Showing posts with label recycle art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycle art. Show all posts

DIY Acrylic Spraypaints

OMG yoo guyz!! ..... So, even though it's mid-Halloween-candy-art week, I had to share this! I found this idea while browsing the web and the wonderful world of art journaling!

DIY acrylic spray-paints! I grabbed a couple of old spray bottles -- the ones that our optometrist gives away with glasses cleaner in them (or an old perfume bottle would work). And:
  1. Rinse them out.
  2. Spray the sprayer a few times using only water, to rinse it.
  3. Fill the bottle with about 1 part acrylic paint to 5 parts water.
    Or experiment with the ratio. Too much paint may gunk up the sprayer.
  4. Add warm water, and shake to mix!
  5. Spray away. Warning, it is messy!*
  6. Add stamps, like I did with the "G" below, or doodles/tangles.

*This can easily be adapted to a toddler art project, with supervision. I'd just recommend using age-appropriate non-toxic paints, of course. You also may want to do this activity outside or with a lot of newspaper on your art table. The spray gets everywhere.

You can spray stencils, cut out your own shapes to put on the page, etc.! Today, I also picked up some supplies at The Art Store. I talked to the woman working there, and she recommended 2 new pens: a white gel pen (Uniball Signo) and a black artist pen (Staedtler Triplus Fineliner) for doodling/tangling on top of watercolors/watered-down acrylics. Both are working fabulously so far, though the Staedtler takes a little while to dry. I recommend propping up your finished pages in front of a fan while working on other pages. I love my Micron pens and will continue to use them for basic doodling, but the Staedtler is the first pen I've found that lets me draw over dried watercolor without picking up any of the pigment.

Altered Books

Ellie's Art Table!
As part of our art journal experience, I've been exploring the idea of altered books. Pinterest has some great ideas for altering books -- I saved some of my favorites on the KASVT Pinterest Board (here). I really love the smashbook-style of this one from Teresa Collins' Design Team blog (more here).

My two-year-old has been doing a great job keeping up with her painting and journaling, but I'm a little behind. I've started altering a new book, pics soon, but my little one is proudly and quickly covering her journal with all kinds of sketches of "spiders" and "mountains," and sticking on leaves that she's found outside.

I basically handed her a book, and she ran with it! I love the idea of filling mine with watercolors and zentangles. Any old books or magazines will work , and suddenly the thought of having an endless supply of (recycled) sketchbooks to paint and zentangle in is making me incredibly happy! There really is paper everywhere! Check your recycle bin!
 
Teresa Collins' Design Team Blog

Kids' Art Journals

Okay, so, would anyone be opposed to me dedicating the next month+ to art journaling? All in favor? Let's just do it. Haha!

Art journals are our go-to on any day that I don't have a "real" craft planned, so... most days since I've gone back to full-time at my day job!

But, Elle loves it! She knows that, in the afternoon, she can grab her book and do whatever she wants with it. Last week, I went through the recycleables and found some foam packing material, and she pulled it apart and glued it all over her journal pages. Then she painted them. I was having a little anxiety, because the journal doesn't even close now, but that's how it should be, right!?

Anyway, Pinterest has some fantastic ideas for Kids' Art Journaling! Prompts, tutorials, etc.!

Here is what I found in my net surfing:
  • One - Pinterest search for Kids' Art Journals
  • Two - How to make your own journals (ABeautifulMess.com, pic below)
  • Three - How to alter old board-books for journaling! (CreativeWithKids.com)
  • Four - Kids' Art Journal Prompts
  • Five - Learn about Smash Books & How to Make Your Own!
  • Six - Check out our own Toddler Smash Book! (YourMomIsStrange.com)
  • Seven - Consider picking up a Wreck This Journal book, with prompts for creative destruction!
  • Eight - Learn about the art of doodling/zentangling! (InnerChildFun.com)
  • Nine - How about some print-making ideas to spruce up those pages? (TinyRottenPeanuts.com)
  • Ten - Explore some around-the-house painting tools! (LessonsLearntJournal.com)

Photo from ABeautifulMess.com!

South End Art Hop Recap -- Jake Rifken

I got to chat with Jake Rifken on Saturday, and I loved hearing that he creates many of his wire sculptures without using a drawing or plan. The entire process is very fluid, and he just creates for the sake of creating! He says, "There are no 'mistakes.'"

For more of Jake's art, check out his Tumblr Feed (here) and more at the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery site (here)!


South End Art Hop Recap - Katherine Taylor-McBroom

Another incredible find! Katherine Taylor-McBroom's surrealism makes my heart happy! We got to see some of her mixed media pieces at Studio 266. Her sculpture is breathtaking as well, using what appears to be dollhouse pieces to build "impossible" houses.

Check out her site (here) and Facebook page (here).


South End Art Hop Recap - Recycle Moe

Being the art-journal/notebook/paper-supply fanatic that I am, I was overly excited to run into Moe at the South End Art Hop!! She has a studio at the Space gallery in South Burlington!

Her company (Recycle Moe) recycles (up-cycles) old books, magazines, boardgames, etc. to make all kinds of vintage, lovely things, like notebooks (my favorite, of course), mini notebooks, light-switch covers, magnets, etc.! Check out the gallery on her site!

Also, click here to see all the local shops where you can find her work, OR shop online -- she has an Etsy shop (here)!