A Painted Rock Door Stopper - Four Years Later...

Just a little "throw back Thursday" post for you all ;) As some of you may remember, back in 2010 I decided to paint a mandala on a large rock that I had been using as a door stopper... I posted some process pics on the Facebook page here...

 Above: the freshly painted rock painted with FW acrylic inks and sealed with a gloss sealant (meant for canvas, paper and wood)

4 years later, the same painted rock, I think it's weathered the 4 seasons outdoors over the years pretty well! :) ;)

Looking at the current pic of this weathered and worn mandala, it's hard to believe that I had coated it with any kind of sealant at all...but it has been 4 years ;) I've been debating weather or not to paint over it with something else or just let it be as a moment in time/artistic history...what do you think? :)

Some Items For Sale :)

Hello all! It's been a few months since my last post, I always seem to leave my writing to the last minute and then I'm on to the next project and it just gets left on the back burner! *sigh* Well, now I am finding myself once again in the midst of moving! Both living space and studio space, hopefully this will be the last move for a couple of years ;) I will be downsizing a little bit so I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a post and share with my blogging peeps, a few pieces of my original art that I am looking for new homes for :) All are very reasonably priced from $15 - $250 and range in size from 8x8 in - 2x2 ft. Here are some pics and links if you'd like to have a looksie! :)

 

"Shell Studies"

Mixed Media on Canvas with Cradled Wood Frame

3x3x1.5"

$25.00 CDN ea or $40.00 for the pair!

Click here to view or purchse this item in my Etsy shop!

Golden Swirls - Mandala Garden

Mixed Media on Wood

16x20x1.5"

$200.00 CDN

Click here to view or purchase this item from my Etsy shop!

"Peacock Blue Abstract"

Mixed Media on Wood

8x8"

$20.00 CDN

The Etsy Listing! ;)

"Primal Abstract Mandala"

Mixed Media on Canvas

8x8"

$15.00 CDN

Click here for the Etsy Listing

"Very Violet" 1/4 Mandala

Mixed Media on Canvas

2x2 ft

$250.00 CDN

Etsy Listing! ;)

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Please feel free to share! :) Happy Creating as always!

 

- Cindy

Unintentional "Crackle Finish" - Yikes!

Hello Everyone! 

I know it's been a while since I've posted, I didn't realize just how long it had been! I thought it was a good opportunity to let some of you know what happened to these 2 little 10x10" pieces I posted on the page earlier in the month. I was working on these for a holiday commission and had to make due with finishing a larger piece that I had been working on earlier this year, so thankful that my client was flexible! <3

These 2 pieces forced me into experimentation (which I don't particularly enjoy when deadlines are looming!) Something happened to the ink when it dried that I'd never had happen to me before...I liked the effect but it made the pieces very fragile and the surfaces not workable...so...the mission has become how to use them still without destroying or removing the dried ink...

Below are some pics to show what happened:

In the first image as I was brushing off the surface, the ink flaked right off, only the sepia ink though thankfully...still took the ink beneath it as well though.

In this second piece you can see the sort of "crackle" effect happening, which I liked (never have any luck with crackle finishes so it was kinda interesting having it happen like this by accident lol)

I can't think of what could have caused this to happen, the ink is relatively new and I use it often. I like the fact that it doesn't run as easily as the others, it just stays put as though it's thicker than the other inks. Perhaps that has something to do with why the cracking happened, and I suspect the use of a space heater in the studio may have played a part, or the cold overnight, who knows! 

So now that I have some time on my hands after the Christmas season, I've put a thick coat of Golden's "self leveling clear gel" over both pieces. The cracked, sepia parts are now protected and the pieces have a nice shiny gloss on them, however they were meant as backgrounds for mandalas, not abstract pieces. Sooo....I need to find a way to prepare the surface so that it has some tooth to it to soak up/retain media. Decisions, decisions! Any feedback or ideas are greatly appreciated! I'm thinking a light sanding or a layer of clear gesso. Then I'll be putting another coat of the gel (or epoxy resin) over top of the finished piece.  Wish me luck! I may need it! ;) Hopefully everything goes well, if not, it'll be a good learning experience and it can always be painted over! ;) 

Happy Holidays to you and Happy Creating! 

Cheers,

Cindy

New Sign at Heritage Music

Today I got to do something that terrified the heck outta me...not only did it involve heights and climbing scaffolding but also painting the largest painting I've ever done! 5ftx16ft! It was a great experience overall and I'm glad I did it! Once I was up there and working (15ft off the ground - not that far up but far enough!) it wasn't so bad ;)

The owner of the store (Heritage Music and Posters) wanted a cleaner, simpler look to the front of the store but still with some funky lettering. Here are a few process pics to have a look at! Here's a shot to give you an idea how high up I was painting - fun stuff! :O Yikes!

Below is the very beginning - creating a chalk sketch of the letters, I was a little wobbly at first but I got the hang of it soon enough...

Yay! The first 4 letters are finished at this point, moved along quite smoothly actually!

The only frustrating thing was not being able to see how things look as a whole when you're up there a foot away from the wall, climbing up and down constantly wasn't an option for me! But just so happened, my friend was passing by and I asked her to take a photo and send it to me so I could see what I was doing instead of climbing down to stand on the road LOL! It actually was quite helpful!

Below: Down to the last letter! And it had started to thunder and rain damn it! I continued on though - had to get it all done today! ;) (My trusty helper Terry climbing up the scaffolding - she was such a big help and made things go by so much faster!)

And the finished sign! Glad to have done it and it was a definite first for me, I learned so much! I look forward to doing some more work on this building in the near future :)

Cheers for now! Happy Creating!

Cindy

A New Abstract Piece

This piece was originally supposed to be a new background for a new painting but ended up turning into a new abstract piece instead. I hadn't done one in quite a while! It was fun! ;)

 A little hard on the eyes at this point! Although I do like the contrasting colours a lot...

Below: the beginning on the tone down...just started adding some darker blues, browns and more yellows to dull it a bit and make it easier to look at...

Added burnt umber to the corners with a rag as kind of a vignette and started adding white ink over top. I also used some bubble wrap pressed onto wet paint for the first time to add texture, I've seen so many other people use it, thought I'd give it a try ;) 

Here is the finished piece, out on the back deck :) Yay for sunny spring days! ;)

16x16"x1.5"

Acrylic Ink on Wood

©WhiteVioletArt2013

A Very "Violet" Mandala ;)

I decided to challenge myself recently by painting with colours that I don't commonly use...just to see what I would come up with...there were a couple of stages where I just wanted to gesso over the whole thing and start fresh! Glad I didn't though...stuck with my mandala making motto: there's no such thing as a mistake! Just keep working with it and see what you learn - such as life ;)

The first few pics are just the laying down of the purples, red-violet and blues...I already had an idea of where and how I wanted to do the mandala design so I tried using the inks with that in mind - something I also never normally do when creating a background.

 

Riiiiiight around this stage I already wanted to start over ;) Didn't like it at all!

Wasn't too crazy about this stage either! :D lol But I continued on with it....

Then things started to take shape and I actually started to like it...below, the mandala design was almost complete. I had already started painting some areas with silver and white - couldn't resist ;)

  

Below: the design finished, just adding copper and gold paint and thickening some of the black lines...

And viola! The finished piece...I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the stages of this painting, it was definitely a memorable experience for me :)

2x2'

Mixed Media on Canvas

©WhiteVioletArt2013

Earth Elements Mandala - The Process Pics ;)

I completed this new mandala painting last week and as usual, I thought I'd share some process pics with you :) I always love looking back on the progression of a painting once I'm finished it...It's always interesting to see how it turns out...almost never exactly as I had planned but I always end up loving it! ;)

Below: I began with some Prussian Blue ink around the edges and sides and added a lot of white ink in the center of the canvas, I usually have a spray bottle of water handy to keep the surface wet and just let the inks blend into each other...

Then I decided to play with some drops of alcohol (becoming a habit I think!) ;)

Added some Burnt Umber and Sepia inks around the outside edges.

 

 After letting the above layer dry, I added some Crimson ink (my favourite colour for sure :D)

Then "Flame Red" and a bit of "Flame Orange" to the mix...splattering the runoff back on to the canvas with my hands...messy but fun! ;) Satisfied with this as my background, I let it dry and got started on the mandala design...

As I was creating the design, I tried to incorporate a few "earthly elements" such as plant life, drops of water, air bubbles and pebbles etc. Here's a few pics of the mandala progression below...

 

 And here is the finished piece! I hope you like it and enjoyed seeing some of the process pics! :)

Earth Elements Mandala

2'x2'x1"

Mixed Media on Canvas

©WhiteVioletArt2013