Tissue Paper, Napkins and Tea Bags

Do you remember making tissue paper flowers in grade school art class? I haven't thought about them until just recently when I saw a beautiful window display using them at an Anthropologie store. They were so pretty and brought back such good memories of fun crafty times in art class that I wanted to try making some again.

I painted some white tissue paper with watered down acrylic paints and thought I would also try using some some decorative napkins I found at the Christmas Tree Shop last year.

Tea bag papers work well too. They are the perfect proportion so are a little less fussy than having to cut the tissue paper and napkins to the right size. They are pretty strong and don't tear as easily as tissue paper does.

I remembered the basics of how to make the flowers but I found the rest of the details and easy to follow instructions at Rust & Sunshine.

It won't be long before I can fill vases with fresh cut flowers from the garden but until then these will do.

Just getting started...

Nothing like a pile of old rusty washers to get me started on some new mixed media pieces. These were a gift from my husband when he was cleaning out the garage.

I've never used any metal in my work before so this is something new and different.

I have no idea where these are going right now, I'm just enjoying the process. 

Soaking up a little of the tropics...

at the Connecticut Flower & Garden show in Hartford yesterday.



© K. Johnson

 

Colors of the Day

Playing with some fun colors to make a few Valentine's.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Save Jane's Post Office

Jane Davies a collage and mixed media artist from Rupert, VT owns this tiny and adorable post office.

  photo from http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.com

Sadly, along with so many other post offices these days it is in danger of being closed. To increase the volume of mail Jane started "The Postcard Project". Hopefully it will do the trick and will be enough to keep it open for a long time to come. 

Want to help? You can see all the details for sending a postcard here and be sure to watch the video of the post office chickens.  

This is the postcard I sent.

© K. Johnson

Where have I been?

 In the studio cleaning...

Starting on some new work...

and bringing this just finished piece to New London's Hygienic Art Gallery for its 34th annual Salon des Independants exhibit.

© K. Johnson 'Sacred Ground' - 8.5"x 5.5" collage on paper

Every January, even on the coldest of nights, this show in New London draws a big crowd. You never know what might be on display when the rules are No Judge,  No Jury, No fee, and No Censorship.

Two Tuesdays - year end recap

2012 Collage Challenge

Hard to believe that 12 months have gone by since I was trying to come up with an idea that would keep me creating and blogging on a regular basis during 2012. 

A friend who knows that Tuesday is my day off and studio day came up with the name "Two Tuesdays" when I mentioned I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with completing one collage every week. Every other week did sound a lot more realistic so that became my goal. I was excited about the chance to work in collage all year and about trying out new ideas, new materials and colors until the what if 's started. What if I couldn't keep up, What if I ran out of ideas, What if... What if... Fortunately, I didn't let the what if's take control. After all I was the only one expecting anything and keeping track, so I got started and 38 collages later here we are on the last day of December.

Before I finished and set my focus on something new I wanted to make one last collage where I used fabric instead of paper. This uses scraps from my collection of fabrics and some new rust stained fabric that I made recently. 

© K. Johnson 'Standing Tall' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

Only a couple times did I think I might not be able to keep up with the challenge and with a sketchbook full of notes for things I didn't get a chance to work on yet, running out of ideas was not a problem. Not every collage created was a success as you can see from the pile of "rejects" in the picture below but I had a lot of fun and it feels great to have completed the goal I set in January. 

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays – Collage #25

2012 Collage Challenge



© K. Johnson 'Bringing gifts' - 5"x 7" collage on paper

Well, this is the second of the Two Tuesdays collages for December and the last one for this years challenge. I will follow up with my thoughts about this past years work in a recap post in the next few days. 


All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays – Collage #24

2012 Collage Challenge

© K. Johnson 'Flourish' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

So far, all the Two Tuesday collages have been done using color. This week I limited myself to just black and white - not as easy as I thought it would be. I found I didn't have that many things in my collage stash that are just black and white. It took more time to find the elements that worked together and I spent more time than usual moving them around to find the right balance.  That said, it was still fun!

© K. Johnson 'Travel All Over' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

Have you heard of washi tape? I guess it's been all the rage for a while now but I'm a little slow to catch on to these things sometimes : )  It's a decorative tape that comes in every color and design imaginable. I found the black and white dotted tape you see below at a local craft store. The tape can be repositioned so it's easy to try different arrangements before making a final decision about placement. 

I used white artist tape to make some washi tape of my own. My tape is the horizontal stripe through the middle printed with black permanent ink using several different stamps I have or made.

© K. Johnson 'Chance Encounters' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Blooming Cactus

 

I can't believe the show of blossoms on my Christmas Cactus this year. 

This plant stayed outside all summer long on the deck completely unpampered and ignored. I didn't even remember to bring it inside until after the second frost.

 

It is now enjoying a nice cozy spot by the window in my dining room.

Doesn't this blossom look like a butterfly?