Monday, February 29, 2016

Field Notes from CHA


Sending out thanks to Maria Del Pinto from Craft Critique for her wonderful write-up and review of my new product line from Spellbinders. She visited my booth at CHA with her camera and captured the video below. Press play to get a flavor of the collection and to hear my thoughts about it.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Week Links: 91

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 91...


1. These Machine Mad days. Have you seen this vintage wallpaper-making video going around?


2. Did you know that MoMA has launched a free (as long as you do not want a certificate), online photography class?


3. Want to know how Gwen Lafleur made this stunning reliquary? Follow along step-by-step here.


4. 16 designers share their favorite notebooks.


5. Top 10 art journaling tools from Somerset Place. Thrilled that my stamp line is included.


6. 10 artists who contemporize the ancient craft of embroidery, including Izziyana Suhaimi.


7. Came across two older blog posts (1 and 2) highlighting the work of Miroslav Tichy, a Czech photographer that took surreptitious photos using cameras handmade from found objects. Love his photos but love his cameras even more.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Top 10 Art Journaling Tools


So very appreciative to have my Impression Obsession stamps included as 1 of the top 10 art journaling tools in this post on Somerset Place, the blog for Stampington & Company. 


To say that I am in some good company on this list is an understatement. Check it out and see how many items on their list are also on yours!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Lost and Found

Yesterday I posted about the release of a new book from Roxanne Evans Stout: Storytelling with Collage: Techniques for Layering, Color and Texture

Roxanne invited a number of guest artists to create artwork and share their stories. I am so pleased to have been asked to be part of this wonderful book and to have contributed Lost and Found.

Lost and Found

As I walk through the world, I am always on the lookout for the lost. 


I seek objects with a history that have been discarded.


Every find is a true treasure that makes my heart beat just a bit faster.


Each object comes with its own history that will now continue rather than end.


All the pieces await their turn, at the ready for the time when they are needed to complete an artwork. Sometimes that is immediate but most times, the wait is long.


The objects don't seem to mind.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Storytelling

There is a new book in town. 

I am so happy for Roxanne Evans Stout whose first book has just been released by North Light Books. Storytelling with Collage is a special book that brings Roxanne's unique sense of creative style to life. Roxanne is well known for staging and photographing her own signature and stunning vignettes and this book is filled with these inspirational and educational images. 

Taking the definition of collage way beyond what is typically found in a single book, individual chapters cover collaging with textured papers, fabric, stitching, found objects, photos and images, nature, color, wax and metal. Threaded throughout the book are inspirational artist stories, step-by-step projects, sidebar notes, and tasks to complete. Gorgeous imagery is everywhere.

Congratulations Roxanne, on a book to inspire.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

The Week Links: 90

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 90...


1. Shared this one before but it is worth a second take: Where They Create shares images of the studio spaces of creatives along with short interviews. I can't get enough of these.


2. In love with everything about this artwork from Jenny Marples. And she even shares details of how she made it.


3.  Are you a Spiritualist, Gardener, Collector or Explorer? Find out by downloading the Sandberg Trend Report.


4. Sign up now to be able to receive a free copy of a new eBook, Around the World With 80 Artists, coming to Amazon on April 15.


5. Here is a video primer on PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics -- my go-to paints, especially for art journaling. Get a load of these colors...



6. Always inspired by the work that Rae Missigman posts on her Instagram feed.



7. The Pulse is back and I want you to be a part of it. Read the call for participants here.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Photo Op

I had the pleasure of teaching my Photo Op workshop last night at Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, Virginia. This class is old school - all about taking our photos out of our phones and altering them by hand rather than with apps.


The room was overflowing with creativity and it spilled all over every single altered photo. Each picture did speak a thousand words, as can be seen in these details...








Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Reviving the Pulse


If you have been a long time follower of my blog, you might remember The Pulse. If you are a relative newcomer...keep on reading.

Between 2008 and 2013, I hosted an online collaboration called The Pulse where I posed questions to creatives and posted their answers on my blog. At its peak, there were more than 150 participants. There were 5 online versions and the project was the basis for my two books.

Like everything else on the Internet, things live forever. All the responses are still posted and links can be found on my blog -- scroll down towards the bottom of the sidebar and plan to stay awhile.

With the decline of long form blogging in recent years, I have thought long and hard about ways to bring traditional blogs back to life. The most basic answer in my mind is to provide must-see content. With that in mind, it feels like the right time to bring back The Pulse to life.

With very limited time on my hands though, I am going to start small with one question:


What is the one technique or tool that you cannot live without?

If you would like to be a participant, please email me (shap97@gmail.com) the following:

1. Your response (which I might need to edit to keep all answers relatively consistent in length)
2. ONE photo that somehow relates to your answer
3. A link to ONE of your online sites

In the post, I may also be adding a link of my own choosing - could be to a video, a tutorial, a product, a piece of art, another post, or something unexpected. The participant will not know what the link is until my post goes live.

If you want to play, please email me the requested info by March 1. If there is a big enough response, there will be rolling submissions until the well runs dry.

Please help to spread the word and let's get this party started!

Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Week Links: 89

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 89...

1. Cyanotypes: making a comeback.


2. A tour through the Farrow & Ball factory via Decor8.



3. Very excited to see Warhol by the Book, an exhibition at the Morgan Library in NYC that highlights Andy Warhol's career as a book artist.



4. I love type. I love ceramics. I love that combination in the work of Laura C. Hewitt, first seen in in this post on Colossal.


5. In advance of his exhibition opening May 6 at Matthew Marks Gallery in NYC, Jasper Johns shares the process behind his monotypes.


6. The history of photography in five minutes.



7. What it really costs to run an art gallery - from the New York Observer.


Friday, February 12, 2016

Scrap n' Art Giveaway


I am so very pleased to have my line of rubber stamps from Impression Obsession featured in the February issue of Scrap n' Art Magazine. This online publication focuses on paper crafting, traditional and digital scrapbooking, and card making.


Different stamps from my collection at Impression Obsession were provided to their design team and the results, along with full supply lists and creative tips, are being presented in the current issue of the magazine. 

Here are just a few of the projects...

 Terre Fry

 Teresa Horner

 Lynda Lindley

 Kathy Adams

Normally there is a charge to access the monthly magazines. But Scrap n' Art has provided a code so that I can giveaway to all my readers a complimentary one year subscription. Head over to the site to subscribe and enter the code snarocks. 

While you are there, check out the entire feature, read more about Impression Obsession, and click on the interview that I had with the Scrap n' Art crew. 

AND head to this Facebook post to enter their giveaway for a piece of my original art that features my Impression Obsession stamps.