findlay market

My first time going to findlay market was amazing! I loved all of the food, people, and stores. So I decided to take some pictures and I am going to share them all with you!!! So enjoy...

 

 

how to.... reuse magazines!!!

My family and I are all packrats. My aunt had a ton of magazines that she gave me. Magazines are good for collages but I don't make a lot of them. So now I have a ton of magazines and what in the world do I do with them!

So I researched what I could do with them and found a lot of different things, but I decided to make a picture frame.. Here I will show you how to make a sweet picture frame with old magazines!!

First start with a pile of magazines.. Rip out pages that you think are colorful all over or whatever. And then trim the ripped side.

Next cut the magazines into strips.. I cut mine into inch strips but you can do whatever depending on how thick you want the frame.

For the next part, you can do two things.. I cut the strips in half because I didn't want the rolls to be super thick (plus I was just experimenting). You could also just use the entire strip for a thicker roll. After you do either one, you roll the magazine really tight. Then tape the end.

After you have done a lot of these its time to put them together! I bet there is a more sturdy way but here's the way I did it.. I wanted a 5x7" rectangle so I added and inch on each side for the frame (7x9"). Then I cut that size out in mat board so the middle was 5x7" and the outside was 7x9".

After my mat board was cut I started gluing the rolled up magazines on to the mat board. I used Mod Podge. The problem with my method is that the frame was a little flimsy. But I really liked how it turned out.. Good luck making yours!!!

food painting progress

So I have posted some food painting progress pictures but I want to put them all together.. so first is the magazine and then after that are pictures of the progress I have made...

 

 My finished food painting!!

let's go to the circus!

Last night I went to an opening exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It was all about circus posters made by Strobridge Lithographing Company. I thought this was interesting because the Strobridge Lithographing Company was based in Cincinnati and all of the posters in the exhibit were made by them.Also I found out that the Cincinnati Art Museum owns all of these posters and were kept in the back.

At the opening, there were circus performers, music, food, and games. I thought it was put together great! It was very interacting and fun, also there were nachos!! Free food is always a great way to get people to come to an exhibit.. or at least me ha.

The exhibit was also really well done! I loved how they connected the old poster with the walls. On the outside walls, the posters were just on a painted wall, but in the center, the walls were different. They looked like wooden crates or something, which I thought was really clever. I liked how they tied everything to the circus.

The posters I really liked, however if it not in poster form I would probably not enjoy it as much. I liked the old feeling of the prints. I have taken some printmaking classes and my family owns a printing press so I have been around printing my whole life! But I also really like the look that a print makes.

If you are interested in seeing this exhibit, you can (if you leave near Cincinnati). I think that the exhibit is free for the public now, but parking isn't. I definitely recommend it!!!

amazing person!!

One of my good friends, Leanne Cacchiotti, just changed her entire theme throughout art!! Which I thought was incredibly bold!! At first her idea was connecting nature and love. She also connected her family with nature. However she changed her idea because she thought it was too cliche...

So now she is doing sound!! I can't wait to see how her screen printing idea goes! She wants to take different atmospheres like the classroom, driving in her car, at home, silence and more that she experiences and turn them into art. After listening to her idea I think its going to be really cool!! To read more about her and how her idea turns out, check out her blog... http://leannecacchiotti.blogspot.com/

new inspiration!

As I was stumbling, I stumbleuponed a really cool photographer!! I really like how he transforms everyday objects. Also his pictures are so simple and I personally really like black and white film better than color. His name is Chema Madoz and here are some of my favorites of his... ENJOY!!

You can also check out his website.. chema madoz

recent paintings!!

So there are 2 weeks left and I have all started and two officially finished!!! (one is almost done!) My food painting is coming along so here are updates of my paintings!!

 My food painting is kind of coming along!! The sesame seeds are killing me!! I avoid them..

This painting is chicken pox! Actually its the virus that causes chicken pox. I had chicken pox when I was really little and from what I remember it was annoying and irritating! So I painted it that way.. Instead of painting like usual, I painted with a small(ish) brush and used the method of pointillism! Its just painting a bunch of dots.

My almost finished painting is not on my blog yet but once its ready I will post it!!!

CS13

From one of my classes we had to post something that is about anything that is about art, like scholarships, jobs, or graduate schools. Along with sharing these with the class we also had to look into one. This is how I found out about CS13.

CS13 is a gallery located in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati. If you aren't fimilar with Cincinnati, it's not such a good area to be at but it is the oldest part of the city. It really is a shame that a lot of people avoid it because the area is filled with historical buildings and art centers including CS13.

If you want to check out their myspace page here is the link...

CS13 Myspace page

Or their facebook page..

CS13 Facebook page

Or here's their website!

CS13 Website

From what I saw, some of the posters on their myspace page looked really cool! I hope to visit the gallery so I can see more!

how to cradle a wooden panel..

To cradle a wooden panel I referred to a video created by a professor. Here's the links..

Link 1 

Link 2

Link 3 

Link 4 

But when I was creating my wooden panel, I wish there were instructions that I could have printed out so I wouldn't damage my computer.. So I will tell you step by step what I did...

1. Buy the wood! I went to Lowe's and bought what the video told me to only in the size I needed of course.. I bought quarter inch Luwan and 1x2" select pine. (FYI go in there like you know what you are buying or else the Lowe's people will try to sell you stuff you don't want). Make sure you buy extra 1x2" so you can make supports out of them.

2. Get everything ready! Cut the 1x2" the size you want with a miter saw (45°). My dad didn't have a regular one so we used a miter box which is the same except you use it with a hand held saw instead of electric. 

3. Start nailing! Once the 1x2"s are cut and ready to go nail them together. The way the man did in the video was really helpful because I didn't have a nail gun. 

4. Make some supports! Even canvases need supports or else the canvas will end up breaking. In this case, the wood could end up warping. For the supports, they don't need to be an exact size just make sure they aren't super small or else they won't work. Cut your extra 1x2"s with the miter saw. For my 23x30" panel I just used 10" supports. Once the supports are ready glue them to the frame part and staple them for an extra grip.

5. Attach it all together! Its time to glue the back to the panel.. The way he did was really helpful. Put the back on the panel, line it up, then trace along the sides. Fill what you traced with wood glue and attach the back to the panel. Make sure you clamp it together. In my case, I didn't have enough clamps so I used a bunch of objects...

There's the miter box we used in the middle. Clamps would probably be better to use..

There's a picture of my wiener dog!! Here's a close up of the supports that I made.

 6. Extra hold! Next in the video, the professor uses some sort of drill bit to drill a hole in but also takes out some of the surface so you don't have a notch on your painting. However, My dad didn't have that so we used a bigger drill bit to take some of the surface out and a smaller one to put the screw in. Then afterwards I filled up the hole with wood filler. 

7. Final step!! To prepare my panel to paint on, I covered it with gesso. First I painted all over with gesso going horizontal and vertical strokes. Then I sanded the gesso just a little bit! Don't go sanding crazy!! Then I reapplied gesso. You can sand that layer too but don't go crazy with it again! Here is my panel waiting to dry..

Now my panel is ready to be painted on!!! Here is my food painting so far..

And what its supposed to be..

If I were to do some things differently I would definitely use a real miter saw. The miter box worked but it wasn't exactly precise so my corners are kinda funny. I would also have waited longer to drill the hole in. I think the glue on mine wasn't completely dry and the panel moved from the back a little bit. 

Otherwise I think that a wooden panel is a great alternative to a canvas! Its really durable and fun to make!! Good luck making yours!!

researching...

My researching activities aren't really complex. When I need an idea for a new project, it does take me a long time. But I don't usually research things for ideas. I just do whatever comes to my head first, whether its something really awesome or something really stupid..

But when I do research ideas I usually use google. I love google. I find anything with google!! If I need inspiration, I use stumbleupon. I love stumbleupon almost as much as I love google! For those of you who don't know about stumbleupon, I feel so bad for you! Stumbleupon is not only a great procrastinating tool but it is also really helpful for artists to get their art out there! That is how I found Mike Mitchell who I posted about in one of my earlier posts, who was helpful for my screenprinting project.

Other ways I research is going to the library! DAAP has a really good library. I never have any idea of what books I want to look at but say I want to see some painters. I will just go upstairs and look in the painting section. I find whatever I am looking for.

Other than that I don't do a whole lot of researching.. I should but of [sigh] I'm rather lazy...

my technical processs..

For my painting class we have to make either a digitally altered painting or a photo realistic painting. I thought that the digitally altered would be interesting and fun! So I tried to use some interesting techniques...

First I took this photo from Photobooth and put it in Photoshop to change a few things. Here's the picture before a cropped and changed it to black..

  and after I changed it...

Then I had to figure out how to paint it. I tried some studies and found the best technique! First I painted my piece of paper with black acrylic paint (so it would dry faster). Then I decided to use a grid because I didn't want to mess up the placement.

After I maped out everything I used white acrylic paint for the bottom layer. Once I had my white face and hand in I started the color!

Using a window screen and paint brush I dabbed the paint in the right spots. Here is my painting in process with the picture...

Once I got over my fear of doing my nose and mouth I finally finished my first painting!!! Here is it finished and with a close up of the "pixels"..

creative influences

For my recent screen printing project, there has been three influences that helped me fully develop my idea. My idea started with a collage of guns to create something that represented the complete opposite of what guns represent.

Jill Gallenstein influenced the first idea. I was inspired by her drawings and how she places her circular forms. Her drawings are so delicate and intricate. More about Jill Gallenstein

 

Here is my design...

Her work is more complex than mine but after discussing my idea with my teacher, I found that my design resembles snowflakes. 

Another artist that I found using stumbleupon.com is Mike Mitchell. He works with making patterns and other illustrations. Most of his work is ironic and some made me think how I could change my design. More about Mike Mitchell

 

Here is my design...

Like Mike Mitchell's work I tried to be ironic. The olive branch represents peace and my design is filled with guns and grenades.. However I was unhappy with the end and the colors... too christmas-y

My last influence was from going to DAAP's library and checking out the book Wallpaper Patterns. This was very helpful! There were so many different designs in that book and many of them extremely creative!!

 

Here is my final design....

There were a couple of circular designs that helped me come up with this idea but not overlapping like mine.

Finally after coming up with many options I decided on my design to print... Now hopefully everything goes well printing!