after reading my friend jacki long's blog  about being 

side-tracked on a day when she had her plate already full.

i couldn't resist.   today i have to 

submit titles, prices, sizes and an artist 

statement and complete the blog listing of all the 

teabag paintings (over 130)  for a July show where 

i will have an installation space to display the teabag ladies that 

i have been painting daily for this year.  

good day to be sidetracked. so with a roll of clear packing tape, 

a junk mail travel brochure, glue stick, just completed journal  and 

time i don't have, i got busy.

opened journal cover

the procedure is simple.  

1     place the clear tape on a magazine page, rub or burnish

2     rip up the tape from the page.  you will get a portion of whatever image was

on the page.  you can play around with this.  the harder you burnish, the  more

of the page will come up.  it's not an exact science.  i like that!

taped brochure strip 

strip glued on the journal

arrange the strips  and glue.

easy peasy!

but this simple technique transformed how i feel about the journal.

i hadn't been able to move on to a new journal because although

all of the pages were  filled, something stopped me.

 it love the new look of my journal

and can move on to a new journal and to getting today's work done.

reflection in a large outdoor aquarium at malibu village

thank you for visiting 

and have a lovely week end

linking with other artists at paint party friday.

for a dose of creativity, visit their site hosted

weekly by kristen and eva. 

teabag painting

i love art supplies.  you could say i collect them

just to experiment with them.  sometimes it takes a

while for me to even get around to trying a product.

that's the case with clear gesso.  now i have it on 

hand always.  

what is gesso?

gesso comes in white, black, clear and even colors.  it is used

as a primer and sealer  and make an even ground for

acrylic or oil paint.    clear gesso dries clear to translucent 

depending on the thickness of the application.  i apply with

a sponge brush or inexpensive bristle brush.  

how do i use it?

as a painter and mixed media artist, i love layering

color on color, collage on paint, paint over collage,

paint over a sketch ... you get the picture.  you might 

even do the same.  

clean up

soap and water.  important to wash immediately after 

using or your brush will be a solid block of bristles.  especially

check the bristles at the base of the brush.  i squeeze the

bristles with my fingers.  if it feels sticky, i wash again.

where to use clear gesso

1

use clear gesso between layers or if you are not sure

about the next step.  it  protects the bottom layer and 

gives you the option  to remove the last layer.

2

apply a layer of clear gesso on paper, canvas, wood

before using pastels.  clear gesso leaves a tooth which

is a nice surface for pastels. and oil pastels.  this grit or  tooth

is what i did not like about it when i first tried it.  i was used to 

smooth white gesso and had not tried pastels at the time.  now i love it.

3

brush it on an altered book.  you can then paint over it and 

wipe off paint to retain the text below.

4

as with any product, experiment, break the rules,

let yourself play!

i started painting on used tea bags this week.  i have

saved stacks of bags because i thought they would

be perfect  a possible project.... but i did not have

a project until i saw jeanne-marie's tea bag girls.

she painted 365 last year and said it changed her life.

even though i am only on tea bag girl # 7,

i have had a lot of questions on how these are 

done.   i told my friends that there are good tutorials online

but they encouraged me to do my own.  so here we go.

i  started simple with these

basic supplies 

used tea bags, dried and the tea emptied by cutting a tiny

slit in the back.  i am experimenting with various brands and  sizes

gesso ~ white, black,  clear.  

i started with white using a wet brush, applying it to the

emptied, dried tea bag, letting it dry on wax paper to prevent

sticking to the surface.  if the brush is too wet, which mine were,

you will need two coats.  i read that clear gesso helps prevent

wrinkles.  i also find that after applying the gesso, whatever color,

smoothing the bag with the brush helps.  also check out the bags 

during the drying process and resmooth if necessary.  

various size brushes

water container

watercolor, acrylics, water soluble pencils

i started with watercolors then  to 4 colors 

of  derwent intense blocks.  the watercolors needed 

several coats after it dried.  because of the texture

you could not tell what color it would turn out until it dried.  

it resulted in  a soft dreamy feeling.

the intense blocks gave more intense, immediate colors.

today i tried acrylics.  i use acrylics so much that

it was a familiar medium, without many surprises

diluted white gesso, watercolor

diluted white gesso, watercolor and intense blocks

black gesso, white acrylic and pencil

white gesso, clear gesso, charcoal, acrylic

i am always available if you have questions and

would love to see what you do with these mini tea bag canvases.

also if there is anything that is unclear, let me know and i will

try to clarify.


thank you so much for visiting today!


posting with paint party friday