New Work in Mixed Media Painting

What a winter - really feeling the cabin fever - I had a serious case of bronchitis followed immediately by gall bladder flare ups and then surgery - yuck.  That with the non - stop snow in Connecticut made for an awful winter - I cannot wait for spring. 

Since I haven't been able to get out much I did discover I was able to work on some small scale mixed media painting projects.  Normally I work in a large format - at least 14" x 16" or 20" x 20". 

One of the art centers where I teach Guilford Art Center in Guilford, CT  http://guilfordartcenter.org/

has a wonderful idea for a fundraiser called "The Art of the Cocktail". It features art the size of a cocktail napkin.  Arts center artists and teachers donate 6" x 6" sized art works for this fun evening fundraiser.  I had a great time working up these mini canvases for this fundraiser and then a good friend and fellow Wesleyan Potter  http://www.wesleyanpotters.com/

Contemplation ....gallery wrapped canvas 8x8 $275 available

 colleague Cheryl Tuttle came over with a box full of 8"x8" canvases for me to continue my in house painting explorations -                                         

No Fear..... 6" x 10"  $155

 

Fierce 6"x6" donated

 

 

6"x6"  Soul Beauty - donated

 

 

Angelic - 6"x6" - donated

 

Re-Claimed Copper Forged Metalwork Gritty Angels

I have a great friend who is a general contractor and an all around interesting guy - he knows I am an artist and love to make things out of anything so he brings me all sorts of interesting scrap materials.  When he found out I make copper jewelry and metal sculptures he started bringing me not only brand new scraps of beautiful copper but also reclaimed beaten up patinated copper ~ LOVE it....  These Angels are full of nail holes, patinated from being out in all weather, then the heat of the torch, hammered, textured, soldered, and rivited, some have re-claimed vintage spoon heads and prisma color details others old cookie tin hearts...Gritty Angels

Copper Assemblage Angels

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Patinated Copper Hoops with Garnet twinkles - ETSY Teaser - A sweet tutorial for you ....Part I


Here is a sweet tutorial for those of you beginners who want an easy basic beginning metal work project with a fabulous result. This will be posted in two parts.  My patinated copper hoops with garnet twinkles.  Enjoy! ~

Cut two 8 inch pieces of copper wire, I used 18 gauge but anything from 20 down to 14 would work.



Wrap the wire around a mandrel or other round object such as a dowel, that is the size of the hoop you want to make, and make two that are the same size.

flush cutter



Mark your hoops with a sharpie or other
permanant marker and cut with a flush cutter.  This tool cuts two flat edges and allows the parts to be soldered to line up nicely.

 

 

 

Apply flux to the joint, I am using paste flux here



Add a small amount of Easy Solder on top of the flux



 





Use a medium torch and heat until the solder flows and then quench in a bowl of water.






Soak hoops in a pickle pot with sparex solution to remove firescale and then brush with a brass brush and mild soap such as dish washing liquid



True your hoops on your mandrel or dowel so that they are round.
 





Forge with a hammer for a textured edge.

Here I am using a solution of water and liver of sulfer gel to give a patina to the newly cleaned copper.  In part 2 I will show how to add the beads, jump rings and earwires for the completed project.

~

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Book Review! Color Scheme Bible - Anna Starmen

THE COLOR SCHEME BIBLE- Inspirational plettes for designing home interiors.  Anna Starmen  

I LOVE this book and often use it for color inspirations.  It is not a visual artists book per se but rather intended for interior designers.  Do not let that deter you from buying this little handy gem.  It has loads of color combos that work in fabulous exciting ways to punch up your paintings and other art projects.  I have been using it a LOT lately in my mixed media portrait paintings and metal work prisma color pendants. 

 

Here are some images from the book so you can see how the color schemes are formatted.

Some of my prisma color designs waiting to be made into new pendants - so much fun to do and based on some of the inspirational color schemes in the "Bible".

Don't forget to follow my blog for a chance to win a pair of my Gritty Industrial Earrings - I am drawing names from my blog followers and my Facebook Page, if you are on both you will have 2x the chance of winning. I plan to continue to have monthly give-aways of goodies from my shop after my Etsy Shop - Bellamarcella1 re-launches later this month. So be sure to click and follow me here!

xox, Marcy

Why Do A Blog?

Why did I start blogging?  First of all I do like to write and it seems to clear my thoughts a little to get them all down on paper.  Second I am hoping to be more connected to the artistic community in a bigger way then just locally.  There is so much I love about the energy and dynamics of all the artists across the globe coming together in one place to share ideas and inspirations that I want to be a part of that.  Thirdly I think artists sometimes isolate because in order to do what we do, we need extra head space, thinking time and a place to be apart from general chaos in order to process our creative ideas. So when we do come together on the web or in real space it's an explosive kind of energy that happens with all the creative minds unleashing at once.  I think
that 's pretty cool!

 

 

Above are my Gritty Industrial Copper Enamel Earrings in pale blue.  I will be giving away a pair of these in a couple of weeks.  I will be drawing names from my blog followers and Facebook fan page so please be sure to follow me here and like me on facebook!