Musical Star Garland

I saw this idea at First Friday (http://www.firstfridayrochester.org/) in an artist studio. The artist of this studio created some majorly detailed watercolor necklaces made out of shrinky dink which were very neat. (remember this stuff- we use to use it when we were kids!) Plus she had many other intricate and unique ideas. Even her business cards were unique. She calls her studio "Handworks" and her name is Debora Bartlett.

While there I saw this neat type of garland that was stars on twine or rope covered with musical notes. Deborah said she didn't make it and that it's something she wouldn't even attempt which I thought was crazy since her work was very intricate and required much patience.

So I set off to create my own musical star garland. Of course I used mostly materials I had around or that have been recycled. I used old filing charts and cut stars out of them. Glued two stars together. Then took my book of vintage music sheets and ripped them into small pieces and modge podged them all over each star until both sides and all spaces were covered. (warning: this does take time and patience). Once done (I created 9 or 10 stars for one garland) I modge podged two coats over both sides of the stars, waited a day and then put a coat of polyurethane over both sides of each. I found this wreath twine at Craft Bits and Pieces (http://www.craftbitsandpieces.com/) for .50 cents!!!! Crazy! I had more than enough to make one garland. I also picked up some very old twine at an estate sale for .25 cents that I can use for future garlands. I used a nail punch (a tool you use to push in nails from showing- you hit the punch with a hammer and it pushes the nail into the wood) and hammered holes into the tops of each star, put the stars through the twine and knotted on each side of the star so that it wouldn't slide around.

This project turned out very well. It took some time but was very inexpensive, looks neat and is pretty sturdy.

Updates:

Okay I know it's been a bit but I have been creating and checking out new art venue's in my area.

Here's an update on what I've been up to.

1. Perhaps the coolest news I have is that I finally applied and received my DBA (Doing Business As) which I plan to use to have a future Esty shop. My sister is a genius and came up with a unique name that perfectly describes me and how I want to define my business. I'd tell you the name now but I want to wait until I actually get it up and running. Why spoil the surprise! I'm thinking realistically it won't be until July as the logo is being worked on, I'm building my inventory and between work and a few future travel adventures I'm going to be busy in the coming months. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

2. My "Words of Birds" mixed media series was recently exhibited at a faculty/staff art show.

3. The "Words of Birds" series is being donated tomorrow for the ROCO 6x6 art exhibit being held in June. Check it out at: http://www.roco6x6.org/6x6x2012_intro.php

4. I was asked and will be a juror for the "Metamorphosis" annual art show. This art show is hosted by The Creative Wellness Coalition of Rochester, NY. This Coalition provides numerous creative arts groups free to people with mental health challenges. You can check out thier innovative program at: http://mhcrochester.org/

5. I went with a friend to First Friday which is a great way to check out art gallery's and find unique studio spaces and ideas all over the city for FREE! There is often FREE wine, food and music throughout the night at different places. This was an awesome night out- a great way to help get the creative juices flowing. I think a lot of cities have something similar to this. Check it out at: http://www.firstfridayrochester.org/

6. And lastly I'm trying to work on creating a piece of art work for an exhibit for The Shoe Factory Art Co-op. The art show is a summer exhibit at a local cafe Starry Nites and the theme is "Fly Me to the Moon: Celestial Bodies". You can check out The Shoe Factory and the exhibit details at: http://www.shoefactoryarts.com/ Of course I'll blog if I ever create a piece that I think worthy of submitting.

Stay tuned...

Creative Necklace Hanger

I saw a picture originally on pinterest then on reddit crafts but now when I want to give the person credit for giving me an idea I can't find it. Anyway- it was a painting on canvas with nails across the top part of the frame and necklaces hanging off of the nails. I decided I wanted to create something to hang my necklaces on. Using that concept I created the necklace holder you see posted here.

I reused a 12x12" canvas that already had an image on it. I took tissue paper and old music sheets and layered and layered and layered some more. I used a copper embossing powder and bird stamp (however this didn't work out as planned) so I used more tissue paper and more music sheets and layered some more leaving just a hint of the copper embossing showing. Then I became bored with the piece but my friends Leslie and Cindi encouraged me to keep going. Leslie played around with bottle caps, copper leaves and the giant metal spiral you see on the necklace holder. I was going to use them but something just seemed off.

I came up with the final touches while trying to go to bed last night. I took a blueish paint and with a watered down paper towel I added some blue to the canvas. Then I found an old children's book and ripped out a page about "time" and created the base for some birdies. I used parts of old knobs that I wasn't using and had laying around and epoxied them along the top and then put old nails in the middle to hang the necklaces. I used the spiral wire and screwed it on by the sides of the canvas into the wood frame. I'm really excited at the outcome. I don't have a ton of jewelry but thought if I needed to down the road I can add some more nails along the bottom or hooks from the bottom wood edge of the canvas.

Generous Gift of Art

In Saturday afternoon art Leslie was cleaning out her studio. She had art work and supplies all over. I saw this piece of artwork that was in a corner that was pulled out and immediately fell in love with it. When I mentioned this Leslie automatically said " Do you want it?" and my response was "heck yeah!". It was the most exciting part of my day! My plan is to hang it in my kitchen where the walls are still bare and painted blue.

Inspirational Affirmation

I created this mixed media piece the other day. I found a bunch of words in a magazine pile in the group art room and took the ones that resonated with me. I used a canvas board, layered tissue paper, followed by the words, used watercolor over top, sprinkled a dash of glitter and then rubbed in some dark acrylic brown as the final step. In between each layer modge podge was used. I enjoyed experimenting with this piece and felt the colors and materials turned out well together.