Wednesday, March 27, 2019

PRAYER FLAGS Stencil


Prayer Flags is a 9" x 12" stencil that gets used a lot here!  Much of the time, when I use it, I'm actually using a scissors-altered version of it -- as shown directly below (the first two art samples was made on paper pre-printd with butterlies) -- 







Below is a mixed-media collage on stretched canvas.  I used the Prayer Flags stencil to make the designs on the lower area of the canvas.  In the upper area, I used a stained stencil itself as a collage embellishment --




More prints made with this stencil appear below:










The original Prayer Flags stencil looks like this --





Many thanks for visiting this blog today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

BOXED VINES 9" x 12" Stencil


Boxed Vines is a 9" x 12" stencil that gets used a lot around here!

The first photo below shows a print made with this stencil, using metallic silver acrylic paint over a dark background --





The photo below shows another print made with the same metallic paint.  This time, the background is an old painting of vines...




One day I decided to paint Dorland's wax thru this stencil.  After lifting the stencil -- and cleaning it!--I used Golden High Flow acrylics in assorted hot colors --




Below is a photo of another stretched canvas -- this time, I spread Liquitex Black Lava Gel thru the stencil.  Much later -- after the lava gel had dried -- I added Golden High Flow acrylics ....



Immediately after spreading that wet lava gel thru the stencil openings, I lifted the stencil and pressed it to a sheet of sturdy gray paper.  The result is the reverse-print here --





After making that reverse-print, I quickly cleaned the stencil of all remaining lava gel.  This gel is one of the high-viscosity media that can clog stencil openings if not removed promptly.

Thanks for stopping here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Artist Alison Bomber working with BUDS and NOSEGAY 9" x 12" Stencils



Artist Alison Bomber creates work that is a MUST-SEE!

Clicking on Alison's name, above, will take you to her step-by-step description of her overall process in creating a three-dimensional art journal that will knock your socks off!  

I can't say enough nice things about this project of Alison's, so I will let a few photos -- all taken by her -- do the talking for me!



Above:  Alison Bomber created these prints using my 9" x 12" stencil Buds.

Above:  Alison Bomber created these prints using my 9" x 12" stencil Nosegay.

Above:  a close-up detail of one of Alison's prints made with Nosegay.


Above:  a close-up detail from one of Alison's prints made with Buds.

On the cover of another of Alison's art art journals is a stunning three-dimensional image she created with my 9" x 12" stencil Nosegay .....


You can click on the above image to enlarge it and better see detail.

 Thanks so much to Alison Bomber for allowing me to share these photos of hers here!   And thanks to you for stopping by my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of all my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Artist Jill McDowell and Two 6" x 6" Stencils -- PRESSED LEAVES & HERON



Artist Jill McDowell has been busy with her stencil collection!

The star of today's show is the image below -- an altered photo transfer in Jill's art journal.  A stunning image!




Below is the original photo --




What an amazing transformation!  Among the StencilGirl stencils that Jill used in making her magic is my 6" x 6" Pressed Leaves.

Jill used the same stencil in creating the art below --




Not only do I love the two-page journal spread above, but also, the quote has me nodding my head and smiling!

The Pressed Leaves stencil looks like this --




Moving forward ... I have more of Jill's artwork to display!


Other StencilGirl stencils were the art tools Jill used in creating most of the "Inky Birds" above; I'm delighted that for the bottom image, she chose my 6" x 6" stencil Heron. 

Above -- Step One:  Jill held onto the stencil with one hand and with the other, she used the textured bottom of a flip-flop scandal as a rubber stamp.  

And when Jill lifted off the stencil, she was left with the stunning image below!


Above -- Results!

The 6" x 6" Heron stencil looks like this --




Handfuls of thanks to Jill McDowell for letting me use her artwork in today's post!

And my thanks, also, to you for stopping here today!

To scroll thru all my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Friday, March 15, 2019

CLUSTERED LEAVES STENCIL ... and Friends



I love it when someone else's stencil strikes me as a perfect match with one of my own!  This happened when I saw Jamie Fingal's 9" x 12" Leaf Zen Landscape Stencil!  

The scissors came out:  I trimmed Jamie's stencil and cut pieces from my 9" x 12" Clustered Leaves stencil.

Then I brought out the Golden's High Flow acrylics and got to work ... I mean, play!

The technique I used is the same as a technique in the Absentee Artist chapter of Creative Paper Art, a book by Nancy Welch.   And it's demonstrated in Pat Dews' DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form. 




Clustered Leaves was also used by an artist whose last name I have, sadly, lost! -- Christy Anne.  Her artwork appears directly below.  If anyone knows Christy's last name, please leave it in the Comments section, so I can give credit where credit is due!




Another artist -- Dee Spillane -- has used Clustered Leaves in creating the artwork below --




Both of the above artists have shown us how stencils like Clustered Leaves can be art-tools for developing unique backgrounds!

Below are close-ups of a couple of artworks of mine, done on stretched canvas, using cut-apart pieces of Clustered Leaves and Loopy Ladders.  Once again, I've paired Clustered Leaves with another stencil that uses line-work in its overall design .... 
















In a few of these pieces on canvas, I've added pieces of the stencils themselves, cut apart and stained with acrylic paints.

Thanks for stopping by here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Artist Janis Graham and CATS Stencil



Artist Janis Graham created the greeting card below using "Stencil Guts" that had come from the making of my 6" x 6" stencil Cats.  To get these figures, the traced around the "Stencil Gut" on the back of a sheet of marbled paper.




The Cats stencil looks like this --




It was the Cats stencil itself -- along with other StencilGirl stencils --that Janis used in making two of the ATCs below:




Many thanks to Janis for sending me this photo showing her ATCs!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Thanks for stopping here today!

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Jumbo-Sized Rubber Stamps -- Made by Mary Ann Russo


My friend Mary Ann Russo made a series of rubbing plates using my 9"X 12" stencils Vases and Twinship.  Rubbing plates are used for a paper-arts and fabric-arts technique that calls for placing a thin substrate over a 3-dimensional solid surface, then rubbing the top of the substrate with a soft medium (think crayon or soft graphite pencil or charcoal.)

However, rubbing plates are also rubber stamps -- jumbo in size!

Mary Ann's method called for cutting matboard (extra-sturdy cardboard) into rectangles slightly larger than the stencils and coating them  with water-thinned gel medium on both sides as well as all edges.  Coating with water-thinned gel medium is an optional step that Mary Ann took because she wanted the rubbing plates to be washable.

After the gel medium had dried, Mary Ann masking-taped the stencils in  place on the coated matboards and used a spreading tool to apply a mix  of molding paste and acrylic paint thru the openings of the stencils.  (Acrylic paint was added to the molding paste to make the resulting 3-D patterns easier to see.  When doing this yourself, there is no need to add paint.)




The photo above shows my 9"X 12" stencil  Twinship as Mary Ann places it onto the rectangle of pre-coated matboard.  Her next step will be to secure the stencil to the matboard with masking tape.





Above, Mary Ann is placing the mix of molding paste and acrylic paint onto the stencil, which rests on the matboard.  By clicking on this photo to enlarge it, you can see that she had secured the stencil to the matboard with blue masking tape.  The tape also holds the matboard in place on her working surface.





Above, Mary Ann uses an old spoon to spread the mixture thru the openings on the stencil.  To get a more evenly spread surface -- needed when creating a rubber stamp -- Mary Ann would instead use a spreading tool like the one shown above in the lower right corner of the photo above.

As soon as this step is finished, she lifts off the stencil --




-- and places the stencil to soak in a water-filled basin.  The stencil will be thoroughly cleaned to remove all the residue yellow mixture.

In the series of photos below, I'm showing another rubbing/printing plate made by Mary Ann.  This time, she used my 9"X 12" stencil Vases.





The difference between this plate and the one made with my Twinship stencil is that Mary Ann added one more step at the very end.  She covered the surface with two coats of a rubberizing spray to make it completely waterproof.  This is an important addition if your goal is to create rubber stamps.

Household fix-it-yourself types are probably familiar with Napa Performix Plasti Dip spray.  Created to provide a non-slip, comfortable grip on tools and to provide protection against electrical shock and heat, it's available at AmazonSmile.com and some hardware stores.


Originally, this spray came in red -- the color used in this project -- and now comes in black, clear and gray-translucent.  The spray is to be used outdoors and its first coat must be allowed to dry before the second coat is added.  


The finished plate can be used to make impressions on a paint-coated Gelli Plate, for pulling prints on paper or fabric. 

The plate can be used in two other ways -- (1) with a Shiva stick and fabric, to make rubbings; (2) with acrylic paints, to make prints. 
When used with acrylics to make prints, it's actually a rubber stamp -- jumbo-sized! 


The following photos focus on the the last use, making prints with acrylic paints:
Above:  The work surface has been covered with freezer paper, shiny side up.  To the right of the plate are a rubber brayer and a dollop of heavy-body acrylic paint. 

Above:  I've rolled paint out across the freezer paper, rolling back and forth until the paint reached a tacky stage.

Above:  I've rolled the paint-loaded brayer across the plate.

Above:  my first print.

After coating the plate with this paint, I pressed papers (one at a time) over the plate, using both hands across the whole surface, to make sure all of the paper made contact with the plate.  Then I pulled the prints shown above and below.  This can be thought of as reverse rubber stamping because the jumbo-sized "rubber stamp" lies flat on the work surface while the paper (or fabric) is pressed down onto the surface.





Thanks for visiting my blog today!