Suffering for your Art

Those that know me, know how I feel about having my picture taken.

And selfies?  Just, no.

Yep, the pain is real.

But, a couple years ago, I really wanted to do a portrait quilt.  And so many artsy people do self-portraits.  Time to bite the bullet.

I used Roxio photo editor to simulate the fabric I had in mind to use for the hair.

Oops. It wasn't until I had applied the fusible web to the fabric that I realized I forgot to reverse the image.

Trying out border ideas.

In the end, I went with a simple, straight border.



Okay. That wasn't toooo bad.

Fast forward to the present.  Let's try this again.

This time I used acrylic paint and a digital drawing program called Autodesk SketchBook.

For this picture I poured paint on freezer paper and let it dry, creating paint skins that can be peeled off and used as collage material.  I laid the pieces over the selfie printout and took a picture.  In Autodesk, I traced over the face and glasses and then erased the photo underneath.
The finished product is only in digital form at this point.  For now.

Mighty Oak Tree

Back in September I came across this photo.  I love it for its color and perspective.  I could see it as a poured painting.

So, when a fall painting was requested, this was what I had in my head.

Time to gather the supplies.


I keep a variety of colors of acrylic paint on hand, pre-mixed with mediums and water to a pouring consistency.

A 16x20 inch stretched canvas and
a small butane torch.  The torch is used after pouring to warm the paint, which aids in the creation of cell patterns.

Colors chosen and silicone added.  Silicone also aids in the cell formation.




Let's pour!

I decided on a three-cup flip technique. Each cup was layered with random amounts of all the colors.   The negative space of white and grey was poured after inverting each cup of color onto the canvas.

There's no way to know exactly how much paint you need.  You can only approximate, so at this point, one crosses one's fingers and hopes for a Goldilocks experience. Not too much, not too little, just right.

After lifting the cups, the canvas is tilted this way and that to spread the paint.

Every pour is a surprise!

Another hope that is commonly heard among paint-pourers is "Please let it dry like this!"
A lot can happen after pouring. The paint can continue to move and shift. Unwanted objects can land and stick. The surface can crack.

I'm please to say that this dried nicely.

I love closeups.  As Dorcus Lane would say, "They're my one weakness!"

I decided to create the trunk and branches using paint skins.  I poured the paint onto freezer paper and let dry.

The paint peels off easily and can then be adhered to the canvas.

Let's grow!

And grow!

And of course, some more closeups.

Finished and signed!

Reboot, Revamp, Revise

I haven't blogged since last year.  I really haven't even thought much about blogging in the last year.  And the last couple of years have seen a lot of changes for me.  So when I started feeling like blogging again, I realized that my blog didn't quite fit anymore.  The blog needed a change also. Just a small adjustment, really.  In fact, a single word was all I needed to change.  Unfortunately, that word was in the blog title.  I figured the easiest solution was to start fresh.

Hence, The Queen Crafts!

At first, I was hesitant to use the word craft.  To be honest, it carries a bit of baggage:  handmade crafts; something the kids do; it's not art, just a craft.

It's a shame we don't always think of its definition first and formost:  to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity.

Sounds downright noble. Befitting a queen!