Collage, Color & Books Oh My!

Jane Davies here at Random Arts, Sept. 7th, 8th & 9th.

This is her "Scribble Collage" which she

will be teaching on Saturday, Sept 8th

In this workshop we will create our own collage materials by making “paint playgrounds” and scribble drawings using acrylic, watercolor, crayons, pastel, ink, and other materials. If you are “not artistic” or “can’t draw”, try drawing and painting with the intention of tearing up the results for collage! It is definitely in the category of dance-like-nobody-is-watching, and a great way to engage your creative spirit. We will experiment with various approaches to collage using these paintings-drawings as our foundation, make a huge mess, and have a whole lot of fun in the process! 

Unlocking the Secrets of Color on Friday, Sept 7th

 Color is one of the most immediate and emotionally affecting elements in visual art, packed with symbolic and cultural associations, personal meaning, and expressive potential. Your choice of colors can make or break a collage, painting, or mixed media piece; even a small change in color can be the key to transforming an otherwise so-so piece into a stunning work of art. In this workshop we will explore color through hands on exercises, learning how to mix them, and how they interact and relate to one another, and how they work in composition. After taking this workshop you will be on your way to making confident color choices and developing your personal color style.

  Unbinding The Visual Journal  on Sunday, Sept. 9th 

Like many creative mixed-media enthusiasts, I LOVE the idea of visual journaling. But when it comes to actually using one of my handmade books, or even a store bought art journal, I get The Blank Page syndrome. After years of wrestling with my seeming inability to find a satisfying approach, I came up with a way to make a visual journal that solves the Blank Page Problem. You begin by creating random collages on unbound folios, and then assemble them into a book. Each page spread offers something that you can respond to. Collage, write, paint, sew, cut, tear, or draw. There are no mistakes and no blank pages! This workshop takes you through the process of unbinding your visual journaling, resulting in a beautiful handmade collage book. Students will learn basic book binding techniques as well as a new approach to visual journaling.

To see more about Jane Davies, her blog

and her videos and gallery please click here.

Gotta LUV this!

 

Melanie Statnick loves these Peerless Watercolors 

and she showed us just how much in our "random play day" here last Saturday. She simply pulled out her set

of these brilliantly saturated strips of paper,

added her wet brush and the magic began.

The Peerless Watercolor Sheet packs are available 

at Random Arts and it's FREE shipping to U.S

until June 2nd for all my blogging friends. 

The 15 sheet pack (approx 3"x6")is $16.95

40 sheet (approx3"x3") is $24.95

 

Just do a paypal to:

randomarts@charter.net 

and I will send it out to you.

 

Carol Lee followed suit with her "oh so fab" fish prints.

Melanie's Visual journal came to life with bright colors

As you can see, with the addition of stamps and texture her journal speaks to all!

Creative Art Journal Stencil

I created this stencil for my art journals and

have found more than one use for it over 

the last few months.

Take a look at it and see if you can come up with any other

ways to use it.

 I just love it!

These sell for $5.95 and I will ship it FREE 

to US inc. AK & HI

How's that for a deal of the day?!

Create it and they will come!

Our first annual re-sale of arts & crafts supplies was a big hit!

Vendors came from as far as Brasstown, NC & Tennessee, as well as all place in between, with their vehicles filled to the top, to set up and sell their new, used & old art supplies and materials as well as vintage items, antiques  and art.

 The crowds started showing up as soon as we

opened at 9:am and kept us all busy both

inside and out.

 

Outside the vendors kept busy as their products

flew off the tables and into the bargain hunters bags.

Inside the shop  customers scoured our assorted goods and vintage relics and found all sorts of interesting items.... that you can't find anywhere else.

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.