Fairies by Renee

I've been making these fairies for a number of years now and I've decided to make a video on how to create them.

These whimsical little ones are about 5" tall and are fun and easy to make.  The hard part will be making the video and finding the time.

 

My submission to Holiday Window

I chose a natural theme with birds. I adore bird art which is a popular theme for a lot of artist these days. It always amazes me how different each artist work is.
I used the 6x6 canvas that will keep the window display uniform and did my usual mixed media collage work on them working with all 3 at once.
I then added the birds from 2 different sources. One was a napkin that displayed 2 different birds and one was a photo that I cut out. I added natural and purchased ephemera to each canvas keeping them similar but not the same. I'm pleased with the results and now I hope someone else will think so too.

I have a double shift at the gallery on Thursday and will take photos of how the window looks and post soon.

Holiday window at Ten Women

We just changed the window at Ten Women Gallery and of course, it has a Holiday theme. We decided that each artist do as many 6x6" canvas' as they liked in their own medium. I submitted my canvases along with 3 that had this to say. These are mixed media collage with my calligraphy written with acrylic ink and broad edge pen.






Because we are a co-op, each artist has individual jobs to contribute to the gallery's up keep. Being a calligrapher, I get all the signs, tags, and announcements. It's nice to use my skills to make it all look professional.
























































I will post my submissions next...

Great find at the Rubber Stamp Convention

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lisa and I went to the Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson. I'm always excited and scared to attend because although I don't need anything, I always find these special things that I just have to have and end up spending way too much money. But, this time I found a little treasure that made my heart sing. Shadow Frames by Darcies.

These little die cut shadow frames that came in a variety of sizes and shapes just called my name. They were not expensive either. The kit had all the parts and was raw chip board to decorate the way you wanted and even had the plexiglass and clips for full assemblage. This piece is 5x5" and I paid around $4.99.

I put a decorative paper for background, cut a heart from a bible page...(I know, blasphemy...but the bible was falling apart and I used it for preservation :o)...I added a ribbon, tied a key and tag then painted the outer frame gold and rubber stamped with flourish. Kind of neat, huh?

By the way...Happy Thanksgiving!

More for Ten Women Gallery

Some book marks to add to a new growing variety of items for Ten Women Gallery. These started as paste paper that I tore into the size that slips in the plastic book mark holders. I collaged and
added the calligraphy. I even added a tassel at the end.

























These are ornaments with a natural flare so they can maybe sell even after the holidays...


















I purchased a thin piece of wood at Michaels to make this door hanger, used gesso and stenciled a design when dried and layered white acrylic to soften the stencil design. After doing the letters which are also stenciled, I decorated them and put a layer of mat medium to seal. I used glue along the edges and sprinkled glass crystals on top of the glue to give a snowy look. Drilled small holes, threaded with wire, a bead, ribbon, strip of fabric and whalla! That's all she wrote!

Holiday Ornaments for Ten Women Gallery

I'm getting ready for holiday at Ten Women Gallery. I'm creating handmade ornaments, greeting cards and mixed media gifts and canvas' for the December window.

I finally got out my sewing machine before it got rusty and it felt good to put needle and thread to my work. It added another dimension. I was inspired by Ruth Rae
http://www.flickr.com/people/ruthrae/
who I admire and think is a fabulous artist.

These are just a few of the ornaments.

For Izabella...My Bell

Last year for my birthday, my son Sal, gave me a BD cake with Cinderella on top. His choice of BD cakes was probably pretty slim when he bought it ;o). He also knew I would save the topping to use again...
At Michaels, I purchased a small wooden box just for the cake topping to make a jewelry box for my 5 year old grand daughter, also Sal's daughter, Izabella, aka, Bella, Izzy, My Bell, Bell Bell...

Izabella will be in Argentina with her dad for Christmas. But for Thanksgiving, my hubby and I are taking the smaller grandkids to see "A Christmas Carol" and a stage show in Hollywood style next Saturday and afterward will have a buffet dinner at home with grandkids and their parents to give thanks for all our blessings. I will be giving her the gift that day.

I approached the design by putting gesso on the box first then painted several layers of pink and white until I reached the perfect blend. Izabella adores PINK and I wanted her to love it! I then collaged with childrens music sheet cutting it with a decorative scissors and doing the same with a complimentary decorative paper for the borders.
I outlined with charcoal pencil and dotted with white pen for accent. Using a sponge to a black ink pad I rubbed along the edges to give an aged appearance. I painted the legs with gold acrylic as well as the clasp. And, after adding decorative paper to the inside, I glued Cinderella on top and dress her with trim and ribbon, rosettes and rhinestones. I personalized it "Princess Izabella" then gave it a final coating of acrylic crystal clear to seal.

I attended the Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson last weekend and found a one of a kind charm that had a silver crown and with a white, pink and green glass bead on top...a perfect gift to put on a chain and put inside the Princess Box. She also loves Hello Kitty so I added a few little HK goodies to the box as well.

Bella's mom, Anna, is an artist and a naturalist. She always prefer the hand made gifts to the purchased and I'm always willing to oblige. I feel assured that the gifts I make and give will be appreciated, taken care of and preserved so Bella will have them as she grows into an adult with hopes of her always remembering me. I know how I feel about the few things I have from my mom that I treasure and will pass along as well. I only wish I had realized what is meaningful to me now, back when I was younger.

I could probably come up with a dozen or so quotes that would be perfect for this situation...but all I can think of is, I only know what is important today and I will take it into tomorrow to try and make a difference.

Inspirational Retreat sign

Today is Lisa's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LISA! Last night her wonderful daughters threw her an all girls surprise party and it was so fun. We danced our booties off and I have the aches and pain today to prove it.

When we started planning the retreat back in July, she mentioned she would love a sign outside her front door. Thinking it would be a good idea and a perfect present for her I got started on it about month ago to give it to her as a birthday gift.

It's an old wood shelf that I wasn't using...4'x2'...I was quite pleased with how it turned out. This was the first time that I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like and it actually turned out that way. It's gonna look great hanging outside the front door welcoming the teachers and all the students. I'll take photos when it's hanging there.

Balance

For my space at Ten Women Gallery Venice, among the things that I create are my mosaic collages in shadow box frames. I choose a word and add the letters to each of the squares so it spells out the word and collage the squares using ephemera and mixed media stuff. The paper is usually paste paper designed by me as I like to keep everything authentic. I add short quotes that relate to the word and coordinate colors to give it an over all aesthetic quality.

My most popular piece is always "Gratitude". And, again it sold about 3 three weeks ago. The gal who purchased it called me to order custom mosaic collages for 3 of her friends each one personalized to their personalities. This is right up my alley. I love custom creating for the challenge of it. This is the first one I did for her...It's called "Balance".

A gift for Lisa LaRosa

The 15th is Lisa's birthday and I plan to give her the sign as a gift. This sign will hang outside the entrance of the Inspirational Retreat, http://www.lisalarose.blogspot.com

Here's some details I added...

This is the very first time I created a mixed media collage where I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like and it came out very close to how I had envisioned.

There are many layers involved. I just kept adding to it to get some depth. When I felt less was more and needed to stop, which in my case is very difficult, I laid down the calligraphy using a brush and acrylic black ink. Several layers of ink went down as well to deepen the black and I sprinkled Schmienke gold powder while it was drying.

This is a piece of wood that I had used as a shelf in the past. It's 4 feet by 2 feet and is the biggest piece I've ever worked on.


I hope she likes it....I can hardly wait to give it to her.

My friend from a Farr

About 2 weeks ago I was invited to participate in an Tag Art Event where you send a piece of your art to a person on the top of the list and add your name to the bottom, etc. You're supposed to receive little bits of magic in the mail. I joyfully did my part and sent off my art to the top name on the list, Diana Frey, a wonderful artist and jewelry designer, come see... http://www.dianafrey.blogspot.com/ ...and promptly forgot about it after she had notified me she had received my gift of tag art. By the way, I'm excited to say that Diana will be teaching at Inspirational Retreat in May with Riki Schumacher, http://rikijewelry.blogspot.com/ and by herself in July.

Okay, so after returning home from a double shift at the gallery yesterday, I was anxious to get into my studio to continue my calligraphy work. I totally ignored the mail until my curiosity got the better of me after dinner when I realized that there were no bills haunting me to be paid. So off to the mailbox I went and low and behold..."what is this and who is sending me something addressed in gorgeous lettering?" I turned it over and to my surprise, a bell went off in my head to let me know that I was receiving my first bit of Tag Art. And, to make things even better, it was from someone I admire and who's blog I've been following forever it seems.



Jane Farr, calligrapher extraordinaire, my Indiana online friend, was tagged to send to me. Oh, the joy...did you see that envelope? http://janefarr.blogspot.com/


What was inside the envelope thrilled me to laughter as I explained to Jon what had made me so happy and the tag art. Look at all the goodies Jane sent. This is my drug of choice.


I'm off to play in my journal with all my goodies. Thank you Jane for making my day. Sending hugs and kisses.

Best Blog Award

It's my first and it's from my friend, Lisa. How fun and how proud I am to receive this award. Just because it only took me 5 days to figure out how to put it up on my blog doesn't mean I don't appreciate it....I truly do. So, thank you my dear friend. I am in gratitude.

Another Grandson

My life long friend Laura, had her 4th grand son in May...her fourth grand son. What happened to all the girls? Anyway, I finally got an opportunity to create a gift for her with the birth announcement she sent. She hasn't received it yet since I just sent it out to her on Saturday. She lives in NY so it'll take about 3-4 days till she receives it. I hope she doesn't come snooping over here to see what I'm up to cause it's a surprise.




This is before it was framed. Hope she likes it....

I'm published in "Hand Lettering"

"Hand Lettering" by Marci Donley and DeAnn Singh



Today I attended a book signing at Stamping from the Heart for Marci Donley and DeAnn Singh's new book "Hand Lettering" for which I was privileged to be invited to take part in. I really didn't think it would be as exciting to me as it was. I'm normally a low keyed kind of gal about tooting my own horn but it was kinda thrilling, I must admit. We had quite a turn out with food, drink and demos.

Here are some photos of my work and of the book signing event.


Here are Carrie Imai, the President of our Society for Calligraphy, Helen Chu and a customer buying a signed copy of the book.




Carrie getting ready to do her demo for a well attended group of attendees.





Lisa Engelbrecht and Nancy Campbell, also participants in the book, signing copies.





That's me in the back, next to Nancy, Carrie, Helen and Jane Shibata in the pony tail.






Nancy Campbell, Jane Shibata, Sylvia Kowal, DeAnn Singh, Marci Donley, Karen (owner of Stamping from the Heart) and seated, Lisa Engelbrecht. Oh yes....and me looking at ???



Marci doing her demo and Chris Ewen having a good time on the right.




I created a mixed media collage alphabet book from scratch which is where the photos were taken from.

New Logo

This is the new logo I designed for Lisa's Inspirational Retreat. I'm pretty happy with the way the calligraphy came out. And, I played around with it in Photoshop on my own with a little help from my friend, Lisa H. and Jon. What would I do without my support? What do you think?

Dream

Dream is a new mixed media collage on wood, now, one of my favorite surfaces to create on. It's so diverse...you can do all the things that you do on canvas plus attach ephemera using nails, tacks and whatnot. It's so fun and has endless possibilities not to mention it's much less expensive. I may eventually give up on canvas.

Believe in Yourself

This is a mixed media collage on canvas adding a calligraphic verse about how important we are and the need to believe in ourselves. I used some ephemera as well...I just love the 3 dimensional jolt.

Belief in myself

After taking Karen Michel's class at Art Unraveled and being so inspired by her work, I knew that I would be creating these mosaic wood collages for a long time in a la Renee style.



This piece is inspired by believing in myself and trusting in that belief. I really love creating in 3 dimensional textures. It really encompasses all the elements I enjoy working with.

My Family Album

This is a custom family photo album I finally finished that was started in Judy Wilkenfelds class in August. It was made from scratch with an emphasis on antique to make it look authentic. Lots of old, original ephemera was used as was new pieces that were aged to make look old.

This was a project that I was particularly fond of creating and will make another one similar. I plan to pass them on to my grandchildren to have as a keepsake when they are older. They are adopted out and I feel it will be of significance for them to have a little something to take into their future.

Ashes and Snow

One of the most exquisite exhibits I had ever seen was Ashes and Snow at the Santa Monica Pier many years ago. This magnificent link is some of what I had experienced. If you have not witnessed it, I believe you are in for a real treat. I will always feel blessed to have seen the incredible photos up close and personal.

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/flash-popup.php#portfolio

Enjoy!

First Grandchild

My dear friend Roberta, is having her first grandchild and is giving a baby shower for her daughter 'n law. These are personalized bookmarks for the guests which was created from the same hand painted paper I used to create the Family Tree Album I designed and created from scratch for her grand daughter to keep and pass on when she has children.


This album was created by hand painting Arches 90# watercolor paper with acrylics to give an antique feeling as well as a neutral and contemporary entrance into the present and future. There are many layers of color muted by blotting each layer after saturating the paper one color at a time.
After taking Judy Wilkenfeld's class, I saw the importance of constructing a book that will last many years and generations. I therefore, used heavy book board cutting to dimension of the paper I painted and being the starting point. I painted full sheets of paper, folded in half and then in quarters, tearing by hand to make the signatures. There are 6 signatures of 2 papers making 8 pages each which luckily for me was plenty of pages to give each photo it's importance in the family tree.

I found I had fabric that I wasn't sure where it came from, but was enough, the perfect color, texture and feeling for this album. I added, at the end, the antique ribbon I had purchased at the Rose Bowl Flea Market some time ago and a reproduction brass piece to show which side was the front.




The beginning...a calligraphic quote I added for "grandma" to be which is a perfect introduction to this thoughtful gift.


I thought it was extremely interesting that these two women originally met in High School, the 60's in the Bronx, NY. I, also, was in their graduating class at this same High School which, in Yiddish, is bashert...meant to be.




This is the lovely parents to be at their wedding in 2007. These pages are just a suggestion of what is actually in this album...I didn't want to bore the viewers. It went on for generations.
At the end, I left several pages for the baby's photos. It was a project made with love and a life time of friendship combined. A pleasure job for sure...I'm a lucky gal!

A birthday gift for Jon

One of Jon's favorite words....

Jon's 70th Birthday Party

My son, Sal and his girlfriend, Gabby...


Lisa, Roe and little old me....


Me and my son Sal....my big Bubba!





Jon's eldest grandson, Jonathan and granddaughter Joy....


Jon, his daughter, Lisa, her husband Frankie in black and their 5 children...the little one in pink is Lexi, our dearest friends, Roe and D's granddaughter.

Kaitlin and Joy....



We had a party in celebration of my honey's 70th Birthday this past Saturday. These are a few photos of family and friends. We had a great time!

Some new work for the Gallery

After selling several of my pieces in the last month at Ten Women Gallery, I suddenly had to busy myself with getting some new things created to fill those empty spots on my wall. I decided to go with mixed media using my calligraphy which is the direction I am going these days to carve a niche for myself and be original. Hope it works!

Judy Wilkenfeld

My long anticipated workshop with Judy Wilkenfeld http://redvelvetcreations.blogspot.com/ was magical, captivating and filled to the brim with creativity.
Judy is a brilliant and intelligent artist from Australia who creates one of a kind masterpiece books that are made from scratch telling stories without words describing peoples lives.

When I first saw her personal work telling a profound story of Holocaust survival it took my breath away. I knew right then that I needed to witness her art for myself. Above, are just a few photos of her magnificent book that inspired me to take her workshop.

I shared the workshop with 9 other talented artists, all of whom felt the same way about learning from Judy and we became fast friends. However, because of unforeseen and frustrating events the weekend was cut short of an important day resulting in a lack of time to complete any pages we were inspired to create. I do think, however, I learned enough in the time given to go forward on my own to, at least, do some of what I started.

So, out of the loss came gain...I now have 9 new and wonderful friends, a treasure of new techniques to create with and a wonderful regathering to look forward to. I'd say that, all in all, the weekend was a huge success in spite of it's challenges.

Lisa LaRosa's Inspirational Retreat

This is long over due...the introduction of my step daughter's new teaching venue in Southern California...Lisa LaRosa's Inspirational Retreat.

http://www.lisalarosa.blogspot.com

In the beginning came the need, the vision, the desire, the possibilities, the inspiration, the enthusiasm and the first seeds that became a reality.

My step daughter, Lisa LaRosa, has bravely taken charge of her life and is opening up her home creating a new teaching venue in order to save her home, provide for her 5 children and create an opportunity to bring teachers and students together for inspiration and exploration of mutual interest.

Her beautiful home is in Old Agoura Hills, half hour from Malibu and an hour from Santa Barbara will be able to accommodate up to 25+ students comfortably and the teachers visiting will be staying in her guest cottage. Most of her neighbors have horses and the area is filled with many trails inhabited by both hikers and riders alike. It's peaceful and serene and truly a retreat for anyone visiting.

With what seems like a natural coarse of action, Lisa has already booked 5 teachers so far. She attended Art Unraveled in Phoenix the first part of August, introduced herself and the retreat and receive an overwhelmingly positive response.

Reva Solomon, http://CreativeRebelGal.blogspot.com a local artist, life coach and avid journaler, will be teaching in October.

Julie Haymaker Thompson, http://www.juliehaymaker.blogspot.com, an artist whom I admire and collect, will be teaching in January 2010....yeah!

Michael deMeng, http://www.michaeldemeng.com/, will be there in April 2010. I've taken 2 of Michaels classes at AU just recently...see my post on started creations.


On the list of almost booked/confirming dates are:
Carla Sonheim http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/
Richard Salley http://rsalley.com/wordpress/
Cindy Kovack http://cindykovack.typepad.com/cindy_kovack/
Lesley Venable http://flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com
So far.....the invite list is long.

This venture started about 5 weeks ago and has taken on a life of it's own. We are excited and overwhelmed at it's beginning success. It's been challenging to create, promote and to trust that it will all work out in the perfect time. Staying focused and positive is essential and sometimes difficult with everything else that is already existing in my life. However, it's a done deal!

I hope that whoever is reading this post, will visit Lisa's blog and follow to watch what will happen next...and come take a class ;o)

Just Sold!

The piece I created in Karen Michel's class at Art Unraveled has already sold at Ten Women Gallery Venice.....Yeah!

www.karenmichel.com

Class with Yves Leterme

This week end, I attended a workshop "Gestural Writing" with Yves Leterme from Belgium through the Society for Calligraphy.
At first, I was totally uncomfortable as it was lettering that was pushing the envelope for me, working with nibs that I don't usually use, as my nib of choice is pointed. Yves had us using Speedball C5 to start with. It was a style of lettering I wanted to learn but I realized that, even tho I do lettering for a living, this was another ball game all together. Once I switched to pointed pen, my samples improved, but it would take loads of practice to develop my style in this genre.

By the end of the week end, I did feel that I was glad I had taken the workshop even if I didn't like what I had produced during the class. I did however, learn a new skill which will bring a new textural sparkle to my mixed media work and I am anxious to practice what I learned.. Now, all I need is time...

What I did at AU

With my camera all charged and pictures uploaded here are just a few of the pieces I created in the first of Michael deMeng (http://www.michaeldemeng.com/) classes at Art Unraveled.

This piece is called "The offering". I am far from finished but, I think you can see where I'm going with it.


This is called "Balancing Act"...The Panda has Barbie legs which were snapped off a Barbie that I used in another piece. He will be wearing a tutu, holding an umbrella, twirling a ball and wearing a party hat (eventually), giving this piece a circus like quality not to take everything too seriously but keep it all in balance.









Michael teaches a very intricate assemblage art form. My piece looks nothing like his instructions. Being me, I dance to my own art drummer and of course, it isn't painted yet which will make a huge difference. I did do a simple framed piece which is similar to his flavor of art but I haven't taken a photo of that yet. I will post more of the pieces in another post. Just too many all at once.



















This is from Karen Michel's class (http://alteredimagery.blogspot.com/).
I truly loved this class and loved Karen.

This piece is wood based and like my mosaic collages, it has the same feeling with the small square blocks collaged with each having a letter to spell out a word...in this case "gratitude".

Working with the wood, I see so much more potential to use letters/words, my first love, and make this my own. My original mosaic collages are done in a shadow box frame using originally designed paste paper for the squares.








This was a little different for me. Lately, I've been wanting to do a series of collaged crosses and this piece is a starting point in that direction. It's called "Trust your Heart" in the same wood format as the "Gratitude" piece.

I plan to go forward with these as I already work with wood and see so much potential in broadening my creations and using more of my calligraphic skills.

This weekend I have a class through the Society for Calligraphy with Yves Leterme on gestural writing. I'm excited to finally get back to my roots of my first love...lettering.

More photos to come....

Just got back

Oh my, what a week! I just got home from a hectic week in Phoenix for Art Unraveled. Took 4 incredible classes and am so inspired I can almost burst with creative energy.

My first class was with Michael deMeng http://www.michaeldemeng.com/, "What a Relief". It was fast paced and, I must say, not enough time. However, I did start to create 2 pieces which I would have never created otherwise. Photos will come shortly as my camera is needing of a charge.
Second class was with Karen Michel http://alteredimagery.blogspot.com/ and what a class is was. I am so totally blown away and inspired by what I learned from Karen, I can hardly wait to start creating all new art. This class was worth the entire trip....photos to follow.

I had a class with Traci Bautista in the evening but was too tired to get anything from it and on Friday another class with Michael deMeng, "The Island of deMented Toys". What fun we had cutting off limbs of dolls and attaching them to other creatures. Michael is a talented and gifted artist.

I'm barely able to hold my head up tonight as I'm just readjusting to being at my normal pace at home. I'll post tomorrow with photos and more about what's going on...lots of exciting new happenings.
Nitey, night!