Artist Trading Blocks ala Mary Jane Chadbourne

Stencilgirl columnist Tina Walker is full of great ideas. I have participated in quite a few of the group projects she has conceived of over the years, and truthfully, those challenges have sparked me to produce some of my best work. The latest challenge was the Beautiful Minds Inspiration Collaboration: we were to choose an artist we admire or are inspired by, and create something in their style.

My mind immediately went to Mary Jane Chadbourne, whose website is called Desert Dreams Studios. She is an amazing, creative, colorful artist and has inspired me for years. She does all kinds of two dimensional and three dimensional work, but the ones I loved most were the stacking Artist Trading Blocks.

Mary Jane Chadbourne's Artist Trading Blocks inspired me.

I didn't want to wait to order pre-made blocks...I was much too eager. So, I made my own out of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I love building things and doing art-related math, so it was fun to figure out what size blocks to make, how to design them so they folded up into cubes. I made the top cube 2", the middle 3" and the bottom 4". Mine did come out a little wonky, making me think that next time I would order some that were perfectly square and perfectly flat.

Here's how I made the first block. (I used some watercolor paper that I had stenciled and didn't love.) 

Above are six stages in the construction of my small box.

After I had completed the construction of all three cubes, the fun began. I auditioned a variety of stamped, stenciled and printed images for the top, middle and bottom blocks.

Here's some process shots:

Here's the three cubes, piled between layers of parchment paper while the glue was drying.

I "auditioned" all kinds of faces, clothing, and accessories for each block. I used up scraps of painted, stamped and stenciled paper.

Little did I realize, when I started the project, that I would need to create 18 little works of art: each cube has six sides, and there were three cubes! My concept was that the bottom block would have a dress or skirt, the middle would have a face and shoulders, and the top would have a hat or crown on each section.

It is SO much fun to play with the blocks, to rotate them and mix up the different faces, outfits and hats. My Artist Trading Blocks definitely bring out my inner child, and I can't wait to make more!

STENCILS USED:

Nathalie Kalbach, Manhattan

Judy Wise, Judy Judy

Kristie Taylor, Tapestry

Laurie Milka, Pilgrimage to the Renaissance

Tina Walker, October 2020 StencilClub set, small stencil

Gwen Lafluer, Decorative Medallion

Valerie Sjodin, Leafy Doodle Merge

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ArtTeaLife/One Crabapple

The Graphics Fairy

A Stamped and Watercolor Frame

The Gwen Lafluer ArtistTribe is back! I'm really excited that our ArtistTribe team is back together for 2021, sharing creative and exciting projects made with products from the fabulous Gwen Lafluer, who now has all kinds of products: stencils exclusively designed for StencilGirl, stamps from PaperArtsy (which coordinate nicely with the stencils!) and embossing powder from Emerald Creek. Aaaaannnndddd, she has her own website with all kinds of art and craft tools and products, plus unique fibers and decorative accents for mixed media work.

I fell in love with her magnolia stamps, so here's one of the first things I made: a frame to showcase a beautiful photo of my daughter and our dog, Coco. Coco has crossed the rainbow bridge, but he's still very much here in spirit.

Here's how I made the frame:

I started with a cheap wooden frame that I found at Michael's for $1. Needless to say I bought quite a few! Rather than paint directly on the frame, I decided to stamp and paint on tissue paper, then adhere to the frame.

First, I gathered the stamps I wanted to use, my lucite blocks, and my favorite ink. Then I randomly stamped the designs on a big piece of tissue paper, saved from the packaging of a Christmas present.

I covered about half a large sheet of tissue paper. I used white copy paper in back of the tissue so that I could see it better, and also to keep the ink from leaking through to my desk.

I took an old watercolor set and added blobs of color, intentionally going outside the black lines. (Any kind of water-soluble color would work, such as Derwent blocks or watered down arcylic paint.)

I kept adding more and more splashes of color, spritzing it with water, and at the end, an all over spritz of fine gold spray. I was impatient, so I used my blow dryer to speed up the drying process.  Once it was completely dry, I began wrapping the paper on the frame. First, I used a gluestick on the frame so I could easily position and reposition the paper without tearing. 

 

Once the tissue was in place, I cut away the excess (leaving enough to wrap around the edges) and carefully covered the top with gloss medium.  There were a few places that looked empty, so I carefully cut some of the leaves and flowers and added them where needed.

 

I used a q-tip to apply the matte medium to small areas so that I wouldn't damage the tissue. Once the tissue is wet, it tears easily.

Here's the final frame on my worktable, waiting for the center photo. With the leftover tissue paper, I also made a similar project with another $1 wood frame, which had a heart shape and would be perfect for Valentine's Day!

 

Pretty Tough Mask

Hi! Linda Edkins Wyatt here, with my interpretation of StencilGirl's mask theme. I thought long and hard about what kind of mask to make: a Halloween or Mardi Gras festive mask, a Tragedy & Comedy mask, or maybe a medical mask, since I had spent the last 10 months wearing a medical mask daily for my job in a New York City public hospital.

 

But, as I was paying the cashier at my local drugstore recently, I saw a poster of an eye makeup ad that was really bold and unconventional. It got me thinking about how we use makeup, hairdos, tattoos, and jewelry as part of the mask we put on daily to present ourselves to the world. Some people go with a natural look, using makeup to enhance their good features and minimize the imperfections. Others take things a few steps further, with extreme eye makeup, striking tattoos, and elaborate hairstyles.

I thought back to an oil self portrait that I had painted years ago, around 2005, when I was having some serious health issues. I looked sullen and unhappy and painted myself exactly the way I felt. Fortunately I had photographed the painting, so for the mask project, I printed two copies of the painting from my inkjet printer, using one for the canvas and saving one for the mask. For the first part of my project, I used the old self portrait on a square canvas and enhanced it with paint, inks and stencils.

I took an unfinished 12"x12" canvas that I was unhappy with, and glued one portrait on top using matte medium. I added recycled, empty teabags to join the printout to the canvas, then stenciled until it merged  and I could no longer tell where the printout ended and the canvas began.

My idea was to create a removable mask for the portrait: a tough but pretty mask. So, with the second self portrait printout, I again used matte medium, but this time adhered it to a piece of rusted fabric. I used flesh-toned paint the way you would use a makeup base, and pinks the way you would use blush and lipstick. The eye makeup was inspired by one of the makeup ads I saw in the drugstore.

 

 Once I had the face and hair painted, I used a plate to draw a circle and added extensions at the side to attach to the canvas.

I cut the painted rusty fabric, along with some felt padding and a purple batik backing, leaving strips at the sides to attach the mask to the canvas.

I lightly quilted the mask and stitched the edges closed.

A few spots of velcro on the side of the canvas and on the mask tabs made it easy to remove and attach.

It was pretty bizarre to try outlandish makeup, hairdos, jewelry, and tattoos on myself! I tried various crown ideas, a few different stencils to suggest a neck tattoo, and gave my mask-self wild blue hair. You can see in the photo below that the features on the mask and the canvas under-painting match exactly.

Here's a video (with music) on the whole process, start to finish. Enjoy!