Puzzle candle holders

In 'another life', before I began painting, I was a woodworker. I had always wanted to work with wood, but grew up at a time when girls were not allowed to take shop. Boys took shop. Girls took 'home economics.' Looking back, I have probably used the skills I learned in home ec more than most of the courses I took anywhere, but I always regretted not having the opportunity to take shop.

So, several yeas ago, when I received a flyer from a local community college offering 'Basic Woodworking - Hand and and Power Tools', I signed up! I ended up taking four semesters of night classes and loved it. I learned how to use all sorts of power tools. I made a workbench, tables, bookshelves, cabinets with panel doors, toys and puzzles for grandchildren.

I got involved with Habitat for Humanity and built lots of houses...until I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and could no longer hold the lumber without my hands cramping. The disease crippled me for several years and I had to give up sawing, hammering...and the intoxicating smell of freshly sawn wood. 

Then I discovered watercolor painting... and found a new creative outlet which has led me to drawing, pastels, acrylics...  and the abstract painting and pouring that I have been doing recently. 

So, on to today's project...I woke up this morning with a new idea. 

I have loved the colors and shapes of the acrylic pours and was trying to think of ways to make some kind of base for the votive candles. Maybe I could combine that with some wood. I had been reluctant to get rid of my woodworking 'toys/tools'...and still had a lot of milled lumber from a cherry tree that we had to cut down years ago. 

I picked up a piece of the cherry wood, found the right size bit for my drill press, and began. I drilled holes for the glass votives and then began to randomly cut the pieces apart. One thing led to another and I had begun to make a puzzle! 

All these pieces could be used individually as candle holders, or they could be fit together in different groupings.! 

Here are some photos of the puzzle pieces with the candles. There are two sets of three...

Second set of three...

And here is a set of seven! Imagine having the candles all 

over the dining room table 

and asking our guests to put the puzzle together!

=

Since all these pictures were taken, I have put a finish on the wood and added felt to the bottom.  It's now a non-scratch surface so they can be put anywhere. 

It was a fun project!

Acrylic pouring....

 Tomorrow is the first day of spring! Where did February go...and half of March???

It seems I have been pouring a lot of acrylic over glass, but not so excited about it that I had to rush to my computer to post any of it. Taking refuge in my art space has been wonderful during the winter months. Some of the pourings have been interesting, but 'nothing to 'write home about.'

I'll start this post by showing some square glass that had been hanging around for some time. I had used these as candle holders in clear glass... what if, I poured them?

Interestingly, these are poured with the same colors, (wanted to use them together) but came out quite differently. They do sparkle when lit.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine gave me several vases that someone had wanted to get rid of. I had put off using this one because I thought it's shape would be challenging. First of all, how would I get it to balance upside down? I needed it to be stable enough to paint. I found some long nails that I hammered into a base and wedged a paper towel cardboard over a dowel. At least I felt confident that it wouldn't tip and shatter on the concrete floor.

The second challenge was how to get the paint to drip toward the top. (that would be the bottom in the photo) As the paint runs down the vase, it tend to drip straight down and onto the paper without flowing under the rounded part.

What I discovered is that once there is paint on the glass, the rest of the paint will follow. So, I used a paint brush to coax the paint to cover the rest of the vase.

Here are three views of the finished vase. I'm also posting some close-ups. I love what happens to this paint... and I never know how it will turn out!     

The color on the close-up is not too good, but I love what happens with the white paint!

Letting the paint do the work is amazing...

                        
I love that squiggle on the third view! Wish I knew how to make that happen again somewhere.

I have a few more odd shaped vases. Hope to get some paint on them in the next couple of weeks.

 Yikes - It's almost the end of January and I just realized that I haven't posted since Christmas! It is perhaps a little late for be wishing everyone a Happy New Year, but here is a photo of an acrylic pour with a candle and two champagne glasses....welcoming 2022.

This new year is bringing some medical challenges in our family and I have been tied up with various appointments. However, whenever I can, I get into my shop for a little 'art therapy.' I put on some music, get out my paints and I am transported into another world. Here is a vase that I completed recently. It began with red, blue, beige, white and green. It's freshly poured in this photo and continued to drip and change for quite a while.

I was very surprised when I returned to it the next day. Most of the darker blue and deep red had disappeared and green and orange took over! Before putting resin on it, it looked like this.

 Here is the finished vase.

The larger pieces obviously take a longer time and sometimes my time is limited so I have been doing more smaller pours. These two square candle holders were fun to do and look wonderful when lit.

Friends of mine are 'supporting my habit' and have given me a box of 72 small glass votives. I learn something new with each one and have enjoyed experimenting with color and different ways of pouring. Here are just a few in various stages  - the ones in the back have a first coat of resin. The ones in the front awaiting their first coat.

One of my discoveries was using my heat gun to add additional sparkle/crackle to the paint. When the candles are lit, they are quite dramatic. 

It's been a lot of fun...and as long as that continues, I'll keep experimenting...and then keep posting!

"Bittersweet"

 I have always loved the bittersweet vine. Usually I think of it around Thanksgiving. It was always fun to decorate our Thanksgiving table with the vine. I love the colors and the shapes. 

This has been a challenging year in many ways. In addition to COVID restrictions and uncertainties, some family medical issues have kept us busy running to doctor's appointments. For the past several months we were not sure that we would be celebrating this holiday season at all - but how grateful and blessed we are feeling to have this time together. 

So, when I was thinking of a card for this Christmas all I could think about was 'bittersweet.' It doesn't look as holiday-like, but it conveys a feeling that a lot of people share around this time of year. It's a time of reflection, of Christmases past, and of times of joy and sadness. It is truly a bitter-sweet time.

Merry Christmas everyone. Take the time to treasure the moments we all have and to make memories for the times to come.

Watercolor magic

 It's that time of year - the St. Michaels Art League hangs a watercolor exhibit at our local library each December. (except last year...COVID restrictions kept the library closed)

Years ago I had 'promised' myself that I would try to put something in every exhibit that the art league put on. So, even though I haven't been using watercolor lately, I needed to get back to it!  Since I have enjoyed the looseness of acrylic paint pouring, I knew I didn't want to go back to realistic scenes of Maryland's Eastern Shore. What to paint?

One of the best ways of creating something new would be to get out my Yupo paper and experiment with it. I began with wetting the paper and dropping color onto it. I love watching to see what the paint will do. This was my first attempt.

It was fun to do and did loosen me up. When I showed it to my art group, they politely said things like "It looks like a salad." They particularly liked the green. OK, I would play with that. I began adding more greens and filled in all the white spaces. Maybe a salad in a wooden bowl. I could add wooden serving fork and spoon...let them go out of the painting onto the mat...  So, I played with it a little...  I put a little paint around for a bowl and then tried some scrap paper cutouts of fork and spoon.  The more I 'took it over' the less I liked it!

Time to get out another sheet of Yupo! This time I wet the paper and washed over it with different greens and blues. It turned out mostly green. While it was very wet, I just began making circular shapes with my paint brush - having no idea what was happening. I let it dry thinking I would go back to it and add some other colors. When I showed this to my group... they were again polite. They saw various things including fields..maybe ready for harvest? It really wasn't meant to be anything at that point.

The following day, I began to dab various colors of paint on it just to see what would happen. The wonderful thing about Yupo is that you can wash it off completely, so what did I have to lose? I dabbed the paint here and there and then blotted it off with a tissue. I was having such fun! The tissue got wetter and wetter...  Then I 'let er rip' and began to swipe with the wet tissue. It picked up the paint leaving some wonderful ragged edges. I liked what was happening....it was hard to stop!

I'm calling this "Fall into Winter." 

It makes me think of a snowy winter wind blowing the fall leaves.

I wanted to put two paintings in the exhibit so I had one more to work on... The next day I went a little crazy and experimented with the watercolor to see if I could get it to pour like acrylic paint. Well, no it doesn't. I wet the paper and started blobbing on color. It wasn't wet enough to do much so I sprayed it with my water misting bottle. I held the paper up vertically, added more paint here and there and watched the paint run. What a mess! I kept adding paint in various places, trying to balance lights and darks. Knowing that watercolor dries lighter (and knowing that I could wipe it all off the next day and begin again), I decided to walk away and take a look 24 hours later.

The next morning I looked at it and wondered what to do with it. Hmmm, I looked around. Our house has hardwood flooring throughout. I looked at the painting and looked at the floor. I love seeing the hardwood grain... what about making some 'grain' in the painting?

This is where Yupo is really fun. I got out some toothpicks, a bowl of water and some tissues. What if I wet a toothpick and trace about the painted shapes... and then blot the wet lines... Voila! 

I found the zone...  this painting met my need to let go (letting the paint go where it wants) and get back some control (outline the shapes)! As I 'erased' the paint, I kept putting a mat around it to pick out the parts that I wanted keep. You can see this side-by-side photo and pick out the shapes.

Here is a larger version of the finished painting.

I'm calling this one "Fantasy Garden."

The watercolor exhibit will be hanging at the St. Michaels Library during the month of December.

 

A few more pours...

 When I first got excited about pouring paint over glass, I poured over all sorts of things. I had unused vases on a closet shelf. Friends gave me several vases and jelly jars. I wanted to try different glass shapes and walked around a dollar store. I did some online shopping and found some miniature vases...

All this brings me to wonderful experimenting...trying different ways of pouring - layered paint out of a cup, drops of color here and there, swirling it around as I pour, adding drips in some places...manipulating the paint in addition to straight pouring. 

Here are a few more experiments...along with images of some of the vase/jar bottoms. 

I was in a Christmas mood for this bud vase. It was tricky because it's fluted and the paint only wants to run down the 'valleys.' I found that I have to coax the paint to cover the raised parts. 

Love this bottom! Almost want to just turn it upside down.

Here's another holiday color one.  I used a lot of silicone oil in the paint so it's full of 'cells' and really sparkles with a candle lit in it.

This one is that same shape - could be a candle holder or a candy dish. 

Take a look at its bottom!

A few more different shapes with their bottoms...

Now, to back up a bit...some people have asked how I do all this painting upside down. Part of the fun for me is figuring out how to make a jig that is stable enough for each vase . I have used different size  cups, spray paint cans and various size dowels fitted into pieces of wood. It always depends on the size and height of the vase. Take a look at some of these vases waiting for a coat of resin. I am loving all the drip patterns on the wooded blocks and will find something to do with them one day!

Yesterday, I went again to our local library and added more vases to the display cases. 

Stop by and take a look.  

Pouring over glass - artwork on display!

 Yes, I have become obsessed by this new (to me) art form. It's the most wonderful distraction from the world around me...and so much fun!

Here are a few more of my recent pours:

This first one... I love the shape of this vase and wanted to make it bright and distinctive. I used a bright red and blue and a dark green. As I poured I was really excited about how it looked. However, when it dried, it was very dull. Now, I know that this acrylic paint dries dull, so I thought I would just sprinkle some water on it (before I put the resin on) and see if it would brighten. It did! I loved it...until I touched it and found the paint washing off!

Not one to give up, I tried it again. Same result - it dried dull. This time I waited a few days and then put on a coat of resin. Ugh - I thought it was very dark and boring. 

Interesting, you can see all the bright colors in the drips, but the vase is really dull. My artist friends seems to like it that way. I wasn't so sure and just put it aside.  As few weeks later, I still didn't like it and started picking away at the resin. I found that I could peel it all off! 

This time I left out the dark green and added white to the mix of red and blue. I alternated the three colors in a cup and began to pour.  Look at the difference!

And here is what happened on the bottom!

It looks like I had some yellow in there which I had forgotten about! 

I am excited about its new look.

Here are just a few more: these photos show the wet paint before resin...and,

I can't resist showing you some of the bottoms!

This is a Ball jar - fun!

I mentioned in my last post that I had spoken to the director of our local library about displaying these pieces of art. Yesterday, I took 22 of them and put them in the empty cases in the gallery area of the St. Michaels Library! So excited to have them out there for everyone to see. I turned some of them upside down so you could see the surprise on the bottoms! (Sorry about the reflected light in the photo. It's a sunny hallway)

They will be there - and are available for purchase - at least through the month of November! Stop by the library at 106 Fremont St. in St. Michaels.