New Ways to use Your Stencil-Printed Papers

Looking for new ways to use your beautiful stencil-printed papers? 

See Gwen Lafleur's post here:

 http://www.stencilgirltalk.com/2015/10/gwens-gems-october-2015.html!

Or consider going in a completely different direction, with the quick and easy technique of fan-folding.  Photos below show, step by step, a fan-folding project that used a print made with my stencil Nosegay.

Above: a narrow strip of self-adhesive metallic tape is used to bind the bottom of the fan-fold.

Above:  The taping is finished and the fan is ready to be glued to its green cardstock background.

Above:  heavy gel is applied with a cotton swab (far right) to the back of the fan.

 Above is the finished project -- glued to a cardstock background, the fan is added to the top of a wooden box, spray-painted black in advance.

TANGLED PODS ... a Stencil to Celebrate the Bauty of the Japanese Pagoda Tree

Tangled Pods remains one of my all-time go-to stencils.  Below are 5 close-ups of a canvas I just completed.  Under the 5 close-ups is a shot of the entire piece.

To create this artwork, I started with the stencil-and-stain technique that I love, relying on my faithful Golden High Flow acrylics.  I used that technique as well as the reduction/subtractive technique to build up layers.  More layers were added with the use of Krink and Shiva pigment crayons.  And still more layers were added when I cut a heavily-stained Tangled Pods stencil into several pieces, then added them (with heavy matte medium) as a next-to-last layer.  My very last step was to come in with acrylic paints to do touch-ups on the collaged stencil pieces. 

Here is one of my earlier posts showing the stencil-and-stain technique step-by-step; at that time, I used liquid watercolors.  Those watercolors work beautifully, but now I rely on Golden High Flow acrylics because, being acrylic, they don't re-hydrate nearly as much as watercolors will. 

The subtractive/reductive technique has been demonstrated here.  And here.  And here.  As these earlier posts show, the basic technique is the same, but there are many ways to introduce variety.  Besides Jenn Mason, another artist who has taught me this technique is my friend Cindy Powell.

My 9"X12" stencil Tangled Pods looks like this before it's been stained and cut into pieces:

The view above is actually a sideways view (of the pods that hang from the Japanese Pagoda Tree) but like all stencils, Tangled Pods can be turned in any direction.