Elise Buskey!

Artist Elise Buskey created this stunning sun-print using 300-lb. cold-press watercolor paper with my 6”x6” stencil Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet:

 Using the same stencil -- along with a wide array of other stencils from StencilGirlProducts.com -- Elise also created this gorgeous collection of art prints:

Many thanks, Elise, for letting me post these images here!

Frieda Oxenham and PRESSED LEAVES

Artist Frieda Oxenham has made this unforgettable double-page art journal spread, using a number of stencils from StencilGirlProducts, including my 6"x6" stencil Pressed Leaves:

Thanks, Frieda, for choosing Pressed Leaves !

Karen P. Johnson and VINTAGE SCRIPT

This gorgeous art journal 2-page spread was created by Karen P. Johnson, using several stencils from StencilGirlProducts.com, including my 9"x12" stencil Vintage Script.  Karen used it on the right, and again on the left, over the beautiful face, to add depth.

Many thanks to Karen for showing off my stencil to such great advantage!

The stencil Vintage Script itself looks like this:

I'm grateful you stopped by for this blog visit!

CLUSTERED LEAVES Stencil in the Clever Hands of Sherry Canino!

Below are 3 views of a new artwork by Sherry Canino, who was just featured in my last post.  This time Sherry has used one of my newly-released stencils, 9"x12" Clustered Leaves:

Notice what Sherry has done with the stencil itself!  She has carefully removed the outer edge, which was rectangular in shape.  Now she has a freeform stencil and delights in it! 





Actually, Sherry bought two Clustered Leaves stencils, so she could use one as-is and customize the other.  I often do this, too -- with 2 or even 3 identical stencils.  

Notice also that Sherry has used part of a stencil by Seth Apter!

 This an exciting time for me since I will be taking a workshop of Seth's on August 6 in Belmar, NJ, sponsored by Belmar Arts Council!  Anyone wanting more info on this event, just leave me a comment!

Sherry Canino Finds a Clever New Way to Use WROUGHT IRON FENCE Stencil!

Sherry Canino and I are often on the same wavelength -- both of us (nor are we alone in this) find times when it's best to use only parts of stencils.  Here is an excellent example of what results from this approach:

What Sherry has accomplished here, using my 9"x 12" stencil Wrought Iron Gate, is something clever that never would have occurred to me -- she has created arrows that direct the eye of the viewer to her message.  

The original stencil looks like this:

When touring the Finger Lakes area of upstate NY, you're welcome to visit Sherry's store, Canino's Artistic Café, at 106 Metropolitan Park Drive, Liverpool, NY, where Sherry offers workshops.  

Liverpool is a community on the north shore of Onondaga Lake, offering a range of one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants, as well as scenic lakeshore trails. 

Thanks for visiting! 

PRAYER FLAGS Background

Some time ago, I posted a series of Gelli Plate prints I'd made during an online workshop under Jane Davies.   One of these was a full-size sheet of printmaking paper where I'd pulled a purple-on-gray print with Prayer Flags, one of my 9"x12" stencils.

Recently I cut up the print to create a background for a collaged greeting card cover:

 (The foreground image is a leftover from the days when I was creating digital clipart.)

The Prayer Flags stencil itself looks like this:

Thanks for visiting!

What is an Art Journal?

Kudos to Shawna Mayo Barnes, a StencilGirl StencilClub member starting a non-profit group that will someday offer actual art as therapy, art therapy, and regular ol’ art classes. One series of classes that to be offered will be on art journaling. 

Hence, Shawna has thrown out the question:  What is an art journal?

An art journal, in my understanding, is a blank journal of multi-media (thick, strong) paper, wherein the journalist sets herself/himself free to express feelings, events, dreams, prayers -- anything and everything -- using art media (such as acrylic paint) and art tools (such as stencils.) It's a freeform combination of visual and verbal processing. Some feelings can't be expressed in words alone; only artwork frees the spirit to reach the inner child, who expresses herself/himself in pre-verbal imagery. An art journal can become a sacred place; a place of non-judgmental integrity. In terms of art therapy, it is a place where a person can release anything and everything, no matter what – a physical place to, in a sense, "get it outside" of oneself, rather than to carry around something that might weigh a person down.

We live in a very judgmental world; persons who openly hold traditional beliefs are at times accused of harboring hatred.  Long ago in psychology class, I learned that this mental maneuver is called "projection." 

Art journals can be intensely personal because at times it seems here alone an individual can at long last be honest.

Here are some pages from one of my art journals (which have watercolor-paper pages)...

These were done before my happy debut as a designer for StencilGirlProducts, hence the lack of stencil use.  In these pages I practiced a form of meditation that called for first wetting the watercolor paper, then dropping in color at random; after the paper dried, the next step was to use black ink to doodle or sketch whatever came to mind.

Sherry Canino, back in the Spotlight!

Sherry Canino has used my 3-piece stencil set Crop Circles yet again:

This time around, Sherry's art, to my eye, has a distinctive Steampunk look!

Crop Circles can be ordered by visiting StencilGirlTalk.com and using the right side bar to become a StencilClub member.　Once a member, you can purchase past-issue stencil sets at your regular membership price. Email stencilgirlproducts@gmail.com citing the month you wish to purchase; then StencilGirlProducts will provide you with a invoice through PayPal.

If you're ever in the Finger Lakes area of upstate NY, you're welcome to visit Sherry's store, Canino's Artistic Café, at 106 Metropolitan Park Drive, Liverpool, NY; Sherry offers workshops too.  Liverpool is a community on the north shore of Onondaga Lake, offering a range of one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants, as well as scenic lakeshore trails. 
 

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE

Back on April 16, StencilGirl attended the Missouri Fiber Arts Conference, where they saw this artwork by fiber artist Candyce Grisham.  You can click on the image above to better see its details.  I was happy to see that Candyce created this piece using my 9"x12" stencil Queen Anne's Lace. The stencil itself looks like this:

Thanks for your visit today!

TANGLED PODS and MIMOSA

Every once in a while, I go thru my "Blog" folder for stray images that may or may not have been posted already.  Today I'm posting two collections of "strays" -- first, prints made with my 9"x12" stencil Tangled Pods:

Next, my 9"x12" stencil Mimosa: 

 

Thanks for visiting!

Lisa Dobry!

Lisa Dobry has used my Crop Circles set of stencils in her art journal, showing how bright complementary colors pop off the page when surrounded by earth-tones.

Crop Circles, the 3-piece set of June 2015 stencils, can be ordered by visiting StencilGirlTalk.com and using the right side bar to become a StencilClub member.  Once a member, you can purchase past stencils at your regular membership price.  Email stencilgirlproducts@gmail.com citing the month you wish to purchase; then StencilGirlProducts will provide you with a invoice through PayPal.

Bottom of FormTop of Form

 Thanks to you, Lisa Dobry, for letting me show your artwork here!

Help MaryBeth Shaw Celebrate her Birthday with a Stencil Price Discount Special Event!

Today and tomorrow -- July 7 & 8 -- you can help celebrate MaryBeth Shaw's birthday by treating yourself to a stencil sale special!

This limited-time special starts at midnight July 7 and it will end at 11:59 PM, Central Standard Time, July 8.

Visit StencilGirlProducts.com and, after making your stencil choices, use this code in checking out:

BIRTHDAYPARTY

This will give you 14 per cent off your entire stencil order!

Additionally, there is an everyday discount -- buy 6 or more stencils of the same size to receive an automatic discount.

CLUSTERED LEAVES and QUEEN ANNE'S GARDEN in the Hands of Artist Elise Buskey

I'm always thrilled when another artist uses one of my stencils in a way that dazzles me and goes way beyond anything I ever imagined possible.  Elise Buskey has done this -- more than once!

Above, I'm delighted to show yet another artwork by Elise, who works in fabric arts.  Elise used Setacolor to create this gorgeous sun-print.  Elise, thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing off what can be done with my 9"x12" stencil Queen Anne's Lace! 

But I'm not done yet; neither is Elise!  Below is a recent sun-print collage of her creation that really delights me ...

How do I love this piece?--let me count the ways!  Naturally, I'm delighted that, among the StencilGirl stencils that Elise chose for this project, she included (in the lower left corner) one of my just-released 9"x 12" stencils, Clustered Leaves.  

But more than that, I'm simply floored by the way Elise combines these four wildly different stencils in a way that makes each of the designs look better together than they would separately. 

In part, she has achieved this because she chose four stencils that were created completely with lines that are relatively narrow.  To put this another way, Elise didn't use something like Pair o' Parrots or Penguin Family for this project; these two designs have chunky, solid areas, with little or no line-work.  The fact that she chose line-work of fairly consistent size gives this collage harmony, as well as unity.

Another choice she made, to create even more unity, was to place the two purple pieces kitty-corner from each other another.   This placement is pleasing to my eye; it "holds together" the bigger image.

Across the opposite diagonal of the artwork, Elise subtly repeated this "holding together" trick, by choosing to place a wide yellow-to-yellow-green area within the Clustered Leaves sun-print, and, kitty-corner to this piece, she placed a piece that fades from olive green to yellow-green.  These two areas are held together by their yellow-green commonality.   

I hope Elise will mount this collage, encase it in a mat and frame, and use it as wall-art.  It richly deserves to be on display all the time!  

CLUSTERD LEAVES Stencil paired with WARPED HOLES Stencil

Every book on abstract painting that comes off the press, I snatch up and read.  Some books have disappointed but a few stand out as -- well, outstanding!  Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting, by Jo Toye, was one of the rare books that set my blood tingling. 

I've adapted one of the many ideas from her book for the demo of today's post. 

I started with a blank sheet of cardstock and a 9"x12" StencilGirl stencil, Warped Holes, by Lizzie Mayne.  This stencil (mine's already stained with paint from earlier projects) is perfect for today's demo because of its large openings. 

Above:  Having used masking tape at two corners to hold the stencil to the white cardstock, I use a Sharpie black marker-pen to outline some of the bigger shapes.  This shows up better in the close-up below.  

Above:  After sliding a plastic self-healing cutting board under the cardstock, I use an Exacto knife to begin cutting out the shapes I had outlined. 

Above:  Once the holes are cut out, I use more masking tape to secure my new 9"x12" stencil Clustered Leaves to the cardstock.  This step is also shown in the close-up below.

Anyone who has watched Mary Beth Shaw's June series of tutorial-demos has seen how she uses a wide, hand-fitting, two-sided sponge to pat acrylic paints gently thru the openings of stencils.  This tool, called a Smudgee, is what I used with this cardstock-stencil combination.  My imprint-results are own below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Seth Apter Coming to Belmar, NJ

I just signed up for an all-day mixed-media workshop with Seth Apter, Aug. 6, in Belmar, NJ!  http://www.belmararts.org/

PAIR O' PARROTS and DANCE OF THE COURTING CRANES

Still more greeting card made with two of my brand-new 6"x6" stencils, Dance of the Courting Cranes and Pair O' Parrots ....

Since Dance of the Courting Cranes has a Japanese look to it, I got out some old Japanese-theme printed paper and used this stencil to make a tracing on the back of the paper.  Then I cut out the shape of the two cranes and glued it to a greeting card cover.  (This 6"x6" bi-fold card is made from heavy cardstock that comes in assorted metallic colors, available at JamPaper.com.)

I took the same trace-cut-collage approach using Pair O' Parrots, on a green metallic greeting card with the tracings and cut-outs coming from pieces of 2 marbeled papers:

Lastly, I decided to build up a third collage, starting with a cut-out from a print-out of a 2-parrot photo that I had taken years ago.

After gluing that cut-out to the white greeting card cover, I traced around one of the parrots in my stencil, on dark blue paper.  After cutting around the tracing to create a dark blue parrot silhouette, I added the new cut-out to the first one ...

Since this looked incomplete, I decided to do another tracing, this time on foil-laminated paper, using the other parrot from the stencil.

Well, getting an accurate photo of any type of foil is a real adventure!  My scanner flatly refused to capture the metallic surface -- rendering it as a blah dark shape.

So I switched to my Android and ended up with two images that sort of show the finished greeting card ...

You'll just have to trust me when I say that the real thing looks better than what I'm able to show here!