Art...

Valentine Digital Clipart Available to Download at DigiScrapStation

2012-01-17T16:35:00.003-05:00

Samples Included in my Valentine Digital Clipart, Available to Download at DigiScrapStation

2012-01-17T16:28:00.001-05:00

(To Enlarge this Sample, Click the Image.)

(Click to Enlarge this Sample.)

Asian Clipart for Scrapbookers, Journalists, Cardmakers & Altered Arts Enthusiasts

2012-01-05T09:52:00.001-05:00

Samples of Imagery Included in My "Asian Clipart" Package

2012-01-04T16:04:00.016-05:00

To Purchase the Asian Clipart Package, Click Here

(Click on this Image to Enlarge it.)

(Click on Image to Enlarge it.)

Mega-Collection of Steampunk Clipart!

2011-09-23T10:58:00.000-04:00

My Steampunk Mega-Collection, available for instant download, has taken off beyond my wildest dreams. I'm so grateful for its continuing popularity.

To purchase this $15 mega-collection of digital clipart, please visit my on-line shop at DigiScrapStation; you can use this link -- http://tinyurl.com/25cn7wf

This CD-length collection contains all my digital groups previously marketed separately -- Steampunk, Sequelpunk, Dreampunk, Sillypunk, Stillpunk and Stillmorepunk -- along with two new groups, Spoonpunk and Stellapunk. Altogether, this mega-collection gives you 300 images and is nearly 700 MG in size (to fit neatly on your own CD, after the download.) All images are 300 dpi, for sharp print-outs.

Sillypunk introduces the vintage hot air balloon imagery that is continued in my Stellapunk collection. The Sillypunk collection includes 6 ready-to-print 5"X7" greeting cards and 2 notecards, all in JPG format. Additionally, this group includes two ready-to-print pages of JPG collage elements and 26 separate digital elements, most in PNG format. (PNG provides imagery with clear backgrounds, for digital scrapbooking, digital collaging, etc.)

Dreampunk includes 3 ready-to-print moo cards and 5 ready-to-print 5"X7" Steampunk-themed greeting cards, all in JPG format. The individual digital elements that make up these cards' collages are also packed into the group, for a total of 50 elements in PNG format. Also included: a bonus JPG background paper in standard printer paper size.
My Steampunk collection includes 5 JPG collage sheets and 1 background paper in standard printer size, 25 individual PNG elements and 4 pages of illustrated instructions on using the collection's imagery to create altered cigar boxes, fridge magnets and paperclip-topper bookmarks.

My Steampunk Add-On collection, Sequelpunk, includes 4 standard-printer-size collage papers in JPG format, 45 individual steampunk elements in PNG format, and a bonus JPG background paper.

Stillpunk includes 5 ready-to-print ATCs as well as 4 ready-to-print ATC-size background papers, all in JPG format. The individual steampunk elements that go into these designs are also included in this group, for a total of 26 additional images in PNG format.

Spoonpunk I and II each contain 10 PNG elements in the steampunk theme. Like the other groups, these digital images were designed for a specific area of hands-on artmaking, the decorating of wooden spoons -- but, like all the others, the images are equally useful for jewelry-making, altered arts, mixed-media collage, scrapbooking, and much more.

Stellapunk is the brand-new group that rounds out the mega-collection; one collage from that group is posted below.

In the right sidebar, I've posted "preview" collages showing samples from nearly group in this Mega-Collection of Steampunk clipart. Also, you can locate older posts containing more samples by doing a search of this blog.
Again: To purchase this $15 mega-collection for instant download, please visit DigiScrapStation using this link: http://tinyurl.com/25cn7wf

Backgrounds & Borders Available for Instant Download at DSS

2011-09-22T19:38:00.000-04:00

Backgrounds & Borders delivers a 60-piece collection of backgrounds, borders and frames that you won't see anywhere else! Motifs included: tie-dye, contemporary abstract, nostalgia and flourishes with curling lines. There are 29 background papers, most of which are full-page printer-size. Also included: 6 strip-style borders; 5 circular frames; 19 square frames and 4 rectangular mini-frames. The backgrounds are JPG; the borders and frames are PNG (with transparent backgrounds, for easy digital manipulation and endless combination possibilities.) Every piece is 300 dpi, as well as generous in size. If you like colorful, textured-look trimmings for your digital scrapbooking and other digital art, this collection is for you. It's available at DigiScrapStation via this link ... http://tinyurl.com/25cn7wf

I had a lot of FUN creating this particular kit -- maybe you can tell by the jazzed-up beetle worked into one frame pictured on the Preview above. I've collected a lot of bug photos because these little guys and gals like to hang out on our front door, which is, conveniently, a solid white background. That background makes for good photos, and it's probably the reason they hang out there, in the first place.

I remember that on one of our trips to Lake Placid, NY, my husband and I reached the top of Mt. Washington, when suddenly my pure white jacket became a gnat-magnet! I felt like that character in the old Dick Tracy comic strips -- the one they called "Flyface!" Nothing I did would persuade those little bugs to fly away elsewhere! So ... I think bugs like white.

Now Available at DigiScrapStation--"Oldendaze" Digital Clipart Download

2011-09-21T19:55:00.000-04:00

This 300-dpi collection includes 12 printer-sized collage sheets in JPG format and 66 individual elements; a few of these are also JPG, but most are in PNG format (providing them with transparent backgrounds for easy digital manipulation -- combining the images with one another or with your own personal work.)

With this collection you can go pure vintage, or step over into contemporary whimsy. The cost is a wallet-friendly $5!

Oldendaze has an Angel Policy -- you can use the images in artwork to be sold; my request is that when you do so, you add a credit line showing my name as the original designer.

Like several other collages in the Oldendaze collection, the vintage/contemporary collage below is included in two forms: not only as an assembled collage, but also as individual PNG elements, ready to be used in collages of your own creation.

Enjoy!
Cecilia

2011-09-19T19:14:00.000-04:00

Sequelpunk, one of the groups in my Steampunk Mega Collection

2011-09-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

Samples of What's Included in my Steampunk Mega-Collection at DigiScrapStation

2011-09-07T10:50:00.000-04:00

(Click any image to enlarge it.)

The above images are among the collages included in my Steampunk CD-Length Mega Collection available for immediate download at DigiScrapStation. The collages themselves are in JPG format on ready-to-print greeting cards. The individual elements (i.e., rusted washer, vintage boy, etc.) are also included in the collection, and they are in PNG format, so as to be easily combined in the PC with one another or with the buyer's own personal digital artwork.

The groups within this mega collection were orignally marketed separately, as digital kits for hybrid artmaking. ("Hybrid" in this sense means simply a coordinated group of digital art created especially for hands-on artmaking projects, including greeting card making, refrigerator magnet making, etc.)

Steampunk Digital Clipart

2011-09-04T21:46:00.000-04:00

Here is one of the collages included in my Steampunk Mega-Collection available for download at DigiScrapStation. The collage is included in this completed form, in JPG format, and the individual elements (i.e., vintage boy, etc.) are also included, in PNG format.

Sillypunk & Stillmorepunk, two groups in the Mega Collection of Steampunk Clipart available for Instant Download at DigiScrapStation

2011-09-03T19:37:00.000-04:00

(Click on each Preview to enlarge it. These Previews do not show all the elements included in each group, but they do show a sampling of the total contents.)

Sillypunk features six 5"X7" ready-to-print greeting cards and 2 ready-to-print notecards. This kit also contains 26 separate elements (including three 5"X7" background papers) as well as 2 Printable Collage pages.

Stillmorepunk, another group included in the Mega Collection, contains 35 Steampunk-themed frames and 20 additional elements (including 5 borders.)

These never-before-seen graphics are all 300 dpi, for crisp, clear print-outs. You'll discover Steampunk imagery seen nowhere else. It's all 300 dpi, for clear, sharp print-outs. The entire Steampunk Mega-Collection is available at DigiScrapStation via this link:

http://tinyurl.com/25cn7wf

Included in the Mega Collection of Steampunk Clipart

2011-09-02T19:18:00.000-04:00

STILLPUNK -- One of the Groups Included in my Mega-Collection of Steampunk Clipart

2011-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Ideas for using digital clipart in your creative projects...

2011-07-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

Ideas for having fun with CD clipart:

Once they've been downloaded at DigiScrapStation, these images can be easily reversed left-to-right, either in your photo-processing program or in your printing program; printing them “backward” gives you two sets of images for the price of one! The only exceptions are the images containing text. These cannot be flipped -- unless your creative impulse leads you into trying backward text just for the fun of it!

You can print in black-and-white, then add your own unique color combinations to the print-out. If your inkjet printer uses dye-based ink, add this personal color with dry media -- colored pencils, rub-ons, oil pastels, etc. If your printer uses pigment ink, you can use wet media like acrylic paint.

You can print on patterned paper. Best results will come from choosing a pattern that’s light in color.

Another option: Create a transparency by printing on the “right” (rough) side of a transparency sheet of film (available at office supply stores.)

Or, use the same transparency film to make transfers: In your photo-processing program or in your printing program, flip an image or text horizontally, making it “backward.” Print this reversed text and/or image onto the “wrong” (shiny) side of a transparency. (Prior to printing, adjust your printer’s ink flow; you want a light flow, since too much ink will create puddles that bleed and blur.) Handling the transparency carefully as it emerges from the printer, immediately place it – wet side down -- onto the receiving surface. Holding it in place with one hand, use the other to burnish from the top of the film, using fingertips or a bone folder.

Transfer-Making Note 1: Transparency films can be used over and over. Simply clean off the residual ink with rubbing alcohol and allow dry-time. One sheet of film, although it will grow stained, will nevertheless work just as well countless more times.
Transfer-Making Note 2: If doing several of these transparencies in a row, take a few minutes to clean your printer following manufacturer’s instructions which in most cases can be found on manufacturers’ websites.

***
For a totally new look, try printing on mulberry paper – here’s how:
Set up a sheet of ordinary printing paper for use as a “carrier sheet:” Add strips of two-sided removable cellophane along the edge that will feed into the printer.
If using a flat-feed printer, this should be the only taping necessary. If using a printer that requires the paper to make a U-turn or an L-turn as it’s printed, add one length of tape along each of the long-side edges of the paper, and a third piece of tape down the center of the carrier sheet.
Cut a sheet of translucent mulberry paper to the size of the carrier sheet and gently press it to the carrier, securing it onto the pieces of tape. As the printing begins, hold one hand gently at the end of the paper opposite the feeding end, to help guide it into the printer just in case this should happen to be necessary.
After your first print, you will know whether or not you would like to adjust the ink flow for printing on mulberry paper. My personal preference has been to use either the “medium” or “photo” setting. Sometimes the “photo” setting results in the residual image on the carrier sheet (after the mulberry paper is carefully peeled off) becoming background paper to set aside for a future project.

Mulberry paper prints have a delightful and uneven translucency that make them fun to use in layering techniques for collage. The edges can be left with the original straight-edge cut, or the paper can be torn along the edges, with beautiful frayed edges that increase the areas of texture in a piece of art.
When using mulberry paper prints in collage, I’ve had the most success using dry adhesives like glue sticks.

***

I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with my CD digital clipart as much as I enjoyed creating it! Since I own copyright on these images, they are not to be re-sold. However, they can be used on products to be marketed for personal financial gain, when credit for the clipart is given to http://heartworkbycecilia.blogspot.com. Many thanks!

"Gingko and Flowers," a collage

2011-06-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

(Click on the above image to enlarge it.)

My collage Gingko and Flowers is a small work that recently won an award in a local art show. It's available for purchase at my Zibbet shop (see upper left column.) Like most of my collages, this artwork is difficult to really "see" when viewed this way ... digitally. In person, a viewer sees the translucency of the two diamond-shaped collage elements, and translucency is a quality I love in collage, both for its building of layers as well as its inherent way of hinting at mystery.

A year or so ago, I made stacks of gelatin monoprints, using gingko leaves from my own tree, as well as a variety of other elements. After these monoprints dried, I scanned them and altered their colors in Photoshop. I then printed out these images on mulberry papers, using two-sided temporary tape and carrier sheets in the printing process. Two of these print-outs became the diamond-shaped elements in the above collage.

I almost always opt to tear the edges of these print-outs before using them in collages; now, what to do with the leftover scraps?

This is one answer -- mulberry paper is so easily shaped around objects that it was a piece of cake to glue leftover scraps onto these wooden hearts. The hearts will live on as greeting card embellishments.

Alice I

2011-06-05T13:45:00.001-04:00

One of my artworks ...

2011-05-25T08:26:00.001-04:00

"M," above, is a mixed-media abstract that I created after watching Carrie Burns Browns' DVD, distributed by Creative Catalyst. The custom-made paper on the upper left of this artwork is one of the many exciting papers I enjoy using in my art.
"M" is available for purchase here:
   http://www.Zibbet.com/HeartworkByCecilia
This is the home of my Zibbet shop, where I have available several mixed-media artworks, all highly-textured and created on gallery-wrap canvas. Each of these artworks extends all the way back to the wall on all four edges.   With gallery-wrap canvas, framing is optional. To hang without a frame, attach two eyelet screws to the back of the built-in wooden frame, and string wire between them.

"M," above, measures 16" wide, 3/4" deep and 20" high.  Click on the above image to enlarge it.

DVDs and in-person art workshops

2011-05-14T16:15:00.001-04:00

I just ordered the new Anne Bagby DVD, Pattern and Form: Advanced Collage Techniques. I greatly enjoyed Anne's first DVD and I think her new one will delight me even more.

DVDs are a fraction of the cost of a live workshop, and they have the advantage of being stoppable at any point, so that I can go straight from watching a demo-in-progress to working on applying what I've just seen and heard. Some live workshops offer the same opportunity, but, it's been my experience that workshop facilitators, in the interests of saving time, often combine several techniques in each demo session, before giving participants a break in which to apply what's just been presented in the demo. If too many steps are presented to me in rapid sequence, I tend to forget parts of the lesson, here and there. If I'm in a workshop that is my very first exposure to any given material, I do much better when I watch a single technique, then immediately follow this with a practice-period.

The other advantage of DVDs is, of course, that they can be watched over and over.

All this said, however, I'm happy to say that soon I will be taking off for 6 days to attend a workshop offered at Hudson Valley Art Association, leaving my husband to hold down the fort (and to care for the cat, who will not be overjoyed at the prolonged absence of "Mom-mom.") This is the good part of having turned 62 -- now receiving Social Security benefits, I can start attending farther-afield workshops. I've yearned to do this for years and years, but was limited to workshop and class opportunities within my local area. Not only have these been far and few between, but also, they have tended to be aimed at people just starting to stretch their artistic wings. I've found that when I attend workshops and classes aimed at intermediate and advanced artists, I learn from my fellow participants in addition to learning from the facilitator; and I find this very stimulating and enriching.

How blessed I am, to now be at a place in life where I can have the best of both worlds -- DVDs as well as live workshops.

This week at the Zibbet store...

2011-05-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

at my local library...

2011-05-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

As of this morning, "M," shown in an earlier post, and 22 other pieces of my abstract contemporary art, hang at my local public library, along with collections of artwork by two artist friends. We were so happy when we finally finished hanging this three-artist show ... tired, too. Now we three can rest for a few weeks, until the 21st, when we will host a reception at th library. Then on June 3, we'll take everything back down, re-pack it, and start the cycle all over again, somewhere else.

I'm so grateful to have these two friends -- I never could have filled the large meeting room at our library with only my own work. And doing things as a group is so much more rewarding and fun than doing a one-person show ... which I've promised myself to never do again. I'm also extremely grateful to have a wonderful husband who came when I called -- since it turned out I needed someone much taller than my 5'1" to maneuver the library's hangers.

Here is Ragged, one of my pieces that was hung today--

And here is one of the paintings (entitled Three Blue Tables) hung by another member of the 3-part team, Norma Wokas--

And here is a painting, entitled The Rose Garden, by the other member of our team, Leonia Mroczkewski...

Both of the above paintings make me want to walk right into the scenes they depict. I see the personalities of these two friends in these artworks of theirs.

I'm getting a little old for all that climbing up and down a ladder -- but getting this display hung was worth it; all three of us feel we've scaled a mountain and reached the top. We hung 57 pieces of artwork in all!

Anyone living in central coastal NJ is welcome to stop by to see the show; it's at Middletown Twsp. Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Rd., Middletown, NJ.

Somerset Digital Studio publication

2011-03-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

An "Old" Movie Treasure, Just Discovered

2010-10-05T10:45:00.000-04:00

To Learn More about this Book, See Upper Left Sidebar

2010-04-06T12:23:00.001-04:00

Altered Art

2010-04-05T12:30:00.002-04:00

2010-04-05T12:28:00.002-04:00

2010-04-05T12:27:00.001-04:00

2010-04-05T12:26:00.000-04:00

2010-04-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

2010-04-05T12:15:00.000-04:00

2010-04-05T12:11:00.003-04:00

2010-04-05T12:08:00.001-04:00

Here, I altered dollar-store pears and mounted them in a shadowbox frame.

Vintage Ephemera for Sale

2010-03-16T08:40:00.000-04:00

I've said for a long time that I would do this "someday" -- and the day has come. I have to make room for finished pieces of my artwork, and that means letting go of my collected pieces of vintage ephemera. These are original cabinet cards, snapshots, greeting cards, ad cards, documents, etc. None of the ephemera is a reproduction except for the pre-1923 magazine pages, most of which feature ads, images and text.

For $20, you'll get 60 pieces of vintage ephemera. This price includes postage within the USA. Add $10 for international.

samples of ephemera for sale

2010-03-15T08:35:00.000-04:00

samples of ephemera for sale

2010-03-14T08:23:00.000-04:00

To purchase, see above.

Hands on Digital: Where Digital Meets Mixed Media!

2010-02-28T10:07:00.003-05:00

FOR SALE: Vintage Picture Postcards

2010-01-16T08:20:00.002-05:00

Sample of the Vintage Picture Postcards (Please click each image to enlarge it.)

These vintage postcards are in good to excellent condition. Some have cancelled vintage postal stamps and messages written on the address side. I'm offering them at 10 for $10.00, which includes postage for USA. (For International, add $10.) Please click the "Buy Now" Pay Pal button below.
Thanks,
Cecilia

FOR SALE: tintypes

2010-01-16T08:15:00.002-05:00

Tintype samples. (Please click on image to enlarge.)

I'm offering assorted tintypes, all in good condition, at 3 for $10.00, which includes postage for USA; for international, add $10. These tintypes vary in size from 1" X 1.5" to 2.5" X 3.5" -- most are of this larger size. Please click on the Buy Now Pay Pal button below.
Thanks,
Cecilia

FOR SALE: The Family Circle magazine Aug. 14, 1936

2010-01-16T08:00:00.005-05:00

Back Cover

(Click on each image to enlarge.)

This 24-page magazine contains articles and ads rich with vintage charm. It's in good condition, with the expected yellowing and slight crumbling along the edges of some pages. I'm offering it for $10.00, which includes postage for USA; for international, add $10. Please click on the Pay Pal "Buy Now" button below. Thanks,
Cecilia

Monthly Digital Collage ATC Challenges...

2010-01-07T18:36:00.000-05:00

Something New! Hands On Digital Hybrid Kits!

2009-12-12T16:27:00.008-05:00

(To see a larger version of this Kit Preview, please click on the image at the left.)

My friend Cindy Powell -- whose blog link appears nearby, in the left column of this blog --has morphed me into a member of the Creative Team designers behind her brain-child Hands On Digital Hybrid Kits!
This first kit of mine, Anne and Friends, can be used for both digital and hands-on scrapbooking; moreover, it's been developed specifically for the hands-on creating of ATCs, greeting cards and refrigerator magnets. The kit includes step-by-step instructions listing all materials needed in addition to the kit itself. It's available for $6 at http://divascrappersdesigns.com/ as well as http://digiscrapstation.com/.
Each of my kits is a collection of theme-and-color-linked 300-dpi elements and collage-ready backgrounds. The elements are in PNG format, which renders their backgrounds transparent. This transparency makes the images easy to combine with one another, and/or with your own digital imagery, to create brand-new pieces of art with your own personal flair.
To learn more about Hands On Digital Hybrid Kits, and to download a freebie collage Cindy has created mostly from the kit Anne and Friends, please visit: http://handsondigital.blogspot.com/.
I hope you'll enjoy making your own artwork from this collection of digital images, and I hope you'll check back from time to time as new kits are posted.
Thanks!
Cecilia

My First Publication in Somerset Digital Studio Magazine

2009-08-22T08:37:00.008-04:00

Eyebrow Raising

2009-07-18T12:10:00.003-04:00

(This was originally posted several months ago and is being re-posted as part of the Buried Treasure Collaboration, to be shared July 23, 2009. The photo on the left is my original photo of God's cloud-art at Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook National Park, New Jersey. On the right is my digital collage Heart in Hand II. Click to enlarge.)

When we keep our eyes open, we find that God sprinkles our paths with unexpected art materials...anywhere!

Several years ago, when I worked at TJH (The Job from Hell), I took a short daily walk as a mental health break. This walk took me past an alley behind a few shops, where shop owners used to leave discarded packing materials for the trash collectors. One day I saw a piece of packaging material, a honeycomb of brown heavyweight paper, mangled and weathered -- and I snatched it up before the "real" trash collectors could get there! Finally I'm using it in a piece of art and so far I'm happy with the way it's progressing.

This may be an embarrassing story for her, so I won't name my girlfriend; but one day she and I stopped at a curbside pile of discards outside the home of someone who had just recently cleaned house, probably in preparation for a move. Yes -- we actually went thru the mountain of trash. I got some lovely lace that had once been living room drapery, a million old CDs and a pile of composition books that anonymous schoolchildren had used for written exercises. I'm sure the neighbors were peeking out their windows, scratching their heads...especially since we were toting our newly found "treasures" to the trunk of my girlfriend's car, a shiny classy Lexus!

Photo opportunities await us, too, when we have eyes trained to notice them. We artists see things others don't. A few days ago I went to a playground in a local park and took close-up, angled photos of the playground equipment along with shadows it cast. The results are abstracts that will be used in several ways in my digital art. Nearby, toddlers played on the younger kids' equipment, while their parents sat on benches and looked at me from under squiggled eyebrows. I went about my business with a contented smile, happily paying them no mind.

This approach to others' eyebrow maneuvers is, for me, an acquired skill. I've grown a thicker skin since the day, a few years ago, when I went on a chartered bus trip to the Bronx Botantical Gardens with the ladies' group from church. I'll never forget my excitement, on that trip, when on a guided greenhouse tour, I noticed an exotic tree with a wild tangle of dreadlock-like roots, sprawling at the base of the tree. I knelt down and took a stream of close-ups, fascinated by the patterns and texture spread out before me. Done taking pictures, I got back up to my feet, turned -- and came face-to-face with a circle of women taking me in, all of them with a mile's distance between their lower lips and their eyebrows.

Like other artists, I see treasure in trash piles and, in a tangle of roots, a background for digital art or a custom-made Photoshop grunge brush. At a playground, I see a dancefloor for a fairy still waiting to be born on my Photoshop work-page.

A warm hug to my fellow artists,
Cecilia

new artwork posted on website

2009-06-26T14:58:00.003-04:00

underwater scene greeting cards

2009-06-26T12:41:00.012-04:00

Here are 4 greeting cards I made to sell through a local giftshop. Making cards of this kind was a relaxing break -- they're quick, easy and fun. You can click on any image to enlarge it.

Cecilia

monoprinting underwater backgrounds

2009-06-26T12:13:00.007-04:00

This photo sequence shows how I made the monoprints that I used in creating the underwater-scene greeting cards. I also used a monoprint of this kind in creating a large piece of art for Crafters Cafe, which can be seen at http://crafterscafe.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=29&chapter=50

My first step was to smear paint blobs onto a matrix, which in this case was a sheet of glass. Second, I placed my substrate (the glossy cardstock to be printed) face-down onto the matrix and gave it a slight twist. Then I pulled it up; the third photo shows the matrix and substrate side-by-side. The last photo shows a close-up of one of my prints.

This technique is lots of fun; every pull yields a surprise. And it's a perfect activity to share with young children out of school for the summer!

Cecilia

Art Show Opening -- the Afterglow

2009-06-14T16:19:00.010-04:00

Yesterday my good friend Mary Ann and I had our opening for a joint art show we titled Texture Mania -- because we both celebrate texture in our art-making.

Mary Ann's display covers two walls, and my art takes the other two. It was a huge job preparing all the artwork, as well as a lot of portfolio pieces; but we felt it well worthwhile yesterday, when the large display room (at a local cultural center) filled with family, friends and strangers-to-become friends who came in response to the PR I had spread around for weeks in advance.

The refreshments were fantastic -- I think I've attended weddings that offered less food and drink! The refreshments were supplied by Mary Ann and the wife of the Pennsylvania photographer who shared our opening since his photos were newly hung in the cultural center's smaller display room.

That's our division of labor -- refreshments are always handled by Mary Ann (former Earth Mother and current competition for Martha Stewart as Queen of All Things Homey); and PR is always handled by moi; since, before Artist Cecilia was born, Writer Cecilia spent years writing for one of the two major Detroit-area newspapers, when I was still a Michigander. Before and after those years, my short stories, articles and poetry were published in a wide range of magazines and other periodicals. With that background -- and considering the fact that I step into my own kitchen as seldom as legally possible -- naturally the job of PR is mine.

The photos I took of our show aren't the best, but I've posted them at the top of this entry, to add some imagery to my words. You can click on each photo to enlarge the image.

The first three photos of artwork are my art, and the following five are Mary Ann's. Her African-themed art-quilts were made to honor the beaders of Bead for Life, a non-profit organization that helps impoverished Ugandan women and children. Mary Ann incorporated some of the Bead for Life beads on her quilts; I incorporated them in some of my mixed-media pieces.

Cecilia

Ties that Bind

2009-06-13T09:57:00.004-04:00

Saturday's collage workshop

2009-06-08T19:42:00.007-04:00

Updates

2009-05-29T19:44:00.009-04:00

This week's email brought me two pieces of good news: One of my digital artworks will be published in the Summer 2009 Somerset Digital Studio magazine.

More exciting still, I'm now on the design team at Crafter's Cafe, an on-line art supply enterprise run by one terrific woman, Sue Farace. Besides shopping, you can also take classes thru her website: http://www.crafterscafe.com/. I'm looking forward to the adventure of artmaking with the fine line of products available at Crafter's Cafe -- a line of products being newly expanded, so visit Sue's website often to keep up with the additions!

My CD of vintage clipart is available here on my blog, by clicking on the "Buy Now" button at the bottom of this message. The cost is $20, which covers postage. This second CD includes 11 "pages" of digital kit elements; their transparent backgrounds make them easily combined with one another and with your own imagery, for scrapbooking, altered art, etc. To view the contents of the second CD, scroll to the bottom of this blog page.

I want to thank my good friend Mary Ann for some of the vintage photos that are free giveaways in the left column of this blog. More of Mary Ann's beautiful vintage photos and epherma will appear on my next CD.

Cecilia

NEW LOOK

2009-04-16T09:49:00.006-04:00

Hearts in Touch Designer of the Month

2009-04-03T12:26:00.012-04:00

As the April Designer of the Month for Hearts in Touch Rubber Stamps (http://www.heartsintouch.com/), I've completed several projects that use the #57 Double Fems sheet of unmounted stamps.

One of the reasons I prefer unmounted stamps is that a sheet of them can be used as a printing plate. And that's what I did in creating Women Rock.

With the rubber sheet face-up on my work table, I applied ink with an inverted stamp pad, then placed the receiving paper atop the rubber sheet. I burnished from the top, using a brayer.

Next, I carefully peeled off the receiving paper, now printed with multiple images. I repeated this process several times, using different papers.

One of the papers I used was a print-out from my CD of clipart (available by using the Pay Pal button at the end of this post); the image is a sheet of burlap with unraveled edges. The print came out so well that I chose it for background on the right side of the cigar box.

I papered the left side of the cigar box with another HIT-printed sheet. I supplemented the images with some clipart from my CD.

My embellishment elements came from a wide range of sources:

Having bought a dollar-store set of doll clothes for my granddaughter, I gave her the doll clothes but kept the molded black plastic female form for this projet. I sanded it and dry-brushed it with several acrylic paints before mounting it on a wooden element found at a rummage sale.

Behind the female form is a marble tile sample given to me by a friend. I used a gold metallic pen to outline the designs in the tile, then mounted it to the cigar box.

The wooden block (“Women”) came from a game purchased at a thrift shop; the greenery, now pressed and dried, originally came from a bouquet my daughter received. The wonderful black beads came from Oriental Trading Company (also known as “the big dollar store in cyberspace.”)

Now to go looking for more cigar boxes...!

Cecilia

2009-03-23T08:46:00.004-04:00

Today is the big day, the climax following the last three months' frantic activity. This afternoon I will drop off (that expression makes it sound so easy!) 42 or 43 (I lost count) pieces of artwork at Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, NJ, home of the Monmouth Festival of the Arts.

My girlfriend was saying last night that most likely I'm the only artist whose work was juror-accepted into three separate categories -- and I said yes, because nobody else is this crazy!

And if all that artmaking focus weren't enough to drive me crazy, then the grunt-work and paperwork would have done it. Three separate inventories. Matting. Framing. Pricing. Wrapping. Packaging.

Our car is filled to the brim with my artwork. There is room in the front for my husband and me ... and that's it.

I say "our car" because we are sharing one car at the moment. We own two. One is a driveway ornament. It's a brand-new Honda Accord that we picked up just last week. The new-car fumes are like WW I mustard gas for us.

It's been a long time since either of us bought a new car, and we've discovered that our allergies have grown radically worse in the interim.

My husband and I disagree totally on the approach that should be taken toward eliminating these fumes as quickly as possible. Understand, I'm married to an organic chemist (now retired) whose best friend is a chemical engineer (now also retired.) Mr. Chemical Engineer says the off-gassing will occur at the same rate no matter what we do; therefore, he reasons, leaving open the car windows, using a carbon air cleaner, and using trays of baking soda are all useless.

My friends and I all agree that Mr. C. E. should just keep his opinions to himself.

Does anyone out there have any ideas?

Cecilia, proud owner of a new driveway ornament

foam plate-printing: a creative adventure

2009-02-24T14:39:00.005-05:00

What stamps like a hand-carved rubber stamp yet is so flat that, if you want, you can run it through a pasta machine? The answer may be sitting in your refrigerator, under that sliced smoked turkey from the deli. (Yum! Save me a slice!)
You may be new to foam-plate printing, or you may have been introduced to it or its cousin (potato-printing) as a child. For me, the doorway to this creative adventure was Annette W. Mitchell’s quick-read book, Foam Is Where the Art Is, which I found and bought on-line.

Supplies:
foam disposable deli trays
scissors to cut off the curved edges, leaving flat sheets of foam
paper towels or rags for finger-cleaning between prints
rubber brayer
a dollar-store plastic cutting board with a somewhat rough surface
Speedball Water Soluble Block Printing Ink in assorted colors
Speedball Water Soluble Ink Extender
a tall stack of scrap papereither a pasta machine or a burnishing tool paper on which to print (sturdy paper like cardstock is ideal)
ballpoint pen
optional:
Versa Magic or StazOn ink pad (any other dark color)
a rubber stamp
a Dover book of copyright-free clipart
additional “carving” tools, such as an awl

After cutting off the curved edges of the foam trays, I usually trim the foam plate to a width around 3 inches and a length of roughly 4 inches. This size fits the cover of a greeting card (the traditional size that comes ready-to-use.) Also, it’s the size that will easily pass through the pasta machine, if that’s the tool I plan to use in printmaking.
I’ve created foam-plate designs in 3 ways:
(1.) freehand-drawing directly onto the foam plate.
(2.) making a carbon copy transfer from a Dover book of copyright-free clipart.
(3.) using a rubber stamp (lacking fine detail in its design) with an inkpad containing ink that adheres to any surface Whatever the source of my design, I most often do the “carving” with a ballpoint pen. A pen makes thin lines, which is what I usually want. For a thicker line I use an awl; for really thick, a cocktail stir-stick. To jazz things up, I use all three on one plate -- along with the tongs of a fork or any other tools that leave interesting shapes and textures.
I cover my art table with scrap paper and keep a stack of more scrap paper within reach.
Onto the cutting board, I squeeze small dollops of my chosen colors from tubes of Speedball ink. I often add a little Speedball extender, to give the ink translucency and to keep it moist.
I roll-mix these dollops on the cutting board with my rubber brayer, then continue rolling it back and forth across the board, until I’ve got the right amount of ink coating the roller. When first learning this technique, I experimented with practice prints on scrap paper, to learn what amount of ink on the brayer works best for me.
With my carved foam plate lying face-up on my art table, I roll the inked brayer across the carved design. I use a brayer wide enough to cover the design in one stroke.
Keeping the foam plate face-up, I lightly press my print-paper down onto it. My print paper is usually just a little larger than the foam plate, but small enough to move through the pasta machine.
Next I grab a piece of scrap paper and use it as the “bread” in a “sandwich,” wrapping it around the print paper that’s pressed to the foam plate. This step keeps ink from going places it shouldn’t go!

At this point the sandwich is ready for me to run it through the pasta machine or to use the burnishing tool.I set the pasta machine on its widest setting if my foam plate has come from a deli tray. If using the thinner foam that’s cut from a disposable dinner plate, I either narrow the setting on the pasta machine or add a piece of cardboard to the “sandwich.” As I pass the sandwich through the pasta machine, I use one hand to guide the end that emerges.
If I choose to use a burnishing tool in place of a pasta machine, I keep the sandwich on the art table, securing its position with one hand and using the other hand to run a baren or other burnisher across the sandwich.
Barens and burnishers are available in fine arts supply stores, but I use a homemade baren: I used E6000 to glue together the flat sides of two wooden drawer knobs (from a home improvement store.) This double-knob is a baren on one end and a handle on the other, and the two are interchangeable.
In a pinch, the back of a large serving spoon will do the trick.

The baren printmaking method takes a little longer than the pasta machine method, but either way, the printing is quick and easy.
After the printmaking step, I unwrap the “sandwich,” discard the scrap paper “bread,” and gently peel the print-paper off the foam plate.
Right away, I stick my tools under the faucet to wash them. Speedball blockprinting ink comes off easily with water and paper towels.
Prints dry fast, and are soon ready to be used in collage.

NOTE: Although I used Speedball ink and extender in making prints for the pictured collage (Three Pears), I want to mention the trouble I had in gluing my prints onto the collage. Speedball water-based inks will rehydrate when introduced, however gently, to any kind of moist gluing medium. This happens even after the prints have been sprayed with fixative. So, the next time I do any foam-plate printing, I plan to use acrylic paint and slow-drying gel as my extender. Working this way will require better ventilation than when I was working with the water-based media. But the results won't rehydrate later, when being used with glue in collage-making.

Here by Grace

2009-02-21T13:00:00.006-05:00

(My beloved Kitty, a gift of love for 20 years.)

(Puma, here by grace.)

Puma is my six-year-old cat. I brought her home from an animal shelter late last April.
She is here, living the life of Riley, by grace. Although she has moments of being the cat I would most like her to be, the rock-bottom of it is that she carries "baggage" from her five and a half years with two previous owners, not to mention her subsequent time in the animal shelter.
She has done nothing to earn her present good circumstances. Puma is here now because once Kitty was here.
My beloved Kitty died the Saturday after Easter last year, after having been part of my life, and my daughter's, for nearly twenty years.
My daughter and I got Kitty when she was a kitten. We answered an ad from a family giving her away because their young son, who adored her, had developed severe allergies. I'll never forget the look on the little boy's face when he had to say goodbye to Kitty.
Kitty seamlessly became part of our family, a warm and calm presence in a home that I held together. When after many years I realized I could no longer hold it together, she and my daughter and I became a new, smaller family. Later still, Kitty accompanied my daughter and me in forming a new family, at my re-marriage.
I'm sad to say that for many of those years, I took Kitty for granted; having been my daughter's seven-year-old birthday gift, she belonged to my daughter.
Kitty became mine when my daughter left, first for college, then for an apartment where pets weren't welcome. It was then that I began to realize -- but only began to realize -- what a gift Kitty was, in her unfailing affection. Kitty was love, personified. Or if you prefer, feline-ified.
There is no lack of love between my daughter and I, nor any lack in love between my husband and I, so it's hard to explain, even to myself, why Kitty's affectionate nature began to matter so much to me. I only know that it did.
This became painfully evident when suddenly, last Good Friday, she stopped eating. It was the longest week of my life. Because of my daughter's work schedule, she could not come with me and Kitty for that last visit to the vet until the following Saturday morning; and because my daughter and Kitty had grown up together, strongly bonded, there was no question if my taking Kitty to the vet without her.
My husband drove us to the vet, while in the back seat my daughter and I stroked Kitty, lying in her favorite basket.
While the three of us were still in the waiting room, I sensed that Kitty had already passed. This was confirmed when we were taken in to the vet's examining room.
We had a beautiful little funeral in our backyard, complete with prayers from a book my sister had given me, and fresh flowers.
I had known all along Kitty's time was coming; I had never expected to get another cat.
It was a tidal wave: The grief that followed the loss of that sweet loving little pet. I had expected sadness; what I got was quite a bit more than that.
Eventually it was decided I would take in another cat. I knew it would not be possible to replace Kitty; I was proven right.
I've learned to accept Puma for what she is -- to appreciate her intelligence, beauty and manic bursts of playfulness; and to allow her to "train me" as all cats do with their "owners."
I enjoy having her in my life. I treat her very well; she lives like the queen she believes herself to be.
Yet it remains a fact ... just something I'm mulling over, today ... that the good life into which she has been delivered has been won not by anything she herself is, nor by anything she has ever done. It's a free gift. She is here not because of her own goodness, but because of Kitty's. Kitty, who embodied love.
Puma is here by grace. As am I.
What I learned from Kitty: All life is sacred; all love is holy.
Cecilia

2009-02-21T11:50:00.002-05:00

2009-01-31T10:20:00.000-05:00

I'm delighted to be a small part of the thriving community of artists virtually congregating on the Internet, sharing ideas and setting off creative sparks. I feel especially indebted to the Yahoo Mail Group The Latest Trends in Mixed-Media Art , whose team of moderators I sincerely thank for accepting artwork of mine for inclusion with other artists' work in a book to be published later this year and to be available via Amazon as well as other outlets. Updates and details on this will follow in later posts.

Anyone interested in joining an active group with a warm personality and a wide range of interests and activities, check out the link I'm providing!

Grandma Again!

2009-01-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday I gained a new man in my life -- my newest grandchild, Chonza Jr., aged five months and freshly arrived from the west coast of Canada.

Although Christmas is now a memory, meeting Chonza Jr. brings to mind a Christmas poem I wrote several years ago:

Prism-Split

My Christmas colors are
ivory
golden-brown
hectic pink
eggplant-black.

In my New Jersey living room
'round an angel-topped spruce
gathers
God's palette.

Our ancestors
celebrated Christmas in
England
Germany
Italy
Mexico
South Korea
the Philippines
Zambia.

Across artificial borders
we've reached
to adopt
to marry
making family.

God pours through us
His light
prism-split.

(copyright 2008 Cecilia Swatton with all rights reserved.)

Notice in this photo I wear beaded bracelets. These are made by Ugandan women whose dire financial circumstances place our own economic troubles into sharp perspective. Please take a moment to visit the Bead for Life website highlighted here on my blog. For gift-giving occasions, Bead for Life has something you can give with a warm heart, knowing it's a double gift, a personal adornment as well as a way of helping others. Or if you are an artist working in mixed media, beading arts, fiber arts or altered arts, you will be delighted with Bead for Life's packages of loose beads. These beads are lightweight -- being handmade one at a time from recycled magazine pages -- and come in all shades and colors.

In addition to Chonza Jr., God recently bestowed another blessing upon these sixty-year-old (slightly achy) shoulders. Jurors accepted my artwork into three categories at the 2009 Monmouth Festival of the Arts, an annual gallery-event happening in late March. The festival, held at Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, NJ, draws work from fine-arts artists across the tri-state area of NJ, NY and PA. My categories of acceptance are fine arts (for my mixed-media abstracts done on gallery-wrap canvas), fine crafts (for my Victorian-themed altered trays and cigar boxes) and photography (for my digital art.) At this point in time not every vendor offers separate categories for the two distinct, widely different artforms of fine-art photography and digital art; however, I remain hopeful that the tide of change will someday reach everywhere. I'm delighted at this acceptance into the Monmouth Festival of the Arts, in part because every year without fail, the Temple's MFA volunteers are polite, helpful and seemingly tireless in bringing about this huge event. And this show is well-organized. Any artist who's participated in a number of shows knows what a gigantic blessing this is!

I will be doing my best to grow a second set of hands in order to create my quota of artwork for this show, so I will not be a daily blogger. However, I hope everyone will take a moment to visit the Monmouth Festival of Arts website highlighted on this blog.

God's blessings upon you all!

Cecilia