That Dead Feeling Continues.....

Day of the Dead, actually :)

I just love painting these girls! They are macabre in their skeletal make-up....but still so bright and beautiful.  I love the flowers and the colors....it is so fun to paint them!

I tried something different from canvas this time.  I thought I'd use some chipboard shapes I bought a while back to make ornaments for the occasion.

 

They can be hung on your altar, a Halloween tree ( I always wanted one of those) or on your walls all year round.

 

I used bits of old and new jewelry pieces to dangle below.  This enamel butterfly was an old pendant that belonged to my Grandma years ago.

The sentiment translates to, "Never Forgotten".

 

 

The flowers are cut from vintage greeting cards.  This one says," Eternal Love".

 

 

I don't know if you remember when Amy showed some of us how to sew fabric onto watercolor paper and use that to paint on?  The original post is HERE.

 

Well, I had a 9 inch square sewn and waiting for ages for the right inspiration to come along.

This is what it became :)

 

 

 

See, color and more color! Love it!

Her message says, "I will never forget you" (thanks for the letter tiles, Micki!)

 

Making the fabric flowers for her hair reminded me that I had some flower brooches in the shop that could use a photo redo.

Maggie helped me :)

 

 

I think they definitely look more attractive now :P

 

I'm trying to keep the Halloween coming, though I know Christmas is at my door getting ready to ring the bell......"Hold on, hold on, I'll be there in a minute!"

 

My Friend, Magaly is having lots of dark, Hallow's Eve fun over at her Blog if you are craving more!

Go visit for a spell...okay, okay...that's an old one...but she is a witch...so it's true!

 

Hugs and happy memories,

Cam

Lost Soul *UPDATED*

Well, though that is the title of my latest piece....it's really about how I've been feeling lately.
I've been in a bit of a funk.....
...but, finishing this piece has helped.

Amazing, isn't it...what slapping a bit of paint down on something can do for your mental state :)

I know it's been a while since I've been here.  I've felt very guilty about not making the time I used to for blogging.  Part of the funk I've found myself in....

 

...but, that will have to wait for another time.

I'll show you this piece, but my scanner wasn't big enough to capture the whole thing.  I'll take photos on Sunday and list her in the shop. *SEE NEW PHOTOS BELOW*

This is "Lost Soul".  Her arm is tattooed 'Alma En Pena' which is the Spanish translation.

 

She is 9 x 12 inches

 

I used molding paste on the flowers.   I love that stuff!  It really gives it phenomenal texture in person!

 

She is now in the Shop :)

 

Oh....and hey!

 

Carmen is having a Secret Santa over at her Blog.  Go read about it HERE and sign up....I did! The best part is stalking is highly encouraged and expected....heehee!  It's lifting my spirits already!

 

Please have a great weekend!

I've missed you guys!

 

Keep the paint flying,

Cam

The BIG News!

So........
The big secret I've been keeping.  The one I've been teasing you with.  The one I keep hinting at and then run away giggling to myself......

Well....
Here it is!!!!

 

I'm Published!!!!!!

 

 

My Halloween sculptures made it into this issue!

I don't know if you remember, but those were my first attempt at sculpting....ever!  You can read that post HERE.

 

I submitted them over a year and a half ago and heard just before going on vacation that they were selected!  I have to admit I blabbed a little, but I was waiting....waiting until I could hold the magazine in my trembling hands and shout from the rooftops....

I'M PUBLISHED!!!

 

Can you tell I'm excited?!

I've been so excited, I made new sculptures to commemorate the event!

Before I show you I wanted to tell you that I added a CLEARANCE Section to my store where I drastically reduced a bunch of paintings and other goodies.  I won't be renewing them, so grab them now....stock up on gifts....and use this 10% OFF coupon on your entire purchase to sweeten the deal!

 

Enter CELEBRATEWITHME at checkout :)

 

I gave you this sneak peek on Facebook a couple weeks back.

 

 

This became my very first try at a doll.  This is Mango :)

 

 

 

I love cat paw pads....so he had to have them, too.

 

After I made him.  I tried a different face shape.

 

 

This is "Spats"

Tuxedo cats are special to me now that I own one :)

 

 

These really were labor intensive.  I have one more body ready to apply clay to, but to be honest, I don't think I'm going to tackle that anytime soon.  These may be the only two I ever make. 

Who knows.... 

 

I've been working in clay so much over the past few weeks!

 

Look at these cool pumpkins I made.

I call them my "Sleepy Hollow" Series.

 

(sold)

 

All the text is cut from a vintage copy of the book.

"Sleepy Hollow was famous for Goblin Pumpkins"

 

 

"Sleepy Hollow is the most haunted spot in the world"

 

"shocking things happen in Sleepy Hollow"

 

 

"Sleepy Hollow is full of strange spirits"

 

"Welcome to Sleepy Hollow"

 

These are fun to make.  Each takes on a personality of its own.  I like flipping through the pages of the book and trying to make phrases that go with their expression.

 

...and because Halloween is not complete without a bit of the macabre, I made these:

 

 

4 pairs of fangs for your curiousity cabinet.

 

This little piggy had rigor mortis.....

 

 

 (Sorry, Natasha May) She hates it when I show digits in jars..haha!

I used driftwood as the bones. 

They are perfect for this because they are already discolored and rounded....and the paperclay sticks to the wood easily.

 

They are all in the shop....get 'em while they're hot!

Don't forget to use the coupon code CELEBRATEWITHME to get even more off :)

 

Thank you, thank you to all of you for your support, excitement and friendship!

It makes me so happy to share my life, creative and otherwise, with you!!

 

Biggest hugs!

Cam

 

My Weekend CREATE-ing

Hello Everyone!

I hope the weekend treated you all well!  Mine was amazing!

My Mom and I went to the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat, finally, after waiting for over 6 months for it to arrive.  I don't know if you remember that I asked my Husband for this gift last Christmas....a Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary gift all rolled into one....

My Mom wanted to attend with me, so it was nice to have a Partner in Crime to go with.  Plus, she lives just 15 minutes from where it was held here in California, so we didn't have to spend the money on hotel rooms.
If money was no option, one could take (4) six hour classes and (4) three hour classes over 5 days.  We took (3) three hour classes and (2) 6 hour ones....5 classes in all.

On Wednesday, we took a class called "Carved Birches - no cutting tools required" given by Staci Swider.

This was a 3 hour class.  We used 12x12 canvases, acrylic paint and oil pastels.  The neat birch tree effect was created with molding paste, crackle medium and house paint!  A really cool effect!

 

My oil pastels weren't blending very well, so the teacher let me borrow one of hers.  It was some French brand of oil pastel....and it was like butter! So creamy!  I need to add those to my wish list!

 

Thursday night, we took a class called "Crinkly Iridescent Vestiges" given by Helen Shafer Garcia.

 

 

 

We were given a special Masa Paper (rice paper) that we drew simple images on, crinkled up and soaked in water.  We outlined our drawings in a wonderful acrylic ink and watched them bleed. 

 

 

We filled them in with watercolors and embellished when dry.  We worked on several, but this is the only one I finished.

 

 

 

We took a 6 hour class Friday morning called "Unleash your Creative Spirit" with Staci Swider again.  This was so different than what I'm used to, that it really forced me to just go with the process.

 

Here's my view of the class from my side of the room :)

 

 

 

We started with a 2 foot square wood panel.  We covered it in gesso and acrylic paint (I used my hands the whole time).  We dripped water over the top and swirled it around by moving the panel to and fro.  We soaked up the water and some paint with a large piece of watercolor paper.  We did this as many times as we liked........then, we were told to find something hidden, looking at the panel in all directions.  Some found faces, others found animals.....

 

 

I saw a giraffe :)

 

 

We were told to incorporate some of the watercolor paper into the panel. 

 

 

We used oil pastels to define our lines....otherwise, it was all painted using just my fingers!

 

 

Saturday morning, we took a 6 hour course by Chris Cozen called "Incised to Perfection: Working with Color, Pattern and Texture"

 

 

There were lots and lots of layers put on this piece with flowers being "found" in the random designs.  Stencils and course molding paste were used.

 

 

I didn't realize you could paint over molding paste with watered down acrylic and have it bleed over the surface. Interesting.

We worked on 2 canvases, but I didn't come close to finishing the 2nd.

 

 

 Our last class on Saturday evening was called "Chip Off the Old Block" given by Pam Carriker.

We were given tips and guidance for carving our own stamps.

I've tried this before, but not for a long time.  I tried to pick an image that I could get a lot of use out of.

 

 

I carved both sides so I would have both wings.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these in art to come ;)

 

 

Thanks for letting me share my class projects with you!  Attending them was a wish come true....

 

I think we'll try to go next year, too! We'll see what the Hubby says....heehee ;P

 

Big paint covered hugs to you all!

Cam 

 

I've Got 3 Words for You....

I'm so sorry!
Well, those aren't the words I was talking about, but they are oh-so-true!
 I've been away from my blog for far too long....forgive me....pretty please :)

You see, it was Maggie's 7th Birthday last week and we had 2 parties for her over the past 2 Saturdays....one for family...and one for just school friends.  I've been cleaning, planning, cooking, decorating and basically in Party Mode for 2 weeks straight.  I can't wait to get all the photos up here to show you, but that will be another post.

So, now that I'm officially "free", I've resumed my regularly scheduled activities! That means going to the gym. Boo! But also, painting! Yay!

I rescued a whole deck of these adorable flashcards from the trash a while back.

 

I started by gessoing them and adhering some paper to them.

 

 

Then I used my new favorite technique of scribbling on watercolor pencils....

 

 

....and gessoing again over it.

 

 

Then came some stamping.  I have a new "screen" background stamp that I tried here for the first time :)

 

 

Here's where the steps weren't documented so well....haha!  You know how it goes, you start getting to the heart of the painting and it's hard to remember to stop and snap a photo :)

 

 

I nearly finished one before I remembered to stop.

 

I tried something different for me.  I sketched out the faces in watercolor pencil which I later used to add the shading to the face.

 

 

Here they are all finished....complete with touches of glitter....because who doesn't love glitter?!

 

 

The 3 words I have for you are......"Gratitude"

 

 

"Stillness"

 

 

...and "Simplicity"

 

 

Gentle reminders for good vibes :)

All in the shop.

 

I hope my Stateside friends had an awesome Mother's Day yesterday....and that all my friends had wonderful weekends!  I'll be back with party pics soon.

 

Here's a sneak peek ;P

 

 

 

I'll be going now...but just 3 more words before I do.....

Thanks for visiting!!!

 

...okay, and maybe 3 more...

Love you guys!

 

Cam