Collageables, Creative Concepts for Canvas Art

How excited am I that Deb Drager is teaching her collage class at Surfaces? So excited that I have been thinking about collages, buying books about collages, and yes, even practicing collages. I was This Girl in school:

Harry Potter, Warner Bros.

"Pick me, Pick me.  I read the homework. I practiced!"

I had a canvas with nothing on it and a vintage movie poster from 1959 that was in rough shape. We also got in some cool retro looking stencils from Sheri Zeman (the starburst) and Melanie Royals (the oval linking chain) that I was dying to use. The pictures are tinted with Faux Creme Colors and the patterns are Lusterstone, Metallic Aquawax, and Orange Gold Glitter.

This guy looks like Mr.Big doesn't he?

She may have "married for love" but that look on her face says she married for lust. LOL!

After my attempt, I am anticipating Deb's class even more because it was easy to see that the type of canvas did make a difference and there must be tricks for getting paper to lie flatter.  I didn't know what a Brader is!

Just the notes that Deb sent me to prepare for this class have given me ideas for so many things beyond sticking a picture to a painted background.  I mean look at her work:

We are pulling together so many things to play with-plasters, waxes, stencils, rust, crackles, decorative nail heads, paper, fabric, imprints, and more!  Deb sent out homework-really play work- this week to get everyone ready for the two-day class. You will be working on 3 smaller canvases and 1 large 30" X 40" canvas. Deb will share how she sells her work. Sells her art for money.

I am working on my canvas ideas right now-



We have many talented local and out-of-state artists signed up for the class. Bruce and I are hosting a bar-b-que at our home on Thursday night for class attendees to relax and hopefully enjoy the outdoor firepit while sipping a cold brew.  Deb is an outstanding teacher and one of the most creative people that I know personally.  She is inspiring and will get you fired up about your decorative art!

So, if you are kicking yourself saying "I wish I had signed up for this class" today is your lucky day. I have room (we have 4,000 square feet of just classroom space) for one more person.  If you are interested in attending call us at Surfaces 913-888-9996.

Collageables with Deb Drager.

Thursday, October 27-Friday, October 28th. 9am-5pm.  $795



Awesome Airbrush Class: The Geisha

Krystiano completed an entire project during his visit to Surfaces.  It is amazing to watch each step and see the whole piece come together.  During the class and watching the Geisha come to life was very instructional.  It is important for your hand and mind to work with the "impression" of the object rather then a literal expression.  For example:  Using the airbrush to create individual strands of hair looks fake while building blocks of shading found in hair is more realistic.

The Geisha started with a high/low coat of troweled Plastertex.  When dry this was washed over with a neutral pale brown glaze.  We selected a copyright free image on-line that was done in simple black and white shades except for the vibrant mouth.

We scanned the image and printed it on a transparency sheet.  Using an overhead projector, a simple pencil contour drawing was done over the texture-think how coloring books look.  Krystiano used the airbrush and Black Faux Color to begin blocking in the first color.

Here is the Geisha with the black color blocking completed.

Next, the striking white of the Geisha's face is filled in, followed by the bright red mouth that really sets the piece. White is also added to highlight the hair and the flower in her hair.  I am amazed at how little paint it takes to fill in an area.  Krystiano stressed using transparent color to build the finish.

Yellow and Violet highlights are added.  Very few colors were needed to create dimension.  Krystiano was going for a "vintage" feel to the piece.  It reminded me of a vintage travel poster.

Here Krystiano is working on the kimono using stencils and free-hand shading. The only hard line is the actual neck line of the garment yet the shading around the soft pattern gives the illusion that a kimono is present. 

The completed airbrush work!  I sealed the piece with Aquaguard Gloss and let it dry overnight. The next day I used Rich Brown Stain & Seal thinned with FX Thinner to create a tea-stain.  I brushed it 100% over the surface and softened with a dry terry towel.

The completed Geisha.  I know we need to have the piece in the studio to promote future airbrush classes but Bruce and I love it. We want to frame it and hang her in our home where it would go perfectly-we have an Asian Contemporary.  The best part is that Krystiano signed his work and when he is world famous, the Slatons will have an original.  Thanks so much our friend for a great class and a fun visist.  We will miss your Brazilian Grill and the good company!

Awesome Airbrush Class

The best part about owning a studio is all the cool artists you get to meet. Our talented friend Orlando Artist Krystiano spent over a week with us at Surfaces. After being a part of my week long cabinet class series, Krystiano taught a weekend long Introduction to Airbrush class-and I got to be a student.  I know Krys is a wonderful artist but he is also a wonderful teacher-very outgoing and funny.  I, and the other attendees, left feeling like this is something we could really do on our own.  I am ready to airbrush my lower level game room and will post the results. For now, please enjoy pictures from the class.

This is an exercise in gradation of single and multiple colors.

Kerry and Sydney working on a color shading exercise.  Both had excellent samples.

Sue gets a "thumbs-up" from Krystiano on her masking exercise.

Kerry working on an exercise.

Kerry's masking exercise and ideas for children's murals. Her work with the airbrush was very dimensional!

My masking exercise-a little raggedy next to Kerrys! I was thrilled since this was the first time I have ever worked with an airbrush.

A sample from the planet exercise.

My planets-anyone want a Star Wars Room?  I am ready!

The Cloud Critique.

My first clouds with an airbrush.  My skies always look a little stormy-wonder why?

My night sky.  I will never hand brush a sky again!

We ended the class by working on stencils and cabinetry.  I did this molding all with the airbrush over a base stain.  The thinned Stain & Seal worked great and I was able to shade, detail, water-mark, and fly flick without touching a single brush-crazy!

Krystiano thanks from all six of us. We had a great time and can't wait for your next class. Until then, we will all be airbrushing everything.

Gary Lord's Open House 2010

The last few weeks were so busy.  Brenda McPeek taught her RS class for us and it was really inspiring.  I struggle with pretty light finishes-I don't want them to wash out over the surface or seem blah.  Well, her finishes have so much depth and her approach to using the RS products is better then mine!  I am doing three finishes for myself.  And I know 2 people from the class are bidding jobs right now.  I want to add this class again in the Fall.

This is my Florentine Tile.  I like that the marble effect is soft-I tend to make angry marble (and skies).  It is a good techinque for people that struggle with "wormy" granites and marbles. 

The sample below is by Emily Andrews-the class was a birthday gift-nice family!

I am doing the Riveria Sparkle in a lighter version on my floor tile that is ugly orange and set in concrete.

I love the Polished Damask.  We've all seen what I call DDD-Damask Done to Death-but this is so pretty and looks just like a bone china.  I am doing this at our lake home (which is for sale-any takers?) over orange peel walls.

Bomar gave me these great Bees.  I am doing our Wine cellar in the Crumbled Wall finish. I added metallics for a contemporary twist. A good sample is one where you can take it in lots of design styles.  The plaster is crackled and torn. It made me think of honeycomb-just silver and platinum.

These are just a few of the samples.  Brenda is a fun teacher and I am really proud she is also a friend. We also had Red Velevet Ice Cream Cake for Emily's birthday so let's hope someone in the next class has someting to celebrate.

Sue Hon, Ashley and I left the next week for Gary Lord's Open House in Ohio.  I am teaching a Makeover Class there the end of summer (and one here in early summer). Here we are in our booth with our tile, cabinet, and Bomar Mirror Surrounds.  By this time, we have been to a Michaels, Hyde Park district, Rookwood Plaza, Nordstroms Off  The Rack (which I saw from the middle of traffic behind us and could only get to by a mid lane u-turn. Remember what Ed Hardy says-"Fashion Kills" oh wait that is "Love Kills"-really the same thing!) and a rock quarry/nursery in Kentucky-but that was a GPS mistake.

At this point, I realize that I have the whole studio except MY MAIN DEMO BOARD-see the empty wine glass! Thank godness that Ashley and Sue have been with me from Dallas to Charleston and can talk me off the ledge.  But notice the nice samples to my left.  Karen and Liz are coming here-I saw some really good finishes-but back to panic at the Open House.

See the Panic!

This was the well thought-out demo board.  3 ways to use Low Viscosity Glaze for Raku, Shattered Paper, and Anitque Mirror Tile. 

This is Lucy and Ethyl us at the hotel trying to pull another sample out of the amenitites in the bathroom.

In the end, we got it together.  I just put on my Vegas Act during the demo and hoped the audience liked me more then the final sample.  My demo ended with the whole display behind me falling off-I think it will be on You-Tube, labeled-"Girl with Tourretts Faux Paints."

This is Cynthia Davis' booth for Wallsover. She is coming here to work on samples!!! We can't wait to get our hands on some of the new samples. She is very cool.

BUT THE BIG NEWS: Gary's New Book is ready and we saw the first copy. And SUE and Surfaces are both in it and we both have a little sample square on the cover. 

Here is Sue's Square!  We each posed with our fireplace. Scott did a great photo.  Bruce and I look like we live in Palm Desert-very Rat Pack.

Sue has her own chapter of a beautiful bathroom. Way to go!

The book has a diversity of finishes.  Donna Phelps has a very user friendly bathroom chapter and Deb Drager shows you how to apply finishing to canvas art with a colorful chapter-lots of prettty blues and greens.  Copies will be ready just in time for spring. 

I am leaving for Dallas today to catch the FE update and celebrate my birthday with my folks in Oklahoma.  Check us out next week for: 

Fake Housewives and Real Finishes. Faux Finishes for the OC Ladies (if they haven't been evicted or sold) These will be real step-by-step finishes using lots of different products.