'Evelyn's Song'

I love how sunflowers reach for the sky and their flower heads are big, bold and beautiful. I wouldn't mind planting a field of sunflowers and have them tower over me. Well I don't have a whole field just my patch near the patio where I can watch the goldfinches feed off the ripened seeds. Last nights rain toppled my flowers to the ground and half the stems broke. Had to stake up what I could and the rest I trimmed and put in a large vase so the flowers could ripen more and hopefully produce seeds. I also have volunteers from the chipmunks planting seeds all over the garden.

One year I just let them go and thinned out the clumps as they sprouted. That year the flower heads got to be at least 10 inches across and they attracted Painted Lady butterflies. They just laid on the flower heads with their wings spread out just waiting for me to grab a few pictures which I did. I knew I had a painting in the making here. The whole time I was painting this picture I kept thinking of a dear friend who had passed away that summer from cancer. I remember her garden and this one sunflower holding its head high above everything else. I decided to then to call this painting 'Evelyn's Song' in her memory and how appropriate that butterflies are a symbol of new spiritual birth. The Painted Lady butterflies have not been in my garden since and I keep hoping they'll come back.

Toni

'Songbird' Gets A New Home

I did this piece about two years ago when I was in charge of an exhibition for the ACA. Part of the exhibit was for the calligrapher to letter a word in a way that represented what that word meant.

With some help from my husband in coming up with a word I decided on songbird. After doodling the word for awhile I realized the letters 'g' and 'b' were right next to each other and lent themselves to flourishing with their descender and ascender. I then decided on the style of Italic lettering which is graceful but still natural looking. I chose Fabriano cover weight laid paper which had just enough tooth to it so when I lettered the ink broke some to give a slightly rough texture. The White-breasted Nuthatch was done with colored pencils.

Earlier this year I put the piece in a local show and found out recently someone had been admiring it for some time now and saw it in the spring show at Kelly Run Gallery. Well today 'Songbird' has a new home because it was bought by a dear friend and will now reside out in the country.

It's times like this that I feel truly blessed and not because it sold, but because I feel I have been given a gift to create art that makes someone feel good about themselves.
Have a great day!
Toni

Illustration Friday: Dreams

"Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be" James Lane Allen

My submission for 'Dreams' is in two parts or pieces you might say.

This first piece was done four years ago when I was experimenting with engraving. The very bottom layer was a watercolor background with the quote written in gouache. The other layers are glass, four in all with the alphabet engraved in a circle on each layer and each circle became smaller toward the background to create a tunnel effect. Vision in gold is on the second layer and the letters that spell out DREAMS are suspended between different layers. That piece hangs in my studio as a reminder to keep a clear vision of my dreams.
So for Illustration Friday I did a sketch of myself sitting at my studio desk pondering, dreaming and trying to keep my goals in focus.
I scanned my pencil sketch and finished it in photoshop giving it the same color and similar background as my Vision piece.
We should never loose sight of our vision and dreams no matter how old we get.

Toni

Another Wizard Project

Ok here is one more project using the Wizard die cutting and embossing machine. This wedding invitation ensemble was done using one of the Edgebilities dies I designed for Spellbinders.

I am really excited about the versatility with these new dies. They can be used as edging for cards or openings in a card. For scrapbookers they make great borders and frames. I am looking forward to designing more Edgebility dies.
And I recently found out Spellbinders was invited to the NY Stationary Show next May. I am really looking forward to that.

You can see this project and others along with the wizard and some of the dies I designed this Saturday the 27th at Morning Sun Studio. I will be there from 1pm till about 4pm. By the way did you see the article about Mary and her shop Morning Sun Studio in Wednesdays the 24th Erie Times Newspaper? Look for it in the Neighbor section.

Hope to see you on Saturday!
Toni

Morning Sun Studio
11391 Route 98 in Edinboro
1/8 mile north of 6N and 98

Illustration Friday: Reflection

After thinking about the many ways to interpret 'Reflection' I finally chose what I do the most and that is to take time and sit in my garden to reflect. The nice thing about working from home and I begin to feel blocked or frustrated over an art project I can escape to the garden for some down time and energy.

This week has been busy and my intentions were to do a watercolor of my garden. I worked on the sketch but was not able to get to the painting yet. I still intend to do so. In the meantime I decided to experiment with photoshop. I created a watercolor filter of my photo and took out part of the background and created a new background of a watercolor effect. I also found this quote which I intend to letter with my painting. So there you have it a view of my little retreat in the garden.

Toni

Friends and Art

Yesterday was a day of fun, art and friends sharing, laughing and creating. It was a day of fulfillment for my spirit.

A group from the year long calligraphy class I took in 2002 held at the AI in Pittsburgh meet every month for a study session, and when I can, I drive down for the day to participate. We decide ahead of time what we will share and work on.

This month we picked creative backgrounds. My contribution, although not perfected yet, was my experimenting with the interactions of ink and rubbing alcohol on various papers. I got the idea from watching rubber stampers using alcohol based inks on glossy paper. Not having that type of ink I set out to do my experimenting with my calligraphic inks and rubbing alcohol. Using a variety of papers from Arches to different photo papers I would saturate the papers with alcohol and then drop ink onto the papers and let it roll around and move in different directions. the pictures you see here are some of the results. They are very organic looking and would be great for collage, calligraphy, card making and scrapbooking.

We also did inkjet transfers with photo paper and water. I will have to post about this another time showing some of the different ways for doing transfers. The other background work we did was using a paint called Plaka. Here is a short description "Dries to a velvety matte finish in rich, dense colors. Becomes smudge-proof on drying & waterproof in 24 hours. Very durable. A casein emulsion color which adheres to paper, cardboard, wood, plaster, glass or metal. Put down a diluted wash of Plaka and write on the waterproof surface." And of course lots of good food especially deserts. I always look forward to my Pittsburgh trips and good friends.

To top the day off I went down to Celebrate Erie to see the Chalk Walk to meet and chat with more artistic friends. Yes life is good and it was a wonderful day.

Keep creative.
Toni

Wizard Art Projects

On August 27th, at 1:00 p.m. till 3 or 4 o'clock, I will be at Morning Sun Studio demonstrating the Wizard Die Cutting machine by Spellbinders.
I have been working on a few projects and thought I would share them here first and hopefully gain some interest. This is the machine and two of the dies I used in the projects below.

Using the insect template I first scanned the template and selected the lady bug which I then turned into a black and white image in photoshop and created a layout of that image by copy and pasting the image several times making each one a different size and grayscale. I then printed that layout onto decorative paper. Over that decorative paper is a transparency sheet with the words Its a Bugs Life printed. After decorating photo stock paper with inks I cut and embossed the lady bug and attached it to the transparency sheet. Everything is attached to the green card stock with eyelets.

With this project I used the machine two different ways. First I made an inkjet transfer using an inkjet transparency sheet, acrylic medium, fabric and the wizard as my press for the transfer. I will go into this in detail at the demo. Next using the ink bottle and pen template I cut and embossed the pen, wax seal, and wax stamp with black card stock the using gold embossing powder I heat embossed the die cuts. The ink bottle was cut from a lighter paper and where the word ink was embossed by the machine I also applied embossing powder for an additional embossed look. The lettering was printed on vellum that had been stained with walnut ink and alcohol.

Be sure to enlarge photos for a closer view.
I hope to see you at Morning Sun Studio on the 27th.
Toni

Day 25: We have a Butterfly

In my last post I said I was going to take the container into the room I was presently working in. First I had it sitting by the computer as I worked then next into the kitchen as I loaded the dishwasher. I kept looking up every few seconds it seemed and it didn't appear that anything was happening. I remember looking at the clock and it was about 10:05 am and I thought perhaps it will be closer to 11:00 before it decided to emerge. So I proceeded to put a few more things in the dishwasher and glanced once again at the container sitting on my counter in front of the toaster oven and to my surprise a butterfly was out of its cocoon.

Yikes!!!! where is my camera? Rushed to the dinning room and grabbed my camera then carefully lifted the lid to start taking pictures. When I realized we were in front of a dark background I quickly moved every thing to the stove which is white. Not the best place to take pictures but it was all I had.

It didn't take long for the wings to unfold and then about ten minutes later it expelled a gold fluid. This is normal and part of the process.The butterfly then holds on to its cocoon for a few hours while its wings dry out. I could sit and watch for hours also but work was calling to be done so off to the studio I go. I kept checking on it and about 2:00 pm it had let go of the cocoon and was waiting for me to scoop it out of the container. I held it for awhile outside and then placed it on the butterfly bush. I ran into the house to grab the camera and a vase with the idea to cut apiece of the bush off and place it on the patio table. But as I approached the bush she, yes it was a female, decided to take off. she flew to a nearby tree and rested a while longer till she took off into the blue sky.

Just think I get to do this again tomorrow with the second chrysalis. and I have four more for next week and more caterpillars grazing.

Have a good day.
Toni

Day 25: Monarch Watch

This morning I woke up to this chrysalis that had changed colors over night. It happens that quickly. Last night it was just a bit darker green than the other one you see here. By tonight that one will be a darker green. They are only a day apart. The shell turns translucent and you can see the butterfly inside. By the end of today we should have a butterfly and tomorrow another one. So I am sure I will be posting again later. I will have to carry it with me all day so I won't miss it. So yes with camera in hand and the container with chrysalis as I work either in the studio upstairs or downstairs at the computer it will be with me. Don't want you folks to miss the butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

FYI:
chrys·a·lis - the pupa of a butterfly, encased in a cocoon
co·coon - the silky or fibrous case which the larva of certain insects spins about itself for shelter during the pupa stage

Now can anyone tell me what kind of caterpillar this is? I found two of them on the underside of my sunflower leaves. I looked in my butterfly book and did not see anything so I am thinking they are a type of moth. I will be keeping an eye on them and taking pictures also while I try and research what they are. But if you know I would appreciate any help. Just leave a comment.

Toni

Close-ups of John Muir Piece

Here are some detail shots and information about the John Muir piece I posted for Illustration Friday: Wisdom.

The finished piece is 28 x 25 watercolor on canvas. I work with raw canvas and prime with either clear gesso or acrylic medium. This particular piece was primed with a mixture of both. I find it easier to work with canvas that is not stretched so when it comes to lettering I can work on a solid surface since I am lettering with metal nibs.

The great part about working with watercolors on canvas is the fact you can lift color out easily but that can also be a hindrance when you don't want color to lift. As with all mediums you just need to learn how to work with the water mediums on canvas.

All the quotes on the art work are by John Muir. I composed the piece from my photographs of woodland scenes around me and from photographs of John Muir.

Once my watercolors on canvas are finished I stretch them and then spray with a UV acrylic spray from Krylon to set the colors and for protection. The pieces then can be framed without glass.

Toni
(click photos for larger view)

Illustration Friday: Wisdom

For the subject 'Wisdom' I picked a piece I did earlier this year on John Muir. He was a great naturalist who studied our forests and wrote about them in the late 1800 and early 1900. It was his wisdom and forth-site that prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to set aside land as our National Parks. He could see how we were destroying our land through development and at the time not replanting the logged trees. Our wildlife was also being destroyed as land was cleared.

While I worked on this piece I could feel his presence guiding me and I found myself talking to him the whole time. I wanted the viewer to not only see but to feel the presents of nature all around us.

Toni

Yellow Poplar

I find it very relaxing when I can paint small and detail. I could sit for hours and just get into the zone when time means nothing and I am totally concentrating on what is emerging in front of me. This may sound silly but I am still surprised as I work and when it is all done that I created what lays before me. So I never take it for granted and truly feel this is a gift from God.

Two years ago I took a class at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh from Kate Nessler a botanical artist who paints on vellum which is actual calf skin. What a wonderful feeling that was to paint on a surface as old as biblical times. The skin is so delicate let very forgiving to work on. We worked with watercolors and had to use a very dry technique because to much water would warp the surface to much. The results are astounding. The finished piece has a glow you just cannot get from paper. And to think how long these pieces will last, just look at the Book of Hours or any medieval manuscript.

This spring I got out my piece of vellum I had acquired from the Reggie Ezell class I took and picked up this dry leaf that I thought had wonderful color, shape and character and started to sketch it true to life. True botanical illustration has to be life size. Satisfied with my sketch I transfered just a light outline to the vellum and started to paint. It took me about three days and it was worth it.

Well the good news is that two days ago I received a check that it sold. I take my original work to Kada Gallery and if you have never been in there you need to go. Kathy and Joe are wonderful people to work with. They are very encouraging and really push your work. I am so glad and fortunate they are here in Erie.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'm off to see my niece in a play in Ohio.
Toni

Day 20: Monarch Watch and Visitors

Day 20 and in about 4 or 5 days we will have butterflies. Take a good look at these chrysalis to see the gold band and dots. This is one of the parts that truly fascinates me. I find it just so beautiful. And if you look real close you can see the outline of the wings forming. As the time gets closer for the Monarchs to emerge the chrysalis will get darker till it's a translucent black. Then you know they are ready.

Yesterday I had this wonderful visitor in the garden. I have never seen a butterfly like this before. At first from inside the house I thought it was a Tiger Swallowtail but when I got outside with camera in hand and got close enough for pictures I knew it wasn't. After shooting a digital card full i got out the butterfly book and discovered it was a Giant Swallowtail. These butterflies can get up to 5 and 1/2 inches across. This one was about 4 inches or more and it was breathtaking. I read that the host plant for this butterfly are citrus trees and that citrus orchard owners have attacked the caterpillar of this butterfly with pesticides.
Later in the day I did get a Tiger Swallowtail so now you can see the difference. They are just so beautiful.

Have a creative day.
Toni

Published: Embossed Wedding Invitation

I am excited to say that my Embossed Wedding Invitation Design was accepted and published in the wedding issue of Letter Arts Review . This publication is well known among calligraphers world wide.

The invitation is 7 x 5 inches in a landscape format on Fabriano Ingres paper and Strathmore Vellum. I designed the lettering to have a loop effect to go with the daisies using a pointed pen. I scanned the lettering and did the setup in photoshop and printed using my HP printer. After designing the daisies they were printed on card stock and filled in with gesso to give a raised effect for embossing, I explained this technique in my post Gesso Embossing, (scroll down to July 6th post) the invitation was put through the Wizard after positioning the gesso daisies where I wanted them on the front flap of the invitation. Slits were cut at the side folds for threading ribbon which was tied in the front. The inside right front cover has a pocket for the response card which was also embossed using the same daisy design.

Have a creative day.
Toni

Illustration Friday: Empty

Last year when I purchased Illustrator it was for designing die cutting templates for Spellbinders Paper Arts. These designs are all done in black and white and I taught myself how to use Illustrator.

So for this weeks topic 'Empty' I wanted to try my hand at using the Illustrator graphic styles and brushes. Wow do I have a lot to learn so please bear with me on this and forgive any goofs you might see. So any constructive critique will be appreciated and helpful tips.

As for the subject 'Empty' I thought for quite awhile and decided on the feeling you get when a good bye letter comes your way. And for some people comfort comes in the way of a box of chocolates which in this illustration is also empty.

Have a good day.
Toni

Day 15: We have a Chrysalis!!!

What an exciting afternoon this has been watching my first caterpillar turn into a chrysalis. Like I mentioned in my last post I missed it last year. This whole process takes about 20 minutes or less.

I first noticed the caterpillar wiggling around and starting to stretch out from the 'J' position. Keep in mind it is hanging from its tail end and the head is down. Then slowly you could see where the skin starts to split by the head on the back side. It emerges from its skin and as the skin finishes splitting it throws the skin off. Now it begins to pull itself up close together in an oval shape of sorts. The light yellow green color will turn darker over the next couple of days and a beautiful gold band will form on the out side with gold dots on the bottom. The gold will look just like a 24k gold ring.

I believe in about 8 to 9 days we will have a monarch butterfly.
Once it is all done I will again this year do a photo gallery web site showing the start to finish. In the meantime enjoy these pictures. Remember I took them through glass and I did not have time to do much adjusting. I added comments to the pictures so be sure to click for a larger view.

Have a creative weekend.
I better check out what subject is for Illustration Friday this week.
Toni

Day 15: Monarch Watch 'J'

Wow can you believe it today should be the day we get a chrysalis. My first photo shows late last night the first caterpillar after searching around on the craft stick lid anchoring itself from its back end to the lid. You can see the white web like substance they use to attach themselves. The caterpillar hung in the 'J' all night and it is now nearly 12:30 p.m. and he/she is still hanging.

The second caterpillar as you can see by the photo is climbing to the top now also. He/She is now roaming around looking for a spot to attach itself.

As I type this blog I have one eye on the computer and one on the caterpillars with my camera read to go the minute I see the chrysalis starting to form. Last year I missed it. Oops wait stop the presses it is happening right now. This is wonderful! Ok I took lots of pictures so let me post this and get those pictures ready for another post.

Be sure to click photos fro a larger view.
Toni

Day 13: Monarch Watch

It's been nearly two weeks since the caterpillars came from their egg stage. Soon they will be finding their way to the top of the container and attaching themselves to the lid made from craft sticks.

This picture shows the oldest one next to the dime.

As for studio news I have been doing more tutorials on Adobe Illustrator. There is a lot to learn in this program and I find it fascinating. I have been impressed with what some illustrators do with this program. Today I will be going over the different brush features. Hopefully I will be able to have a go at it for next weeks Illustration Friday.

Have a great day.
Toni

Day 11: Monarch Watch

So how was everyones weekend? I planned a busy weekend but ended up getting stung by a bumble bee Saturday morning. I was doing pretty good but by late afternoon my arm started to swell and itch like crazy. So the rest of the weekend was spent taking care of the sting. I did manage to get Illustration Friday done. As you can see the baby Monarchs are growing. They are now longer than the dime I use as reference. Today I really need to get the popsicle lid made so they will have something to grab onto to make their chrysalis. I will also be making a larger container to raise Monarchs in. Right now I have four more caterpillars and a fifth egg ready to hatch today.

Well everyone have a good Monday.
Be creative.
Toni