altered can and ATCs- lesson

my student and i started on our found object art....i choose a found old film can, and my student choose a wooden glove box. the other piece that i thought would be fun would be to make ATCs for our boxes.

 i managed to find my circle playing cards i purchased at a rummage sale which fit perfectly into my tin. we painted on yupo paper to make our ATCs. i wanted her to experience painting on yupo paper. it has the least amount of control for painting surfaces when compared to canvas or a wooden cradle, but, i felt it was important for her to understand what type of surface may work better for certain projects.

 my student agreed, that the yupo paper was definitely different to paint on due to the lack of control and unexpected reactions. on canvas you can remove paint to find the layer underneath, but, on yupo- you may wipe everything away and be back down to white.....but, in spite of this- my student has done an excellent job of adapting and produced wonderful ATCs for her box. these below are from Cora, my student.

wired up armature

my student and i have played hard over the long weekend to make some armature.....we had talked about the project and what needed to be accomplished and she choose to make a sea turtle. she used 16 gauge for the outer frame and followed up with 20 gauge to support her paper shell. she used watercolor to tint her tissue paper. once all the paper was on her frame, she used glimmer mist to tint the top of the turtle and then, followed up with the shell. for her shell, she used acrylic paint on thin brown paper and then, torn it into small pieces to attach to her turtle. check out her finished sea turtle below....

 i couldn't just stand by and watch....i needed to keep my fingers busy while we talked armature....so, i am working on a "doll" of sorts- or maybe a better word....a princess. my armature is her skirt and body. and then covered with watercolored tissue paper as well. i have not made up my mind on her arms yet....so for now, this princess has very underdeveloped arms.....

 i flattened an old tablespoon and had stamped this precious face onto tissue paper and then, attached to the spoon. i attached the spoon with wire to the body and then, finished the body up to the neck. her crown in on overpainted paper that i stamped with a crown stamp, and then, cut around. if you think the top portion of the crown seems shinier- it is....i used iridescent embossing powder on the top of the crown- cutting both a front and a back and then, finishing with jewels. her necklace is made from scraps of paper wrapped around wire and dipped in UTEE.

our next project that we have started is a found object box with ATCs on yupo paper....stay tuned.

student and teacher

meet the high school student- Cora.... a very talented young lady. who will be spending time with me for the next week and a half studying mixed media and collage. we set a fairly aggressive schedule of tasks we wanted to accomplish within our short time studying together; and i was a little worried after our first day. i forgot how long it takes for me to talk through something and demonstrate/ work at the same time- but, worried for nothing- as Cora picks up on things quickly- and has her own good art sense and personality.

 she has done a great job of making brave color choices- which i feel is paying off..... she has done some layering of paint and texture; and has a great start on this painting. i was glad to hear that she felt that this was not finished either....it has such great potential! i cannot wait to see what she ends up with!

 we spend our time discussing paint, ink, glues, and texture... layering paint, and how to move it or take it off. she has been an intent listener and taken notes that i hope will help her along her art journey later.

let class begin

my "class" began yesterday...we started in a must-have art journal and she had never done any sort of book binding- so we also made small notebooks. it is so amazing to me how quickly an hour and a half can go.....especially when you are having fun.

 this statement above really summed up our day yesterday.....

 we cut our paper to size- something easy to slip into a bag or a purse, folded the paper, and then, glued the paper folded edges together. our next step was to choose our "cover" paper. i was so glad to hear that she knew how to sew; however, she had never sewn on paper. so glad i could enlighten her to blend those two- paper and sewing! we used some wonderful scraps of paper from my studio, and of course, some stamping....with my favorite stamps. if you don't have your set....you need to add these to your studio.

once our cover was collaged, we took the first and last page and glued those down to the cover; folding the edge over onto the those pages. we will finish the inside off by gluing a cover sheet in to hide our edge. my student's notebook is the second photo and mine is this last one. i cannot wait to see what we create this next time.....

student's bird

IMG_2751, a photo by alteredstatesstudio on Flickr.

i had posted on monday a project reusing calendars....i liked mine so well that i called a high school student that had been wanting to  work with me on something. i liked the fact that i would show and explain the step and she was not afraid to make it her own. i thought she did a fabulous job! and when we were done, she still wanted to come and do something else with me- so that is cool!