Pyrography – the other side

Posted on 11th January 2015 by Neil

I’ve spent much of the afternoon wiring up outdoor lighting so that it’s much easier to get to and from the studio in the dark! Of course, one job led to another, so the wisteria has had a seeing to as well…

Just before I go and introduce mixed media to my church youth group, I decided to do the other side of my beech tile (12cmx2.5cm), this time working inside. As expected, the Dremel Versatip worked much better in the warm, though somewhat annoyingly the heat rising from the tool was enough to make holding it uncomfortable after a while. I think if I’m going to get into pyrography in a big way I am going to have to invest in the proper kit! Considering the small scale I think the doodled flowers turned out acceptably.

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Eclectic Elements Thread Catcher

Posted on 18th December 2014 by Neil

I took delivery of my new Pfaff Hobbylock 2.5 yesterday, and after I managed to work out how to rethread it, I of course had to have a go. After a couple of hours yesterday, and a couple more today, I’m officially loving it! I’ve learnt what not to do on it… and that it’s best to have the sewing machine out at the same time. Me being me, I decided to work on a project I’d had in mind for a while, namely to make a thread catcher for use next to the sewing machine. I didn’t like many I’d seen on the web, so I adapted various ideas and made my own. Continue reading →

Greeting Card Art Journal

Posted on 15th December 2014 by Neil

I’m meant to be recording tutorial videos this week, but have been kindly handed a cold and laryngitis… so I’m catching up with some of the things that don’t need a voice to action! This is another project that has sat in the corner of the studio for most of the year that I decided to finish for my altered art demo day last week. I’ve upcycled various greeting cards that were saved from birthdays and Christmases into a functional and hard wearing art journal.

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Artist’s Palette Assemblage

Posted on 6th December 2014 by Neil

This project started several years ago as an impromptu challenge with another crafting artist – it’s had bits and pieces done to it in between other projects, but with my altered art demonstration day today at Coleman’s Craft Warehouse, it seemed the perfect time to get it finished and on display!

Made with a Tim Holtz Configurations box, a free wooden palette and various bits and bobs gleaned at pound shops I’ve tried to include both colour, texture and materials used by an artist. Now all I have to do is find somewhere to put it!

Altered Art Baccy Tin

Posted on 27th November 2014 by Neil

I once smoked cigars, back when I had money to burn. Cigar boxes are great for altering. Then came the career change and I switched to an occasional pipe, and no longer were boxes in ready supply. Instead I have an increasing pile of round tobacco tins, as I was sure I would find a use for them (other than hoarding screws in them that is). Well yesterday I had a spark of inspiration (I blame the new medication) and I’ve spent some time using skills with a piercing saw that I picked up at college. A pierced celtic knot allows the contained pot-pourri pong to escape and gives tantalising glimpses of the bits ‘n’ bobs included. Perfect piece of pungent upcycling!

Top tips:

Find stencil patterns to adapt – that way you know whole chunks you wanted to keep won’t suddenly fall into the bin
Remove all labels and adhesive from the tin before you start cutting
Use a decent piercing saw and a blade with high number of teeth per inch for a smooth cut – change regularly even if you don’t manage to break the blade
Use a jeweller’s bench peg to work on as it’s so much safer and easier
Regularly clean your cutting surface of the metal burrs – I didn’t at the start and that’s what has sanded off the gold around the edge
Mark the cutting lines on the inside of the lid and cut upside down as well – this reduces the bounce of the metal as you can hold it closer to the bench peg
Work from the middle out to help keep everything as rigid as possible
If you need to flatten out the final piercing, hit with a flat hammer onto a flat surface a couple of times.

Walk In The Son – Art in Worship

Posted on 18th November 2014 by Neil

I was asked by a friend to help illustrate his message for the evening service at Whetstone Baptist Church last Sunday evening. He used passages from Psalms to describe David’s fall from kingship through despair in a dungeon, to feigned madness and then freedom and release. We were then invited to visualise and recall a walk in the sun, how it felt, and then we were told facts about The Sun itself. Alex then compared the darkness to his faith a couple of years ago to walking in the light now – and moved onto passages from John describing how it is to walk in the light of God.

My illustration used PanPastels as they blend and overlay so well, working onto A3 white card and filmed using an overhead webcam shared to the church projectors via laptop. Unfortunately, I didn’t work out the technology enough to record as I went, so I only have the final still to share. I started by adding a grey swirl around the outside as the walls closed in round David, adding yellow in the centre as the glimmer of escape came. As the description of the sun played out, I added the blue skies, built up the centre and erased the circular lines and the rays. We used a play on words to initially ‘walk in the sun’ as we were visualising that, and then as we moved on, I erased the figure bit by bit, adding the head and hands just before the climax of the illustration changing the ‘u’ to an ‘o’:

Feedback from this first time attempt at live illustration was very positive, and from my point of view, it all worked well! Some top tips: work with the preacher to hone the order of things, especially if the image develops from a previous layer; definitely rehearse timings with something so tied to the sermon material; know your technology and check it’s doing what you expect; and be prepared to go for it 🙂

Cheap vinyl lettering for mixed media?

Posted on 19th October 2014 by Neil

I’ve been playing with an idea I had a while ago, but only just had chance to try. I was struck by how sticky some of the low tack tapes can be, and then happened to use some electrical insulation tape and realised that it was that perfect stickiness for peeling off things. And it was waterproof. And relatively cheap. And just the right width to fit a line of text in suitable for art journaling. Combining these thoughts with a Silhouette Cameo PixScan sheet led to the following experiment…

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Art Journal Prompt – Colour Schemes

Posted on 14th October 2014 by Neil

I snuck in an extra art journaling lesson this afternoon, and got on with my ‘homework’ from this month’s official session. I wanted to encourage the group (and myself) to use colours together that we wouldn’t necessarily choose ourselves, so set the task of using a palette from the design-seeds.com website:

Allowing for colour reproduction errors, I used the Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks from Ranger and one ‘standard’ one – top to bottom: Pale Ochre, Leaf Green, Fern Green, Cornflower, Orange Blossom, Dandelion. I applied colour with a piece of Cut’n’Dry foam or TH Tattered Leaves stamps, and the letters were cut from 160gsm card covered with the blue ink. I then edged the letters with black and white pens to create the embossed look.

Getting to know… the Paper 53 Pencil

Posted on 10th October 2014 by Neil

I treated myself to the Paper 53 Pencil (in walnut) to use with the Paper 53 app on my iPad mini. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I think it has helped my digital art on the move no end. Here’s the result: three drawings inspired by the sermons I was listening to at the time… and I’m going to be having a go at live on-screen illustration in mid-November! Each drawing was completed within two sermon lengths (approx. 40 mins) as the church I go to has two morning services (9am and 10:45am) and when I’m playing in the worship group, we’re rostered for both.

It might seem quiet…

Posted on 1st October 2014 by Neil

It might seem quiet, since I have neglected to post on this ‘ere blog in a little while. For regular readers, you know this is probably due to me being silly busy and not finding a moment to update! Well, you’re not wrong…

I’ve been prepping and delivering staff training at Coleman’s Craft Warehouse on Viva Decor products (yesterday) and I’ll be there demo’ing there again for their Big Demo Day on Saturday between 10-4. There’s also two workshops (bookable via their website) on 25th October, when you’ll be able to get your hands all inky with the same products.

I’ve also launched an Art Journaling Session here at the Studio, meeting on the first Monday of the month – and it’s already full! The homework this month was to choose and journal a favourite quote… here’s mine:

Simple background to emphasise the extravagance of the colour in the word, and a bit of sparkle added with Stickles. Oh, and I didn’t hand draw the text in case you were wondering. I designed it on the computer, printed and then traced it out.

I’ve also been designing this year’s Christmas cards… Spoiler alert – if you don’t want to see what you might get through the door in a couple of months’ time, look away now 😉

Stamp is an oldie from Stampendous, embossed with WOW! Metallic Bronze onto watercolour paper. The dove is masked, the paper spritzed with water and then Purple Brusho sprinkled, teased and dried to get the nebular appearance. Oh, it didn’t quite look right in blue.

I also had the fastest sample turnaround ever yesterday afternoon – I got back in from teaching at 2:15pm, opened a package from Craftwork Cards that had arrived not an hour before, and was crafting by 2:30pm. Five samples in 90 minutes, labelled and packed and to the post office by 4:45pm for 9am special delivery (how much!?!?) for today’s Create & Craft TV shows with the lovely Julie Hickey. Phew!

And talking of Craftwork Cards, I’ve been helping out with graphics and the inaugural Project of the Month over at the official Craftwork Cards Fan Page over on Facebook. For details of how to make this ‘Christmas Kisses’ card, pop over to the page, ask to join if you haven’t already and look for the POTM header 🙂