positive words for inspiration cards

it is funny to me how my confidence of what i create can wax and wane....usually, i am able to keep this protected and just be happy, but, this morning for whatever reason i am feeling very vulnerable.

i will be mailing these inspirational cards out this morning to my swap partners, but, apparently needed to see the words for myself.

 i was really pleased yesterday working in the studio at how i was able to create my cards so quickly and was able to pull words from my favorite book so easily yesterday.

and so this monday morning, i will remind myself to keep my head up and continue to be brave......

eliza's game

blog surfing this morning found me on Kasia's blog this morning and her photo mosaic looked like so much fun....i had to give it a try. she was a playing a game from her friend Eliza on flickr.

So let me quote Eliza's rules:

The Game - concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions: (my answers)

1. What is your first name? (Kristin) 

2. What is your favorite food? (fruit) 

3. What high school did you go to? (Aberdeen Central High School) 

4. What is your favorite color? (purple) 

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Ryan Reynolds)

6. Favorite drink? (coffee) 

7. Dream vacation? (tropical) 

8. Favorite dessert? (apple pie) 

9. What you want to be when you grow up? (an artist)

10. What do you love most in life? (creativity)

11. One Word to describe you. (happy) 

12. Your flickr name (AlteredStatesStudio) 

happy sunday....

paper stackin' to be published....

i have had a looming deadline for a publication and finished the work last night. feeling good about this paper stack.....

happy wednesday......

thoughtful painter.....a humbling experience

this past week i attended a realistic watercolor class....now, if you follow my blog regularly or if you are new and are simply looking around- you will notice that realistic and watercolor are certainly not words that are found here very often. so this week was a very humbling experience for me...reminding me that was much as i think i know about art- there is always more to learn.

so as an artist, i should be able to learn key concepts from any good artist of any media. i was happy to join in this class last minute. our instructor was Andy Evansen.

he was an excellent teacher and re-enforced his concepts all week. he was a very "thoughtful" painter- always thinking ahead of what his next move is and what he is working towards...mixing his paint and working through his painting. his concepts for the week:

1. do your value paintings- to work through light and dark issues ahead of time
2. paint big shape- do not get caught up in the details; always paint big to small
3. connect those shapes- your middle value should be one big, main shape and should provide a visual pathway through your painting

here were some of my value paintings and lessons for the week....

and here was me trying to blend my colors and let them wash together to help with the shape connections in my paintings.

somewhere along this week's journey, my mind goes back to concepts that i find comfort in and i revert back to what i know or like to do, but, i did incorporate some of these new concepts in this painting.

Featured artist

I have a great opportunity of being the featured artist over at http://www.melaniestatnickart.com/#!featured-artist/c1f13

Rabbit Hole Art: Art by Melanie Statnick

She had some great questions for me that allowed me to give good insight into how I work and who has impacted the way I create. Stop over there and check it out!

Thank you Melanie for this opportunity!

One Little Word- Light

our word for the month of June is "light." i gave a sneak peek earlier with this photo....i loved the texture left behind from the white ink i used to diffuse the bright colors.

this is a full view of my painting below. i used gesso, acrylic paints and inks to create my background and then used some ephemera and book words to pull in our theme.

with all of the colors and the textured, white wash "into the light, she would be happy...." yes she would be happy.

have wings....

i had started a painting on a cigar box....and it gave me fits. so after many, and i do mean many.... layers of paint, this box found its' wings.....

yep...this white owl had found its' wings......happy saturday.

one little word sneak peek

i worked in my studio on sunday, but, definitely felt like my mojo had left and was worried because i had a project due today. have you ever lost your mojo? how do you find it again....any tricks or tips?

i cautiously walked down to my studio last night worried that i had not left enough time for myself for this project if indeed my mojo was still gone.....but, i reminded myself that if i didn't like what was on the paper- i simply needed to add more paint- more layers- more paper.....

i immerse myself and worked how i would normally work and did not worry about exactly what was going on on my paper; and painted some with my fingers...which always brings a smile to my face.

and slowly, my page came to life and happiness returned. my one little word sneak peek is here....

on sunday i will post my whole project so be sure to stop back and take a look. happy wednesday!

wire & wax

do you sometimes have an overwhelming idea that must be created? i kept thinking of wax; and tissue paper, and wire.....

so yesterday i got to play in the studio for a bit and had to try this idea that was haunting me. i had tissue paper that had paint and ink on it. i cut my wire and made my circle carefully gluing my tissue paper onto the wire. i have colored encaustic wax and scraped it off onto my paper to add additional color with the red and lime green. then, i used regular bee's wax to add texture.

this was my second one. i used a finer wire to wrap around my initial wire to provide an unusual shape and hold the paper. i hand sewed around this one along the edge leaving my stitches loose. i really like the drips and runs of wax on this one- love how it caught on the thread and the softer colors.

i love the view of this one- you can see the bubbles of wax clinging to the edges and where they came to dry.

a handful of ATCs

i was recently in an ATC swap. our goal was to create 12 inspirational cards to trade. i should know myself better by now....so i started out painting and and working really hard on my cards and by the time i had gotten to my last few cards i was finding that less was more and really liked my last few.

here are some of my ATCs.....i stitched on all of my cards and added snips of fabric or lace to the last couple of cards. those last 2 were the end cards and probably my favorite. i like the worn look and the actual card face showing through.

mini books plus a video

i had gone to a work conference this past week and had an evening with nothing to do....so, i ventured out to the smallest Walmart i have seen and bought supplies. i decided that i would try to truly limit myself and only spend the smallest amount possible (mainly because i have a fully supplied studio at home) but, get what i needed to make a mini book. i spent less than $6 to get my supplies.

i bought:

• plain note cards 3"x5"
• a little note book 3"x5"
• small sewing kit with tiny scissors
• watercolor palette
• 2 pack glue sticks

here is my first mini book that i made that evening using only items i bought that night at Walmart to make this mini book- including the watercolor palette.

when i got home- it was so much fun making that one, that i thought i should make another one and try making video to go along with it explaining my supplies. check out my video here.

here is my second mini book i made.

Adirondack chair

my big girl job during the day is working at the local hospital. my facility does a lot of fund raising for Children's Miracle Network. we did adirondack chairs last year, but, i painted the chair for my department i am in charge of. this year- i painted it for myself.

when i was asked to paint a chair again- how could i say no?!.....especially when i get to be creative and do some painting?

 i knew that i wanted this year's chair to be pink and my overall theme would be dream. i still love the American Family Insurance #longlivedreams poem....love it and wanted to use that poem.

the piece under the longlivedreams shows how my "wash" of the chair looks- i did a hot pink "wash" on the chair pieces that are more support pieces of the chair. i only really painted the arm rests, the chair back and the 5 seat pieces. in retrospect- i maybe should have painted the 2 other "seat" pieces.....but, at this point it is, what it is.....

i wrote the poem down and put it on the seat of the chair.   i also sanded the edges of the those pieces i really painted- can't have anything looking too perfectly painted....not my style. i like everything to look a little worn and loved. when i was completely finished, i varnished all of the pieces and let them dry hard.

and then, here is how my whole chair finished up looking....now i just hope someone in our community loves my chair enough to want to spend their money and buy it.

i am so thankful my husband is handy....he put the whole thing together for me in the garage! which is no small feat!