Mixed Media Textured Heart

I saw someone using poultry grit the other day on a canvas.  So.....I have chickens.....I have poultry grit.....I must do this too.

If you don't have poultry grit in your art supply arsenel, that's alright.  Just build a chicken coop in your backyard.....purchase 3 or 4 chickens.....wait 6 months and you will need poultry grit to add to their chicken feed.

OR

go to a seed and feed store and buy a bag.  (actually, you could, probably use very small aquarium gravel)

This is a very quick project,  Waiting for the molding paste to dry takes the most time.

I covered a 5" X 5" canvas with Golden Molding Paste, using a pallet knife.

Then, painted the piece with various pinks and purples.  Added stenciling with Donna Downey Mini Numbers stencil.

Here comes the Poultry Grit......

I applied molding paste in the shape of a heart, sprinkled on the grit, making sure to cover all of the molding paste.  Let it sit for a few minutes, then tap gently to remove excess grit.

I let the grit and molding paste harden overnight, then painted it black.

Then, sponged on red and magenta paint, so that the black was still visible.  I added black charcoal pencil around the edges.  Then sprayed with a fixitive to seal in the charcoal pencil.

I will spray the entire piece with a glossy sealer.  I haven't done that yet.

So, that's it.....my chicken grit heart!  I plan to use this chicken grit on a larger project.  I'm envisioning all of the possibilities.

Maybe next time I'll try mealworms......just kidding.

Peace!

Cyndi

Mixed Media Wooden House #9

I just completed another little mixed media house.  Like the others, I used a 2" X 10' board, cut down into 10" sections.  And......because I'm now addicted to the video camera, I filmed it.

Supply List

2" X 5" X 10" block of wood

Liquitex Gesso

FolkArt craft paint - Silver Sterling

DecoArt Raw Umber

Donna Downey Stencils - Mini Number Repeat, Artist Soul

Piece of latch-hook rug mesh

Metallic trim

Metal "Peace" charm

Golden Heavy Molding Paste

Fabre Castell Big Brush Pens - magenta, scarlet red, permanent green olive, orange glaze

Gelatos - pink, red, orange, yellow

Inkssentials Enamel Accents - Black

Pigma Micron Pen - Black

Gellyroll Pen -White

Minwax Polycrylic- Glossy

These are really fun to make.  You can let your imagination run wild.  

It's December 1st, which means it's that crazy holiday time.  Try to take some time out for yourself.  Relax and create something, read a book, listen to music......just take time to be HAPPY!

Peace.

Cyndi

What To Do, When You Don't Know What To Do!

It's one of those days.  I want to create some art, but haven't any idea what I want to do.  So... I'm doing a little bit of everything.  Hopefully, I'll end up with a finished piece of something.

This happens to me quite frequently.  I want to get my hands dirty, but my mind is blank.  I am an avid art tutorial watcher, so I'm bombarded with techniques that I want to try, but with so many jumbled ideas, I just don't know where to start.  I think it's like that in every aspect of life.  A person has so many things to do......become's so overwhelmed.....piddles (is that a real word?) a little bit with a lot of things.....and, just ends up more frustrated.  It becomes so easy to put things off until tomorrow.  One of my husband's favorite things to say is "let's get this behind us".  Whether it's running an errand, taking out the trash, or making a phone call that you don't want to make......it's always "let's get this behind us".  There's, definitely, something to be said for that "Just Do It" attitude.  Of course, it does sort of conflict with "Being in the Moment".

So, as far as my relationship with art goes, it's a little bit of both.  I love the process, but I also love looking at my, finished, piece.

This is what I have so far:

Shawn Petite used a heart made out of molding paste in this weeks, Sunday Inspiration.  I also took her Texture workshop a few weeks ago.  I used a palette knife to shape these little hearts out of Golden's Hard Molding Paste.  I, also, wanted to make some out of regular joint compound to see if one was better than the other, because joint compound, from the hardware, is much, much cheaper. Of course, I couldn't find my, gigantic, tub of joint compound, so I'll have to do my comparison another day.  These hearts will take about 24 hours to dry, so I won't be doing anything with them today.  I hope to paint them and use them on a canvas.......if they don't crack.  In the last photo, you can see that I pushed a couple, little, charms into the hearts.

In the three photos, above, I'm working on a background.  I don't know what I'm going to add next, but I do know that I'm going to use the word "Redemption" somewhere in the piece.  You hear the word "redemption" used with regard to all types of matters.  But, what does it really mean?  (more on this to follow.........when the piece is finished!)

And, here we have your basic drippage.  I'm not a big "dripper".  Many of my favorite artists are. But, I'm going to try some dripping today and we'll see where it goes.

Last, but not least.....I have to do something with this catastrophy.  I started a little Shawn-esqe painting a few weeks ago.  I became frustrated and quit.  Thank God that there is always more paint. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just paint over all of the mistakes or things that we don't like in our lives. (I guess that, metaphorically, we can).

Alright, that's where I am today.  I think that my background and "drippage" should be dry so it's back to work for Cyndi!

Peace!

Cyndi