On the Bench - Loving the Simplicity of Resin Resist

After having attended Creativeworld in Frankfurt, Germany, in February 2015 and meeting UK artist Jenny Muncaster there, I was intrigued by her use of Pebeo Glazing Resin as a painting element and resist for painting over. (See more of Jenny's work here: http://jennymuncaster.co.uk/) I've been playing with the technique in the studio this week and enjoying the outcome.

I'll be using transparent Vitrail paint over the green painting to highlight the background and really make the resin resist pop. Then...may decide to use Mirror Effect foil on the raised area; don't know for sure yet, just have to see what develops!

Happy Arting!  Tristina :D

On The Bench - Inspiration Strikes!

I came back so inspired by the techniques I learned from UK Artist Jenny Muncaster in Frankfurt last week that I immediately grabbed out a big illustration board, slapped down some of my favorite collage elements (poetry and dress pattern tissue), drizzled on Pebeo Glazing Resin, liberally painted and poured on Pebeo liquid alkyd oil paints (Vitrail, Fantasy Prisme and Fantasy Moon), scattered metal leaf flakes, and accented with Mirror Effect transfer foil to create this 30 in x 40 in artwork. Thank you Jenny!!!

There's just something about red, blue and purple that have been calling me out to paint in large amounts lately?! What's been inspiring you recently? Is it a color, an artist you follow, taking a walk, attending workshops, reading a great book, being around other artists? Please share what inspires you to create in the comments below.

HAPPY  ARTING!  Tristina Dietz Elmes :)

Live from Frankfurt, Germany... CreativeWorld

From the Pebeo booth at the International PaperWorld and CreativeWorld show Feb 1 to Feb 3, 2015, British Artist Jenny Muncaster and I painted our hearts out LIVE to the delight of show attendees from countries across the globe - guests at the booth were from North America, South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. During the show, i-Blio.com of France were filming, interviewing, programming and uploading Pebeo's Mixed Media magazine Inspiration No.2 LIVE. It was so exciting! To see the eZine, click HERE for tons of ideas, hints and tips for Mixed Media painting.

Jenny Muncaster and I at the CreativeWorld Pebeo booth.

My worktable with art in process!

 With Patricia, head of Marketing Communications for Pebeo.

 My mixed media peacock feather on canvas.

 Working on a "She Wondered" painting in a Liquid Art Panel.

 Jenny Muncaster being filmed live! See this in the Inspiration eZine.

Some of Jenny's artwork made live at the CreativeWorld show.

Hope you see some inspiring images and pick up a pencil, paint brush, palette knife, pipette, etc. yourself soon...  HAPPY  ARTING!  Tristina  :D 

On The Bench - Bullseye On Liquid Art Panel

Having fun experimenting with my Bullseye paintings on Pebeo's new Liquid Art Panels. Thank you Pebeo for the panels, paint and other supplies to play with! :)

You can find all the fun mixed media Pebeo supplies on Dick Blick's website HERE. And, Pebeo has some fantastic how-to videos on their YouTube channel HERE. Enjoy!

Happy Arting!  :D  Tristina

Hooked on Resin

As a follow up to an earlier post, here are a few paintings done with fabulous Pebeo acrylic iridescent Dyna and florescent paints after pouring Pebeo's thick viscosity Glazing Resin over the dried paint. I had so much fun with the first one, that I went ahead and resined 3 more! Now I'm hooked!!! There's nothing like the crystal clear glossy surface of a beautifully cured resin pour...ahhhhhh. :D

Florescent Black, 22in x 28in, 2014, acrylic paint, black sand texture gel, and resin on canvas.

Poppy, 12in x 12in x 2in, 2014, acrylic paint, sand texture gel, glass paint and resin on canvas.

Here's a close up of the sand texture gel with Vitrail glass paint deepening the color.

And a close up of the deep sides where I let the resin drip on purpose. Love those drips!

Reflections on a Knoll, 30in x 30in, 2014, acrylic paint with resin on canvas.

Here you really see the reflection of the resin surface.

And one final resined painting for FUN...

 Plus Blue, 8in x 8in, 2014, acrylic paints, white sand texture gel, glass paint and resin on canvas.

On The Bench - Playing with Pebeo Paints

Since being introduced to Pebeo Fantasy Paints and Resins by my local Utrecht Art Supply store, I have been obsessed about using them! There's something about the acrylic binder (they call Bindex) that's sensuous, like a thin and silky slick hand cream. The mica enhanced Dyna paints are radiant like no other acrylic paints I've ever used - the turquoise and green are my favorites. And, the florescents are translucent pops of color that really grab attention. 

My latest painting includes the bright and soft of the Pebeo acrylic florescent paints and the hard of their black sand medium. I wanted to give the organically shaped sand medium a sharp edge, so below I can be seen removing the painter's tape I used on the dry florescent paint to create the center rectangle.

Here's the painting after the tape is removed. The radiant colors of the florescent paints look many times magnified when you view the painting in person! 

Next step, I'm going to pour the Pebeo Glaze Resin over the colored part and see what happens! I'll let you know how the resin pour goes later...

HAPPY  ARTING!

Tristina :)

Latest Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine

It's always so nice to come home to the mixed media/collage magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors, in my mail box! After receiving the latest Nov/Dec issue, I devoured its pages like a hungry beast on the prowel for my next tasty morsel...

While reading through the magazine, I keep a sketch book handy to draw some of the images I see to lock them in my mind and play around with the ideas that inevitably arise from this exercise. Here is the sketching I did for this magazine:

Some of the pictures/words are drawn with my right hand (darker and more precise because I'm right handed) and some drawn with my left hand (lighter and more loose, child-like). I like to indicate somewhere on the page the magazine and issue that inspired the drawings. Also, in the top left hand corner you'll see where I started out, before drawing from the magazine, doing some loosening up exercises with blind contour drawing (looking at an object with your hand/pen on the paper, draw the object in one continuous movement - never lifting the pen from the paper - and not looking at the paper till done).

This issue of CPS contains an article on how to stretch a canvas yourself onto wooden stretcher bars. This is a great little article. Wish I had read it before attempting to stretch a finished mixed media piece of mine last year.

As I am very into working with encaustic wax, an article by Crystal Neubauer about using encuastic wax painting with plexiglass was particularly interesting to me. Crystal states, " Using plexiglass as a foundation for encaustic wax offers options that cannot be achieved with a traditional canvas." Encaustic wax can be applied to the front, back or both sides of the plexi, all giving different effects described in the article. One of the major advantages to working encaustic wax on plexi is the ability to achieve luminosity through the surface to/from the back of the painting that can not be achieved any other way. Fascinating! I have already applied a piece of hand-painted and waxed rice paper to the surface of plexiglass sheet, but had not thought to try working wax techniques directly ON the plexiglass. There are some spare strips of plexiglass sitting around in my studio that I couldn't bear to throw away...and now I know just how to use them!

Another excellent article by Wyanne Thompson that caught my attention is about pouring and painting resin in layers. Describes a way to paint acrylic directly onto cured resin and pour additional resin layers over top to get interesting floating effects. Super cool!

The paper mache'd, painted and embossed Bottle-Cap beads this issue shows you how to make with reclaimed metal beer bottle caps is da bomb! Also loved the story on quick and easy watercolor mountain range mixed media painting treats...looks like you can't make just one!!!

And last, but certainly not least, the Reader Challenge presented asks us to create a 4"x6" fabric postcard to mail in to their offices before January 20, 2012, some of which will be featured in upcoming issues of the CPS magazine and on their website. I'll be firing up my sewing machine and hot iron for this project soon. Check out clothpaperscissors.com for details if you would like to join in.

Happy Painting/Waxing/Sewing/Crafting! :D  Tristina