Batik:wax resist painting

I have fallen for a new art medium: Batiking. Batiking is a wax resist method of painting on fabric. I learned how to batik last year just by doing some research, and watching a few youtube videos. Once you have the right supplies, the process is somewhat soothing. I paint hot wax onto a stretched piece of cotton, and then paint with fabric dye onto the fabric. Whereever the wax is the dye cannot go. After the first layer is done I iron off the wax and then apply a new set of wax to the areas I painted, and the process continues like that until I'm satisfied that it is finished. There is a definate process but applying either the wax or the dye is a relaxing, calming process for me. I was sort of antsy all night last night until I started a new batik and sudddenly I had found some peace. I've also tried a dip bath for the batik instead of painting it on which requires a bit more thinking to make sure that all the layers of colours will together properly. Here is my first batik ever. It was using dye baths. The top piece shown was on display at the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library this past fall. The second piece is another batik that I made this padt winter. I have had a few problems with my computer the last little while so I haven't been able to post pictures, but I may be closer to getting that problem resolved.

Icarus and the Tree Herder by Ian Worrel

I love the animation and the drawing style set to motion in this animated short by artist Ian Worrel. It is called Icarus & the tree Herder. https://vimeo.com/5921562 Here is a link to his blog: http://enworrel.blogspot.ca/

Melanie Hoff-Visual Artist

In searching for tree artists today I found this artist Melanie Hoff who lets electricity run through pieces of plywood and as it burns the wood it creates tree-like or lighting burn marks. She posted a cool stop motion on the project https://melaniehoff.squarespace.com/#/15000volts/ Check it out.

All these things....

Alright here's my confession: I got lazy about blogging. I built up a good rythm for blogging for a while there, and then it kind of fell to the back burner. It is my new year's resolution to start blogging again. I'd like to catch you up to speed as to some of the things that have been going on since the blogging slowed to a trickle: •I was married in December! As much as I would like to think I wasn't a bride that let a wedding get in the way of other things in my life, I was like that to a point, but then wedding and social stuff took over pretty much from Sept-December. All that is now done, and I"m easing into married life with my new husband and am thoroughly enjoying having time back (and a husband!). •My work hours were bumped up in Sept, so I am kept busier with that than I used to be. •Aside from my regular teaching hourse I started teaching an after school children's art class again through continuing education which ended yesterday, so I'll get a little time back to work on my own things. •I travelled to newfoundland, and hit up other major cities along the way for most of August. •House repairs/renos have unfortunately consumed more time than I'd like. My art room ceiling had to be replaced and I've been slow with putting it back together. I set up space in the basement so I have at least had working space. Our bathroom is also under construction which I've been helping with. •I am taking the course titled "The Art of Managing your Career". It is a course offered through the Arts and Cultural Industries of Manitoba and taught by Heather Bishop. Each class has offered more and more wisdom, advice and is really motivating me with business plans and my artistic goals. I will be posting more about that soon.

Exhibit at the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library

The Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library has an exhibit opening next week on Sept 26th called X Y Me: New Craft Generations. I have a batik piece that will be on display. There is an opening reception wed from 6:30-8pm. The exhibit runs from Sept 26th until January 2013. The idea behind the exhibit is that is to host work by "X", "Y", and "Me" generation crafters. The Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library is what is left of the former Manitoba Craft Guild. Years ago the craft guild disbanded, but the space was still supported as a craft library,and also a display space. It is located at 1B – 183 Kennedy Street, in Winnipeg.
Regular Hours of Operation
Tuesday and Wednesday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday: 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm

Colour in Pastels...

I was fooling around with some oil pastels today. I always forget about them as a colour medium, but I actually really love how you can get the effects of paint, but the control of drawing. Once there are a lot of thick colours built up they can be a lot of fun to smear around. This one was done using a combination of paint thinner and a smudging stick.

Tales from the East Coast

Wowza, is it mid September already?! I owe this blog some drawings! The drawing wasn't stopped, but the blogging was because I took a trip all the way to Newfoundland and back. You can read about my adventure's on Lindsey's blog here at omycanada.blogspot.ca/. Basically we drove and drove and drove and drove from the mid-way point of Canada all the way as far east as we could go. We had a lot of hijinks along the way, and it will definitely go down as my best camping trip ever (at least to this date). We made our way from Winnipeg, drove down through the states through to Detroit and then traveled back through Canada over to Niagara Falls. After Niagara it was off to Toronto where we did the CN Tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and actually saw, touched, and climbed into the inside of Mr. Dress-ups tree house. As unimaginable as it is, it actually happened, and I will save that story for another day. This set the bar pretty high on our travels because fulfilling that childhood dream happened within only a few days of leaving Manitoba. Canada's provinces didn't disappoint me however, there was a never ending supply of activities and sights to see if only we had another 3, 4, 5, or 6 weeks to spend touring.
From Toronto we traveled onward to Quebec City, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Then we made our way back stopping in Halifax, PEI(where I did see the Anne of Green Gables house!), the Bay of Fundy, Quebec City, Montreal, and then onto our last stop to cap off the trip with a Light show on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Then it was a long drive all the way back through the Canadian shield stopping only briefly in Sudbury, and Thunder Bay. Ah, what a trip, but now it's back to teaching, back to life, and planning that big life-changing event that's coming up quickly which is my wedding.
Drawings from the trip will be posted soon, I'm still catching up on everything...

Art in the Park

I will be participating in this year's Art in the Park hosted by the Portage Avenue Church at Omand's Creek Park this Sunday the 22nd. Several artists will be participating, and there will be several local bands playing. Start time is at 6:30. Come by for some music, some art and a general good time. Art in the park is always an enjoyable evening. I will have some items for sale along with the other artists. Omand's Creek Park is located at the end of Wolseley's west side, just before the portage street underpass if you are heading west.

Folk Fest Art

The 39th annual Winnipeg Folk Fest has just finished, and I am so happy with the piece that was included as a part of the Prairie Outdoor Exhibition. My dad and I worked on it together this year. he built the structure and I painted it. It actually turned out even better and bigger than I imagined. Now we have to figure out what to do with it now that the festival is over...

Introducing Sherlock

In January I got a tiny little dog from the pet shelter Hull's Haven. Despite specializing in Border Collies this rescue shelter takes in small dogs as well and I found Sherlock while in foster care. He is part chihuahua, and probably part miniature pincher. Most of the time he is a little sweetheart because he loves to cuddle, and fits perfectly on my lap, which is where he is resting right now as I write this. Sometimes he can be a little monkey, and show some neediness and co-dependency, but overall he is a fantastic little dog, and I can barely remember how boring and bland my house was before I got him.

This one is a self-portrait.

When Pride rears its ugly head...

A drawing inspired by a sermon at Riverwood Church by Wayne Seimens.

Illustration Friday-Sight

Ink and acrylic on paper.

Chair Lair

Able wholesale is this somewhat eccentric used goods and Liquidation store on Notre Dame Avenue in Winnipeg, except it's not the cool kind of eccentric like Ragpickers, or that antique store in Osborne Village. It's more like the eccentric-eerie kind of store. I drive past it everyday, and one day in summer I couldn't suppress my curiosity anymore: I entered this three story building mish-mash of furniture, housewares, industrial kitchen supplies and other miscellaneous products. As I was walking through this place it just kept on going and I didn't know what I was going to find next. There was at least one flickering florescent light, and in the back part of the industrial kitchen gear there were some guys moving furniture around. To be honest I felt a lot like I shouldn't be in there, like this is the kind of place that isn't so great for a 20-something to be by herself (no-one in there was creepy or acted weird, it was just the general vibe my intuition was giving me). Nevertheless, I love a good bargain, and can't resist the idea of turning something ugly or almost-good into something fabulous. I happened to find an old vintage desk chair that looks a lot like something that Ikea would mimic nowadays. I got the chair for the fair price of 20 dollars, took it home and refinished it. Here are my visuals from that experience.

Robot Machines at the Grocery Store

Paper Cut Nut

Recently an interest has been sparked to search for paper cut artists. There are so many out there who do bloody amazing things with just paper.
In the same realm of paper cut artists are diorama artists and I am really happy to know that there are people out there who have the patience to make pieces of paper into art without paint, or other additions(ok maybe a little glue...)
Here is a great blog post on flavorwire with 10 fabulus paper cut artists: http://flavorwire.com/229698/10-amazing-cut-paper-diorama-artists#10

Also webdesignerdepot.com has a great list of "100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Cut Art," which is where the above images came from.

Don Nace is Back!

Image by Don Nace.
I want to point out that Don Nace, who I previously mentioned in my blog here and here has started up a drawing-a-day again. I signed up on his email list to get a new drawing emailed every day. He is the artist responsible for the painted strawberries in the film Across the Universe (among his other artistic endeavours...). The new drawings have the same kind of scratchy honesty that drew me in originally, and the biggest difference I can comment on is that colour has been introduced with some.
Check out his drawings at his website: http://thefloor.org/

Dadaism

"Dilemmas may be rebutted in more than one way."
A collage. I think it's dadaist.

A Dragon Postcard. I'm rediscovering oil pastels lately. When I first used oil pastels years ago it was for a poorly set up still life, and I was very frustrated with the results. I have since given them another try, and I'm starting to like their "messy" qaulities. There is a smoothness to oil pastels that are nice to work with. This particular piece was done with a pencil crayon background, a drawing collaged on top, and then oil pastels worked into the background. Markers were also used on the dragon.

Navigation to the Jungle

Using an old book about flight paths and flight calculations I made this a few days ago. It seems I eventually go back to some kind of creepy thing to make. Collage work can be really satisfying. I'd like to experiment with silk screening some collage layers. I think it would work out well if I tried laying the silk screen colours in the same way I would collage elements.

Temperatures this week were dipping around the minus forty mark, which had me cold to the bone at times, and dreading going outside. When Winnipeg's winters become 40 times colder than my freezer I start to get a bit cranky along with a bad case of cabin fever. To soothe this state of mind, I went over to the Assiniboine park conservatory today with Jay, my boyfriend. The conservatory has a nice indoor pathway that winds through layers of tropical trees and Tiki-inspired rock carvings. I brought my sketchbook along to make me sit and enjoy the "jungle" with Jay. Today at least the outside temperature rose up to -4 degrees, making the quest for tropical temperatures a little less necessary.
Here's what I ended up with. It is a marker drawing with water wash.

Prepare- Illustration Friday

An illustration Friday Drawing for Prepare. I find my drawing rather bland, yet I like it at the same time...