A "deMeng" kind of weekend in Saluda

This past weekend was such a blast with Michael deMeng here teaching again. He is such a great teacher that this is his 8th year coming to Random Arts and every year it's just as good or not better than the last.

The first class that he taught was  "Zoo-illogicals" and of course, it had to do with animals so everyone in attendance "did their thing" on some sort of animal encased in a deep frame.

 This "swan" beginning is starting to take shape as

Flavia begins the process. I especially like the "rear end" 

view below

 

Jen did a "flockette" theme using those long Barbie Doll legs and transformed the head with a bird head... THIS is just the beginning! 

 This happy class of 10 

will be back for more next year, as usual.

Michael took the torch to the front yard on Saturday and Sunday

in the Patron Saint of Discarded Things, 2 day workshop.

Here he shows off his torching skills with Shellac.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME WITHOUT A BURNING BUDDY!!!

Kate O'Connor from Asheville, NC is almost 

done with her piece. It always amazes me how

everyone starts with "random objects" and ends up 

with a great work of ART.

 Here we all are at the end of 

day 2 with Michael and a group

of 12 happy artists - and me.

I had such a great time redoing this front porch on this fine old house that is now called Random Arts.
From the colorful new chair cushions, to the hanging mobiles made from embroidery hoops to the flowering plant life and painted chairs.... it makes me happy and it makes me feel all fresh and new just like spring.

For years I kept collecting beautiful fabrics at the quilt shows that I would go to as a vendor
and I knew that some day, I would figure out  what to do with those fabrics. This week I set
out to make pillow covers for all the chairs on the front porch thinking that I needed to go to
the fabric store. Low and behold, just a few steps away in my own space I found all the fabrics
that one could ever ask for and the process began.

One after another I started  to cover all those pillows that have been looking so tired and dingey.
They needed some life brought back to them and this was the perfect way to do that.
Now the porch is transformed. It's light and airy as well as welcoming to all those that
walk up the step to Random Arts.
Ahhh, what a good feeling.

A Michael deMeng NECESSITY

Don't we all just love Kroma Crackle?
This product does such amazing things
and thanks to Michael deMeng we have learned
how to use it to the max!

These squishy tubes of "goo" produce some very
awesome crackly effects in varying degrees of
crackling when used with Golden Acrylic Paints.
It's a "worth while" transformation that
you don't want to miss.

Michael will be here at Random Arts in May
sharing his skills, the "usze-al" way, in
2 fun filled workshops.

Zoo-illogicals

is a one day class on Friday, May 11th
and then for 2 whole days you can attend
"Patron Saint of Discarded Things"
Michael stops by once each year to teach
and has done so for the past 7 years,
(could be 8 if I remember correctly) so
this is a great opportunity to learn some
really cool paint techniques, fasten-ating
ideas for assemblage and lots more in
a stress free, encouraging & supportive workshop.

Oh yes, Kroma Crackle; You will definitely learn
to use this product in both workshops.
It's now available at our shop and we can mail it
to you, wherever you are.
Only $12.95 and FREE shipping to US 48 states.

Zendoodle on shoes? Oh yes!

This is the start of something big and we can thank artist,
Martine House for getting us started in Saluda.

I think that it all started when I was telling the
group that Linda Knight did a pair of
shoes and showed them to us (she was wearing them)
at our diva retreat here in Saluda last month.
Oooohs and ahhhhs from everyone and .... Martine said that
she would do a pair and show us.

Bottom line, we liked these shoes! The Zen Doodlers that we are,
are going to create a pair of painted zendoodles shoes!

How about a challenge Zen Doodlers?
Then a presentation/show of our shoes here at the shop?

Sounds like a great plan, so start thinking about it now.

No end to the "free form" journaling

I am still not afraid to do whatever
I want when it comes to creating journal pages.
It seems to be the one area of my life that I can
excel at whether it's good, bad or... ugly.
It still feels good!

A journal page may never be done. Sometimes
it is done for ... now but now takes me to another
day when I see that the page might need something else.
For now, this page above is done.

I was inspired to do this face after taking a Katie
Kendrick class here a few years ago. She showed me
how to draw/paint on phone book pages, so that's
how this started. Even though it's hanging up
I could make this a journal page... sometime, or not.

A transfer gone bad in my journal will become something
else at another time. I really liked that photo
of the madonna or something like that, and just added
too much water to it. Darn... but like I said. I will
become something else later.

This one started with a face from a magazine page
and then I transformed into this. You can bet
that the magazine page did not look like this
when I started. A little sanding, a little gesso,
a little paint; a whole lot of paint
and that big dose of imagination!

This journal page started with a blue background
done with acrylic paint by Golden. After it dried
I added Titan Buff in the center area, and when it
was wet, I etched into it with the eraser on the end
of a pencil... one day at a time.
The blue shows through.
That wasn't enough for me so I had to continue
with the black lines around the border and then
added my "words of inspiration and affirmation" in
the little spaces.
Who says words have to be in a sentence anyway?

Without Rules. . .

From day one I have always said
"there are no rules" and I can
honestly say that with this
"new" art form, it still holds true.

I can pretty much do anything that I want on
a journal page and be happy with it.
No one is judging me or telling me that
it's done incorrectly.

It could also be called "adventure art" because
each page is an adventure or exploration into
the unknown. I certainly do not know where
each page is taking me, nor do I know where I will
end up when I am finished.
Most times, I am not sure if I am finished with
a page as it could be incomplete for days,
weeks, or months until some other inspiration
pops into my artistic mind.

It may need more words, like this page, or more lines
or more color. This may not happen until the flowers
start blooming in my own back yard before I get
inspired. I may see a journal page from
someone else and be inspired just like the one above, that
I created.... in several stages.
Marianne VanWingerden
showed me some of her beautiful pages that she
did with washes of watercolor, outlined flowers & little details.
After seeing her work, I was on my way.
This page... not done... yet... maybe tomorrow.

Rusty Bits...

Don't you just love rust? And why is it that
rust is so awesome?
This piece above is the inside of some rusty circles
that are from a die cut that I did with rusted wholey paper.

A length of natural twill was coated with my
iron product, then dried and then a solution of
instant rust was added. Love it!

This is probably one of my favorites and it
started out as white leaf ribbon, probably a poly
blend type ribbon. It is easily dyed but I thought
that it would be amazing if it was rusted. Trish Baldwin
bought some of this ribbon from me in Ohio a couple
of years ago at Artiscape and rusted it too and used
it in her Encuastic Mixed Media book along with
some of my Wholey Paper.

Another item that I have sold in the shop is a
lace eyelet tape in a natural color. Again, after
a coating with the iron, dry time and a
coating with instant rust.... Voila! it's rusted!

I bought several spools of 2 different widths of
this once white felt die cut floral ribbon. One is
1-1/2" wide and the other is about 2-1/2".
The iron coating adheres really well to this felt
and it becomes stiffer after the rust is applied.
So cool.... This too was used in Trish's Encaustic
Mixed Media Book.
I've put all these rusty bits together in a 3 x 10 glassine pack
available for $4.95. Each one is different but you can view at least 10
of these on my Etsy site. Random Arts.
Thanks for looking
Rusting is so fascinating especially when you can
attach a magnet to it when it's complete and see it
stay right there on your fabric, or paper or cardboard.

Encaustics at Random Arts

Mary Powers created this
encaustic piece in the
workshop with Trish Baldwin.
I just love the colors, design and composition.

Sandra Macklin used a photo transfer technique
to create this encaustic piece.
I especially love the simplicity
and the contrast of colors.

Robbie Decker from Michigan,
attended the encaustic workshop
and created several great pieces.

Rusty Bits seemed to be the most popular
items that were used in the encaustic
art work today. Ribbons, felt and
wholey paper have been rusted,
and packaged especially for this class.
A favorite of Trish Baldwin.

As we started this workshop the pots
of encaustic medium and luscious colors
were full and ready to go.

A look inside

Current magazines are snuggled into
a vintage chest of drawers and are
upfront and visible just waiting for you
browse through and make your creative choices.

Colorful silk blends of ribbon are
bundled and fluffed and perched
on an antique, victorian side table.
These ribbon bunches are perfect for
knitting, crochet, altered art and lots more.

Ohhh, the bright colors of these luscious
fat quarter fabrics could make a
Valentine project very easy.
An apron? A mini art quilt?

Dark Indigo strands of silk sari ribbons
pounce on top of each other to form
a work of art in and of itself.
Touching is OK!

Lovin' the vintage sheet music rolled, ribboned
and nestled into an old bird cage.

To zen doodle or not? That is the question.

From fiber artists & tapestry artists
to scrapbookers & mixed media artists
and book artists....
They all come together to enjoy the lively art
of "zen doodling here at Random Arts
every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month
from 10 am till 12 noon.

Savannah tried out her
doodling talent using a 6 x 6
decorative paper as a background,
and caught on really fast.

While Marianne figured out to do
our challenge by going outside the lines.

And, Martine, used a ornamental design
in a rubber stamp to get started on her doodle.

Everyone is welcome to join us and all you have to do
is bring your journal and a black pen. We provide
the lovely, well lit, cozy workspace here
at Random Arts. Oh yes, the creative inspiration
comes from all of us. . . we like to share.

A new approach to dyeing silk

The Eco Printing may not be new to
some of you but when I saw it
just a few weeks ago, I was really
taken back.
It is so organic, but of course it is...
the entire dyeing process is
done with organic
materials from the earth.

Lea Nickless, from Coconut Grove, Fl
and... Saluda
has transformed other beautiful silk
scarves into these stunningly
dyed works of art.
It may be difficult to visualize the
finished piece as a scarf but just imagine
the process the process of adding olive seed pods,
yellow root, walnut hulls, and every other
imaginable living organic flora to the pot
of dyes.

Several of her hand crafted scarves are available here
at Random Arts and they would make
the "perfect" holiday gift.

Not only is Lea accomplished at this type of art,
she is also an acclaimed mixed media artist showing her
work at a number of galleries and shows in the Miami area.

Holiday Cards in a hurry? This is the place!

6 fun loving and creative women joined me 

in our Fast and Easy Holiday Card workshop

yesterday at Random Arts.

For those of you that have been with us

in the past, creating holiday cards

always involved rubber stamps.

This time around we brought out handmade

papers from around the world, some current

adhesives, colorful ribbons and of course

the much needed scissors. 

There didn't seem to be much need

for "supervision or instruction" as 

everyone seemed to be bouncing their

creative energy off of each other to complete

their projects. 

 Margaret, from Saluda, SC, took advantage

of the beautiful blue and gold handmade papers

to complete this simple but elegant card.

A little red accent completes the look.

One of our regulars here at Random Arts, Marilyn,

loves using the earthy tones on her project and this

card is the perfect example of her style.

I took some time in the workshop to explain several techniques including the correct way to tear mulberry paper to get the frayed edges to look natural. 

In addition, the method of using strips of scrap paper from your stash showed everyone how to make use of those and turn them into, what I call, strip cards. It's a fast, easy and fun way to create a card in just minutes. We have assorted papers and cards coordinated in a pack to make it even easier for you at our new shop in Saluda.