Art Smorgasbord - My Creative Escapades

Being in the full swing of Summer, I've been very busy working around the house.  However, I always find time for my daily creative escapades.  They're so much fun!

The tag above was inspired by Tim Holtz's Americana Woodlands post, where he transformed his woodland trees.  I translated the concept into my original tag design.  I cut a tag from a K&Company Americana striped print using a die and then distressed it.  Next, I glued terminology tissue wrap to grungeboard and used a die to cut a pine tree.  I divided the tree into 3 diagonal stripes by distressing the opposite ends with red and blue.  I covered the foliage area with star dust stickles to add some texture.  Next, I hand lettered the text and sketched the miniature landscape on a scrap of cardstock, which I also distressed.  I stapled it to the tag and tied some baker's twine with a button to the bottom portion.  I attached the tree using foam dots, as well as a game piece and a bottle cap decorated with a circular USA Flag design.  I added some coordinating distressed ribbons as ties.  I am submitting this piece to Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Stripes, Three Muses Challenge - Numbers, and Diana Evans' 10 Minute Warm Up.

The patriotic assemblage above began with the free hand paper cut of the beach tents.  Since I won't get to sit at a sunny beach and read this Summer, I can at least reminisce about it - LOL!  When I saw Tim's Patriotic Rosette Ribbons, I decided to design one of my own to place in my assemblage.  However, I used a Martha Stewart scoring board and Fiskars pinking shears to make mine.  I did use the tissue tape and tinsel twine, but I combined it with K&Company Americana prints and did not do any stitching.  I cut the center piece with the mini bottle cap die - the glittered star was store bought.  Finally, I arranged the latter two pieces along with some old USA stamps to make the assemblage.  I am submitting this piece to Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes, Crazy Amigo Challenge: Sun, and Manon Visser's Paper Saturdays.

I designed the Church stained glass window tag above for my Tag Tuesday: Letter Y post this week.  My inspiration came from the phrase "young ones," which is sometimes used to refer to children.  The  drawing is based on Matthew 19:14, which reads  - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  I used the same techniques as in the letter X tag that I made last week.  (By the way, this drawing and the one I used last week came from some doodles I did in my art journal back in 2001.)  I am also submitting this tag to Jennifer McLean's Artist's Playroom #63 - Go Doodle and Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #86.

Since I used Tim Holtz dies in the 3 previous projects, I decided to compose a photographic montage showing how I store them.  I stack two vintage bicycle baskets, a shallow one and a deep one, as you can see in the upper left hand shot.  The top tray has my repositionable magnetic dies, a small wire basket with embossing folders, and some of my Bigz dies.  (My family's new kitten jumped in the top basket when I was playing around with arrangements, so I took the picture in the upper right hand corner.  LOL!)  In the bottom basket I have the rest of my Bigz dies.  I am submitting this photograph to Julia Dunnit's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 212, Jen Price's In The Studio, and Inspire Me Monday - Week 78.

The last three photographs are of other creative endeavors I've been working on.  The office supply collection is a photographic composition I did for 52 Photos Project: Gallery 10 {Neon Color}, Maria Cochino's Orange You Glad It's Friday #44, and Lorik's Mandarin Orange Monday #48.  I had fun looking around my studio for items I could incorporate into the composition and then adjusting it digitally.  The grilled portabella mushrooms and onions is of one of the dishes I've made this summer.  I placed them in a bun with slices of swiss cheese, tomatoes, and avocado to make nutritious vegetarian burgers!  It brings me true happiness to cook for my family, but don't get to do it much during the school year.  I am submitting this photograph to Collage Obsession: You, Sarah Evan's Inspire, and Take a Word Challenge - True Happiness.  Last, but not least, is a 14"x18" acrylic icon of "Joseph with the Child Jesus" that I'm currently writing.  I love the reflective and prayerful process of working on this type of pieces.  As an artist, the intricate highlights and shadows in their robes can be very engrossing too.  I am submitting this work in progress to Inspiration Avenue: Outfits for all Occasions, Paint Party Friday Week 16/Year 3, and Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

I hope you enjoyed my creative escapades as much as I did.  I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave words of encouragement during my last two posts, as well as those who chose to follow me.  Blessings!

Carmen

Olá - Hello!  I just did my regular mid-week Art Smorgasbord post here.  However, since I'm on vacation, I decided to do a quick and short post this weekend.

Lately, I've been inspired to work on fashion illustrations, so here's another page from my art journal featuring one.  It was specifically inspired by a photograph I found online of the late Carmen Miranda, the Portuguese-born Brazilian actress, singer and dancer from the 1940's and 50's.  I began by quickly sketching her in pencil, and then proceeded to stamp the background with a Martha Stewart polka dot pattern.  Next, I finished the sketch and added the quote using Sharpie micron pens.  I also wrote the title using a Sharpie poster marker.  I hand cut the spray of fruit out of DCWV textured adhesive cardstock and Post-It adhesive craft paper.  I added details using the micron pens, Prismacolor pencils, and the poster marker.  I am submitting this art journal page to Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Summer Fruits, The Play Date Cafe Challenge #187 - Orange Zest/Chartreuse/Jade, and Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

Hope you enjoyed this quick post, but please don't forget to visit my previous one.  I sure had a blast working on the two.  In closing, in what may have been the words of Carmen Miranda based on her quote, "Abracos - Hugs!"

An Artful Life

Living an artful life is something I've enjoyed ever since I can remember.  My love for art was nurtured by my parents who exposed me to museums, various types of fine art classes, art materials and books throughout my upbringing.  Therefore, I've enjoyed sharing my artful life with family, friends, and now through the joys of blogging.

The first piece I'm sharing today is a birthday card I made for my oldest daughter.  I was inspired by the paper bag fold tutorial by my friend Karen Letchworth, but added my own twists.  First of all, I folded the bottom portion of the Kraft paper bag only 3/4 up, cut 2 cardstock panels, glued them in place, and sewed the sides to form the 2 pockets.  I decorated the front panel with a gold foil doily, various flowers, various beads, hand cut banners, calligraphy, a birthday sticker, stamp pad distressing, liquid pearls, and a ribbon, as well as a heart and crown cut with Tim Holtz dies.  As a way for my family to write personal notes, I made 3 round tabbed cards to insert in the front pocket by using punches, stamps and a mini stapler.  I also included some chocolates in the back pocket.  Of course, I had to coordinate the presents' wrapping by using Kraft paper, lavender ribbons, and other girly accents (See top right section of the photographic montage).  I am submitting this piece to Simon Says Stamp and Show - Kraft Challenge, Blog dos Desafios #17 - Banners, and Manon Visser's Paper Saturdays.

I shared this second piece with my Design Team comrades at Tag Tuesday - Letter X.  My inspiration came from "Chi," the Greek name for the letter "X" and the initial used for the name of Christ, whom they call Xpiotós.  You may recall that last week I used the Tim Holtz cabinet dies and the stripes embossing folder to make the scrap plastic frame for my Letter W Tag.  Being a thrifty and environmentally conscious artist, I layed the inner cut over a hand painted church bulletin to make this week's tag foundation.  I like the church stained glass window effect it gave the tag.  I drew, watercolored, and fuzzy cut the small figure of Christ.   I attached Him along with a small label and three Martha Stewart star gems to the tag.  As a finishing touch, I tied some ribbons and rickrack as toppers.  I am also submitting this piece to Sarah Evan's Inspire Success, Crazy Amigo Challenge: Men's Card, Diana Evan's 10 Minute Warm Up, and Marcia Beckett's Artist's In Blogland.

The next piece I'm sharing with you today, is an art journal drawing inspired by the actress, humanitarian and queen of style, Audrey Hepburn.  Although it's OK, it does not resemble Audrey Hepburn and I had a series of frustrating moments when working on it.  I started with a quick pencil sketch which truly resembled her.  However, I used a set of .05 to .5 Copic inking pens to complete the drawing.  Although I like the way they work, the line work was extremely fine for the look I wanted to achieve.  Therefore, I decided to use a Pentel color brush to go over the lines.  Well, the ink lines started bleeding and ruined the artwork on the page behind.  I did some corrections to my drawing, but the resemblance was lost.  (I still don't know what to do to fix the artwork on the page behind.)  Anyway, I am submitting this piece to Inspiration Avenue - Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer McLean's Artist's Playroom #62 - What Makes You Angry, and Julia Dunnit's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #211.

The icon done in pastels of Father Abraham, who is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, is a piece I'm submitting to Seth Apter's Buried Treasure.  Father Abraham's story is truly remarkable, because it perfectly illustrates the importance of faith in God's Word and of God's grace on humanity's sinful nature.  The posts where I featured him didn't get much visibility because I didn't have many followers at the time and was not linking to very many blogs either.  I only had around half a dozen comments about him over a series of 3 postings about him.  LOL!  I posted this photograph of the finished piece in my post regarding my reflections on November 13, 2011, but you can see a photograph of its conception in the October 10, 2011 post and a photograph of its showing in my November 27, 2011 post.  I am also submitting this piece to Word Art Wednesday #85 and Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday Week 15-Year 3.

The 3 photographs above are of other various ways in which I create an artful life for myself.  The mushrooms came up in my backyard after a rainy day.  In order to enhance their beauty, I edited the photograph on Pixelmator by sharpening the image, adding a vintage filter, saturating the warm colors, and blurring the edges.  The dinner plate is of a simple dinner of quesadillas, guacachile, and fresh nopalitos salad that I made for my family.  I think color and presentation make dinners much more appetizing.  Last, but not least, I have a photographic montage of a center piece I did for the Father's Day luncheon at my church.  I took cuts from flowering bushes and arranged them in an aluminum pail.  Then, I incorporated them into a cascade of tablecloths, burlap, a rabbit skin, antlers, mason jars, tea lights, and a ram skull.  (The Sunday School's dove was a serendipity touch - LOL!)  Not only did it look manly and artsy, but it reminded me of the atonement altars mentioned in the Bible.  I am submitting the photograph of the mushrooms to Take a Word Challenge - Botanical, Maria's Orange You Glad It's Friday #43, and Lorik's Mandarin Orange Monday #47; the photograph of the dinner plate to 52 Photos Project: Gallery 9 {Chopped}, Jen Price's In the Studio, and Ramona's Inspire Me Monday - Week 77; and the photographic montage of the luncheon to The Order of the Opus Gluei: Challenge #159 Give Me Wings.

I hope you enjoyed this week's tour of my artful life.  I want to thank all my followers, as well as all of you who left comments regarding my post last week.  Blessings!

Whoop! Summer 2013

It is here!  Summer has officially started for me, since yesterday I officially checked out of my classroom at school.  Therefore, I'm dedicating this post to the Summer of 2013.

This first piece is a response to my blogging friend Pia Rom's Mix it Monthly - May/June Yellow Vintage Girl Goes Picasso challenge.  Pablo Picasso, the Spanish artist who is considered the father of collage in fine art, is one of my favorite artists because of the diversity in styles, media and techniques in his body of work.  I was inspired by his guitar collages where he combined paper scraps and line drawings in his compositions, to illustrate this piece.  I used Tim Holtz tissue for the background and a print of Pia's Picasso to cut the accessories.  The drawing was done using micron pens, Caran d'Ache artist crayons, and Stickles.  I am also submitting this page to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday - Week 14/Year 3, Jen Price's In the Studio, Alexandra's Sunday Sketches, and Ramona's Inspire Me Monday - Week 76.

This second piece is an art journal reflection of what a home is to me, it "feeds the body, regenerates the mind, and warms the soul."  I couldn't find a quote that said everything I wanted, so I wrote this on my own.  I illustrated it by cutting free hand scraps of hand painted paper that I had in my stash, as well as print scraps from the previous project.  (I thought the negative stem shapes left behind from a previous project added a nice touch to my trees.  LOL!)  I added the hand lettering and line work with a micron pen and marker.  I am submitting this art journal page to Art Journal Journey 06/2013 ~ Home, Jennifer McLean's Artist Playroom #61 - Bizarre, Take a Word Challenge: - Cool Colors, Word Art Wednesday #84, and Manon's Paper Saturdays.

This third piece, titled Wendy's Wonderful Wagon, is my contribution to Tag Tuesday - Letter W.  I wrote a little alliteration piece to go with it - Welcome!  This is Wee Wendy Welsh, Who's Wistfully Waiting for Whitney, Who Whispered she'd come Wander around With her in her Wonderful Wagon, on Wednesday.  Anyway, I began by drawing the little girl in the wagon on an ATC sized card using micron pens, Prismacolor watercolor pencils, and markers, as well as aging it using a Tim Holtz distress ink pad.  I made the tag frame out of a K&Company Spring print and a scrap of plastic packaging using the Tim Holtz vintage cabinet card, mini cabinet, and punch dies, as well as the stripes embossing folder.  I embellished the tag with a Tim Holtz Philosophy tag, tiny staples, ribbons, fibers, and vintage buttons.  I am submitting this tag to Simon Says Stamp and Show - Button Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Transport.

This fourth photograph is for What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 210.  You can see my art journal opened to the fashion illustration page I posted on June 1st, as well as a page I used to stamp, doodle, and practice some of my lettering.  It features a portion of the passage from Proverbs 14:26, "His children shall have a place of refuge."  That's what my home and studio are to me.  I transformed the photograph into a coloring page using the ToonPaint app in my iPhone.  You have the option of using the digital brushes in the app to color the drawing, but I chose to simply add an orange layer over it.  I am also submitting this photograph to Orange You Glad It's Friday #42 and Mandarin Orange Monday #46.

The sirloin fajita steak in this photograph is for 52 Photos Project: Gallery 8 {Stripes}, which are formed in the grill.  I took the photograph when I was cooking out a couple of weeks ago.  I like to rub the fajitas with some seasoning, and then have them marinate in Mexican beer and lime for several hours.  I cook them in a closed barbecue grill for several minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the steak.  Then, I bring them in, let them rest for a couple of minutes, slice them into strips, and put them in a warm oven until I'm ready to serve them.  They are delicious in corn or flour tortillas with grilled onions, my pico de gallo chopped salsa, and smashed avocados.

I hope you enjoyed my tribute to Summer.  I also want to thank all of you that left such kind comments in my last post, as well as to those who are following me.  You don't know how much the latter blesses me and encourages me to continue creating.  As you may have noticed, I strongly believe in returning the favor by leaving a message in your blog as well, if I haven't already done so.  May your Summer be filled with blessings!  ¡Que su verano sea lleno de bendiciones!

Experimenting

Greetings!  Although I feel blessed being able to work with my gifted and talented students, I am looking forward to the Summer break.  God willing, I will be able to work on a couple of projects related to my art work that I have in mind which require much more time and focus than I currently have.  For now, I am content with experimenting with different styles and techniques.  Thank you, Lord!

In this first project, I experimented with some of the marker and background techniques in the Tim Hotz 12 Tags of 2013 - June.  The inspiration for my original tag design came from the concept of a woman being in "Vogue," which in my mind comes from having confidence in herself.  The latter may come from possessing strength, courage and wisdom.  I began by drawing a stylized portrait of a woman and loosely following Tim's classic marker techniques to color her.  However, I also incorporated some Prismacolor pencils.  Next, I used his background technique, which is a marvelous blend between opaque and translucent media.  Then, I proceeded to work on my composition, and decided to use my Tim Holtz hardware findings and mini stamp dies, as well as one of his salvage stickers.  I finished my dies using a gold dabber, as well as black and green embossing powders.  The lettering in the stamp was done using a black micron pen.  I am also submitting this piece to Tag Tuesday - Letter V and Paint Party Friday: Week 13, Year 3.

This next piece was inspired by Memorial Day, which is dedicated to commemorating all the inspiring men and women who died during military service to the United States of America.  Although this holiday takes place during the last Monday in May, these heroes should be remembered year round.  May God have them in His glory and bless the families who were left behind.  I got the initial idea for my experimenting from the Tim Holtz, May 24, 2013, blog post, where he played with his new eclectic elements fabrics.  I began by using Royal Coat decoupage finish to adhere denim to my tag base.  I trimmed and frayed the edges.  When it was dry, I did some machine stitching around 2 sides of the tag.  I proceeded to paint my grungeboard heart die cut using Tim's technique, but chose to hand stitch it to my tag.  I finished my tag background by re-punching the hole, adding an eyelet, and adding a fabric tie.  To embellish my tag, I used 3 patriotic fabric yo-yo's and a strip of fabric, as well as a Tim Holtz corner, a wire pin and a philosophy tag.  The sentiment was done using Magnetic Poetry word stamps.  I am submitting this piece to Tag Tuesday - Letter U for united, Simon Says Stamp and Show: Challenge "S" for states, and Word Art Wednesday: Challenge #83.

In this simple card above, I experimented with stamps and paper to create a collaged scene.  I began by stamping the Asian characters to the note card base and lightly adding some color with Prismacolor pencils.  Then, I stamped the Asian coin to simulate the sun, and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and a metallic pen.  I added a strip of hand painted paper to the bottom to simulate the body of water and made a simple origami sail boat to float on it.  I finished off the card by adding 3 daisies that were made with an EKSuccess punch, as well as edging the border with a distress ink pad.  I am submitting this card to Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Masculine, Crazy Amigo Challenge - Distress Inks, Julia's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 209, Marcia's Show & Tell Saturday, and Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

The project above was the most important project I worked on this week, since it is a card for my wife's birthday.  I made my card base by experimenting with a technique found at Boutique Magnolia.  Although it is in Brazilian, the author has enough pictures to lead you through the process or you may click the google translator icon if needed.  It is an extremely easy base to make and the decorating possibilities are endless.  I used prints from a DCWV garden party pad to cover my base, but please note that I attached the ribbon closure to the card prior to gluing the back panel.  To emboss the cake, I used an ATD brass template and highlighted it with some markers.  I used one of the Tim Holtz tattered flowers die to simulate leaves, and then added various mulberry flowers and glass beads to create the spray.  On the inside, I hand lettered my sentiment using a K&Company cardstock die-cut.  I also printed a photograph and 3 little personal sentiment note cards to enclose in the side pockets.  You can see how I added the finished card to the gift in the last frame.  I am submitting this piece to the Order of the Opus Gluei #158 - Birthday, Take a Word Challenge - Orange, Orange You Glad It's Friday, Manon's Paper Saturdays, and Mandarin Orange Monday #45.

In closing, I have a photograph of some tulips that I took for 52 Photos Project: Gallery 7 {Crimson}.  I actually took the photograph during Easter, but I did do some cropping and digital enhancing on iPhoto.  I'm also submitting this photo to Jen's In The Studio and Inspire Me Monday Week 75.  I hope you enjoy this photo, as well as all my other projects.  I would love to hear what you think, and will reciprocate with a comment on your blog.  Thank you for all your comments on my weekend's post, as well as for following my blog.  Blessings!

Art Smorgasbord - Short

It's been extremely busy for me lately.  However, I continue to feel blessed by my family and friends for their love and support.  Praise the Lord!  In addition, I also feel blessed for the little time I've spent in my studio.  Therefore, my posting this week is short and sweet.

I designed the card above for Bog dos Desafios #16, where I was asked to be one of their "Guest Designers."  It features parchment craft, an ancient art form that is believed to have developed in Spain and brought to America by the Church of Spain during the Spanish conquest.  However, I used some modern techniques which made it much easier to make.  I began by using a Tim Holtz Regal embossing folder with a diffuser to create a border on a sheet of vellum.  Then, I used a Fiskars Parchamoré template to incorporate the outline of my rose.  I like this system because it allows for some originality, depending on the designs you draw and the colors you use in the various fields.  I used Scotch vellum tape to strategically tack down my finished piece to the card base and taped two strips of ribbon along the left border to secure it.  Next, I made a frilly bow using a Mini-Bowdabra system and glued it over the ribbon strips.  I used a Tim Holtz mini ticket die, a blue stamp pad, and a calligraphy marker to create the tag.  I am also submitting this card to Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes, Word Art Wednesday: Challenge #82, Manon's Paper Saturdays, and Inspire Me Monday - Week 74.

I did the art journal page above over a week ago, but I hadn't posted it.  Before I went into the education field, I was in the advertising field and worked for a small chain of department stores.  One of my favorite tasks were the fashion illustrations that I sometimes had to do for newspaper ads.  Although this is a simple pen and ink line drawing, the dress is much more glamorous than the ones I illustrated for the stores' ads.  LOL!  This original design was inspired by the fashion designs of the 1950's.  For some additional visual interest, I assembled a simple collage using two Tim Holtz salvage stickers and a K&Company die cut.  I also added the date using a K&Company Smash sticky note that had some scissors printed on it.  I am submitting this page to Collage Obsession - Open Challenge, Julia's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #208, Maria's Orange You Glad It's Friday #40, Paint Party Friday: Week 12, Year 3, Diana's 10-Minute Warm Up, Alexandra's Sunday Sketches, and Lorik's Mandarin Orange Monday #44.

© Arnoldo L. Romero

Last, but not least, I have a photograph I took at Texas A&M about six weeks ago during a parent meeting I attended at the Architectural department.  That is where my oldest daughter is currently working on her degree.  This modern architectural detail is found on the ceiling of a crossway in the main entrance of Langford building.  I just loved the waves that were formed by the molded wood lattice like design, and the way the ceiling light rays came through.  I took the photograph using my iPhone 4s, and then adjusted the color to Black and white.  I also added a blurred edge using iPhoto, which has sort of become my trademark.  LOL!  I am submitting this photograph to Bella's 52 Photos Project: Gallery 6 {Uncommon Shapes}.

Hope you enjoyed my short post.  I want to thank everyone for the kind words and prayers they left on my post last week.  My daughter's bronchitis is under control, and I can see a light at the end of the tunnel in all other issues.  I also thoroughly appreciate the motivating comments about my work.  Blessings!