Firework Flowers-A Peek-a-Boo Project

 

In United States many celebrate our Independents Day on July 4th,  with large gatherings and many festivities. As an introvert I tend to stay away from the crowded parades and firework celebrations, but they are the inspiration for this artwork- well, sorta...   

Supplies:  GSLC Arabian Triptych, GSLC Fern Fronds, Black Embossing Paste, Small Plastic Palette Knife, FolkArt Design Cream Gold, Magazine Page, Weldbond, Sandpaper,  TH Evergreen Bough Distress Stain, Paintbrush, Polymer Clay, Silicon Molds, Liquid Clay, Mica Powders, Makeup Brush,  Polymer Clay Oven, Acrylic Paints, Glossy Accent Finish, Van Dyke Brown Hue Acrylic Paint, Fan Paintbrush, Craftsmart Glitter Glue

1.  Gather Supplies.

2.  Use a Small Plastic Palette Knife to Add Black Embossing Paste and FolkArt Design Cream Gold to GSLC Arabian Triptych Top Frame.

     

3.  Find a Decorative Magazine page to Glue to the Back Portion of GSLC Arabian Triptych Frame.

4.  Use Coarse Sandpaper To Scratch Up Magazine Picture Backgrounds.

5.  Add TH Evergreen Bough Distress Stain to Backgrounds Filling in the Scratches.

6.  Use a Paintbrush to Add a Bit of the TH Evergreen Bough Distress Stain to the Top Frames.

7.  Used Weldbond to Glue Top Portion of GSLC Arabian Triptych Frame to the Back Portion.

8.   Using Polymer Clay and Silicon Molds Make Leaves and Flowers to Add to Prepared GSLC Arabian Triptych Frames.

9.  Add Prepared GSLC Fern Fronds to Background.

10.                Add Polymer Clay Leaves and Flowers to Create an Assemblage  Using Liquid Clay.

11.                Once Satisfied with Content Use Mica Powders to add a Metallic  Luster to the Clay Pieces Using a Soft Makeup Brush.

12.                Bake in Polymer Clay Oven until Fully Cured.

13.                Add Additional Colors to Assemblages Using a Variety of Acrylic Paints.

14.                Use Glossy Accent Finish to Make the Flowers Appear to Be Bursting out of The Frame.

15.                To Give the Assemblages a Scorched Appearance  Using Dry Bush Technique Using a Fan Paintbrush and Van Dyke Brown Hue Acrylic Paint.

16.                To Make the Assemblage Glisten Like Fireworks I Added Craftsmart Glitter Glue.

          

Some Final Thoughts.

The Final GSLC Arabian Triptych Assemblages are as crowded as a Fourth Of July parade and bursting with colors like fireworks in The summertime sky.  Many flowers do not flourish in the dry summer heat but there are those that only bloom after a forest fire. I was surprised to learn of this watching the news after some of the devastating fires had ravished millions of acres in a single year, around 40% of that being in California.

 One of these fire flowers or more aptly names "fire followers" is the fire poppy. These plants like extreme pressure forms diamonds, hot summer fires pressurize these seed that may lie dormant for years until these unique circumstances awaken their long forgotten beauty. There are others like Lodgepole Pin, the tree itself often dies but the extreme heat allows the resin that sealed the thick scaled cones together melts releasing the seeds that have been held there for years.

 Mountain Mallow, appears in great numbers after a burn, their thick seed coats crack, like fireworks bursting allowing the seeds to absorb water and sprout. Many of these seeds have lain buried for decades in the soil waiting for their "Fourth of July Parade"

 White Snow Brush and White Spiraea blossoms appears in profusion like sparklers at a backyard summer picnic on their independence day, some emerging from old roots after a light fire while others after a heavy burn, sprout from "Rib-van-Winkle" seeds. Flowers blooming almost a century ago produced seeds that have been lying in wait until heat and sun simulated them to germinate.

Pinegrass goes normally unnoticed, much like the town twirlers who emerge out of the woodwork now leading the parade procession down Main Street. After a forest fire Pinegrass shoots up two to three feet of delicate flowers waving in the wind like the grand ole glory on all of our front porches in July.

 Just like fireworks get their colorful array from chemical explosions so do these fire followers burst forth in a variety of shades as bright as the spectacular bright uniforms of the bands marching in time to the beat of the banging drums. Fireweeds in pinks, Broadleaf Arnica in yellow, and Thickstem Aster in lavender and purple.  A field full of these fascinating fire flowers appear like a family trying to fit on a tiny blanket looking into the night sky enjoying this summer holiday in the United States.

 Family and Friends gather during these holidays of celebrations remembering a  year that for some may have felt like they came through a wild fire of sorts and try to find the good of the day, to find brightness in the gloom, to be thankful for another day to go forth and find the sunrises that wait for them much like Frances Clark, the writer of the article, "What Bloom in Wildfire Burns"   where I found most of this information. Take a look at the bright and beautiful photographs there.

 Happy Independence Day no matter where you dwell...Celebrate Your Emergence!! 

 

 

 

Time's a Travelin'-A Peek-a-Boo Project

 

            

Back in my younger days June was my month of rambling and gallivanting to and fro. As You know I grew up in the countryside of Pennsylvania in a humble home, the lower end of middle class. We never felt poor or went without but we stayed close to home. There was one summer when my sister Nean or Nina short for Anita was living in Eugene, Oregon and my momma decided we would travel by bus across the United States to visit with her. So my momma, sister Joan, nephew Frank and I departed on a Trailways I think it was at the time, but in my high school mind's eye it was a Greyhound one. These are the inspirations for this artwork.

Supplies:  GSLC ATC Shrine Time, Seth Apter Weathered Gold, Crusty Copper, Embossing Powders, Embossing Ink Pad, Heat Tool, TH Gathered Twig Distress Stain and Wild Honey, Acrylic Paint-Green Gold, Grey, Titane Green Pale, Weldbond, Parchment Papers, Cutter, Old Leather Purse, Hole Punch, Pencil, Thread Needle, Awl, Printed Pictures, Small Magnetic Closures, Grommet, Jump Rings Metal Gear, Used Artist Towel, Clock Face, Metallic Gear, Golden Heavy Gel Matte, Clamps, Clock Key Handle

1.  Gather Supplies.

2.  Use an Embossing Ink Pad to Randomly add Seth Apter Weathered Gold and Crusty Copper to entire GSLC ATC Shrine Time, Cure  With Heat Tool.

3.  Fill in Any Empty Spots with TH Gathered Twin Distress Stain.

4.  Dry Brush on Acrylic Paint I Used Green Gold, Grey and Titane Green Pale.

5.  Put Together GSLC ATC Shrine Using Weldbond and Hold into Place With Clamps.

6.  Use a Vintage Leather Purse to Make a Wee Book Cover.

7.  Use a Cutter to Cut Parchment Papers for Pages of Wee Book.

8.  Use a Hole Punch to Place Holes Where you Will be Sewing in Signatures. 

9.  Use a Pencil to Place Marks on Folded Paper and Then an Awl to Punch Through Folded Signatures.

10.                Use Thread and a Needle to Sew Pages into Wee Book Using the Pamphlet Stitch.

11.                Print Pictures of Your Choosing to add to The Pages of Your Wee Book.

12.                Cut Pictures Using Fancy Cut Scissors to Give Them a Postage Stamp Look.

13.                Add a Vintage Weathered Look to Pictures Using TH Wild Honey Distress Stain and a Used Artist Towel.

14.                Go Through Stamp Collection and Choose Ones to Add to the Pages.

15.                Assemble Your Travel Journal Adding Pictures and Stamps to Pages Using a  UHU Gluestick.

16.                Add a Small Magnetic Closure Using Grommets and Jump Rings.

17.                Add a Gear and Clock Face Medallion to Front of Wee Book Securing with Golden Heavy Gel Matte.

18.                Add a Clock Key Handle to the Front of the GSLC ATC Time Shrine.

Some Final Thoughts.

I would not recommend traveling across the United States via Greyhound bus, but when I went with my family it was a magical journey even though it was dark both times we went through the Rocky Mountains, I did see them later on one of my own road trips to Colorado Springs to visit friends. I was amazed how huge the Mountains were compared to my Childhood ones. I've also seen the Swiss Alps and the Matterhorn, among others.

 I am so thankful for all the places I have been lucky enough to visit, much of the United States, Europe on several occasions-England, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, India and each broadened my horizons and my sense of being in many ways. Now days I am more of a homebody and happy for smaller adventures to favorite antique stores, or restaurants, and shops.  

 

School's Out-Almost-A Peek-a-Boo Project

 Everyone knows June is every teacher's favorite month of the school year, it's the month when Summer Vacation begins. For me it is my self-imposed isolation time of working full time in my artist studio creating the new Fall Collection of books and boxes. While working I like catching up on my podcasts, two of my favorite episodes are Unfictional-The Rowing Man and Nocturne-Blackfish, both of them are nautical in nature. I am not sure what fish do for summer vacation but as long as I'm not responsible for them I'm fine. These are the cheeky inspirations for this artwork.  

Supplies:  GSLC Shrine Nautical, Watercolors, Brush, DecoArt One Step Crackle, Golden Heavy Gel Matte, Green Ground Cover and Pencil Shavings, Clamps, Printed Pictures of Fish and other Creatures, Used Artist Shop Towel, Fancy Cut Scissors, TH Wild Honey Distress Stain, Used Postage Stamps, Long Piece of Paper, Double Sided Tape, Drill, Dowels, Metal Bobbins,

1.  Gather Supplies

2.  Use Water Colors to Paint GSLC Shrine Nautical- We Are Not Going for Perfection, We Want a Worn and Weather Look.

                    

3.  Once Satisfied Cover all Pieces With DecoArt  One Step Crackle.

4.  Put GSLC Shrine Nautical Together with Golden Heavy Gel Matte.

5.  While Still Wet Sprinkle With Green Ground Cover and Pencil Shavings.

 6.  Make Copies of Pictures you Wish to Use.

7.  Cut a Long Piece of Paper that Will Fit Inside of GSLC Shrine Nautical.

8.  Glue Printed Pictures to One Side of Cut Paper.

9.   Roll Up Into a Scroll Make Certain It Will fit Inside of Shrine.

10.                Drill Holes in Top and Bottom of Shrine, Where Dowels Will Go.

11.                Attach One End of Scroll to a Prepared Dowel and Roll and Then Attach Final Side to Other Dowel.

Some Final Thoughts.

In Unfictional-The Rowing Man, the story of Ove Joensen is brilliantly told by Rikke Houd. He was trying to be the first to row from his home in the Faroe Islands to Copenhagen in Denmark in the late summer of 1984. He hoped to kiss the statue of the Little Mermaid. He failed on his first attempt and had to be rescued below the cliffs of the remote Shetland Islands. This  is the story about finding a village of friends even when you are rowing alone across a ferocious sea told by the villages there who still think of him as family.

 In Nocturne-Blackfish Vanessa Lowe interviews  Malcolm Saunders, a fisherman from Cornwall, on the southern tip of the UK. While most of the old fishing ports have transformed into tourist attractions, there are still some working fish boats, manned by seasoned weathered fishermen. They're holding onto an almost forgotten way of life-one that ties their livelihood to nature, with all the thrill and hardship that goes along with it. Their lives  are governed by the tides, the weather, and time-A fisherman goes out where and when the fish are, day or night. There's nothing else to do. 

Here's to wishing you all a happy and healthy summer. Take time to do a few of the things that bring you pure joy. Rest and know.