Mr. Fox

Today I spent some time this afternoon getting caught up on taking some more photos of my animal wall hangings.  I previously took quite a few photos only to find after that the lighting wasn’t that good.  Now that I have some new photos I will be gradually adding some wall hangings to my website.  Today’s offering is Mr. Fox.  He is made with paper mache and paper clay and is painted with acrylics.  If you are interested you can find him here at my website.

A Day for Paper Mache

For the past couple of days the weather has been unseasonably mild.  Today it was 23 degrees Celsius which is crazy for Canada in November!  With the weather being so warm it was perfect for working on paper mache projects.  I have several that have been in the works for quite a while and today I made some progress on a couple of them.  Prior to this picture both of the sculptures were built up using newspaper and tape to form the body.  The next step was to add a couple of layers of paper strips and glue to give the body some stability.  At the current stage I am adding some paper mache clay over top to further solidify the sculpture and to provide the added extra details.  For the paper mache clay I am using Jonni Good’s recipe which she shares at her website www.ultimatepapermache.com.  It is an absolutely fantastic site and I can’t say enough good things about it.

You can see from the photo below that I still have a fair amount of the crow to cover with the clay.  The cat however is pretty much done with the clay and after it has dried I will check it out and see if it is ready for the next stage, which is painting.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before I have another update on these two creatures!

White Cat Under the Moon

There is something so lovely about a white cat!  Personally I find they give an impression of sweetness and peace.  For this reason I really enjoy painting them and I find I often want to place them in scenes that are calm and tranquil.  With this particular painting, my white cat ended up outside under a soothing night sky with a lovely moon and twinkling stars.  I completed this painting with acrylic paint on watercolour paper.  It measures 4 x 6 inches, a perfect size to put into a photo frame.  You can find it in the shop on my website here.

Moon Perch

I have recently finished an overhaul of my website and have been adding in a few more items to my online store.  Today I added this little guy to the shop.  This painting features a sweet turquoise bird that has found a new perch that is just perfect for staring at the moon.  It is titled Moon Perch, has been painted with acrylic on paper and measures 4.5 x 4.5 inches.

You can find him in my website store here or in my Etsy store.

Etsy Made in Canada

With Fall nearly upon us it is almost time for Etsy’s Made in Canada event.  Once again I will be participating in this event at the Chatham, Ontario location.  This year I will have a selection of matted prints, mini framed prints, original paintings and my fun animal wall hangings.  Last year the weather was perfect and it was a great event.  I’m looking forward to another fun experience this year!  To learn more about the event and to see location details you can visit the Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/611058522364753/

Website Finally Completed!

I am happy to report that at long last my website is up and running!  It took so much longer than I thought it would to get completed but I am really pleased that it is finished.  You can see my newer work and check out some of my old favourites in the archive section.  It also contains an online store with lots of animal prints (and other stuff!).  Come check it out at:

www.spiralforeststudio.com

Etsy Made in Canada Finally Arrives

I took part in the Etsy Made in Canada event this past weekend in Chatham, Ontario.  It was a really great day!  The weather was perfect, there were lots of people and everything went really smoothly.  I’d like to thank the event organizers, volunteers, fellow participants and of course all the people who purchased my art!  Here is a photo of my booth:

 

Etsy Made in Canada

I’ve been very quiet on my blog and facebook page lately but it isn’t for a lack of creative happenings.  I am going to be participating in Etsy’s Made in Canada event which is happening on September 27 at various locations throughout Canada.  I will have a booth at the Chatham, Ontario location.  Consequently, I have been very busy producing lots of new art for the event.  It looks like it will be a really fun and exciting day!  You can find out more about the event by visiting:  https://www.etsy.com/ca/madeincanada

 

Cats with Attitude Trio

I recently finished painting these three paintings of cats with attitude.  I’m sure that most cat owners can relate to the idea that our cats will sometimes (or often depending on your cat) give us attitude.  Some of the common reasons why our cats give us attitude include not getting up early enough to feed them, not doling out enough treats, leaving for the day and arriving home way after dinner time (like an hour), accidentally blocking their favourite napping place with some type of item, not allowing them to hang out on the kitchen counters, etc.  As an owner it can be difficult to keep up with our felines’ demanding preferences.  At this point I’m not sure that there is any sort of cure for this affliction except to seek out fellow cat owners for sharing and sympathy.  I decided I would immerse myself in creating some paintings of cats with attitude to comfort myself that there are others out there who too suffer with the occasional bout of cattitude.

Each of the paintings have been completed with acrylic on masonite ( pressed wood panel) and measure 3.5 x 3.5 inches.  They are available for purchase in my etsy shop.

 

 

 

 

Fun with Lino Prints

Many years ago I bought a bunch of supplies for linoleum printing which I never got around to using.  Recently I was browsing through a mixed media art book which had a project using lino to make some basic block prints.  It looked pretty neat and I have always loved the look of lino prints so I decided to give it a go.  I figured that for my first attempts I should stick to a very basic design so that I would not get too frustrated (major problem for me!) and give up.  So I sketched out a cute bird design, transferred it and began carving away.  For whatever reason all those years ago I decided to purchase the Speedball linozips cutter which is their “safety” cutter.  Unlike Speedball’s regular cutter which you use by cutting away from yourself the Linozips are different blades and you actually cut towards yourself.  The blades are sort of curved inwards which I guess is meant to make them safer.  I found this cutter difficult to work with and it showed.  My carving looked pretty bad and I had a terrible time getting detail.  Fortunately I was already hooked on working on my little project so I was determined to continue….after I bought the regular Speedball linocutter.

When I bought the new cutter I also indulged and got some more types of lino to carve.  Now that I had the regular cutters I found that I was able to carve much better than previously so I redid my bird design and tried to salvage my other ones (somewhat successfully).  Overall I really enjoyed myself and it is a lot of fun to see my design take shape and then to see the final print was pretty exciting.  I found it to be addictive and can see myself doing more lino prints and stamps.  Here are a couple of photos of my activities: