Mary Ann Russo's and My Prints Made with LOOPY LADDERS, 9" x 12" Stencil

Loopy Ladders, one of my favorite stencils, has found its way into the talented hands of my friend Mary Ann Russo.  The first two photos below showcase Mary Ann's cool-green prints made with this stencil --

Note:  Mary Ann made the above print on pre-printed paper.

Likewise, I've made new prints with this stencil...

Above:  (gray foreground)-- 9" x 12" Loopy Ladders Stencil ... (pink background) 9" x 12" Mimosa Stencil (on pre-printed paper)

The photo above, as well as the photo below, show Loopy Ladders used on stretched canvas. 

Below, Loopy Ladders was used in creating the background print (brown.)  Later, with orange acrylic paint, I added a foreground with Ornamental Iron Curls Stencil (6" x 6".)  The latter stencil has been cut free from its original frame.  

Above-- a green Loopy Ladders print on stretched canvas, overlaid with a white print made with Prayer Flags Stencil (both stencils are 9" x 12".) 

Above, today's final print was made with Loopy Ladders on pre-printed paper.

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To see my full line of stencils, just check here.

More prints by Mary Ann Russo will be appearing here ... please stay tuned.

Many thanks to Mary Ann for allowing me to show her artwork here!

Netherlands Artist Marsha Valk and CLUSTERED LEAVES stencil

This issue of StencilGirl Talk shows step-by-step photos, with directions, for a beautiful multi-page project by Netherlands artist Marsha Valk.  I'm delighted that, from among the many fantastic StencilGirl stencils, she chose to include one of mine, Clustered Leaves.

Besides her stunningly bright colors, I love her creative use of this stencil, in using its design as a frame for circled script --

In its entirety, this 9" x 12"  stencil looks like this --

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To see all my stencils, please visit here.

BORDERS # 1 used in Dazzling Art!

StencilGirl Talk  not long ago carried a fantastic array of watercolor-and-collage artworks by Carolyn Pertuit. 

I'm delighted to say that, among the many gorgeous StencilGirl stencils Carolyn chose for this project, one was my 9" x 12" stencil Borders # 1. 

Isn't this totally stunning?  I certainly think so!  The stencil itself looks very humble next to this beautiful art, but I'll show it anyway ...

Borders # 1

I've outlined in red the border Carolyn Pertuit used in the art shown here.  All three of my Borders series stencils measure 9" x 12" and each of the three contains three borders.

To see my full line of stencils, please visit here.

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Click here to see all of these really marvellous pieces by Carolyn Pertuit!

And you can see more of her artwork on Instagram @paperpensandpaint.

Carolyn Dube and Lizzie Mayne!

Today's post salutes two of my fellow stencil designers at StencilGirlsProducts.com -- Carolyn Dube, whose Use Your Words Stencil remains one of my all-time favorites; and Lizzie Mayne, another brilliant designer, whose stencil Tangled Tribal Hand Large stole my heart long ago.

I really enjoyed bringing these two images together on stretched canvas.

Hands say a lot ... and so do words ... and images.

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Orange with SASSY SPRAY Stencil

Below is an early version of a painting that has now been re-worked ... and still needs more final touches.  This "start" was made with my 6" x 6" stencil Sassy Spray, following directions given in Pat Dews' DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form (Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.)  (Note:  I altered my stencil -- only a little -- with Joyce Chen scissors.)  The reason I'm still working on this piece is that I decided it needed more contrast as well as an introduction of complementary color.  Since the piece is only 9" x 12" (on stretched canvas) I had at first thought one color family sufficed.  But since then I've changed my mind.  (The original version appears here and there ... such as at Pixels.com and Pinterest.)  

Below is another piece created with the same stencil; it has appeared here in at least one earlier version -- and I find that it, too, needs more development.  I'm still mulling over what to do ...

Sassy Spray looks like this before it gets scissor-altered --

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TANGLED PODS & DANGLED PODS Stencils

Tangled Pods and Dangled Pods are image-opposites, each made into a 9" x 12" stencil.  They can be used alone or together.  Below are some close-ups taken of several pieces I've created on stretched canvas using layers of color (mostly high-flow acrylic paint) with both stencils--

Today's final piece is not a close-up; it shows the 9" x 12" canvas in its entirety:

Dangled Pods stencil looks like this:

And Tangled Pods looks like this:

You can see all my stencils here.

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Gwen Lafleur and NOSEGAY STENCIL!

Artist Gwen Lafleur, one of my fellow designers at StencilGirlProducts, has delighted me by choosing -- among many of the StencilGirl choices -- my 9" x 12" Nosegay Stencil in a unique way, which I'm happy to share here.


In the first shot below, Gwen shows her application of gold metallic acrylic paint through selected areas of my stencil; her surface is an elaborate artwork-in-progress showing intricate detail -- which she has created using several StencilGirl stencils. 

Above and below are close-up details showing flowers and stalks made with my stencil.

To see Gwen's full-length step-by-step demo of the technique she used to develop this gorgeous artwork, visit here.

Nosegay Stencil itself looks like this:

You can follow Gwen Lafleur here ... and you can see my full line of stencils here.

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Good News

Raise a Shout, shown below, is my mixed-media collage that was just juried into the Annual Open Show at Guild of Creative Art, Shrewsbury, NJ.  This is the big once-a-year show open to anyone; it draws artists from the tri-state area.

To better see details, click on the image above.

I created this artwork using these StencilGirl stencils -- first in making the imprints; and later, using two of the stained stencils as collage elements --

Line Waves, designed by Trish McKinney

Curves, designed by Mary Beth Shaw

These two stencils are among my top ten StencilGirl favorites; I use them a lot!

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SASSY SPRAY Stencil in Triplicate!

I love the challenge of working on stretched canvas that comes in an elongated shape!  The first photo below shows the starting step in creating a current piece that was made with three slightly altered Sassy Spray 6" x 6" stencils. 

I've customized this stencil with Joyce Chen scissors -- perfect for stencil-cutting because they're sharp and have short blades.  The original Sassy Spray stencil looks like this:

Above is the early version of this painting; I developed it with Golden High Flow acrylics, using these stencil-bits and following directions given in Pat Dews' DVD Designing Great Starts with Texture and Form.

After I had reached this stage of the project, I decided to veer back to another favorite technique -- making altered stencils into collage elements.  Whenever I do this, I choose stencils that have been stained in previous projects.  

The stencils used in creating this painting wouldn't have worked since they'd become stained in the same colors as the background I created.  They would have simply blended in with the background.

So I searched my stash of stained stencils and came up with just what I needed, stencils not only stained in a complementary color scheme, but also stained to a darker value than the relatively light overall value of the background.  I added them with heavy matte gel medium.

Above is the finished collage-and-acrylic artwork.

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The 2017 Canterbury Art Show ...Another Great Year!

Back in July, upon completing the collages shown below, I posted them here. 

I used stencils -- paint-stained from earlier projects -- as collage elements, matching them with mixed-media pieces.

I entered these collages in the 2017 Canterbury Art Show, which just ended.  They sold, and are now on their way to new homes ... 

The paint-stained 6" x 6" stencil used here was Palm Fronds Silhouette Stencil Small ... a design that has a matching "little sister," Palm Fronds Silhouette Stencil Mini (4" x 4".)

To see all my stencils, please visit here.

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Press and Pull with Stencils and any Stiff Paste

Some time ago, I made a three-dimensional painting on stretched canvas.  

First, I used an art spatula to spread the canvas with molding paste -- but  heavy-bodied Titanium White acrylic paint, or any other stiff paste or gel, would work just as well.

While the molding paste was still wet, I pressed two 9" x 12" stencils into it -- Blooming Where Planted and Prayer Flags.  

After the paste had dried completely, I brushed over it with a variety of acrylic paints.

I've already misplaced any photos of the whole canvas, but I recently ran across close-up photos of two areas where this pair of stencils had been used --

Above:  Blooming Where Planted is the stencil that was used here.

Above:  Prayer Flags was the stencil used here.

It's not easy to recognize the two stencils used to create this texture, since the pressing in and the pulling out of the stencils creates distortion of the original designs -- but in this case, distortion was my goal.  You can click on the above photos to enlarge them and better see details.

This technique makes it necessary to clean the stencils immediately after use.

After the paste died, I went over it with acrylic paints and Pan Pastels.

To see all my StencilGirl stencils and masks, including the two used in today's post, just visit here.

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