How to describe your personal art style using Pinterest as a tool

corwindetail

Lyn Belisle, “Corwin,” Assemblage 2015

“Oh, you’re an artist? What kind of art do you do?” I get that question fairly often, and I usually just say, “Mixed media.” But if you need to think in terms of a fuller description (such as when writing an artist’s statement), you might need to come up with adjectives that are more specific to your personal style.

One way to do this is to  start a Pinterest board with images of the kind of art that resonates strongly with you – chances are, these images will reflect your own aesthetic. For example, here’s a recent selection from my own Pinterest “Stealboard” (as in “Steal Like an Artist”):

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From this small selection, I can see that I gravitate toward a neutral palette of grays and rusts. I like organic shapes, twig-like lines, and odd and mysterious iconic faces.Not surprisingly, these elements show up consistently in my own work.

Now compare my favorite images to the Pinterest board of North Carolina artist Eileen Ross:

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I don’t know Eileen, but from her selections, I’d say she likes elliptical shapes, whimsical impressionist content, deep pastel colors, washes of paint, and calligraphic elements. When you look at her own work, you can see the strong relationship between what she likes and what she creates. Interesting!

What if you don’t have a Pinterest favorite art board, or even a Pinterest account? It’s easy and free to set one up. Just go to Pinterest and follow the simple directions. I would also suggest that you install the Pinterest browser button – here’s how. This little tool allows you to click on your browser’s tool bar to add a picture from the Internet to your Pinterest favorites board instantly. Be warned, though – once you start collecting, pinning, and analyzing the kind of art work that you love, you can get addicted!

What a show – and tell!

Yesterday’s Show and Tell at the Studio was a mixed-media extravaganza! Each presentation was unique, informative, and fun – and everyone there bounced ideas around like popcorn in a microwave (how’s that for a simile?).

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Some of the highlights:

  • J’Cil Horn’s use of a fiber product called Warm and Natural, which is a cotton batting used by quilters that adapts itself to so many possibilities, including acrylic paint and fabric embellishments.
  • Paige Ramsey-Palmer’s fascinating introduction to healthy probiotic foods  – it is a culinary art that had us asking tons of questions as we sipped the lemon and ginger drinks she’d made for us.
  • Christie Smith’s show-and-tell on Gyotaku (fish printing) that she was introduced to the fish printing during the TP&W BOW (Becoming and Outdoor Woman) weekend this spring which was held at the Texas Baptist Encampment in Palacios, and, yes, the fish were real (but frozen). Christie’s shrimp prints were a crowd favorite.
  • Gloria Hill’s insightful presentation on two important mindsets for artists – recycling and stealing. The recycling part means transforming you less successful work into new creations through collage, and the stealing part is the good kind of theft – finding artists’ work you love and being inspired by their techniques. See Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like an Artist, and read Gloria’s blog, Open Doors.
  • Rosemary Uchniat’s sneak preview of the Small-Space Dyeing workshop she’ll be giving at my Studio on July 18th from 1-5. I posted a rave about this technique recently. Rosemary previewed the technique and results in about a square foot of space. One show-and-teller signer up on the spot. FYI, there are two spaces left.

So now that you’ve read the trailer, see the film! Here’s a short video of some of the great demos from yesterday, and the people who came, learned, ate, sipped and enjoyed the afternoon at Lyn Belisle Studio. Our next Show and Tell is May 30th from 2-4. Be there or be square and creatively unaware! 🙂

My (right-this-minute) Etsy Favorite 5

You know Etsy, right? If not, I’m gonna get you in a lot of trouble, cause it’s an amazing online global marketplace of creative delights. Look at some of the things you can find today on Etsy. These are my current favorite shops (but it may change with every new discovery :)):

etsy1Tomyres Boutique – Ugur Daskan’s art-to-wear collection. Ugur is from Turkey and has a wonderfully creative way with paper and fiber. This is her Wire Statement Necklace w/ Blooming Flowers. The lovely white cocoon necklace that I showed in my last post came from Ugur. She featured the post on her FB page. 

 

 

 

 

etsy2Casa de Charms Shop from McAllen, Texas is where I order milagros for my own artwork. Amador, the owner, is easy to work with and has fair prices and quick shipping. He also has larger milagros and really funny Day-of-the-Dead shopping bags.

 

 

 

 

 

etsy3House of Ceramics – despite its generic name, this studio site has some beautifully designed work like these fired and glazed apples. Una, the artist/owner, is from Fresno, California.

 

 

 

etsy4Buster Bean Knows – this Etsy shop is pretty unique. Here you can find natural stuff, rusty stuff, kitschy stuff – here’s what the owner says about herself – “I live near Sedona about midway between the Grand Canyon and Phoenix with my 3 dogs, Buster (the namesake of my shop), Duncan & Paloma. Buster knows the meaning of life… be creative and enjoy every moment you can.”  Pretty cool.

 

 

 

etsy5Hoooked Soap, form Peralta, NM. I think I like this shop as much for the names and the colors and textures as I do for the soaps themselves. This one is called Dragon’s Blood Exfoliating Soap with Poppy Seeds. Talk about power to the shower – but I think there is something so appealing about artisan-made personal goods, and this shop has that kind of appeal.

It’s easy to get mesmerized while looking around on Etsy – when I was putting this post together, I went down a lot of rabbit holes checking out other stuff and got lots of ideas an inspiration! But now I need to get to work finishing some faces for my own Etsy shop, EarthShards (sneaky segue). Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Freebie: Rock Paper . . . . .

Were you gonna say “scissors”? Nope, this is about Rock Paper! I got this email from my uber-talented pal, Sherrill Kahn, right before I went Boston – “You have to try Terra Skin—paper made from stones.  I bought a lot of it. It is really amazing.  I think you would love it.” So I ordered some. It came while I was gone, and I played with it this morning. It’s very cool! The Terra Skin surface reminds me of Yupo, but it’s totally fiber-free and mineral based (no trees were killed). Here are some of my first test scribbles (I labelled them with Photoshop):

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You might want to give this stuff a try – it says the surface is appropriate for mixed media, acrylics, graphite and inks, and oils – doesn’t say anything about wax, but hey – why not? And if you need ideas, check out the TerraSkin blog, titled (appropriately), GET STONED. Love it.

OK, so the Friday Freebie is a five-sheet package of TerraSkin paper – I’ll mail it to you if you’re out of town, or you can pick it up at the Studio if you’re nearby. There are two rules for winning the random drawing – ONE, you have to be a SHARDS subscriber by Sunday at midnight (just enter your email on the blog homepage at the top right) and TWO, you have to give us a report on how you like using it and what you did with your very own Terra Skin rock paper. Off to the Studio, happy to be home – happy weekend, everyone!

Friday Freebie – pretty paper prizes

You know how sometimes you recommend sources just because you like their stuff? That’s the way I feel about Mulberry Papers and More – I’ve been ordering from them for a long time and have their link on my sidebar. Here’s an example of the kinds of papers you can order from them for about $5 – a giant (2’x3′) sheet of Marbled Momi Paper.

 

Anyway, I got a nice email from the president of the company saying they’d gotten some traffic from SHARDS and were sending a $5 gift card that I could use as a Friday Freebie. Pretty cool!

That’s half of this week’s Freebie, and the other half is from me – a kit to make your own Lotus Book (with directions, of course). So one lucky SHARDS subscriber, new or old, good or bad, will be in a drawing for a $5 gift card to Mulberry Papers and More plus a Lotus Book Kit from yours truly. Thanks, as always, for subscribing to SHARDS and supporting what goes on at the Studio. Good luck, and happy weekend!

Lotus Book with pop-out pages

Lotus Book with pop-out pages

The Book of Serendipity: Belto and Belisle – Saturday, June 28th

I spent some fine creative time with encaustic guru, author and good buddy Michelle Belto yesterday at her Hot Wax Studio. We experimented in various media with a small group of intrepid explorers. And now – tah-dah– Michelle and I ready to give you the exclusive final details on our June 28th collaborative workshop called The Book of Serendipity: A Celebration of Unexpected Gifts from the Universe! Click on the photo below to read the description – it really has something for everyone – and then sign up to spend a cool (in all ways) Saturday with us at my Studio. All materials and a yummy lunch are included – the day will be a memorable one (you’ll see what I mean when you read the description.) Limit eight participants, absolutely no art experience necessary. Please join us (and invite a friend).

 

Citra-solv for artsy effects

I had so many comments on the painting I did that incorporated papers treated with Citra-solv that I thought I’d share the process with you if you didn’t already know about it (I didn’t until I saw Bonnie and Rosemary’s Show and Tell at the Studio). Here’s the painting – it’s a mixed media piece with altered paper, acrylic, and encaustic on a 16×20′ stretched canvas. Do you see the door in the middle? That’s a weird Citra-solv effect, very strange:

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I used torn strips of paper created by slathering Citra-solv cleaning solution all over the pages of an old National Geographic magazine. The results can be fascinating. I’m especially interested in how you can sort of control the dissolution of the images by the amount of the solution you put on the pages. Here you can see that portions of the original image show through the distortion.

Citra-solv effects and result

Citra-solv effects and result

Page with small amount of Citra-solv

Page with small amount of Citra-solv

Here’s a page done by artist Eva Macie that uses a lot of Citra-solv.

Christopher Staples has a great tutorial on his blog! Finally, here’s a link to a tutorial on the Cirta-Solv website – they are now selling their product at art stores like Jerry’s Artarama. It’s a fun process to play around with if you are into unpredictable results and eerie effects!

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A free class? Taught by me? Yep!

craftartI just got an email from CraftArtEdu saying my Online Composition Classes are up, including the FREE one that I made about Orientation. Just click here to access my page and scroll down to the bottom to see the free video. It’s a useful class, I think, because it can apply to any medium. Anyway, I’d love feedback – it’s only about 15 minutes long. Email me if you watch it and tell me what you think – all suggestions appreciated. The sound is kind of crummy at the end but I’m working on that.

Sunday was the Friends of the Library Arts and Letters Awards, and I am delighted that my dear friend, fiber artist Susan Oaks, was one the the three honorees. Her work with coiled vessels spans decades, and her vision and artistry never wavers. I shot a quick video interview with her at the ceremony. I am so proud to know her! She’ll never read this because she doesn’t have a computer, but if you see her, tell her hooray!14susan 15susanoaksvessel

 

Arts, letters & amber – a studio visit

Carolyn Eastman Cazares is a Woman of Letters – Hebrew letters. She fell in love with the letterforms over a decade ago and paints them in layered compositions that transcend translation. I visited Carolyn at her Studio on the edge of the Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio, and I was astounded with the diversity and passion in her work. When she falls in love with something – Hebrew letters, chunks of amber, faces that compel her, she is prolific in her explorations. Her amber and copper wire jewelry is lyrical – she says that amber is a combination of “liquid sunshine and ancient wisdom.”

She also makes a great chocolate gluten-free cake (and gave me the recipe). We talked for over an hour about creativity, relationships and art, and what inspires us, and we found a lot of common ground. If you’ve visited my house and my studio, you can see from the photos that Carolyn and I share a lot of the same kinds of “artists’ stuff”! Thanks for the visit, Carolyn – I will be back!