Working Again!

Well, sort of. The holidays always make me want to slow down, so my artistic output suffers pretty dramatically and as a result, I don't have a whole lot to blog about.

I have been working some, though, so I have some fun eye candy to show off, today. 

This is a mixed-media piece, 30" x 12". It is a stretched artist canvas that's been painted with acrylics and India inks, and then collaged with dyed, batiked, and painted fabric, as well as watercolor papers and painted metal washers. I guess I've been in a Fall kind of mood, because the color palette reflects turning leaves.

This piece is 30" x 40", stretched canvas with acrylics. I used a new set of tools to create the texture (more on those in a moment), and then did some monoprinted Stacked Journaling across the entire surface. 

The tools I used to create the "combed" texture are a new line of funsies created by the Princeton Artist Brush Company.

They are called Catalyst wedges and blades. Aren't they cool? 

I was contacted a few weeks ago by the folks at Princeton Brushes, who offered to send me these silicone beauties and asked me to experiment with them. I've only just begun to play with them, so I haven't nearly scratched the surface of what they can do but over the coming weeks and months I'll be spending more time with them, so I'm sure you'll start seeing me talk more about them. Tutorials could even be in the offing, if I discover some neat new uses for them, but in the meantime, click HERE to watch some pretty cool videos of artists and chefs using these tools in their trades. Of course these tools can be used with paint, but they can also be used as texture tools for potters, with encaustics (hot wax painting) because they are highly heat resistant, and even in the culinary arts, because they are FDA approved for food safety!

I can't wait to spend more time exploring them!

In the meantime, may your holidays be peaceful and fun. Happy creating!