First Look on the Design Wall

 

I got most of the surface covered with fabrics, working on a flat surface - it was difficult to make design decisions with it laying flat like that, so I fused it and put it up on the design wall.  I am so happy I decided to give this one another try!

Back to the Primary Collage City

I shared my early attempts with this piece back in February, when I printed a series of fabrics in primary colors and began trying to compose the collage on my work table.  Links to those posts are here:

http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/2014/02/primary-colored-text-on-black-with.html

http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/2014/02/yellow-text-on-black.html

http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/2014/02/blue-text-on-black.html

http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/2014/02/building-fused-collage.html

This time, I am adding in a few other fabrics from my scrap drawer.  These prints were made for another project and were abandoned, but I think they will work with this piece, perhaps.

Returning to the Primary (Colored) City Collage

 I started this piece about 6 months ago by printing a lot of fabrics and adding fusible web to them for a collage construction.  The fabric strips have been shoved into a pile in my studio for all those months just waiting for me to return to the process.  My previous attempts did not come together well, but I had a sudden inspiration to try working with a foundation of black fabric.  (I think I was working on a foundation of batting, previously).  This created the visual negative space that allowed me to proceed.  I reasoned that if I had some empty black space - that was fine.  I would not have to add anything or feel obligated to fill up the entire surface.  So, I began by placing seven strips cut from a failed quilt.  These are already layered and quilted, creating a bit more dimension, but I am going to go with it.

Next, I pulled out my bag of leftover binding strips.  These already have fusible web attached to them and I can just sort through and pull out what I want.

Mixed Media Daily Postcards May 13-18

Petroglyph Canyon Hike

 We brought our lunch and made a day of it.  This is such a lovely place to visit on a mild early spring day!

Petroglyph Canyon

 We have never seen any other people down in the canyon before, but this time we bumped into a couple that volunteers to oversee this area of BLM land.  They were able to tell us where to find a group of panels that we have not been able to find, previously.  I was thrilled!  

Petroglyph Canyon Visit

 

Petroglyph Canyon is just an hour away in the Pryor Mountain foothills on BLM land.  The location is not marked in any way and the road is rough and hiking is involved.  From where we park, we have to hike about a mile or so to get to the petroglyphs.  We LOVE going here in the early spring!

 This high desert area is very warm compared to the nearby areas - it is like an entirely different climate compared to our home just an hour away.

Block Printed Layer on Postcards

 These three postcards were printed at the same time.  I usually just keep printing until I run out of paint.  I have found keeping a stack of "works in progress" and scrap paper (such as the inside wrappers from my chocolate bars) is a good practice - because then I have some "go to" papers for using up any paint I have leftover from another project.   Even so, sometimes I find myself scrambling for something to print on and I will overprint most anything.  This is how I come up with interesting papers to tear and add to my mixed media postcards.  Once these three postcards are dry, I will set them aside and at some point - I will return to them to add some doodles, maybe some screen printing or rubbing or scribbles, lines or dots.    These will go into my "works in progress" pile and I will keep adding to them until I feel they are finished.

Block Printing Postcards

 I apply paint to the printing block using a sponge brush of the appropriate size.  This dark green was mixed on the palette using yellow, blue, purple, and black paint.  The paint covered block is inverted onto the postcard and light pressure is applied by hand.

Junk Mail Art - Layer Three - Block Printing - Part 1

 Continuing on with a little demonstration of my process for turning junk mail into art postcards, I am preparing to add a block print to these two postcards.  Both began as a piece of junk mail, had gesso applied with a putty knife.  One was printed with bubble wrap and the other was painted with blue and yellow paint using a putty knife and also printed with circles.  Next, I plan to add a block print and am going to use the one below.  I've not yet used this printing block on any of my postcards.

This printing block was carved several years ago and sits in a box with about 75 others in my collection of hand carved printing blocks.

Mixed Media Mail Art May 5 - 12

More Bubble Wrap Printed Postcards

Here is the group of four postcards that have been gessoed, printed masking tape applied, and bubble wrap printed.

Bubble Wrap Printing

 I have been using this same sheet of bubble for a couple of months.  It has printed many colors and is starting to get a bit stiff, but I will not discard it until it is useless.  I put two colors of yellow acrylic onto my palette and used a foam brush to apply it to the bubble side of the bubble wrap.

Below, is the postcard I will be printing first.

I lay the painted bubble wrap paint side down onto my work surface and press firmly, making sure all the bubbles make contact with the paper underneath.

Here is one postcard printed with bubble wrap.  This one has three layers at this point.  Gesso,  printed masking tape, and bubble wrap printing.

A Second Layer of Paint

For this second layer, I am using blue and yellow acrylic paint.  I put a generous drop of each on my plastic plate and pick it up with a putty knife again.  In this way, I add a fresh layer of color to the postcards, each a bit different.

A couple of these postcards have a darker blue stripe.  This is some masking tape I used while printing a quilt - the tape was used as a mask as I printed, and some of the printing got onto the tape.  Since it had color and texture - I added it to some of the postcards in the group.

4 x 6 Junk Mail Postcards

Once the gesso was dry, I took these to the paper cutter and trimmed them down to the 4 x 6" size I use for my mail art.  From this point, I will create more individualized pieces, but will continue working in an assembly line fashion.

Gesso Over Junk Mail Tutorial

 Gesso may be applied to the junk mail any old way.  I have used a brush, a roller, printing blocks, and this time, I decided to use a putty knife.  I like the texture created this way.  The text and print still shows through in places, creating visual interest.  Now, I just go do something else until this is dry.

Junk Mail Art Tutorial

 Here are three oversized junk mail postcards that showed up at our house.  The paper is not as stiff as I like it to be, but I find it stiffens up as I begin adding layers.

I save these up until I have several to work with.  It is more efficient when I can do it assembly line style.  I still get a good variety and it is a good way to build series.

What now?  I will add some kind of layer.  It might be another layer of paper glued on top, but this time I think I will use paint for the first layer.  More tomorrow.....

Mixed Media Postcards for May 1-4

More Daffodils

 My yard is in full bloom right now and I am so happy to see these happy flowers!

I have been without a laptop for some time.  My Toshiba of 16 months just died and after a while they told me it could not be saved.  It took me a while to replace it and get all the old data transferred.  It has taken even longer to figure out what software I can use on Windows 8.1!  My old Photoshop 7 will not upload and I am heartbroken.  I will have to figure out a new way to manage and edit my photos and this is frustrating!  So much trial and error!

Anyway, that explains the lapse in posts here.  But I think I am back to my routine of daily posts again. 

First Daffodil!