In Celebration of All Trees!

I'm a tree-hugger!  Don't believe that?  Just scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, here, to count the designs that are trees or parts of trees.

The first image below is a print I made on the page of an old encyclopedia -- a page that already contained botanical illustrations including a tree.  The mask I used to make this green print was my 6" x 6" Garden at Nemours.  The original inspiration were lush plants in the gardens at historic Nemours Mansion, near Kennett Square, PA.... 

...........But recently I discovered that the same design can be viewed as tropical trees, as shown in the next two images below.  Both were made with my 6" x 6" Garden at Nemours and my 6" x 6" Pair o' Parrots.

The next two images below were printed with my 6" x 6" stencil Mimosa 6 --

In the image directly above, the 6" x 6" stencil Mimosa 6  was used twice, side by side, creating a continuous pattern.  

The background in the image above was printed with my new 9" x 12" mask Looking Up Through Trees.  Atop that print, I glued part of another 9" x 12" mask, Garden Montage -- after that mask had been paint-stained during a previous project. 

I used the same approach in developing the image below.  First I created a background with acrylic paints and Looking Up Through Trees.   After that dried, I came back with pink acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Swaying Grasses.  Next came my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers, which I used on the left with green acrylic paint; and on the right, purple.  You can click on the image below to enlarge it and better see details.

I did likewise in making the image below, starting with acrylic paint and Looking Up Through Trees.   Once that paint had dried, I came back with blue acrylic paint and my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers, which I used with purple-blue acrylic paint.  You can click on the image below to enlarge it and better see details.

For the image directly above, I again started with acrylic paint and Looking Up Through Trees.   Later, I returned to add flower prints with purple-blue paint and (on the left) my 6" x 6" stencil Mikki's Flowers; on the right, I used the same paint with another 6" x 6" stencil, Swatton Flowers Version 1.  My last step was to use pink acrylic paint with both these 6" x 6" stencils, this time reversing them, using  
Swatton Flowers Version 1 on the left and Mikki's Flowers on the right.


I began the image below with acrylic paints and Looking Up Through Trees.  Next, I created a middle layer -- on the lower left, I used my 6" x 6" Garden at Nemours mask with purple-blue acrylic paint.  In the lower right, I used the same paint with Swaying Grasses.  For my top layer, I used Swatton Flowers Version 1 on the left and Mikki's Flowers on the right.

The design of my new mask Looking Up Through Trees was suggested by StencilGirl's Carol Baxter and inspired by Chris Tomlin's YouTube video "Nobody Loves Me Like You." 

Thanks for coming to visit here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Waste Nothing! Put Scraps to Work!

Scraps!  Often I like to explore by cutting stencil-prints into pieces, creating a pile of scraps, then putting them together in new ways.

I've posted on this here.  And here.  And here.  And here.  Directly below, I'm showing just one example from those earlier posts:

Well, it's happened again!  In my post of January 4, I showed a couple of assemblage sheets created with scraps cut from prints made with Looking Up Through Trees.

Here are a couple additional of these assemblages --

And I've explored more design combinations, using either these or similar sheets that've piled up, over time....

The houses idea, shown directly above, isn't original with me.  I once saw a similar example somewhere else, and decided it would be fun to try it myself.  It's mostly a matter of cutting assemblage sheets into squares and triangles, then assembling them.  I used a couple of different permanent markers to draw in doors and windows.  Before gluing them down, I provided a partial background in a neutral color.  My goal with the background was to give unity to the overall composition.  

Thanks for coming here today!

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

Wild and Crazy Images created with LOOKING UP THROUGH TREES Stencil

In the old days, when I took photography classes with a camera that -- gasp! -- used film, one topic of study was depth of field.  An exercise
 under that topic was to take photos showing foregrounds mostly in focus, middle grounds fully in focus, and backgrounds in hazy focus.  
  

I decided to play around with this idea using one of several collages that I'd assembled by piecing together cut -outs from prints made with my 9" x 12" mask Looking Up Through Trees, a mask that was suggested by StencilGirl's Carol Baxter and inspired by Chris Tomlin's YouTube video "Nobody Loves Me Like You." 

9" x 12" stencil Looking Up Through Trees

First, one of those collages:

Now, two of my depth-of-field shots (taken with my digital camera):

Taking depth-of-field photos of artwork is easy.  Just place the art on its back on a flat surface.  Then bend low with your camera/smartphone; sometimes you may even want to prop it up on the same surface as the art.  Tilt the camera/smartphone -- so you're shooting from an angle.  And click!  All there is to it!

I could have gone on all day taking those shots, but I wanted to get back to making stencil-prints....

A lot of my prints have been cropped, as shown in many of the above photos, so I can use the top halves as abstract pieces to further cut up, then use in large collages.  Looking at the top of each print, by itself, you'd never know what's being represented.  And that's what I love about abstraction.  Mystery!

Thanks for visiting here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

New Year Trees

Happy New Year!

Right now, most of us are seeing trees that are bare of leaves, but we can use our imaginations (and a stencil) to look ahead to the time when once again we can stand under a canopy of tree branches, their branches intertwined and sprouting clusters of new leaves.  This new StencilGirl mask of my design was suggested by StencilGirl's Carol Baxter and inspired by Chris Tomlin's YouTube video "Nobody Loves Me Like You." 

Looking Up Through Trees

I have fun showing off the amazing differences between prints -- achieved just by introducing the stencil to widely varied backgrounds.

The background for the above print was a page from a magazine previously swiped with some leftover acrylic paints.  Below are two close-ups to show in detail the effects achieved when a wild background plays its part, ramping up the drama.

Next in today's post:  more of the same.  This time, the background is a print made with another of my 9" x 12" stencils, Longwood Florals.

Full-size view

Close-up detail

Full-size view

Close-up detail

Below:  today's last art sample, another close-up detailed piece, cut from a full-size print and collaged onto the face of a greeting card.  Under the card is its envelope, decorated across the front bottom with a strip of colors cut from the same full-sized print.  Self-adhesive store-bought butterflies are flickering thru this fantasy forest!

Pictured directly above:  My 9" x 12" stencil Longwood Florals (used in creating one of today's background papers.) 

Thank you for taking time to stop here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils and masks, please start here.

Little Christmas (January 6) Gift-tags

November 4, I posted about creating mix-and-match sheets of wild-and-crazy combinations of stencil-prints cut into pieces, then glued haphazardly onto a sturdy cardstock.

I'll repeat that post below, since it's the backstory on today's post:

You can click on the above image to enlarge it and better see details.  I've made gift-tags cut from these mix-and-match sheets.  I've attached them to gifts for friends in celebration of Little Christmas (January 6.)  The only change I made to the cut-outs was to add foil strips down the center of each.  The top strip is metallic silver and the bottom strip is gold that fails to show up as metallic here in this photo.

Now for the backstory --

 Making loose-sheet prints with stencils is so much fun, it's easy for me to get carried away, to the point that printed papers threaten to stack to the ceiling!

Today my decision is to cut some stencil-printed papers, to turn them into scraps -- 

Above are some of my scraps; they're piled atop several pieces of sturdy cardstock, ready to start a journey toward new life!

Below, I've started to randomly glue scraps to a backing of sturdy cardstock.  I use a Pioneer brand embellishment gluestick.  After gluing each piece to the background, I roll over it with a rubber brayer to make sure it's completely flattened ....

The following 4 photos show cardstock-backed collages, all ready to ignite ideas for new projects.  

Below:  a close-up detail of one of these collages of scraps:

For my first project, I decide to audition stencils and masks of a specific type -- I want silhouette-like imagery with large open areas and few small details.

Auditioned stencils and masks above:  L to R, top row:  Small Thistles (6" x 6"), Pair o' Parrots (6" x 6") and Hot Air Balloon Stencils and Masks (which come in two sizes.)  Middle right:  Osprey Wings (6" x 6") and Heron (6" x 6").  Bottom L to R:  Thistle (9" x 12") and Cats (6" x 6").

Below, I'm using a watercolor pencil to trace an outline inside the open shape of a mask from one of the two sets Hot Air Balloon Stencils and Masks.  For this first outlining, I'm using the larger of the two hot air balloon sets.

Next, I use the same watercolor pencil to trace around a mask from the same set -- but this time, I'm using the smaller of the two sizes that are available in the hot air balloon sets.

Note:  This mask has been stained with orange acrylic paint from a previous project.

Now that this shape has been traced out in two sizes, I'm ready to cut out both images with fine-detail scissors.  You can click on the photo below to enlarge it and better see detail --

Below you can see the two hot air balloon shapes, now cut out.  If a watercolor pencil leaves marks after the shape is cut out, they can be easily erased later with a water-dampened cotton swab.

Above:  A close-up shot of these two shapes glued to a giftbag (the bag has been sprayed with a metallic gold watercolor in a mister spray bottle.)  Below:  the giftbag itself.

 Now, I decide to trace another hot air balloon on the scrap-collaged paper, cut it out, and take advantage of its sturdy cardstock backing by making a three-dimensional greeting card.
  

The photo above shows my cut-out being auditioned on the front side of a greeting card blank cut from metallic bronze cardstock (from JAMPaper.com). On the upper right is a box of Glue Dots.  Upper left:  the roll of glue dots that I've taken out of the box.

Below, you can see the back of the cut-out and the glue dots I'm placing on it.  Its base of sturdy cardstock is really important in working toward a 3D finish.

Front view of the finished greeting card cover --

-- and here's a view from the side:

Above:  When cutting out the heron that I'd traced onto the scrap-collage, I used an X-acto knife and cutting board instead of fine-detail scissors, because of the small-scale details of the legs and feet.

After the heron got a ribbon around its neck -- again the cardstock backing was very helpful -- it went onto another giftbag that I'd previously sprayed with a metallic gold watercolor.

A close-up--

More giftbags and close-ups:

In the final photo above, you can see that I cut out a paper heart and added it to the cat ... couldn't help myself!

Plain paper giftbags are available here and in some brick-and-mortar art and craft supply stores.

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