Friday, February 18, 2011

Mixed Media Series: In the Woods

Tall Man with a Short Man
(as always, click on the pics to see a larger picture - that way you can check out the details and texture)

Here's the text:

As soon as I got Pam Carriker's Art at the Speed of Life in the mail I tore through it while walking around the house gathering my supplies. It's wildly inspiring and she breaks down projects (with a few minor exceptions) to a level that I can play along.


My experience with art books is that they usually say, "Draw this oval. Now add features to make a photo-realistic face." You won't find anything like that in this wonderful book... although you do need to draw trees for the project I did... which is scary... but I managed :-)

Dancing in the Woods


Laugh if you will, but my teens and tween agree with me that this is one of the most romantic stories ever:



If you're at all into mixed media and have ever scratched your head wondering, how'd they do that? this is the book for you.

Plus there's also a lot of great practical stuff about juggling art and life as well as how art is great therapy. Going off my meds this week was bearable because the small steps in these projects kept me moving around and outside my head (My head is a bad place right now. All it does is scream all day long PAIN!!!PAIN!!!PAIN!!!)

Sorry to go on and on... my poor husband has barely heard a sentence from me that hasn't started with, "Pam Carriker says you should..."


This is my larger piece. The kids call her "BIG BABY" but the real title of the piece is, 

Fairy Child in the Woods


Here's her quote:


This is the bit I'm most proud of. The photo copy of the child was a big white smooosh with a head and a hand sticking out. I used glaze and water-soluble pencils/crayons to add all that grey dimension to her dress and legs. She looks way more real with the pleats, creases, shadows and such. I don't think I've been as excited about a craft project in years! I employed the same technique, with less success on the dancers gowns to try to make sense of the washed out poufs and full skirts. 


And here's how they're going to look up on our wall... probably *grin* You just never know around here.


The projects I made are designed by Brandie Butcher-Isley and found on page 37. If you visit Brandie's blog right now you'll see a very similar piece as the most recent post. She's SO cool!

I promise to post a lot of tips and tricks next week. Right now I'm just excited to share them with you.


I'm linking up to a couple of challenges:

(when I saw those photocopies I thought *Ding! ding! ding! You just found your faded project)

(It's been so long since I played with them. Fun!)

(I think that the dancers are very romantic and the number of things I recycled on them is boundless. To name a few: junk mail, calendar, book pages, a bill, corrugated cardboard, and the board it's assembled onto is a leftover piece from an abandoned art project my youngest was doing a year or so ago.)

(Again, I thought the shoe story is pretty darn romantic. It drove the piece: Dancing in the Woods)

All the photos I used were from Graphics Fairy. It's an amazing source for copyright free images.

Linky Parties:


21 comments:

Kim's Treasures said...

These are very cool! I love them!

Lisa - papergrace said...

WooooW! Nicole...okay, now I just gotta tell ya, each piece is just absolutely gorgeous. The details are so, so stunning. But, together?! They just scream with color & love! They are phenomenal. I love that you envisioned the series and they are so alive. AMAZING!! ♥

A Fairy Godmother said...

Lovely - full of magic and story :)

Spyder said...

Brilliant, just the right sort of recycling we want to see!! (Hope your pain's better! Thank you for joining Quirky Crafts, 'Recycled Romance' this time round, don't forget to pop back this Friday/Saturday to vote for your favourite three, and get your blogging buddies to vote for you! ((Lyn))

Sarah said...

Very very fab!.. and I am glad that the excitement of an inspiring new book has given you some distraction from the pain xxx

Carmen said...

Oh wow - seeing them altogether in a group like that is fabulous! They are gorgeous Nicole and am glad in some small way the book is helping your pain. I'll have to check it out :)

Teri said...

Soooo cute! I think this is so much more original than just hanging a simple photo!!! Your family should feel honored!

Judy Goddard said...

Cute fairies! Chubby cheeked and flirty!

wendipooh13 said...

way to go!!! your mixed media is stunning!!!I need to learn how to do that!! wonderful work:) thanks soo much for playing along with the Dollies!!!!

Theresa said...

Lovely! Thanks for sharing. I wondered how that book is. I have been inspired by a quite a few artists that are in it. Have a lovely creative week ahead. ~Theresa

artangel said...

These are so great!

I have a couple of books which inspire me no end too! It's great when you find an artist/author who you love.

I really liked that little story about the dancing shoes, too :)

Alida L. said...

These are so creative and beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!

I found you on Tatertots and Jello, come check me out!

http://imakestuff4fun.blogspot.com/2011/02/swaddler-that-fits-tutorial.html

KarenB said...

Thanks for sharing your amazing projects at Design Dollies. And thanks for the link to the book too - will definitely be checking it out further.

Caro said...

Wow! These are simply amazing, well done you and thank you for joining in with Quirky crafts recycled romance challenge.

Priti Lisa said...

You have the most cheerful blog...I had fun poking around, I love to read recipes :)
xo

Kathi said...

Wow. I love all three of them. Your trees and heart plants are fabulous.

I'm glad that the book and creating mixed media has helped you get through the pain.

Kat W said...

These are fabulous fun. I love the colours, texture, the trees and the use of words.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just bought a new mixed media project book & so far its very good. "Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists" by Ann Baldwin.

Great to discover you via the IA 'faded' challenge.

Kat :-)

Tiff said...

So inspired! I can see you've been bursting at the seems with mojo ;)

Scrapamum said...

Wow! Wow! Wow! I am a huge fan of mixed media and you rocked this!!!! Great job.
Thanks for playing along with the Design Dollies!
Andrea

Unknown said...

I really love this! Miss chatting with you but I do visit your blog and FB from time to time! :) HUGS!

Bernie said...

How fun! I have never really been exposed to mixed media before. Thank you for sharing some good ideas for books and sources.

Just one more thing to looking it. *lol*