for tests, doing a little shopping, I really feel like I have run a marathon. Betty White puts me to shame with all of her energy and seemingly good health. I actually have a few friends that I think could keep up with her, but that is not me. I must have been out partying when they passed out those genes! At least I have lived long enough to enjoy the digital age, despite all of my shortcomings.

The rain was pouring outside this morning so I could not go for my walk. That is okay, as we need the rain. I decided to spend the morning in my my easy chair, in front of my computer, and play with Polyvore. I love this online collage site, but I worry about the the images they give us to work with as they are often works of other artists. The only redeeming feature is that if you click on the collage it will show you who and where the images came from and you can go to their sites. Much like Pinterest, some artists and companies use this as a way to advertize. I certainly cannot claim what I create nor can I sell it. It is just a game, that can give me ideas for something completely original.

Shopping Spree

Recently I made two new purchases to add quality and ease to my life. The verdict is still being weighed about the ease.  The first purchase was a one-cup French Press coffee maker. My son has a large one that he has used for some time. He insisted I try it and I fell in love with the fresh clean flavor. However, he uses regular coffee and I use decaf. One of us was always waiting for our turn to make coffee. Having very little counter space I did not want to buy another large coffee maker to add to the clutter. An impulse stop at TJ Maxx resulted in finding the cutest little French Press. (I thought it was so interesting that I made a drawing of it in my journal.) The good news it is so small it is hardly noticeable on my counter. The bad news is that it is a pain to clean the out grounds. Because grounds plug up drains, I put them in my compost bucket. Before that, I just dropped a coffee filter in the bucket. Now, because the glass is so narrow I have to use a thin silicone spatula to remove what I can and the grounds get all over my sink. I keep reminding myself how good the coffee tastes and that I am not using filters anymore.

The second purchase was a major one. I follow a blog of a super digital artist, Skip Allen, who teaches Corel Painter classes. Skip uses a Wacom Tablet, which has a digital pen that works like a brush, etc. I have a couple of tablets, but they are old models and I rarely use them. Being a Photoshop enthusiast, I found my mouse sufficient. It seems in order to get the most out of Corel Painter, a good tablet is a must. I have not signed up for any classes yet, but I did bite the bullet and bought a new Wacom Intuos 5 tablet. It was a good thing for them that they charged a hefty 16% restocking fee plus postage to return it (which I did not notice at the time of purchase), as I would have done it in a heartbeat. It is very tricky for a novice with poor hand strength and left hand coordination to use. I am making some progress, but I think the fact that I made a mistake holds me back.  I have to try to learn to love it instead of resenting the money I spent.

The image above was composed of the drawing I did in my journal. I scanned the page into Photoshop where I used a couple of artistic filters. Then I opened it in Painter and played with my new tablet to paint over it. I will probably print it out and glue it in my journal next to the original.