Arts in Worship: Sermon Sketchnotes

I recently got hold of a copy of Mike Rohde’s ‘The Sketchnote Handbook: the illustrated guide to visual notetaking’. It reminded me that notes can be fun, and that linear format notes tend not to be that exciting – either in the writing or indeed the review. I’m always looking for ways to stay awake in church (it’s the sleep disorder and meds I’m on, not a side effect of the service!) and thought I’d give the principles a go. Here are four examples, in date order, from my first go at the process to yesterday’s sermon notes. I say ‘first go’ – I’ve been used to note taking, and doodling in the margins, as well as adding illustrations to mind maps over the years… this is the first time I’ve combined all of them into one method of notetaking.

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[Completed during the sermon, in a Moleskine Pocket Plain Notebook with Lamy Safari fountain pen, fine nib with Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink]

 

Carabelle Studios artStamp XXL ‘Negatif et Papillons’

I’ve been invited to demonstrate Carabelle Studio’s Stamps at Daisy’s Jewels & Crafts and have been given a bumper pack of their fabulous range to play with prior to the day (11th April, 10am onwards). One of them is an XXL size – the acrylic block is A4 size! I’ve used the Papillions half of the stamp set to make this canvas, using each of the items from the Phill Martin/Cosmic Shimmer Chic Viola colour pack, along with some Blue Violet Archival Ink. The canvas is 20cm x 50cm.

Negatif & Papillons

Keep your eye out on the blog and The Studio Facebook Page for more samples as I make them, and I hope to see you on the day.

 

Mixed Media Sketchbook Cover

IMG_5784_wIn between various quilting tasks and undercoating MDF clock bases, I’ve also been working on this mixed media sketchbook cover makeover, in the Finnabair style. I haven’t been to any of Anna’s classes, but did get to see her demo’ing her new media range, courtesy of Prima, at the Notions stand at the trade show last week.

The sketchbook is hard cover, and I made the mistake of forgetting to put the texture paste down before sticking the ephemera in place (but I think I got away with it). A gesso layer melds everything together and stiffens paper flowers. There’s metal trinkets, moulded paper clay, buttons, beads and bingo tokens as well as chipboard inches. Colour initially started in pinks and purples, but as the piece developed, the pinks receded and blues came in. Products include Inka Gold, Cosmic Shimmer Matt Chalk Acrylics, Liquid Pearls, Viva Decor Pearl & Paper Pens, Dreamweaver Embossing Paste and various stencils.

Oh and I used my new Bosch Glue Pen as well to stick things down with (thank you Kathryn & David!).

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ZIA on other surfaces: monoprinting

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I’ve just taken delivery of my 3×5″ Gelli Arts Plate, which is the perfect size to have a go at a technique I wanted to test for my forthcoming Zentangle Inspired Art workshop. I mixed black acrylic with a slow medium in equal quantities and used a brayer to cover the plate evenly with the black paint. Working as quickly as I could, I scraped paint off with a rubber tipped tool to ‘etch’ the tangle design. Despite the speed at which I worked, the acrylic still dried, so by the end I was scraping into dried paint, and to transfer the monoprint to paper I needed to add a layer of matt multi medium over the dried paint. After everything had dried on the page, I added Distress Inks to colour. A fast and furious sample, but a technique I think I will try again, perhaps with Golden Open acrylics or even a waterbased printing ink.

Have a go at this technique, along with others, at my workshop on Easter Saturday.

On a separate note, it is worth having a look at my original image – which was taken with a camera – the gloss finished of the acrylic played havoc with the light… Whereas the scanned image above shows off the piece far better. There’s also some resist happening with the black and the multi-medium which adds to the texture.

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Eazi-Box: How to make shaped boxes with ease

I’ve just finished and published my first commissioned tutorial video, for Diamond Card Crafts. It’s evidence to me that LinkedIn is worth keeping up to date as this is where contact first started.

Back to the video: I show how to use Diamond Card Craft‘s Eazi-Box Shape Board to make shaped boxes, starting with an introduction to the board, then the basic square shaped box (equally able to do rectangular boxes btw), and then moving on to triangular, pentagonal, octagonal and short lid boxes. The board itself is a deeply moulded score board, with templates for the shapes which are so versatile and can also be used to make shaped cards and mats as well. I share tips and tricks that aren’t in the instruction sheet for perfect boxes every time.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/75whxyt6DeQ]

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My youngest students ever…

Someone thought it would be a wonderful idea to hold the regular meeting of their now-almost-two-years-postnatal antenatal mums group in my studio, with the toddlers undertaking an artistic endeavour. Somehow I found myself agreeing! And so it was that four barely toddling toddlers arrived on Monday afternoon for an hour of creative excess (as well as watching the dogs through the window).

I decided to get hold of some Silk Clay, which seems to be a lemony scented marshmallow like substance, that gets more pliable with the addition of small amounts of water, and then air dries and takes spritzed mica sprays very well. Charlie discovered the clay would also stretch marvellously, and suddenly there were strands of the clay pinging around everywhere! Building up the clay onto canvas boards, they pulled, squished, prodded and poked; even Thomas the Tank Engine stuck his wheels in.

After an overnight dry, I spritzed the clay with their colour choices using Cosmic Shimmer Mica Mists, and here are the wonderful creations of my four youngest ever students:

[Please note: I really don’t anticipate this being a departure from my grown-up groups. And I’m certainly not going to entertain thoughts of touring Parent/Toddler groups before you ask 😉 ]

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ZIA on other surfaces

I’ve been filming and editing a commissioned tutorial video today – but snatched moments between uploads to create a sample for my April workshop: Zentangle Inspired Art on other surfaces. As well as inviting attendees to tangle on porcelain tiles or mugs, there will also be the opportunity to tangle on fabric. I’ve quilted the square onto a card just to add bit of interest. Do this technique and more on Easter Saturday in my studio in Leicester – book your place here.

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Pyrography – things I’ve learnt today

PyrographyI was lucky enough to be given a Dremel Versatip for Christmas (thanks Dawn & Tim), which, for the unaware, is a butane powered heat tool that has various interchangeable tips. One set is for pyrography, which I also got for Christmas (thanks Tom).

I thought I’d have a go at doing some pyrography this afternoon, and not wanting to have the smell of singed wood mingling with my current quilt-in-the-making, I went outside to do it. It turns out that physics is alive and well, and that with the outside temperature approaching freezing, unsurprisingly a few things happened: I got cold, the tip didn’t really warm up that quickly, I burnt through a reservoir of butane and everything took a lot longer than I expected! However, for a first go, I’m fairly happy with the result.

One other thing I learnt – if you don’t keep the Versatip tool upright there is a risk of unintended scorching as the ceramic catalyst area throws out a lot of heat (that’s the white bit near the tip). Consequently I ended up with a scorched thumb and some scorching on the wood that I didn’t want. Happily the latter sanded off fairly well, and I managed to bring back the contrast fine.

And good old Ikea came to the fore again – the piece of wood I have used is 100% beech tile that they sell in a pack of 100 as building blocks (Fundera) for just £8. These seemed ideal for practice tiles, and may be even for finished projects. Once I have practiced a bit more (in a warmer environment) they might even be the wood equivalent of a zentangle tile?

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Artist’s Palette Assemblage

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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

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.