"Squares" Mixed Media Piece

I completed my first large canvas! It's 24 x 36. It has layers and layers of collage and acrylic texture medium and acrylic paint.

To download a PDF of the complete process of making this piece, go here.

Nature Prints

I've had a ball playing with nature prints lately in anticipation of teaching a nature journal class with Melissa in August.

These are done by laying leaves on dark paper and spraying with diluted bleach:





These are done the same way, but spraying paint instead of bleach and moving the leaves and then spraying again with another color:









And these are also done by spraying paint, but onto coffee filters:








And these are done by taking the leaves with the paint on them off the paper or coffee filters and pressing them onto another piece of paper, or in some cases I laid the new paper on top of the sprayed leaves and filters, then pressed it down.







And these I think are the coolest. They are flower poundings. You take flowers and leaves and lay them on the paper, cover with waxed paper, and gently tap with a hammer to transfer the pigment from the flowers to the paper!







After they were dry, I sprayed them all with acrylic spray to seal them, so I can use them in altered books and collage. I will do this kind of thing MORE!

Nancy's Gourmet Calendar

My calendar for May had the theme of "gourmet," and the owner asked us to think about how we are gourmets in all aspects of our lives. Of course, I had a hard time getting past FOOD! That's partly because of the photos in the calendar, which I used as my starting point for all of the spreads.

Here are my pages:




(this is a wonderful summer recipe!)