New Art Tutorial by Frieda Oxenham with StencilGirl® Products

Sometimes I get inspired by just going through my stencils and simply coming upon one that attracts my attention. In this case it was the text Be True to Yourself that made me think. It is at times quite hard to even know who you are, and it is also a fluid concept, as we continually change. Who I am today is more than likely not who I will be tomorrow. And I don’t know about you, but my head is always full of those sort of thoughts. Sometimes I wish there was an Off switch. That was the sort of idea I tried to capture in this spread.

Here is the tutorial:

1.     Brayer on gold gesso on a spread in an 8 x 8” art journal with black paper.

2.     Using a baby wipe and titanium white acrylic paint, stencil randomly over the pages using stencil Elizabethan Lizard.

3.     Using the top layer only, glue on flowers from a paper napkin to the spread, using matte medium.

4.     Stencil on leaves to the spread using green acrylic paint, a cosmetic wedge and stencil Kelp Mask.

5.     Stencil on flower outlines using opaque blue paint, a cosmetic wedge and stencil Boho Daisy Small.

6.     Repeat step 5 with opaque yellow and red paint.

7.     Colour in the flowers with matching colours of soft pastels (mine are by Windsor and Newton).

8.     Using stencil Elizabethan Lizard and white titanium paint, stencil on a separate black sheet.

9.     Using the face mask from the B stencil of the May 2022 StencilClub, mark the face using both sides for 2 mirrored faces and cut out. Outline the patterns using with different colours of paint markers.

10.  Glue the faces to the opposite side of the pages and outline with a Stabilo All black marker.

11.  Doodle inside the background flowers with paint markers.

12.  Stencil on the text using the medium stencil from the September 2016 StencilClub

13.  Outline the text with the Stabilo All black pencil

14.  Spray on some gold mica sparkle through the same stencil as in step 2 and step 8.

© Frieda Oxenham 2023

New Art Tutorial by Frieda Oxenham with StencilGirl® Products

StencilGirl® Products has a wonderful selection of stencils to choose from and today’s project was inspired by a set of stencils that themselves were inspired by tiles. They are all sized 6 x 6” and designed by Laurie Mika. They are gorgeous and I used three of them in today’s art. Here is the tutorial:

1.     Take a sheet of A3 sized (11.69 x 16.54”) watercolour paper and brayer on white gesso. My sheet was by Crawford and Black

2.     Spray the sheet with a variety of spray paints. I used mainly Lindy’s Starburst sprays for an extra bit of sparkle

3.     Stencil randomly through the text stencil from March 2023 StencilClub using Titanium White acrylic paint.

4.     Using a variety of colours stencil randomly over the sheet using a cosmetic wedge and stencil L921 Japanese Tulip Oriental Rug.

5.     Repeat step 3.

6.     Repeat step 4 but using different colours of acrylic paint and stencils S933 Lisbon Tiles, S932 Douro Valley Tile and S931 Cascais Tile.

7.     Using black acrylic paint and stencil L281 Bold Flowers, stencil on flowers pointing towards the centre of the page. To make this easier I cut the stencil into individual flower parts. I used 3 different sizes of flower.

8.     Add white text to the black flowers by putting the stencil pieces you used in step 7 on the black flowers and then adding the text stencil from step 3 on top of that and then stencilling with Titanium White acrylic paint using a cosmetic wedge.

9.     Using stencil S931 Cascais Tile and crimson Stencil Butter paint, stencil the tile twice onto black paper.

10.  When dry, cut out the two tiles and cut one in half. Glue onto the sheet as shown. I used double sided tape, but gel medium will also work.

11.  Using the small alphabet stencil from the April 2014 Stencilgirl® Club and a red Posca (or other) permanent paint marker stencil on your chosen quotation onto black paper, cut out and add to the sheet as shown

12.  Using a white Posca marker, outline the tiles and the text.

13.  Add a black frame of approx. ¼” around the sheet with a black Posca marker.

©Frieda Oxenham May 2023

Monet's Garden Collection from Cathy Nichols

Japanese Tulip Oriental Rug (L921)

Like the other stencils in my Monet’s Garden collection, this piece is inspired by Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny, France. Monet was an avid collector of Japanese art and furnishings, and this stencil is Cathy's take on one of the oriental rugs that Monet scattered about his home. The rug has a tulip design to echo the gorgeous tulips that bloom every spring outside of Monet’s home. This 9x12 stencil works well as a full background pattern, or you can highlight elements of the pattern with a contrasting color– like the butterflies or tulips -- to add complexity to the design. 

Butterfly Rouen Tile (S926)

This stencil is inspired by the famous blue and white tiles in Monet’s Kitchen at his house in Giverny, France. These iconic tiles have inspired designers throughout the world who want that quintessential “Country French” look on their walls. Cathy used the original tile as inspiration for her design but re-visioned it with butterflies to give the stencil a modern twist.  This versatile stencil is perfect for adding a touch of French flair to a mixed media background for paintings and in an art journal or when creating collage fodder.  

Monet's Foyer (S927)

One of the first things visitors see when they enter Monet’s home is the striking yellow and white patterned floor in the entryway.  Cathy used that pattern as inspiration for this stencil, and it looks wonderful when you layer yellow over white acrylic paint or use any two colors to create an instant French accent to any painting. Because Monet loved flowers, this pattern also works really well as a background for mixed media florals.

Monet's Kitchen (S928)

This stencil is modeled after the floor pattern in Monet’s famously bright yellow kitchen.  The original design was burgundy and yellow, but you can use any two colors to add an instant touch of French charm to a painting. Cathy loves layering this pattern with florals or alongside others in this collection because, together, they create a whimsical feeling that evokes Monet’s impressionist style. You can also turn this stencil 90 degrees, add another color and end up with an argyle design! 

 

Poplar Leaves (S929)

Because Monet loved all things Japanese, he also had several Japanese poplar trees in the gardens surrounding his water lilies. Cathy wove an array of poplar leaves together in this stencil to create an all-over pattern that you can layer along with other natural elements in your mixed media paintings. She especially loves using this stencil with two shades of contrasting green!

Cathy's stencils are available now at stencilgirlproducts.com

Wildflowers

 

W   I   L   D   F   L   O   W   E   R   S

I am so happy to be back on the blog and to spend another year on ®StencilGirl's design team. I am Nancy Curry coming to you from the suburbs of St. Louis.  I'm in pretty dazzling company on the team and look forward to every Tuesday when new inspiration drops. I also love all the guest artist posts.  We all have a different artist voice that sings loudly and I love to hear them all.   For those new to my blog projects, almost all of them are titles of songs.  This one happens to be a Tom Petty song, but my choices head across all genres.  I also paint and design a lot of pieces that are floral related so I didn't leave my wheelhouse this time.  This project came about when I wasn't even thinking about it.  I was walking around my local Michael's looking for frames that weren't dented a few weeks ago, but, of course, I browsed the art materials and did a general loop around the store.  I also needed some foam board for  mailing so I headed off to find that and lo and behold I saw a 22" x 28" piece of translucent polyethylene  (mylar is a brand) plastic that was a nice weight (12 pt) and decided to get it and some day I'd have a spin around it.    Fast forward to this week and that's exactly what happened.  A few minutes in,  the lightbulb went off and this project was born.

I delved into my vast stencil stash and got four out to play with.  The main project and the one featured on the video tutorial was done with a favorite of mine, Cathy Nichols' Love Story (L341).  I knew immediately it was the perfect stencil for me to curate parts of for the ideas going on in my head. I love to use parts of larger stencils.  The others I chose were David Daniels' Rooted in Nature Large Caladium (L810) which is more abstract yet still intriguing, Traci Bautista's organically patterned,  Circles Circles (L301), and one of the most interesting SG stencils, Moths by Jane Dunnewold (L520). All of them were approached in the same matter.  Without further adieu, here's the materials list and then the video tutorial.  

 

MATERIALS:

plastic sheet cut into working size

gesso or white paint

cosmetic sponge

stencils

91% rubbing alcohol in a spritz bottle (good ventilation is recommended when you are using alcohol inks)

Ranger alcohol inks:  wild plum, everglades, botanical, glacier, cloudy blue, sailboat blue, boysenberry

paper towels

plastic wrap or white plastic trash bag cut down to size

mats/frames or deep cradle

Krylon Kamar varnish & Krylon UV Archival spray (spray in well-ventilated area)

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the process.  It is one I have used for years on clear acetate with varous types of ink or paint.  It was really fun to work it with a translucent substrate that was inexpensive so I could save my more expensive Yupo for other projects.  Below you will see a close up of the original piece that really shows how much visual texture comes from the alcohol ink on the backside.  It would have overpowered the gesso to be on the front, but from the back it allows the white flowers have enough high contrast to shine.  I have also included the other pieces I mentioned in the introduction.  This process will work for many genres and I love processes that can be versatile.  I'd love to see what you do with these should you head down the road to try this.  

 

 

 

Rooted In Nature Large Caladium

 

Moths

Circles Circles

 

As promised in the video, I said I'd share the finishing process.  I do two-three light coats of Kamar as an isolation coat and then two coats of UV Archival in whatever finish you want. I am partial to satin.  Let it thoroughly dry in between layers and keep the can 12" away.  Even with this finishing, do not hang in direct sunlight.  Indirect should be fine.  They mat well or you can go the deep cradle route.  Both look great.  I'm sure there will be more great options floating around. 

 

As always it's a pleasure sharing my meanderings with you.  Should you want to see what I am up to more frequently, I post most of my tutorials on Instagram on my grid and reels page and post art almost daily.  I post most of it also on my Facebook art page.  My regular Facebook page includes some art, no politics, and lots of standard poodles.  My website is always a little behind, but when I get a chance I update it.  It does have my online store that carries originals and prints available any time.  To get updates about classes, art sales (one coming in June), please sign up for my low volume newsletter.  

Have a wonderful rest of June.  I'll be back on the blog later in the summer. 

xoxo

Nancy