June Quote

Business

A while back I listened to a webiner about business and how to promote yourself and your art online. One person spoke about how search engines are now looking at blogs more and how it is important to have a detailed description about the piece of art or product and to tell a story of how it came about. Well as you can imagine I haven't completed this task yet. I think I wrote a list of the paintings that I would like to write about but that was as far as I got. I have started to write more and I am almost enjoying it. I really want to change how I feel about writing, I have been making more of an effort to write on my blog. I write more comments within the Facebook groups that I am members of and I now have a few pen-pals. This is all helping me face my fears of writing. 'The more you practise, the better you get' however I am one of those people who thinks that I should be good before I have even tried! So over the next few weeks/months I am going to write a description/story about my artwork that is for sale in my shop.

Heat Tool

At the beginning of April I purchased the most amazing tool ever. It was sold as a tool that burns wood 'Pyrography Wood burning Tool Pyromaster Dual Heat' I bought it from Antex.  It came with 18 different tips. It has other uses apart from making marks on wood. Some of the tips can be used for cutting and bonding synthetic fabric; this is really useful as it stops the fabric from fraying as the heat melts and bonds the fibres together. I have used it to etch photographs, this is really effective and gives the photography a completely new look. I am also going to try printing with an etched photograph as I feel the etching is deep enough to leave a mark on the gelli-plate. Watch this space...

But my all time favourite thing I can do with the heat tool is cut stencils!!! I use acetate/transparency film to make my stencils. I would normally use a craft knife to cut the design out but after a short while it would hurt my finger, using this heat heat tool it makes it so much easier and I can't believe how much quicker it is too. I am so pleased with it. I am sure I will find other uses for it!

Creating new habits

I find it hard to start and keep new habits. It is east to break good habits but starting ‘good’ habits is difficult. I gave up chewing gum on the winter solstice, must days after lunch I would still like a piece but instead I have a mint that doesn't contain all the yucky chemicals that are in chewing gum. At the beginning of the year in the Apothecary Circle we did a water challenge. One thing involved was doing a morning flush; drinking down a big glass of water before anything else, sometimes I take it with a slice of lemon and always slightly warm water. I have continued this habit for over four months and I can’t see a reasons to stop. 

A section of my latest painting in progress

My most recent habit is getting up at 6am and being creative for an hour. I have found it works best if I think about what I am going to do the night before and have stuff out and ready, so I can just start and not have to think about what it is I am going to do. I have joined Leo Babauta at Zen Habits Sea Change programme. The best way to start a new habit is to have a trigger. The trigger for drinking my daily flush is getting up and putting the kettle on. The trigger for being creative is making a cup of tea and sitting at my desk. I think the idea of a trigger is a really good idea to form habits. Another trigger I have is when I am waiting for someone I get out my sketchbook and have a doodle. It relaxes me and makes waiting less of a pain.    

Patterns...

I have decided that I want/need to try and start pattern designing. I really enjoy putting ideas for patterns together. Here are my latest ideas -

I have entered these into a competition run by the MOYO magazine. It was a floral theme, with the inspiration being 'Ikebaba'. MOYO is a great on-line magazine and is full of inspiration and ideas. 

Cut Print Stamp

This post is very over due and I thought with Spring on its way I need to tidy up my list of posts to write and get on and write them!

Before Christmas (see I said it was over due) I entered into a competition over on the Gelli Arts blog and to my surprise I won! Thank you to Gelli Arts and to Princeton Brushes for running the competition. The competition was to win a selection of Catalyst Wedges, these can be used on the Gelli Plate. I had been eyeing these up in my local art shop but they are quite pricey so I thought to myself I would treat myself in the new year. In the mean time I purchased a couple of silicon spatulas and a silicon brush from the supermarket, they were on sale (£1.50) and I thought it is good to experiment and when I upgrade to the ones from the art shop I could use them in the kitchen. These worked OK but they were a bit awkward because of the handles, they weren't to easy to swish around! The brush however is fab to use on the Gelli Plate and creates some cool textures. So when my prize arrived I was very happy and got printing straight away.

These are the the three wedges that I won, there are six different wedges in their range. You can see the different ones here over on their site.

The monoprints below were created on my Gelli Plate and I used the Catalyst Wedges for the mark making, as well as using stencils and rubber stamps. The wedges fit into your hand nicely and they are easy to swish around.

52 lists. Week nine - List the places you want to go

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

Oh, I had fun writing this list, I am sure I will be adding more to it. Already thinking I would like to go back to New York. This week I will be going to Yoga (in my kitchen) and I will be going to stick to my to-do list.

52 Lists. Week Eight - List your favorite Albums

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

52 lists. Week Seven - List things that make you feel healthy. Mind-Body-Soul

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

52 lists. Week six - list the ways in which you can love others

Moorea Seal - 52 Lists

52 Lists

I have decided to take part in the 52 Lists project over at Mooreaseal. I love writing list, so I thought this would be a fun and inspiring project to take part in. I only found the project last week so I am going to share my first four lists in one post.  A new list prompt gets posted every Tuesday by Moorea over on her blog. 

Week one - List the words that touch your soul

Week Two - List your greatest comforts

Week Three - List the things you should be proud of 

My to be proud of list is a bit short and I am sure there must be more that I am proud of but nothing else springs to mind...

 Week Four - List your current and future goals and dreams

Cut Print Stamp

This is a birthday card that I made.


As I am addicted to using my Gelli printing plate I have a massive pile of monoprints waiting to be cut up to be used for cards and other art and crafting projects. I love using my monoprints in my card making as it makes the cards even more original and special. I printed the background using my Gelli plate. The paper picks up all the marks and textures that are on the Gelli plate, it can be quite surprising the amount of detail that can be achieved. I cut-out the circles from red paper using my circle cutter, the red paper matched the red in the print and complimented the teal flowers. I used a stencil as a guide to cut-out the larger flowers from a monoprint and the smaller flowers were created using a little flower punch, punched out from textured paper.

My art and the cards I make have become so much more colourful since using the Gelli plate, I have become braver with colour combination. I really loved how this card all fitted together. I hope you enjoy this weeks offering.

Monoprinting with a Gelli Printing Plate

I love monoprinting. In the past I have tried different types of mono printing; I have used glass to draw into and press object into, I have used oil based inks, and a printing press using perspex as a printing plate. I found out about the Gelli Printing Plate at the beginning of 2012. I find it a great medium to use and really love the textures it picks up and how easy it is to use.

For more information on the creators of the Gelli plate follow this link.

I love my Gel Printing Plate.

The equipment you need to print with is quite minimal.

•      Gel Print Plate

•      Perspex Sheet

•      Brayer

•      Paint

•      Imagination

These photos show the Gel printing plate and the Perspex sheet. You can see how responsive and flexible the plate is, it is great for picking up textures of delicate objects such as feathers and leaves. The Perspex sheet is used to protect the plate and if I am doing prints on top of prints the images will line up. I use the black lines that frame the plate to guide me as to where I need to put the paper.

 Brayers are used to apply the paint to the Gel printing plate and for rollering textures into the paint. I have three types – A soft roller, a hard roller and a small soft roller.

I use various paints each type/consistency reacts differently. The paints I enjoy using are Liquitex, they are Heavy Body Artist Acrylic Paint, they have a thick consistency for traditional art techniques using brushes or knives, as well as for experimental, mixed media, collage and printmaking applications.

  “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” -Albert Einstein

If you use your imagination for mono printing your prints will be very varied and interesting.

When it comes to mark-making on the gel plate, you can use various things such as bubble wrap, sequin waste, buttons, rubber stamps, embellishments, fruit nets, dried leaves, stencils, corks and anything that makes a mark. The softness of the Gelli plate picks up the delicate textures amazingly. I have previously used feathers and dried leaves, the print is really clear and it shows all the details.

How to monoprint

First you squeeze the paint out onto the plate; a little goes a long way. So a little blob is enough.

You then gently roll out the paint with the soft brayer.

  

Make sure that the paint is spread out evenly.

You just need a thin coating of paint on the plate.

This is a wooden embellishment that I discovered in the art shop, as soon as I saw them I thought they would be great to use on my Gelli plate. I am always on the lookout for interesting textures and things to use on my plate. To use it I stuck it to a cork using a glue stick> I was very pleased with the marks it made.

This photo shows me adding textures and marks to the printing plate. Here I am using taffeta tied in a bunch, I used my small roller to press the taffeta into the plate.

This is the plate after I have made all the marks, stamping, and rollered onto the plate.

Here I have put the paper over the plate and gently pressed down and gave it a rub. The print is then transferred from the plate onto the paper.

This is the print that I produced. You can see all the textures that have been made from the various things that I used for example; the circles were from a bottle top, the thin lines were from matchstick stuck onto card, the windmill shape at the bottom is a hand carved stamp that I made and the blocks at the side are from an eraser.

  

Once you have made a print it needs some where to dry, this is the drying line that I have made to hand my prints; it can hold up to 20 prints at a time.

Here are some of the cards I have made using the monoprints from my Gelli Plate –

     

January 2013 Photo A Day

I am taking part in the Photo A Day Challenge again this year. Here is the inspiration list for January's photos. I really enjoyed the taking part last year and I am looking forward to carrying it on for another year. Let me know if you are joining in. The challenge is from Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim. You can play along using Instagram, Streamzoo, Twitter or on your own blog. I am going to take a photo a day and you can see them here at Streamzoo. A big thank you to Chantelle for the monthly lists last year and thank you for continuing it for another year.

Let start snapping. #fmsphotoaday

Out with the old in with the new...

I decided at the end of last year that for the beginning of 2013 I would have a new blog. I feel as if I have outgrown Tumblr and I want to do more with my blog than what Tumblr can offer. So here it is, it is a few days late as I came down with a stinky cold at the beginning of the week, so I spent New Years Eve and Day in bed. I hope to be a regular blogger, writing about things I am doing, what interests me and of course sharing my artwork and photos. I hope you enjoy what you see. Here is a link to my old blog.