When it rains, it pours

So I created this piece a couple of months ago..but I figured with all the wacky and rainy weather we had last week, this piece was totally relevant and appropriate for my newest blog entry.....

All you need to create this piece is crayons in shades of blue (I also used silver & grey), a hot glue gun & glue sticks, a hair dryer, canvas, acrylic paint in red and black, and matte varnish (optional).

Similar to all my other mixed-media crayon art, I always sketch out and plan ahead before jumping into it.  So I drew the silhouette of my girl with her umbrella in pencil first.  Then I laid out the crayons at the top before gluing them on (just in case!).  Once I had it laid out the way I wished for it to appear, I glued on my crayons.  After letting it sit for a couple of minutes, I busted out my handy dandy hair dryer and went to work melting.  Don't forget to put a garbage bag and newspapers down!  Just in case!  I've learned the hard way before.....This one I was pretty particular about (in terms of how the crayons melted).  Luckily this piece co-operated pretty well and I didn't have any major mishaps.....You never know what can go wrong with these types of pieces..... After letting it sit for a bit (and my arms needed a break from holding up the hair dryer for so long!), I started to paint.  Et voila!  This is what I came up with!  The girl who loves the rain! Let's get honest, who doesn't love jumping in the puddles on a rainy night?!

A.A.

Happy Birthday Dad!

So here is the newest creation I have made....
Happy Birthday Dad!
I actually had this done over a week ago..but I haven't been able to put it up and show it off until today in fear of my dad getting ahold of this link.....I just couldn't chance it.....

My dad loves crocodiles....but do you know how difficult it is to find anything with a crocodile theme?  It's ridiculously difficult....So...I made him something with his beloved crockie on it.

I had to use a bit of a template for this in fear of screwing up.....

What do you need to create something like this? 1. Pillowcase. Fabric markers. Fabric Paint.

First I used my fabric paint (in black) for the outline of the letters and the outline of the crocodile.  Then I waited a day and busted out the fabric markers to colour.  Always make sure you have some sort of thick material (like a cardboard) between the pillow so that the markers don't bleed through to the other side...also, that way it's absorbed into the cardboard itself.  Although fabric markers are similar to a real marker, you don't need to go over the coloured area over and over again.  Instead, do a thin layer of colouring, then let it sit, then colour another light layer, then let it sit again.  If you colour it over and over again without a bit of sitting time between colouring, it will bleed and spread.  Also, I would recommend not "winging it," but having a sketch or design that you can put underneath the pillow and trace (unless you are ridiculously confident).

Here's partway through the progress....

Voila!  Final product!

And here's what it actually looks like with a pillow in it.....

A.A.

Another 'ol Photo

So the photo below is one I took during my Undergrad years at @Guelph-Humber......The subject is actually my sister and it's probably one of my favourite shots.....

I have to admit..My favourite part of this photo is the mini background story behind it.....

I'll never forget it....I had to do this low-key portrait for my portraiture and studio class.  I had to basically shoot it over the weekend because I hadn't had enough time to shoot in the studio....so I basically asked my instructor if I could use lamps around the house instead of carting all the equipment home for the weekend (Several stands, weights, lights, and a power pack is a LOT to cart home in your car).  She sort of laughed and said it wouldn't work.....

Well...I ended up getting an AMAZING mark on it (amazing because she never gave out a mark as decent as the one I received on this project) and when we were sitting around critiquing all of our photos, she asked about my lighting set-up and what I did...My response?  "I did what you told me wouldn't work."  It's really one of the only times I probably should have watched my mouth with a teacher of any sort - especially when they're calling the shots and essentially assigning me a mark..... But I must admit, I hate being told I can't do something.  In fact, it really eggs me on to prove someone wrong when they tell me something isn't possible.  I know, I'm horrible aren't I?  So needless to say, I did shoot this photo in my parents' living room, using a lamp, a floor rug, a statue, a fluorescent light, and the subject (my sister).  Lesson to be learned?  Never let someone tell you that something isn't possible.  Prove 'em wrong!

A.A.

An oldie but goodie.....

Life has been a little busy and tiring lately with work.  The kids appear to be in summer mode already because of the way Mother Nature is taunting us....which is a little worrisome.....so needless to say I've been coming home a little exhausted lately...so I'm taking it a little easy on the artwork (I swear it's only temporary!).

So I thought I'd tie you folks over with a photo (yes I do photography as well - in fact, my diploma is in Creative Photography from Humber College (several years ago now)).   I've taken loads of photos over the years..but the one below is still one of my favourites.  I took my photography website down this past year because let's get honest...I just don't have enough time to constantly maintain it...and a Blog is so much easier to maintain.... Now, I just wish I remembered which island it was from...it's either St. Maarten or St. Thomas....I have a feeling it's St. Thomas......I took it while on a ride on one of these islands.  I'm almost positive now that I think about it more it was St. Thomas while we were cruising around there.....and I believe it was taken in 2007......

It was taken with my Nikon D70 (which I've been shooting with for a good 6 or 7 years now...) in natural light of course.

Enjoy!

A.A.

Never Stop Chasing the Unicorn.....

Sort of a saying I live by.....
If I had a tattoo....this is what I'd get done for sure.
Just a sketch I did in pencil.  I LOVE unicorns....and as far as I'm concerned, they exist.

I do have a new project I just finished yesterday...but I can't put it up on display yet because it's a gift for my dad & I can't chance him getting ahold of this link...so I'll put pictures of it up next Wednesday

A.A.

My favourite.....

So I'm not going to lie....this has been my favourite mixed-media crayon art with acrylics creation that I've done.  I wish I had taken pictures of it as it was a work in progress...but alas, I did not (my apologies!).

I actually didn't really choose these coloured crayons per se.  I got umm...stuck with them instead.  They were sort of left at the bottom of the barrel and were the last ones in the crayon box....so....they were used....but luckily, they worked out perfectly!

So I took the usual route...I sketched out my dancing girls, glued my crayons onto the canvas and busted out my handy dandy hair dryer.   I melted my crayons and then took my black acrylic paint and began to paint.  Now, I was cursing this piece at one point (being the perfectionist that I am...)...luckily it was just me and my artwork home that day.....See that little line that is now the letter "A" in my signature?  That wasn't originally an "A."  Let's just say the phone rang, it startled me, I wasn't paying attention....and the brush created a stroke I didn't originally have sketched out....

But here is the final product.  It is currently hanging up at work by my desk (it's my fave piece!!).  I like to think of it as "...dance like nobody's listening..."

Enjoy!

A.A.

A Bubbly Gift

I love fish, what can I say?  They're easy maintenance (for the most part), don't talk back, and make super cute decor!

So here's what it looks like step by step......I've created this little guy in the same order as all of my other mixed-media crayon arts.....

This is what my original idea came to be....You'll notice it looks QUITE a bit different at the beginning.  I can never wait to see the end result!

The original sketch and crayons positioned......Naked canvas never looks good......

Then I melt the crayons (best step!).......this is always fun when you decide to melt multiple batches of crayons on the same canvas....always the challenge.....Just make sure you keep your hairdryer on an angle downwards when you're doing this.......otherwise you might get lots of splashing......and even melted crayon on your hairdryer.....not cool.....trust me......

Then I get out my acrylic paints, the water, and the brushes.....I even decided for the bubbles and the water background to add some Iridescent Medium (by Basics) to give it a slight shimmer (I am now in LOVE with this stuff and will be mixing it constantly into my acrylic paints).  40% off coupons & 50% off sales at Michaels (on all Crayola products!!! *happy dance!*) are my best friend on the weekends!

And this is how it looks afterwards with the painted scene.  Much better than naked canvas, don't you think?

Time to bust out the varnish!

A.A.

Under da Sea....

So I've started doing some mixed media art using crayons and acrylic paint.  I got the original idea from Pinterest (what a wonderful site!) and just keep adding onto it.  I've started putting them up at work and the kids keep asking about them...so.....I just keep adding onto them.  I like bright colours and the library needed some colour......So I just keep rolling with the punches so to speak.....

To create a piece similar to this all you need are crayons, acrylic paints, paintbrushes, a hot glue gun and glue sticks, matte varnish (optional), hairdryer, newspapers, canvas.

Here's how you do it!

1. Sketch out your design  on your canvas (if you want to draw any shapes, characters, etc.).
2. Get the crayons you want to use and position them where you want them to be (just to see how it looks before you glue them on and can't take them off!).
3. Once your are satisfied with how your canvas looks, glue your crayons onto the canvas.  I usually hold down each crayon for about 30 seconds just to make sure they are secure.  
4. Take your hairdryer and hold it over and on an angle pointing downwards over your crayons.  They will start to melt within seconds!  This is always the trickiest part (getting it to look how you want it to).  I switched it up a bit for this one...I melted crayons on the bottom and on the top, as well as pieces of some green crayons as my "seaweed" on the right-hand side.  *Before you do this step, make sure you place newspapers or a garbage bag underneath in case crayons splatter a bit*
5.  Paint your characters or shapes the way you wish.
6. Spray with varnish (optional).
7. Hang up!!!!

This one is the most recent one I've created.....I got really ambitious with this one!

A.A.

Fluttering Flowers

I have to admit when I found out my best friend had had a little girl (this was about a year and a half ago now!), all I could think was, "what can I make?!"  A friend of ours had made Strawberry Shortcake curtains for her nursery window, so I tried to think about what I could do using pinks, green, and white.  I was looking at a variety of DIY baby mobiles and came across one similar to the one I created below.  I did a few things differently (colours included), and was extremely excited when the mobile was held up over Natalie's head and she couldn't pull her eyes away from it!  It was so exciting to see that reaction!!!

Wondering what you need to create this mobile?  Not a lot!  All you need are some different coloured felt pieces, a needle and thread, yarn in your desired colour and 2 different sizes of craft rings.

How do I make this?  Easy!  Find or create a shape you want to use throughout your mobile. Trace and cut your shapes in a variety of sizes from your felt.  Sew the shapes together in the manner that you want them placed.  Once you have all of your shapes assembled, start by wrapping yarn around your two craft rings.  Make sure the craft rings are covered by the yarn (if you wanted to create an old fashioned or country-type feel, you don't even need yarn if the rings are wooden!).  Make sure you knot the ends well so that the yarn won't come unravelled.  Attach (with thread) your shapes to both rings at a variety of lengths.  I also decided to add some decor to the outside of the rings (in which case you'll need a hot glue gun).  Cut several large pieces of yarn so that you can use these to attach the middle ring to the large ring and create a type of "hook" where you can hang it to the ceiling for the baby to enjoy!

A.A.

Let's get this party started.....

I've been thinking of getting a Blog going for a few years.  In fact, I was forced to create one for a class in my first year of undergrad.  Needless to say I have no clue what happened to it.  I haven't come face to face with it in about 7 years now.  Clearly it wasn't significant enough.  I can't even remember what I had to Blog about.  So, I decided to start this Blog based on pure and utter passion.  I have many passions and several hobbies (Writing (song lyrics, poetry, etc.), Working out, Yoga, Makeup, Fashion, etc), but something I've always dabbled in (since I was a wee one) is Art and Crafts.  


Art has always been a creative outlet for me, and I have no clue what I would do without it in my life.  Ever since I was little my mom always had a cardboard box, also known as the "Craft Box" (aka "Heaven" for me) with all kinds of random parts and pieces to create with.  


The only Art classes I really took (other than the mandatory ones from Kindergarten to Grade 8) were in my Undergrad towards my Creative Photography diploma from Humber College.  Other than that, in other mediums, I've just sort of dabbled in experimentation, and taught myself as I've gone along.  I create in a variety of forms including: Mixed Media, Acrylics, Watercolours, Pastel, Ink, Charcoal, Digital, and more.  


So with that being said, I plan on using this Blog as my 21st Century canvas where I plan to share some of the creations I come up with.  


Enjoy!


A.A.