lucky me!

seth apter, mixed media artist, innovative blogger, 

author of numerous books, designer,  collaborative artist

are among many his many talents.  he recently celebrated 

8 years of blogging with a giveaway drawing.  i was one of

four winners from over 200 entries.

for hours of inspiration visit seth's blog.  

thank you, seth!

i often use stencils, both original and store bought, 

in various ways.   the piece below is an example.

indigo lady, mixed media

stencils were used in unconventional ways to make papers which

are glued to  on the left side  of this piece.   

first, i selected a  magazine page, placed a stencil 

underneath and sanded.  you can sand heavily or lightly, depending

on the effect you desise.   at the recent whidbey island 

workshop i attended, i learned to layer this technique 

by using multiple  stencils and then spraying it with dyes

so that you are literally creating your own ephemeral.   

i  hen tore pieces and adhered it to a cradle board.  

there  is really no end  to the number of layers 

one can use in a mixed media piece. 

close up

you can barely make out the little fish shapes 

swimming  in water in the  upper left corner.

i have been on an adventure.

where do i start?  first, start with a

reunion of five art friends who met 

together one afternoon on my deck for a magical

afternoon of art journaling and our sharing lives.

john from a seattle suburb, terry from minnesota,

brian from long beach and jacki from orange county.

we were quite happy to be together as you can see.

john, terry and brian team taught an art 

journaling extravaganza.

                        

with thirteen artists for three full days and even 

some of us crazy enough to come back for more 

after a  group dinner out.    there were many moments,

memories, spectacular sunrise and sunsets.   the best

was the deepening of friendships old and new.  

now back to paint paint paint.  i have added a tab 

at the top of my page which lists all of the paintings 

to be shown at the third annual gallery in the garden

hosted by my friend, diane dunn.  i hope you have time

for a virtual visit.  

a journal spread.  t's orange influenced by jacki long

a wonderful weekend to all!

it's friday and i am posting with paint party friday