3D Collages with Kathy Cornwell

The Idea and the Prep Work

Hi, everyone! Kathy Cornwell here! For several months now, I’d been toying with the idea of doing three-dimensional collage on wood blocks. I like the idea that this two-dimensional medium can become a 3D, interactive work of art!

First, I enlisted the help of my sweet husband. He bought some wooden planks at the hardware store and used his saw to cut a few shapes. Once I saw the shapes and started playing with them in different arrangements, I started getting very excited.

The wood pieces needed to be prepped. Over the course of a weekend, I applied two layers of Golden GAC 100 and then two layers of gesso (drying between all four of these layers). Here’s what they looked like at that point:

Then I painted the sides of the shapes with two layers of neutral grey acrylic paint. I didn’t want to collage on the edges, so I thought that the neutral grey would be less jarring than white or black. Finally the shapes were ready to accept collage.

The Fun Part: Playing with Stencils!

For this project, I used the following StencilGirl® stencils:
Arches Stencil with 20 Masks, designed by Carolyn Dube
Soulful Scribbles, designed by Traci Bautista
Sidewalks of Puerto Rico 2 Reverse, designed by Mary Beth Shaw
Mid Century Modern Rocks and Leaves, designed by Jennifer Evans
Garden Flowers Tile Mask Small  designed by Valerie Sjoden

I chose these particular stencils and masks because they represented a wide variety of imagery and would push me to use techniques that I often shy away from (I’m kind of an all-masks-all-the-time kind of artist, but as well all know, variety is so important).

I grabbed my gel plate and my favorite paints and got printing!

Golden OPEN Paints Lead to Fun Results

I love using Golden brand’s OPEN paints. They have a very slow drying time, which allows me to take my time while gel printing. The slow drying time can also allow the stencils to transfer paint from print to print!

For example, in the photo below, you can see how the stencil transferred quite a bit of pink paint as I printed a layer of grey paint. The OPEN paint transfers from the stencils or masks have a unique, mottled texture that I really like.

Did I Discover a New Stencil Technique??? 

In recent months, I’ve been having fun making marks with a chenille stem, otherwise known as a pipe cleaner. Using Golden High-Flow paint, you can use this tool to paint delicate, thin lines. I just had to try combining this technique with stencils!

As you can see in the video below, I placed the stencil down on top of a dried print that I’d made using that stencil already. I was careful to place the stencil exactly on top of the print of the shape. This way, the plastic stencil was serving as a barrier. I painted swirling lines with the chenille stem. When I removed the stencil, I was very happy to see the results!

 

Carolyn Dube Would Be Proud

I’m a big fan of Carolyn Dube. Not only does she help us see that mistakes are opportunities, but she designs some really cool StencilGirl® stencils. I was super excited to try her “Arches” stencil and masks.

First, I used the masks in the way that I had envisioned, and that I had seen in other artists’ projects:

But then one time, the masks all stuck together with paint as I went to place the arches onto my gel plate. They fell in a jumbled mass! At first, I thought this was a problem. But once I saw the cool shapes created by this “random pile of arches” and the negative space that it creates, I was hooked! Carolyn Dube would be proud of how this OOPS became an intentional study that I found verry rewarding:

Mixing Things Up

I worked with the intention of creating some variety. For example, I used some papers that already had some marks on it, I used music sheets as a base paper, and I alternated opaque paints with transparent paints.

 

Putting it All Together

In the end, I had pages and pages of fun collage fodder. I set out to create collages for the front and back of each wood shape. Again, I made sure to have a variety of colors, stencils, and techniques so that the collages will each be unique—and yet still be cohesive.

I had a ball creating these collages, and I’m happy with the results! Which one is your favorite? I’d love it if you let me know in the comments!

Now I’m having fun arranging and rearranging my collage blocks. I’ll enjoy watching my studio visitors play with this interactive work of art.

 I hope you’ve found this post interesting and inspiring.
I’m a printmaker and mixed media artist based in Virginia, USA.
Come say hi on Instagram @kathy.cornwell.art or visit me  at www.KathyCornwell.com.

Collaged and Stenciled Houses with Lauren Bergold

Hello, it's Lauren again, and I'm thrilled to be a guest on the StencilGirl® Talk Blog. Today's project is the upcycling of three nested papier mache houses which my mom found while cleaning out her attic. Somehow I didn't take a "before" photo, but in their original state they had dark colonial colors and must have hailed from the late 1980's. 

I knew I wanted to cover the houses with collage paper, and adorn them with beautiful StencilGirl® Stencil designs. 

I chose Santiago by Nathalie Kalbach for the roofs; Crazy Quilts Bold and Beautiful by Andrew Borloz and Ornamental Petals Screen by Gwen Lafleur to scatter across the walls; as well as garden aspects in the form of Ferns 6 by Cecilia Swatton and Lemon Button Fern with Masks by Rae Missigman. I also added a couple of old favorites: Lizzie Mayne's Herring Bone Brick and Michelle Ward's Marrakech Mix add pattern to the eaves and dormers. 

Since the houses have many window and door spaces, and sharply angled dormers, it was much easier to do the collaging and stenciling on pre-cut paper panels, and apply them to the houses when finished; rather than working directly on the papier mache surface. I asked my trusty assistant (aka husband) to apply a fast coat of white spray paint, to neutralize the uncovered areas.

As it turns out, each of the houses had twenty (20!) planes/panels on which to work: four walls, one back roof, three front roof pieces, two sides, two dormers, four dormer roof pieces and four chimney sides, to be exact. I chose bright white text papers for the houses and papers with darker patinas for the roofs.

On the houses, I used Distress Inks and Oxide Inks, in neutral shades of brown and tan, applied with sponge daubers, and outlined or accented with a very fine tipped black Pitt Artist Pen. 

The plants are layered in few vivid shades of green. I let the leaves overlap each other, and some of the groupings go "around the corner" to another side of the house. 

On the roofs, that fabulous geometric Santiago stencil is rendered in a nice thick coat of white Liquitex Flexible Modeling Paste. The beautiful Ornamental Petal Screen has a lot of background and fine detail to it, and was a bit challenging to make a smooth transition with... until... I added in the square border as part of the design!

After all the panels were affixed (that phrase can be typed in seconds; but the activity took rather longer!) I added a few clusters of dimensional flowers and velvet leaves, just to bump up the texture factor, and I'm pleased with the results.           

I think I'm going to give these back to my mom... and see if she recognizes them?!

Lauren Bergold

loves to combine her StencilGirl® stencils

with collage elements!

Guest Designer: Cynthia Silveri

Materials Used:

StencilGirl® Products Stencils:
Labyrinth #2: Ceremonial

Labyrinth #3: Classical Maze

Labyrinth #5: A La Chartres
Optical Waves, Stay in Your Magic 6" x 6' stencil

Other Supplies:
Plain Printer Paper
Acrylic Paints, any colors (I used blues and greens)
Smudgee (or other sponge)
PencilDecoColor Paint Marker in black
Scissors
Hole Punch
Stapler (or yarn and large sewing needle)
Thin paper to stuff with, like deli paper
Mod Podge (or other thin glue)
Glitter (I used Mica D’lights, in gold)
Ribbon

Technique:

Using the plain paper, stencils, paints and sponge, apply patterns all over the entire surface. Make as many pages as you want to make into fish.

 Fold the paper in half the long way, with the color inside.

On the white outer paper, sketch in a fish shape with the pencil. Don’t worry-it doesn’t have to be perfect-keep it simple!

With the scissors, cut out the fish shapes keeping the folded side intact where you can-along the lower fins usually works. This is so that the two matching pieces stay together. If you cut it completely-never fear!  You’ll be able to staple or sew it together anyway.

Open up the fish and put the pattern on the outside. Draw eyes and nostrils on both sides. Stencil on any words or other designs as you wish.

Begin stapling (or sewing) all around the fish, keeping a portion of the top open so you can stuff it with crumpled up paper. Any will do, but thin wrapping paper or deli paper works great for these. Use your finger or pencil eraser end to push the paper into place if needed.

Once stuffed, close up the opening with more staples or the rest of your yarn.

Apply a thin coating of Mod Podge or other glue to areas where you want to apply glitter. Add other embellishments if you like!

Punch a hole in the top of each fish and string them together with ribbon. You could also create a mobile with these or hang them individually.

Happy fishing! Did you make this project? If so, I would love to see it!

Cynthia Silveri

Cynthia Silveri: The Passionate Colorist Coloring Books & Illustration

The Tactile Sacred Feminine: A 3D Stencil Project

For months I’d been eyeballing a certain set of stencils that I had purchased from StencilGirl® but couldn’t quite get it together. My eyeballs were bleeding from trying to will the stencils into art. I’m sure that you understand that sometimes the Muse just isn’t home. In fact, she may very well have decided to elope with Creativity—two loves with harmonized desires escaping the constant grabbing of the artist’s demands. When that happens, we have to do a little mus-ing ourselves. My mus-ing came in the most surprising manner—and it has to do with sales. I admit that I am a craft store junkie. In fact, my family knows that when I actually do leave the house, I am most likely hitting the craft store triangle (think Bermuda triangle here). No, it cannot be just one store. It has to be three. I might miss something if I fail to visit all of them. But, then, you know that already, don’t you?

It so happened that I was in one of those stores one day and noticed that the terra cotta clay pots were on sale—50% off! I had no idea what I would do with one but it was on sale! So, I bought the clay pot, took it home, and proudly displayed it on the breakfast table currently heaped over with creative inspiration (think overflowing, husband-is-going-to-go-red-faced-if-he-has-to-eat-in-the-living-room-one-more-time creative inspiration). “Oh, my,” I said to myself out loud one morning. That was after the pot told me what it wanted to be. So, I set out to dress it up, and what a dressing it received! Have you ever had that moment of surprise at how brilliant you believe yourself to be? Yes, that was me that morning.

Here is the clay pot sans makeup:

After walking around the table and thinking about that pot, I got the inclination that she wanted to be dazzling and historic. And, then, those stencils I had been thinking about for a while popped into my head. It also didn’t escape me that the mythology class I had just begun teaching might have had a bit of an influence on me. I rushed to my stencil albums and started flipping through my stash. I pulled out one stencil, then another, and yet another. I auditioned those babies until they sang to me. I began to lay down the underlayer by coating the pot with white gesso then dotting it with black circles using my large round dauber. I also painted the lip of the pot black.

                         

Next, I used the dauber to paint a couple of layers of dark plum on the rest of the pot. Two or three layers will do the trick. However, note that the more layers you use the less you will see the black spots underneath. When I used my dauber, I worked all around the pot so that I didn’t get too heavy-handed in one area. The intent is to create the idea of depth in the piece. 

Once the dark plum was completely dry, I embossed the circle design from the Greek border stencil, then the goddess from the Sacred Feminine stencil. From there, I added the borders on the top and bottom also using the Greek border stencil. After looking at it for a few days, I decided it needed one more element, something subtle, so I added tiny circles beside the goddesses using the open dots on the ATC Mixup #2 stencil. It made a huge difference! (You'll see the dots in the final photo.)

                           

Because I think of gentle breezes and soft, gorgeous flowers when I think of Greece, I wanted to create a floral design that was natural and simple yet luscious. I glued a Styrofoam vase insert to the bottom of the pot. Hint: Do not use E6000 for this. It will melt your Styrofoam. Instead, Aleene’s tacky glue works great. Next, I added some brown decorative Excelsior so that it would really offset the lighter flowers. To create the floral design, I added a sprig of leaves, some natural curly Willow, and a cutting of some pink blossoms. Let it be said that the Muse was totally surprised that Creativity left her for me when they both returned.

 

The beauty of this project is that, with a simple change of stencils, you can evoke a substantially different feeling. I have listed below the items that I used in my project but have also curated some other stencil choices. I hope that you enjoy making your own! And, hey, share your vase project in the StencilGirl® Facebook group and be sure to tag me! I’d love to see how Creativity led you astray.

And now for the reveal!

MATERIALS

Aphrodite Vase

Sacred Feminine Stencil (Carol Wiebe—L598)
Stitch a Greek Border Stencil (Marie McGuire—L198)
ATC Mixup #2 (Mary Beth Shaw—L579)

Dark Plum Acrylic Paint

Black Acrylic Paint

Versamark Embossing Pad

Bright Gold Embossing Powder

White Gesso

Styrofoam Vase Insert

Terra Cotta Clay Vase

Decorative Excelsior in Brown
Silk flower, leaves, and natural curly Willow

CURATED OPTIONS

Western Vase

Protector of the Fields (Roxanne Evans Stout—S407) or

Wolf (Roxanne Coble—L455)

and

Border 9J Stencil—use the stars (Jessica Sporn—L089) (Use the star border.)

Mermaid Vase

Mermaids Stencil and Masks (Jessica Sporn—L527) or

Mermaidia (June Pfaff Daley—L544)

and

DNA Strands #2 Stencil (Mary Beth Shaw—L056)

Geometric Vase

Diamond Dot (Kristie Taylor—L539)

Note: For this design, I would use only the Diamond Dot stencil all around the middle section and then paint the top and bottom edges an alternate color from the color in the middle.

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Anne Marie