Category: Art
I am finished with this one that I have been working on for weeks. Now I am between paintings and I don’t know yet what I will do. I’m researching color theory and watching loads of YouTube tutorials. I just watched an artists video today and will employ a method he uses: two water jars one for the initial paintbrush wash and the other to get it good and clean. Sometimes I dip in very dirty water because I don’t feel like getting a fresh glass.
I really love watching paint go on a canvas and can spend all my free time enjoying this. I usually turn the volume off and just watch. Sometimes I turn up the speed which I recently figured out you can do.
Painting of a still life in a still life. I think I will leave the upper right canvas white. This is the initial rough out and I will try and remember to photograph the process.
Stone Soup Story Tiles
What I did:
1. Painted the illustrations on watercolor paper using acrylic paints. See previous post below.
2. Took photos of the paintings with my iPhone.
3. Used Microsoft word tables to make the 2″ tile size pictures.
4. Sent the page to local quick copy center.
5. Cut out the pics. Could just cut squares for younger folks. But I carefully cut out closely around the objects.
6. Decoupaged using very thin layer of mod podge. Put a few additional costs of mod podge. Here’s a close up:
These tiles will fit very well in the wipee box from the dollar store. The printed story is my version adapted from a very old fairytale I found online.
Beginning little Red Riding Hood big pictures.
I posted the story stones earlier but I am including them here again along with the first few pictures.
STONE SOUP STORY STONES AND ART FOR BOOK
I have had such joy creating story stones. Actually I painted the stones before painting the large paintings.
Stone Soup is s story of bringing together the little of what you have to help many.
Shine
Clay birds of the Guadalupe
Little sailor has his clay boat and bandana sail.
Some of them begged for hats.
Below here is my most favorite.
Relaxing in the weeds
Music rocks in baby wipe container with chalkboard tape
What took the longest was taking off the big Elmo picture from the wipe container. I used a pampered chef scraper and Goo Gone. The rocks fit beautifully. The chalkboard tape is good and gluey so it went on nicely. I used chalk markers. The idea is that the teacher could erase and write in other details if desired. I like the chalk markers. They go on smoothly.
Art with Joel. This is the picture he chose
A nice young man entered an art contest for which he had very little time to prepare. His mother brought him to me and we worked first in a clay sculpture and then with acrylic. He brought a nice picture of an old rock structure in a field with hills in the distance. Since he had very little experience with painting I showed him how to water down the paint and out on washes of background shapes. This is a very shape driven painting. My eyes first land on the triangle if green field and then to the house. He left to finish his painting. I couldn’t leave mine undone so had to finish it up. May you win that contest Joel. You are an artist!
Since I’m thinking of all my art right now as backgrounds for my owls.., talked a few into posing in front. Of course they had no choice.
Trees from toilet paper rolls foil tissue paper clay mod podge and glossy spray paint.
The Cypress By the Green Guadalupe
If you walk to the banks of the Guadalupe you will see that it is basically a tangle of Cypress tree root systems. I will be using this picture as a backdrop display for turtles I will be making from clay. I started a birthday gift for my dad today and used all but 2 penny size owls worth of clay. So I think the owl count will be 90. 😄
Hedgehog family.
Newest owls. This is all the owls I plan to make now. Total of 88. Must move on!
Clay Hedgehog… The first for me.
My first little clay hedgehog is almost cuddly against the silver backdrop. I did a short study on these little guys and found that they do like to curl up. They have huge feet which I will make for my next batch.
The last owls. Count is 72.
Who knew that there could be six dozen owls in a 2 1/2 pound bucket of Crayola air dry clay? That and there were probably also a couple I molded and had to throw out as well as a little pig and a newborn pig and a newborn horse. All were under 2 inches tall.
My craft supply store did not have any more Crayola products in the clay section so I got some new Clay and I hope it’s as good to work with as the Crayola.
The last of the owls. Drumroll …
Unpainted creations
Appears as though they have all come to see the brand new baby horse.
My new faves!
Owl…most done with my owls.
Couldn’t resist the pun.
Today’s owls
I may not do any more if the quarter inch owls. The painting is difficult as holding onto the little guys is difficult. Yesterday I dropped one and it was betweenthe carpet fibers.
Almost done! About 2 dozen clay owls are almost dry enough to paint. Then I am moving on to make the display. The owls have been easy to form with really only using my fingers. However yesterday I formed some that I pressed in my sizzix embosser which is a whole different look. Tomorrow I will sidetrack to making some hair bows. My goal is to fill up a craft booth and the teeny owls don’t cover much square footage.
Little yellow chick has a nerdy friend
Owl family
I think little owlet has asked his mom who said no and now is making his case to dad.
Little yellow chick on a rock
Owls Sailing, Owl Riding in a Little Red Wagon
I was thrilled to go to the craft store and find this little red wagon and this little Red sailboat for my half-inch Owls.
Owl background Acrylic Painting
Fresh owls
Tomorrow I begin the interesting and messy process of building a paper mâché tree for my owls.
The Gate Hardly Used
Acrylics
Spin a Story Game Story Stones
I’ve got the neighborhood kids excited to be testers for this game.
The spinning stone is round on the bottom and spins easily.
The player begins his turn by first selecting a stone and then spinning the spin a story stone. For instance the first player selects the flashlight and spins a verb. The player could begin. “The night was pitch black dark. The only thing visible was the light beaming from a flashlight.” The verb is beaming.
Player number two perhaps selects the black bear and spins an adverb. He must first repeat what has already been told and add an adverb and the black bear. Since we know that an adverb describes a verb, the player might add. “The light was brightly beaming and darting to and fro as if the holder were looking for something. But what? Not the black bear that suddenly jumped out of the brush and knocked the holder down to the hard earth.”
The game gets challenging as the players must remember what has gone before and build into the tale. A player who forgets is out of the game.
That is the way we will play for the neighborhood kid test. Hope it goes well.
Process: planning, preparing. Story Stone Spinning Game
First I choose the stones for a concept that is forming in my mind. This time I am doing a fun game that I used to play with my children where you weave a story together. I found a rock with a nice round bottom and I think it will be a nice spinner. Then I chose 9 stones that I will be painting persons places and things on. The spinner will be for the adjectives adverbs verbs and anything else that makes the story fun. Here’s the stones all painted white. Always the first step.
And now this is what I call story stone hand. Sigh.
Jack and the Beanstalk
A great children’s classic! Retelling this story is fun! Try starting this story with a different concept. Maybe the giant is actually friendly and it only sounds as if he says mean things. Maybe he comes down from the stalk and helps the poor? Maybe the golden egg goose stops laying eggs unless she gets 5 magic beans?
Furry Friends Story Stones
These little guys prompted me to write an entire story. There is something about holding the stone and peering into the eyes of these little guys that sparked my creativity.
Yorkie Love stone
I simply created this because I love yorkies. I adopted a little sweetie from a rescue and she is just a doll.
Bluebirds and the mitten
I think these birds found a mitten in the tree and think it is very lovely the sing loudly and many birds come to discuss just what it might be. It could be a sign. Of what? You can answer this question or come up with your own story.
Cowgirl Stones for my Sister in Law
My Sister in Law loves horses and brought me a children’s book to have me create some stones for her. It is so gratifying for me that people love these stones. So do I.
The Three Bears Story Stones
I began my first adventure with story stones as a gift for my grandson and I have since done several sets of stones that I have given away.
How I wish that I had taken a picture of all of them but you can’t go back and fix things like that. I’m usually only very interested in doing the art and am now reforming and trying to get interested in the art of the blog and the Internet and putting my pictures of my work out so that I can show them to people.
You might be wondering what story stones are good for. Right? The way you can use this set of story stones … The three bears… is to try to tell the story using the stones in the order that the story takes place for instance, the three Bears have just sat down to their hot porridge and they cannot eat it because it’s of course too hot so they go for a walk and during this time Goldilocks comes in and tries the porridge. Then she sits in the chairs and lays on the beds and when the three bears come home they find her in the baby’s bed asleep. It is a favorite fairytale and an old one that many people will enjoy young and old alike. The stones are meant to be enjoyed along with the story. I found that YouTube is a treasure trove of children’s stories. If you don’t have the book, check out a YouTube reading.
See if you can invent your own story. There are also games you can play but that is for another post.
Art on Jasper Lane 