Mixed Media Pastiche - We Honor Each Other

Hello Friends,

Shel Cee writing to you today :)

Our newest challenge from the StencilGirl® Creative Team was to create mixed media pastiche art. Art made in a way that honors another artist. A fun and creative challenge for sure as we are always developing our own style each time we work. And always hoping and wondering if our personal style shows through in what we do. 

Peg and I discussed what we would like to do for this challenge and we decided that since we work as a duo for the team, we would make art pieces that imitated and honored each other. Peg and I have often collaborated in many different ways throughout the years. We have sent each other materials to create with to see what would happen. We have started an art piece and then sent it to the other person to finish. We have done journal pages in round-robin journals. Currently, we do a YouTube livestream show each week as a duo. However, our styles are not the same. We do not use the same color palette or always grab the same favorite tools. We might do the same prompt challenge at the same time on our show, and our pieces come out completely different! We think this is why we work well together. Not exactly opposite, but not exactly the same either. It is more interesting that way!

So, how do you figure out how to duplicate someone else's artistic style while also honoring it? My take on this idea started with thinking about a color palette. Peg and I constantly joke that I do not like brown as much as she does. Concurrently, she does not favor purple and that is my confessed favorite color. So to figure out Peg's color palette was my first thought. I chose colors I know she likes, brown, golds, green, teal, and a bit of shimmery copper. 

Next, I thought about what are her favorite StencilGirl stencils? Well, I actually know that her #1 go to favorite is the Stone and Mortar designs by MaryBeth Shaw. We both have that design in multiple sizes...it's awesome! I also know that Peg enjoys Seth Apter stencils and she is really in love with a recent StencilClub® design by Rae Missigman. So these were the stencil choices I made. 

Next came the thought of what are Peg's favorite tools or products. I knew for sure the gel plate. Who does not LOVE a gel plate. I also thought about alcohol inks and distress inks. Some of her most used products. Lastly, I looked at Peg's Instagram account photos to pick a theme or motif. I noticed she uses lots of natural elements and seems to enjoy drawing leaves and vines. So, my plan was set! And here is what I made in 'Peg style' on a 5X7 canvas panel. I think it fits right in with her art!

S375 - Stone and Mortar, Version 2 by Mary Beth Shaw 

L185 – Unfinished by Seth Apter

StencilClub Sept. 2020 Modern Botanicals by Rae Missigman 

If you would enjoy watching the process of Shel making this art piece:

Without any discussion or planning, Peg started her pastiche piece exactly the same way as Shel did. She wanted to work in a multi-step way and needed to create printed painterly paper to use for collage. Of course, our favorite way to do that is with a Gel Press Plate.

Once Peg has her pile of collage materials, she broke them down a bit and adds them into a box she can rifle through to find just the piece of color and texture she wants to glue down.

Peg says - Shel has a fantastic method for collage so I am going to utilize her method to create a collaged animal image. I don't even know how many journals, tags, and canvases she has created this way but all of them are stunning. She was doing an animal monthly and many of her abstract pieces are also collage.

Don't you love all that yummy texture created by the paint and stencils? So I use these papers to glue to a piece of deli paper that contains my initial sketch. You can male multiple layers because the deli wrap is easy to see through and trace your drawing. I don't spend much time on this but I want it to be the right size for the substrate.

So it is all glued and collaged with layers and final stenciling to create a cute purple kitty. for complete instruction, you can find the video process here:

StencilClubMash-Up June 2020 by Mary Beth Shaw & Valerie Sjodin

StencilClubMash-Up August 2014 by Mary Beth Shaw

Small and Large Triangles S425 by Andrew Borloz

ATCMixup #1 by Mary Beth Shaw L543

ATC Mixup by Mary Nasser L763

SoulfulScribbles Dots and Dashes L605 by Traci Bautista

Boro S705 by Kristin Williams

Sidewalk2 of Puerto Rico S782 by Mary Beth Shaw

I am always fascinated When Shel Cee starts to glue papers down. I am never quite sure where the process is going to take her. Anyway. I can see influences from all three of these artists in this piece. Seth's layering techniques show up in the background while Mary Beth's love of the geometric and stitching play a part too. I hope you give this process a try. It is a lot of fun! 

Thanks for the visit. Peg

 

StencilGirl® Products Tutorial by Pamela Caughey

"It must be Fall," Acrylic, Mixed Media, 12" x 12" on Baltic Birch Panel

SUPPLY LIST:

StencilGirl® Stencils of your choice (I used Open Bare Wisteria Vine, Tall Beach Grass and Thicket Background)
Acrylic Polymer Medium (I use Golden Polymer Medium Gloss)
Parchment Paper
Scissors and cutting mat
Spray Paint (I used Liquitex Acrylic Spray Paint)
Baltic Birch panel (or other painting support)
White Gesso (I used Golden White Gesso)
Paintbrush or sponge brush to apply 2-5 coats of Polymer medium to Parchment paper
 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1)      Coat a sheet of parchment paper with 2-5 coats – depending on how thick you would like your vinyl/acrylic stencil transfers to be. I only used 2 layers in the video and the stencils were thin; if you want them a little heavier, just use a few more coats of the acrylic polymer medium before using the spray paint.

2)      Gather your stencils and place them on the dried sheet of parchment paper with acrylic medium.

3)      Shake up your spray paint and spray over the stencil, taped in place (use low tack tape like blue painter’s tape to hold stencil in place).

4)      Once the spray paint is dry, cut your vinyl/acrylic stencil transfers into any shapes you want!

5)      Peel off the parchment layer, and use polymer medium to collage these pieces onto your painting support. (*Note, if you get air bubbles, you can work them out while the polymer is wet, or cut with a sharp razor blade when dry and brush polymer medium over these areas to seal.)

I hope you will enjoy this fun process of personalizing your stencils

and using them to make stencil transfers as collage material!

www.PamelaCaughey.com 
https://www.artandsuccess.com/p/home  
https://www.artandsuccess.com/p/pdpc  (NEW Online Painting Course)
www.youtube.com/pamelacaughey  

StencilClub Voices take on the Shaw-Sjodin Mash-Up for June 2020

It's time for you to feast your eyes on the delightful art journals and books created by Susan Jennings, Anna Friesen, and Carol Ponsford made with the Shaw-Sjodin Mash-up Set as StencilClub Voices. Look for unusual doorways, subtle patterns, bold leaf (rather than gold leaf), and a video!

Susan Jennings painted in 2 different art journals

This page was inspired by MaryBeth Shaw and Seth Apter's Friday night journal session. I used her technique of spray ink on a stencil to make a "print" on deli paper, then when that dried painted the reverse side with acrylic paint which I learned to do in a Dina Wakely online class that same week! The phrase is from Dina Wakely's collage collective. I used paint pens through the 9" x 12" stencil to create the dotted patterns in the middle and leaves on the border.

I first created collage papers by mono-printing on a gel plate with colors in shades similar to the art and magazine graphics using this month’s club set. 

The woman's face is a StencilClub stencil from October 2018 by Pam Carriker which I've been using in a personal challenge to use one stencil 100 different ways (She's #49). 

Finally, I used the Shaw-Sjodin Mash-Up Set to decorate her blouse and create her pendant. (This 2-page spread was inspired by Laly Mille's art that was beautifully displayed on the current cover of Somerset Studio magazine.) 

A leaf spoke to Anna Friesen

I just love cabbage rose patterns, and the ones featured in this set are no exception. I tried to make them the star of the show in this layout, but the waves of color were yelling at me, so they had to take backstage this time. You can spy them among the pink swaths, but very quiet. 

And then the leaf on the right waved hello at me. 😂 I like that that the recycled paper packaging journal is seen here too, on the edges to the right, hosting the special leaf. 

Carol Ponsford is practicing random acts of art

When I received the June StencilClub set, the first thing that popped out was that it had all the elements for a walk in the woods so I immediately thought of doing a journal page and was able to create everything on the page from the 2 larger stencils even down to the water rings in the pond. 

The quote is one I have always liked and felt it worked perfectly with the page. 

What I had in mind before receiving the set was to make an art book. After taking Dina Wakley’s Facebook Live Accordion Book class and I knew that I wanted to use the Lost Coast Design stamps I had purchased several years ago. 

Knowing that the June set would be arriving soon, I was hopeful that the stencils would have designs I could use as my background layers and was thrilled when I received it to see that it had all the yummy patterns that would work perfectly for what I had envisioned. 

Bet you have beautiful projects of your own going through your mind! 

Want to see Mary Beth Shaw and Valerie Sjodin's Reveal of this stencil mash-up? Look here.

You can sign up for StencilClub by June 15, 2020, to get these exclusive stencils.

Typography: Accordion Book with StencilGirl® and Geri Beam

Hey there! So glad you stopped by for this first fabulous post from Creative Team Member Geri Beam! Her full bio is at the end of this post.

Hi! It's Geri.

I was excited to learn the creative team was working around a theme about typography. Making this 6”x6” square accordion book was fun and educational.

Many years ago in Atlanta, I worked for BellSouth. Our team built systems that data-entry people used to create and publish tariffs. Through that job I learned a lot about fonts and spacing.

I decided to make an accordion book to honor typography and bookmaking. The intent of this book is to teach readers about typography using a fun visual approach. Each page has a typography theme which is repeated pictorially on the back.

The Helvetica font plays an important part of the accordion book.

Note: If you want to learn more about typography and graphic design, I recommend watching an interesting documentary titled Helvetica. This film, directed by Gary Hustwit, was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's (Helvetica) introduction in 1957. This influential font was developed by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with input from Eduard Hoffmann.

Because I had never made an accordion book before, I decided use Photoshop to help determine the number of pages, their themes and what would be on the front and back of each page.

I alternated pages between black and white. I self-imposed a limit the number of colors to black, white, red, and gold.

I enjoyed choosing the perfect stencils and determining where they would be used. 

I used my hand-dyed fabric on the front and back covers. I wanted the covers to be flat and not have wrinkles or bubbles. My research led me to use YES Paste Stik Flat Glue and rice paper.

I spread the paste onto rice paper with a Color Shaper tool. I attached the fabric to the glue side of the rice paper. I used a brayer to push out all bubbles and wrinkles.

After the paste completely dried, I squared up the fabric/rice paper sandwich to 7 inches square. This measurement allowed the fabric to wrap around the edge of the 6” square chipboard.

On my sewing machine, I zigzagged a piece of red cording to one of the fabric sandwiches. This became the front cover of the book.

I snipped the four corners of fabric to eliminate bulk on the corners.

I chose the 4”x4” stencil from January 2020 StencilClub by MaryBeth Shaw to be on the front of the book. I used Purple tape to position the stencil.

I chose the 4”x4” stencil from the March 2014 StencilClub by MaryBeth Shaw to be on the back of the book.

I used white gesso on a cosmetic sponge to stencil onto the fabric.

I decided to outline the symbols in black to help them stand out on the fabric. I used a black Uni-Posca Marker.

I attached the fabric to the chipboard with PVA glue. I used a bone folder to crease and smooth the fabric around the edges of the chipboard. To flatten and smooth the covers I used the brayer.

I wanted the front and back covers to be different than the rest of the pages in the book. I started with a tribute to the early printed pages as documented in “The Art & Practice of Typography” by Edmund G. Gress.

To finish the book, I used a font that represented modern times – Dingbats.

I used a glue stick to place the printed pages onto black card stock. In the background, I used the 4”x4” stencil Lost Languages from StencilClub September 2015 by Julie Snidle to place gold Morse code around the edges using a gold Uni-Posca marker. To give the page a vintage look I used Seth Apter’s new product Adaline Izink Ice using colors Whiskey Frost and Iced Coffee. I added more detail with black and gold Uni-Posca markers to tie the page together.

I used a different technique on the back cover. Using a laser printer, I printed the Dingbat font on the center of black cardstock. I ran this page through a laminator with bronze foil which stuck to the carbon from the laser print. I highlighted the page with a gold Uni-Posca marker. I sealed the page with gel matt medium.

I used PVA glue to put these pages onto the backside of the covers.

I placed wax paper around the covers and placed them under a heavyweight until they completely dried. This helped keep the covers from warping.

To make the inside pages I used black and white gesso and stencils to create backgrounds.

Going back to my original plan I determined what pages needed what pieces of paper I had printed with typography images.

Using the same stencils and gesso, I created my own designs on blank white washi tape. These were used to put the book pages and cover together. I made four darker strips that would be used on the covers. I added some hints of red to make them more interesting.

This is a before-after example of a page that shows the names of parts of a letter. The part is in red and the name of the part is above the letter. I had this on a printed page which I tore up and then glued to the black cardstock. I highlighted with Uni-Posca black and white markers and put the word “parts” in white so that at a glance you would know what the page was about.

Before - layout with paper glued to the background

After - Uni-Posca Black and White pens to create unity

I created a single pop-out element using squares of text on black card stock, white gesso covered by clear embossing powder. I used the 6”x6” stencil Hip to Be Square Small Alphabet by Carolyn Dube.

The last process was putting the book together.

Armed with matt medium, PVA glue, bone folder, washi tape, covers, and pages, I attached each page according to the original plan.

Last, but not least, I made a tie to keep the book closed using some polka dot sari ribbon (thanks to Ephemera Paducah), beads, and the remaining red cord.

Here's a video so you can see my accordion book in a different way.

Enjoy!

Geri

Supplies Used:

• 6x6 inches card stock (colors: black - five pieces and white - four pieces)
• 6x6 inches chipboard – two pieces
• 8x8 inches of hand dyed cotton – two pieces
• 8x8 inches of rice paper – two pieces
• Red cording 24 inches long
• Gesso (colors: black and white)
• Uni-Posca Markers (colors: black, white, red and gold)
• Washi tape
• Copy paper with printed typography images
• Adaline Izink Ice (colors: Whiskey Frost and Iced Coffee)
• Gel medium matte finish
• YES Paste Stik Flat Glue
• PVA glue
• Therm-O-Web Purple Tape or painters tape
• Brushes and sponges
• Bone Folder
• Colour Shaper or credit card

Stencils from StencilClub and Beyond:

• March 2014 - Mary Beth's Private Collection 14.1 by MaryBeth Shaw
• September 2015 - Lost Languages by Julie Snidle
• January 2020 - Mary Beth Shaw's Private Collection 20.1 by MaryBeth Shaw
• Hip to Be Square Small Alphabet by Carolyn Dube 6”x6” S521

Geri Beam's bio:

Geri Beam's love of art was first expressed through participation in high school performing arts programs. Active in Community Theater for twenty years, her commitment led to membership in the Actors’ Equity Association in 2002. Concurrently, Beam explored oil paints, ceramics and fused glass, but found her focus in 2009, after taking textile classes with Laura Wasilowski and Jane Dunnewold. Accepted into Jane Dunnewold’s Art Cloth Mastery Program in 2012, she chose to retire from her ‘day-job’ after twenty-six years of working in the Information Technology field. She is currently a member of several sewing and quilt guilds in California, and devotes her time to teaching and creating art.

Artist's statement:

I am compelled to create. If a day goes by without creative release, dark, mental clouds gather. Making art clears the air, brings light, and relieves the stress of everyday life. My goal is to express my deepest feelings and to help others to do the same. There is nothing so sweet as to see someone experience an ah-ha moment. An inner voice guides me. I work quickly and intuitively - letting myself get lost in the moment of creation. My preferred materials are luxurious natural fibers that feel good to touch. Tactile textures and rich color add the complexity I seek, yet simple lines, capable of expressing movement or feeling, are what I value most. I use sparkle and shine to generate realism; but sparingly! I am currently honing my craft and clarifying my artist's voice. Expanding the tools in my creative tackle box helps avoid boredom. Incorporating computer technology and software programs balances any weakness in manual processes. I continue to create classes and lectures to teach others how to tap into their creative voice. I hope to inspire and influence the lives of others through my art, and through sharing the gifts I have been given.