Art Journal Inspired ATC's

Colorful Artist Trading Cards

I was so inspired by finishing up my art journal for The Sketchbook Project, that last weekend I decided to play with my art supplies before putting them away. I grabbed a pile of blank bristol paper Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) and went to town.

I made two sets of 3 cards, starting at 11pm, before I finally petered out at around 2am. The beautiful thing was that I didn't have to get up early the next morning...Yay!

To create a background for the first set of cards, I used Portfolio water-soluable oil pastel crayons. I love their rich colors and I just randomly grabbed some colors and rubbed them on the ATC's. Then, I used a soft damp brush to move the colors around and get them to penetrate the paper a little and blend. Next I grabbed my box of Derwent Inktense water-soluable pencils and scribbled on the surface just to add my artist's hand to the cards. I had many scraps of paper around my desk from The Sketchbook Project leftovers, so I tore small pieces of papers that interested me and used regular gel medium to glue them to the ATC's after they had dried.

I have a large collection of stamps from around the world (about 2000 that I bought in Paris a few years ago) that always come to mind when I have projects like this, so I grabbed out about 50 and found 3 that matched the background colors that I had already laid down. I added texture with acrylic inks and paint both under and over the stamps and adhered the stamps and some 3-D elements with regular gel medium.

I finished off these cards using a soft charcoal pencil around the edges of the card and/or stamps and in some of the texture created by the paints and papers.

It felt so good to get these 3 little works of art done, that I continued on to make 3 more ATC's with a different theme.

Flower ATC's

I started the two cards on the left with acrylic fluid inks; one blue on the bottom and gold on the top, then the opposite on the second. The third card was an experiment with sticky grid tape that I painted over with acrylic paints. For the two left cards I used scrap tissue paper I had painted left over from The Sketchbook Project, glued it down with regular gel medium and stamped words on after dry with StazOn ink. The third card I glued a piece of scrap paper to and added a word torn out of a children's book.

I am a crazy woman for having elements that pop off my artwork, so I went to my canister of colored Prima Flowers and started auditioning the different color combinations with the ATC backgrounds. The flower on each card is a combination of 2 or 3 paper flowers I adhered to the ATC and to each other with WeldBond glue. I found at scrapbooking stores some really cool multi-colored flat-backed plastic DewDrops embelishments that I also WeldBonded to the center of the flowers, then layed a light book/object on top of each card overnight to help the flower and dew drop stay in place while the glue dried.

The flowers were fully set in the morning...and I was In Love on the big reveal. <3

I hope I have inspired you to make your own small works of art...just for the sheer joy of it...and remember, ATC's are for sharing! Anyone out there want to trade with me? Leave me a comment. :)

Happy Art Making,  Tristina

Submitted to The Sketchbook Project Today!

Front Cover

I finally submitted my sketchbook (and my 13 year old daughter's too) for The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition...they were due to be postmarked today and Devon and I just squeeked them in under the wire at FedEx at 7pm tonight! They will be scanned and we will be able to see them online in another month or so! Also, the Brooklyn Art Library, that sponsors the project, will be putting one picture or 2 page spread from everyone's sketchbooks that participated in a compendium book that they will be publishing later this year. Cool! To find out more about the project, go to www.thesketchbookproject.com.

It has been a challenge to work on my sketchbook these past few months because I'm working with a friend on designing a website for a new start-up company, but I took the weekend off and worked like a fiend all the way through till this afternoon to "make it work!" It's almost dry; had to send it with some butcher paper between a few pages to be sure they weren't stuck together when they arrive in NY in a few days. :)

Ended up that my sketchbook has 24 pages plus the cover. I used lots of different techniques that I have learned over the years from Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset Studios magazines. Here are some of my favorite pics:

One of my Favorite Pages

My Favorite Spread

Before Journaling

After Journaling

Love Charcoal!

There's just something about the messiness and feel of holding a charcoal stick in my hand that I love! Maybe the smokey smell too of the vine charcoal...

Recently I picked up a large stick of charcoal at my local Utrecht art supply store and decided to turn it to making a quick Zentangle(tm) sketch using some of the designs found in the new Zentangle 6 book.

Love the smudgy property of the charcoal and used a damp paper towel to smudge in places to get some depth and accents going. After creating this work I found anything that touched it or that it touched ended up with charcoal on it, so 2 coats of workable spray fixative were used to seal in the charcoal.

I find that whenever I am working on an art project, it inspires my 12 year old daughter to work on a project of her own. Here is what she recently created when we were Art Making:

If you get up close at the top of her page, you can see in green the names of famous Creatives like Walt Disney, Einstein, Martin Luther King, Thomas Edison, etc. Very cool!

So in the famous words of a young Creative, "Dream Big, Be Creative, Walk Among the Stars!" ;) Tristina

Playing with Lettering

Happy New Year!!! Today was a very relaxed day for me...on purpose...so I could catch up on some reading and art-play. :)

I focused my efforts today on the Cloth Paper Scissors premier issue of "PAGES - The Creative Guide for Art Journaling and Bookmaking" since I know art journaling is something I am most likely able to sneak a few minutes a day in doing for 2012.

I was attracted to the magazine because of the beautiful pictures (I am a visual person who likes LOTS of color!) and it showed prominently on the cover that inside was an article about Graffiti lettering. I am fascinated with Graffiti (photographed skads of it in the Miami area) and take every opportunity to learn more about it and especially HOW to do it! See my efforts below interspersed with other inspiration from the magazine:

I used a combination of Utrecht alcohol based colored markers (with both a brush and chisel point) and Micron pens for the thin lines and calligraphy script (Micron Graphic #2 and #3).

Happy Journaling and Lettering in 2012!  Tristina

Get Your Art On!

Hope my readers are having a relaxed Holiday! Enjoying lots of pictures and experiences (and scraps of cool present wrapping paper) to ad to our artwork...

I got "the Cloth Paper Scissors Book" last week...full of INSPIRATION. Editor Barbara Delaney was tasked with selecting an assortment of articles from past issues of the magazine, with some extra tips and resources thrown in for us loyal readers.

So far I have read Jodi Ohl's "beginner's guide to BEGINNING" chapter. An excellent place to start at the New Year with the inspiring words, "Make a commitment to do something, anything, every day to make your creative life a real part of your daily routine." A great reminder to me that no matter where else my life is pulling me - kids school and activities, work, divorce, parents, teaching, etc. - I'm choosing to carve out time each day to be creative for ME (what a concept).

My favorite part of Jodi's chapter is her "TIPS to get you started" column. This includes the idea to enlist some of my creative friends to have a regular art play date, begin an online blog (ala ArtBookBug), take pictures when I have a dry spell (got a new kickass camera for my birthday in Nov - thanks Tim!), and think about working in themes or collections to build a "body of work" (I'm finding this is soooo important), plus a lot more ideas, including "How to start?". Her wise words for us living the creative life, "I only manage doing it all by simply doing." My words...decide SOMETHING to do and (like putting one foot in front of the other) manage at least a small move forward every day!

My creativity takes on many forms; sometimes just being able to take 15 minutes to read an artistic book or magazine to feed my brain, drawing zentangle(r) patterns or pictures that only require a pen and piece of paper, to full out days that I give myself about once a month to spend 4-8 hours straight pulling out all the stops in my studio with my papers/paints/mediums/inks/hard and soft canvases/encaustic wax/colored pencils and markers/and on and on! Please comment with your favorite creativity times/activities/supplies...

Here are my latest Zentangles(r):

 This is done on a watercolor postcard, so can be sent through the mail.

This is done on an Artist Trading Card (ATC).

By the way, thank you to all who gave me gift cards to my favorite Utrecht art supply store this Christmas! :)

Here's to making achievable artistic goals for 2012. ENJOY  THE  PROCESS and APPRECIATE THE AMAZING PEOPLE YOU WILL MEET ALONG THE WAY!!!

HAPPY READING AND CREATING ;)   Tristina

Fuzzy Headed

I was texting a friend of mine in the morning after dropping off the kids at school. She misunderstood something I had said and apologized for "being silly". I assured her that I share her same "early morning child induced intoxication" and am usually quite fuzzy headed myself until about 10am!

That being said, here is another of my recently finished Zentangles. I usually work on these in the morning when I just need to zone out till my body pumps enough blood to my head to be able to think cogently. :)

This Zentangle includes KurlyQ, Dropletts, Sprouts, Bricks, In N Out, River, ChainGang, Spinners, Portholes, Yimkin and a few others I don't remember the names of off the top of my head!

I will be hosting a Zentangle Artist Trading Card (ATC) demonstration at the Utrecht Art Supplies shop on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale (next to the Whole Foods) on December 17 (Sat) from 1-3pm. Bring your blank ATC's (Smooth Bristol are best for this project) and Micron pens or purchase them at Utrecht just before the demonstration. Completed ATC's will be put on display in the shop for other customer's viewing pleasure. Should be a very fun and relaxing primer to the holidays!

To learn more about Zentangles, go to Zentangle.com or TanglePatterns.com. I will be going to class to get my "Certified Zentangle Trainer (CZT)" in Rhode Island in February... I'm a Florida girl, what am I thinking???

Cheers to your relaxing this Holiday Season. Happy Turkey - Thanksgiving - Day!  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

Zentangle Works

     Preparing for my Divorce sure takes up a LOT of time! Been focused on pulling paperwork...so haven't had a chance to write, although I have been art-making and book-reading. :)

      Finished up a few Zentangles using designs from the Zentangle 2 and Zentangle 3 books (by Suzanne McNeill, CZT). These are on a Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal 3.5in x 5in. This is a great little journal to easily carry with me when I'm packing light. It has nice large spirals so that a Sharpie fine or Micron black pen easily fits inside to keep it close at hand and the paper is absorbent enough so that the ink doesn't smudge.

This sun image is my variation of a stamped and zentangled image in Zentangle 3 (I drew this face).

     Also in Zentangle 3 is a suggestion to make index tabs with the different zentangle designs as a reference, even suggesting just reaching into a jar of these index tabs and drawing whatever designs you pull out! Sounds like fun... Below are a few tags I cut out of Bristol paper (great paper for marker work) using a large punch bought at Michaels.

      When I travel heavy (which is most of the time!) I carry a baggie with me filled with black Micron pens of different nib sizes, a set of colored Micron pens (my favorite is Sanguine brown), Utrecht double ended colored markers, a soft 6B pencil for shading, paper smudging stump (tortillion), pencil sharpener, eraser, and white pen.

     My regular sketch book is a Canson Field Drawing book 7in x 10in, also with big spirals. See below how this book holds 4 micron pens! I usually have the 03, 05 and graphic 1 or brush (for filling in) black nib sizes and have also been carrying the Sanguine color pen. See the work in process using both colors, I love it!

     Zentangle is having their next teacher certification class in Rhode Island in Feb. I know it's crazy to imagine a Florida girl in the NorthEast in the dead of winter, but I'm so excited to go up and get certified to teach Zentangles! Then I'll offer classes in Miami/Dade, Broward and the Palm Beaches. So much to learn and share. :)

     Happy reading and experimenting!  Tristina

The War of Art

     Just received in the mailbox today from Amazon (every Amazon box makes me feel like it's Christmas!) a paperback book called, The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield that I discovered while surfing for business and personal growth books a week or so ago.The sub-title is, Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

     The write-up on this book intrigued me because it addresses procrastination in the creative process head on...and I'm a procrastinator extrodinare!

The back cover states:

     "THE  WAR  OF  ART is an inspirational, funny, well-aimed kick in the pants guaranteed to galvanize every would-be artist, visionary, or entrepreneur. Bestselling author Steven Pressfield shows readers how to identify, defeat, and unlock the inner barriers to creativity."

     Looking for the proverbial AhHa moment or moments in reading this book that will propel me to the creative greatness I know that lurks inside me!

     P.S. Got off my duff on Wednesday and submitted 5 encaustic pieces of artwork and an artist statement to the Encaustic Works 2011 call for entries that ended...you guessed it, that night! Wish me luck!!!

     Happy reading and creating!  Tristina :)

Bling Ring Frenzy

Yesterday I cleared off the paperwork from my studio desk and rewarded myself last night with making a few bling rings!

3 Rings done and one on the bead mat laid out. I use chain-nose, round-nose and cutter pairs of pliers to make the rings. I buy the ring blanks and ball end headpins from Fire Mountain Gems (each ring blank has 2 rows with 5 loops each). I buy the glittery Chinese crystals (8mm rondelle) from Annie's Beads online as well as at Beads on the Avenue store in Delray Beach. The top ring on the right also uses 8mm bicone beads together with the 8mm rondelles. I am so intensely focused when making these rings, that after making each one I have to get up and stretch everything in my body!!!

Here are bags of crystal combinations laid out with their corresponding ring colors (silver, gold, antique silver or gold) with accent beads that are put on the ball end headpin first to keep the headpin from slipping right through the large hole of the crystals. This is how I plan ahead to make it easy to whip up a ring or two when I have a little spare time and feel like making something.

Here is my desk layout with a bar, hanging cups and hanging hooks from IKEA. The artwork is mine! I keep the flip up OttLite plugged in and ready to go at all times.

 Each hanging cup has ring making supplies: left has ring blanks and ball tipped headpins, center has 6mm filler crystals (to add variety to the rings) and a pair of tweezers, and the right has 8mm crystal strands and a measuring tape.

 Here you can see how I am able to hang crystal strands that have loops on the end on the hooks and, my favorite part, tools are easily perched along the bar to keep them readily available!

Happy CREATING! :)     Tristina