ruthspitzer

Surrounding Wonders of Nature

This year Bevlea Ross and Barb Thomas allowed me to host a Collab Book swap for Paperarts online Yahoo Group.  My first as host and an interesting experience, intriguing, frustrating, exciting and all those myriad of emotions that come along with hosting a rather large swap.

 

As I love green, I decided on a ‘Surrounding Wonders of Nature’ theme. Rules were to use greens and/or blues and have texture somewhere on the page. This time I decided to forego my usually ‘look’ of layers of paint and gloss.  Instead chose a simplified version of images instead using dimensional magic, gauze, sand texture gel and chipboard to create my texture. Each participant also had to make their own front and back covers, naturally adhering to the theme, green and/or blue and texture, texture, texture.

 

My cover page above I wanted to keep clean and simple and just used tissue paper to create my texture.   My inner page below created using images mostly, with sand texture gel and gloss.

 

All in all, this was a fantastic swap to be a party of.  The participants pages exceeded my expectations. 

I was blown away by the creativity, but most importantly the amount of work that went into each page to create the various techniques. You’ll notice some pages are quite ‘busy’, others are less so, but one aspect is consistent throughout; every woman put in a concerted effort to produce the specified requirements ‘using texture’. You can clearly see the time, labour and love exercised in creating their nature themes & ‘texture’.

 

Unfortunately a scanned image does not do even half the justice these pages deserve and you lose so much of the 3D and minute detail, so I hope those that belong to stamping groups or get together with fellow crafters, I’d encourage you to show off your book for others to see it ‘in the flesh’. It’s well worth the look.

 

 

Vintage Keys

This set up keys was made for a swap using the Collections Keys from Julie van Oosten.  I made one in a vintage theme (below front and back view) and started making a cream shade set as well.  Although at this stage they’re still sitting in their little box under the table until I have that rainy day to give them the attention they deserve. 

For now I’m happy to be ahead with this swap and they can go postal and I’m ready to move on to my next swap, a Collab Book in the theme ‘Book of Shadows’.

 

Book of Shadows

I was initially intrigued by the theme for this year’s annual collaborative book. It sounded so mysterious and gothic.  The vision that persisted in my mind was the hit television series ‘Charmed’; the 3 wickedly sexy witches, spells, book of shadows and suddenly I’m definitely enticed and thinking this could work out rather well. There must be a hundred ideas I could come up with.

 

My final 'work of art' above. I can smile about it now, but at the time I thought I'd never get this project started or finished. Not from lack of trying, just unable to come up with one riveting idea. But it did eventually start taking form in my mind, and once I got started, I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together and watch it evolve into something completely different to what I initially envisioned.

 

Six weeks before the project was due, slight panic had set in as I still hadn’t gotten my shit together and come up with a theme or a draft for this project. No image, no colour scheme, no spell ... For all the hours I'd spent thinking about it, researching the net and prowling the library aisles for anything on witchcraft, spells.  Nothing jumped out at me.   15 pages to complete – not drastic, but time consuming when you have to consider layers of paint, adhering images, layers of gloss spray, kindy glitz, texture paste and drying time in between each.  And considering the only time I could steal was at night during the week.

Over several weeks I’d been perusing the internet for an appropriate image. Again I had no idea what that image should represent, but I knew I would know the minute I laid eyes on it, and how right was I. I came across it by chance whilst doing my regular obsessive trip to online stores for those items I most definitely didn’t need, but had to have … with the intent of using it one day.

And there she was, portrayed against a mystical background of sparkling colour and suspended in mid air. Upon first sight I knew I’d found here. Woooo Hooo ‘Writers block’ over. Well not quite, but it was a start, now I just had to incorporate her into a complete page. But she was perfect and coincidentally actually looked like one of the Charmed Ones.

Days later, I had my image and nothing else, writers block returns. My problem was the colour. Although she was perfect, I’m just not a red kinda gal. I detest this colour, but refused to photoshop her into another as the red was so becoming and suited the ‘Book of Shadows’ theme. It represented in my mind dark and mysterious, death, wickedness. Somehow I'd make this work.

 And so I plodded along and eventually got it right. My WIP doesn’t look like much but I’m amazed at all the aspects it took to pull the whole piece together. What started out as a lovely piece of carefully chosen red paper with a beautiful and apt pattern, got completely buried in the final piece. If you squint enough, you can still see a slight resemblance of a background pattern peeking out from layers of paint.

Next were a few pieces of white square cardstock adhered to the corner to create some underlying texture (again barely visible in the end). Then various stages of several layers of paint that seemed to have taken over the page. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To start giving it character I added my lady in red, a Stamp Anon ‘tree’ stamp, an rchitecture stamp on tissue paper, more paint, then a big smear of texture paste on the bottom portion of the page, this I was hoping would create an illusion of my ‘witch’ floating. Didn’t quite work out that way, but still a nice touch I think. My pentagram in 'the background' was drawn with a circle template and the lines penciled in free hand, outlined with black kind glitz to give it a raised effect and again painted over with various shades of red to blend in with the overall page.

I’m not overly disappointed with my page, but always interesting to see what you initially conjure up in your mind, never really turns out to be anything remotely similar.

Flourishes

Through recommendation from a fellow crafter, I've decided to participate in a monthly theme challenge with Incurable Stampers. Each month a theme is set and the artist is to create an ATC, card, scrapbooking page or anything that takes their fancy. Only condition, adhere to the chosen theme.

This month, July, is Fabulous Flourishes. I’ve used with a beautiful vintage look and feel. I especially love how the background is faded out to give it a real soft romantic feel.

I decided to do away with the soft feel and got an uncontrollable urge to doodle. The image was adhered, then masked and stamped using Rhonna Farrer Swirls, and Sepia Archival Ink.

Once dried I got to work with a white gel pen and doodled over and over, of course adding in a few additional swirls and dots here and then - love my dots. lol.

The ATC was mounted onto bronze metallic card and the chipboard swirl painted with Old Brass Lumiere and

And so this is my contribution to the Incurable Stampers July Challenge. Although looking at the image now, I have another urge to doodle over the current swirls in a different colour pen, maybe glitter

Architectural Triptych

For weeks since I’ve had my name signed up to participate in the ‘PaperArts’ Architectural Triptych swap, I’ve been staring at a blank piece of bookboard wondering what to do – is there a word for ‘writers block’ that would apply to paperarts because I certainly seem to be suffering from it.

But here I am and pretty pleased with myself, my mojo has returned – albeit in a small dose and I’m ahead of schedule with this swap. After being incredibly late last month with my fabric swap (and having it sent back to me, as should be the case, rules are rules. I certainly need to redeem myself.

So this idea came to me through choosing a colour scheme first. Go the ‘Golden’ paints. Barb Thomas gave me my first visual introduction to Golden paints on an ATC using the Micaceous Iron Oxide. I immediately fell in love with the rough metallic look. After that it seemed I was hearing about Golden everywhere. Kelsey’s work has also been great inspiration for the Golden colours.

 

 

My main colour scheme (pictured left) is a blend of Golden ‘Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold’ and a small touch of Lumiere ‘Metallic Silver’. This gives it a soft orange with a bit of sparkle. Unfortunatley the scanned image doesn't depict the sparkle, but it is there. The background is Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press 'Architecture' stamp.

The mounted/raised stamped images sitting on top of the main background pictured left are painted in the Golden ‘Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold’. I love the orange on its own, it's incredibly rich and earthy. Amazing to see how just by adding a tiny amount of the silver has changed the colour completely.

Below the very narrow silver frames are painted in my favourite Golden colour; Micaceous Iron Oxide. I love the feel of this paint, it’s like sandpaper and has the most interesting metallic particles.

My First Attempt At Soot

An oldie technique that’s been around for some time and one I’ve admired by various artists. I’d have to give most of this inspirational credit to the lovely Kelsey O’Mullane, who finally convinced me through her beautiful work to give it a go.

So armed with a flame, stamp and card, I followed instructions to the tee and somehow managed to set my card alight and the smoke alarm screaming in my ear. Round two I tried positioning the paper at different heights over the flame, I recall reading somewhere that there should be a bit of black smoke or was that ‘no black smoke’. Nevertheless all I was collecting at the moment was a pile of ashes and gave up. A job for another day - I’d had enough. In hindsight I realized maybe I should have used gloss card and not heavy weight cardstock.

 

Two weeks later armed with gloss card, my flame and stamp, I was adamant that I was gonna get this right if I had to burn my fingers to do this.

 

My first few attempt cooked the card (pictured left), but I soon got the hang of it. Trial and error as they say. Definitely a matter of discovering how high to hold your card over the flame and the speed of moving it back and forth. And yes, gloss obviously does the trick.

Not bad for a day’s work – but still a long way to go before I perfect this. In the meantime I’ll continue to admire fellow artists and this technique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are a few more attempts as I slowly got the hang of it. One downer of this technique is you're forced to give your stamp a good clean, which I admit I'm not generally inclined to do. A quick dab with Huggies usually does it for me, but this time a good old fashion scrub with soap required.

Music to my ears

Some of my fav's below:

Big Runga, titled 'Sway'.

Sarah McLachlan, titled 'World on fire'

My leap into the musical world of Acoustic Guitars

For as along as I can remember, I’ve always had this secret desire to play the piano or guitar.  Naturally asking my mom to purchase a piano for me seemed a bit extreme and somehow just never got around to enquiring about lessons or purchasing a guitar - a far cheaper investment than the piano.

I’m a firm believer in music being food for the soul.  I’d never survive without it and love it I do – almost all types … all except opera and rap.  I’ve a particular fondness for rock, oldies and 80’s.  I try and  have music around me almost every minute of my day (if I can help it).   My other instrumental ‘loves’ are the violin and sax. Purely to listen to.  

Several weeks ago I woke up one morning, and decided I will learn to play the guitar (acoustic) before I die.  I brooded over this ‘revelation’ for a few days before making my decision.   

And so started my journey into the exciting world of melody.  I spent some time in the library taking out every possible book on acoustic guitars, then headed home for some serious ‘studying’.  I hit the web with a vengeance as well.  Next step, a music store for an in-depth ‘pep talk’ on guitars, lessons, music notes etc, etc, etc.

The days that followed, found me in every bookstore I walked past, and luck would have it, almost every one I visited, there was someone in the same section looking at music books and they all seemed to play the guitar – needless to say I took the opportunity to ‘pick their brains’.  Nothing beats ‘word of mouth’.  A wealth of information.
 

Several weeks ago I was in Melbourne on a conference and stayed with a friend, Claire and her partner, Luke.  Luck would have it that Luke plays the guitar, and was kind enough to dish out some pretty good advice on purchasing my first guitar.  A daunting fact in itself.  ‘Information overload’ would be an understatement to everything I was digesting about music and acoustic guitars.
 

And so on Monday 10 September 2007 , I drove into Camperdown, about 50 minutes drive to a highly recommended music store – Billy Hide Music.  And glad I did as the selection of musical instruments was phenomenal.   A double storey ‘warehouse’ type building.  Walking into the store alone was awesome.  I felt like a dumbstruck kid with my jaw hanging open.  Downstairs consisted of electric and base guitars.  Upstairs, a separate enclosed designated room for each type of instrument.  Walking up the stairs, you’re hit by the amazing site of pianos and violin adorning the walls and floors, it makes you wanna weep, it’s so beautiful.  I’m almost wanting to change my mind and dig out money somewhere to purchase a grand piano… yes in my next lifetime maybe.

I walk several feet beyond the pianos and enter another inspiring domain – acoustic guitars.  I’m almost blinded by the beauty of raw polished wood and superb craftsmanship - guitars hanging on all four walls and covering almost every square inch of floor space.   

Initially, upon entering the store and enquiring about acoustic guitars, I was told to go on up ahead and have a look around so long while they send someone up to assist me in a few minutes.  I’m infinity glad that I entered that room alone as I probably would have looked like a complete idiot to the staff.  Standing there mesmerised.  I can’t move, I’m just staring, speechless.  Eventually I snap out of it and slowly I make my way around inspecting the different brands and prices, some of which make me gulp.

Thankfully I made my visit with a narrowed down list of ‘wants’ such as amp plug in capability, price range, brands, body shape etc.  This narrowed the field down significantly in terms of available options.  On first inspection I found one of my preferred brands only come in a satin finish and did not like the look of it ‘in the flesh’.  So that one ‘out the window’. When we got talking on tuners, I realised the other brand I was after did not come with an onboard tuner or the cutaway design that I preferred, so another one out the window. Which left me with the Yamaha or Alvarez. 

Next was the sweet part.  I made myself comfortable in a chair and had Casey (the sales guy), play me something, in order to hear sound quality and the crispness of the notes etc.  This was recommended when looking to purchase,  and I thought to myself, well I’m a complete novice at this, how on earth would I be able to know whether it sounds good.  Well even I surprised myself with my listening abilities.

You can imagine Casey did impress me immensely with his playing ability.  Whatever piece he played was just gorgeous.   First up was the Yamaha, and the sound that resonated from it was really good, until he picked up the Alvarez and played the same tune on that.  I was transported into another world – felt like I was sitting in an open air concert - the music seemed to explode into the room, it was incredible.  So there was little doubt left as to which one I would be getting.  Mind you, it was a toss up between the black or raw finish.  Personally I love the black, but the only downfall is you see all the fingermarks on it and would be a bugger to keep clean, so raw finish it is.

So now I am the proud owner of my very first musical instrument.  Got home that evening and had to strum a few chords for Mike and my in-laws (who were visiting from South Africa).  Granted I can’t play yet, but could still make a lovely sound with the chords.  Music to my ears ….

Next step - lessons, then one day I might even take a stab at writing my own music …. you never know, stranger things have happened – maybe I find myself on Idol one year … he he. 

Stranded Ashore

In early June 2007, New South Wales was hit by severe storms. Many towns did not survive well under the conditions.  Homes were destroyed, roads and bridges washed away, families injured.  One town in particular, Newcastle (2 hours drive north of Sydney) took a ‘fair beating’.
 

One amazing incident to occur on the 8^th June as a result of the storms was a 40,000 tonne coal ship named ‘Pasha Bulker’, 225 metres in length, ran aground on a sandbar off Nobbys Beach due to the gale force winds and high seas.

This naturally caused a huge stir and curiosity getting the better of everyone, Mike and I included, took a drive up to Newcastle to view this Phenomenon. 

Arriving in Newcastle , the floods of people flocking to the beach to view this ship, literally stranded on the beach, mere metres from the road was amazing.

The weather that day was overcast, raining and incredibly windy which added to the surreal atmosphere of viewing an enormous 225 metre ship sitting on the beach, almost within reach.  The sight was almost bizarre in a most fascinating kind of way.

It took several attempts over the following days for a ‘rescue’ operation to attach anchoring handling vessels and tug boats to attempt to refloat the ship and tow it back out into open waters.

The link below will take you to more photos and information on the ship.

http://www.abc.net.au/newcastle/stories/s1945881.htm

‘Backgrounds’ workshop with Joy Bathie

On  Friday 24 August 2007 I boarded a plane and headed back to the extraordinary city of Melbourne for a two day ‘backgrounds’ workshop under the tutelage of the amazingly talented Joy Bathie.  This would be my second time I’ve had the privilege of being taught by Joy in the last 3 years and moving cities certainly didn’t keep me away.

To those who ever have the opportunity to be taught by Joy, grab it, is all I can say.  An experience not to be missed.  Apart from her astounding talent, Joy is the very epitome of a calming soul, a woman with a more beautiful nature, I’ve not met in a while, and this all spills out into the work she creates. 
 

Another remarkable woman would be Carolyn (Caro) Biletziclis from Ancient Echoes who hosted the workshop.  Caro opened her ‘former home’, now turned into her office/workshop for classes/studio for the invasion of about 17 woman, all eager to get ‘down and dirty’ with paint, water, gel medium, images, and anything else that appealed to us for inclusion on our canvases, and of course the most important – the chance to drool over Joy’s various altered books that she never fails to bring along, oh yes and least I forget - the next best thing – the food.  No student could ever say we went home undernourished.  Ancient Echoes (Caro), again outdid herself and a big thank you goes to the ‘caterer’, Lucy Leatham for the array of food and desert spread before us for the 2 days.  Quite honestly it was impossible to sample everything, but that which I did, was absolutely superb.  Can’t remember when last I’ve been fed so well with such a diverse collection of food.   Simply delicious – thank you to Caro, Lucy and those wonderful souls behind the scenes for the nourishment.

Another aspect to mention, before I get to the artwork, would be the environment in which we spent the 2 days.  Often you attend a workshop in a relatively large room with four plain cream walls and possibly one average size window in the corner – not so at Ancient Echoes – here we were nestled among nature.  Our ‘work’ room was beautiful, cosy, comfortable, pictures adorned the walls, a bookshelf on another and one entire wall was replaced by windows (floor to ceiling), with beautiful wood trimmings that looked out onto a beautiful deck completely enveloped in nature; tress, shrubbery, bushes, flowers, - incredibly beautiful and so relaxing.  An environment to certainly boost anyone’s creative spirit.  All meals were taken out on the deck (see photo), and luck would have it that Melbourne blessed us with incredible weather that weekend (rare, considering the season).  All in all, it was a perfect weekend and fabulous to catch up with so many familiar faces again.

In terms of what was created, without giving away ‘trade secrets’, the purpose of the workshop was to create backgrounds and incorporate images; stamped or adhered etc.  Various colours of acrylic paints were used (colours the average person would never contemplate mixing together), but which turned out pretty well with amazing results.  Below is one of my pieces, showing a beginning stage, and the end result. Bearing in mind, that there were probably about 15 different layers of various colours of paint and mediums applied, hard to believer looking at the final result, when all you see is red, which surprisingly is not a particularly favourite colour of mine.


 

To view several other pieces created by students during Joy’s workshop, click on the sites below:

Paper Queens

Ancient Echoes

Thank you again to Caro, Joy and Lucy for a fabulous weekend at Ancient Echoes, and to Claire Kelly and partner Luke Mosse for allowing me to invade their home for the weekend.