micheal de meng workshop, part two!

so! yesterday was the second day of the micheal demeng workshop. amazing, of course, but not quite as fabulous as the first day. the theme of the second was supposed to be nicho libra, but there wasn't really any instruction on creating the boxes or niches. he covered more in the critique at the end than he did during the instruction portion of the day!

i wasn't super inspired about making a niche, because i thought that was more something i could do at home, so i decided to concentrate more on the paint layering techniques that micheal taught us, so that if i ran into problems, he would be there to help (and it was good, because i did, and he helped!)! i'm really glad i took the second day of the workshop, because i really wanted the full experience, but i didn't feel like i got as much accomplished, or that i learned as much.

that being said, the workshop/classes were OF COURSE, so incredible! such a positive experience in pretty much every way (except my body hating me, of course, but even that was okay, it held up!). i am so so glad that i took it, and that i managed to do both days. it was awesome to work in that setting, talking to other artists, because as much as i LOVE all of my crafty and arty friends on craftster and in blog land, i am pretty isolated un terms of crafty or arty friends locally. and the workshop was incredibly inspiring (which i was totally hoping for!) and now all i want to do is get my studio organized so that i can start making stuff every day! i have so many ideas for new projects, i can't wait to start them all! and i am already looking forward to next year, when he'll come back and teach again, and his new book will be out!

so..... you wanna see what i worked on? of course you want pics, right? as sweets always says "without pics it didn't happen!" (sweets is a little picture obsessed, but since she takes amazing ones, we don't hold it against her!)

so. i worked on 3 projects yesterday, alternating while they were drying. i showed you the first two pieces that i started, here's what more has been done!

first, the cocktail fork piece. this was really hard to photograph, the flash makes it seem darker than it really is. i'm definitely going to add more, i think that the top and the bottom pieces need to be blended together better. i mentioned that saturday i'd done a coat of molding paste and white acrylic on it.

so yesterday i started layering paints.

the first set of paints -

second set of paints -


you can see that the colours are a little bit more tied together in the second picture, but there's still more work to be done.

the sieve piece -
i decided that i wanted the girl to blend more with the piece, to make her seem more robotic, in a stepford wives kinda way (with her "trophy chest"! that was a total fluke, i wasn't thinking that when i did it, but it goes well, doesn't it?). i did a coat of gesso, and then a coat of grey paint as a kind of primer.


then i did a coat of lightened up illuminaires silver paint and did some dry brushing on the bottom using golden's interference paints. she definitely needs more coats, and maybe a wash, to tone down the brightness of the silver (perhaps an uszhh, as micheal calls it!). and more dry brushing needs to be done. i might use some micaceous iron oxide on it too, to give the top part a bit more of a leaded look.

with flash and without flash



and the piece i started yesterday, the BVM (blessed virgin mary). i was thinking about niches of boxes that i'd like to have on my walls, and i'm always berating muself for never getting around to making stuff for my bathroom, so this seemed like a good idea. i had two of these statues, but one had several marks on it.

i started by giving it a layer of gesso. my plan was to use a layer of dioxazine purple paint, then a layer of quinacridone/nickel azo gold, create the look of verdigree with several colours dry brushed on, then a wash of uzshh (quinacrodone gold and carbon black). i wanted her to look like an old brass statue, if you know what they look like with the green on them. micheal suggested i paint her black, then use interference violet on her, to get a bit more movement in the purple. i liked that idea, so i started painting her carbon black. it looked SO COOL all black and glossy while the paint was drying, but it was weird how uncomfortable i felt painting mary black!


after i'd added the layer of interference violet, i REALLY liked how it looked. unfortunately, my painting was really sloppy with the interference and it's super obvious! i thought i was going to put another layer over, remember? i think i'm going to sand her down and repaint the interference violet, even the black of neccessary.

current status, with flash and without. isn't the interference violet gorgeous on the black? oooh!




the back piece for her is a silver plated bowl. it has a bit of a patina since it's silver, and i dry brushed interference silver, violet, blue and green on it. it really looks like the mary is reflecting on it when you see it in person.

i still need to attach the mary and put a hanger on the back, but that has to wait until i'm done painting or re-painting her.

and that's what i did yesterday! i'm really excited to keep playing around with the paint layering, and do do a couple of niches or boxes.

if you ever get an opportunity to take classes with micheal demeng, JUMP AT IT! it is so worth it!

i lied!

i said i wouldn't be posting this weekend, but i lied, apparently!

just a quickie again, because i'm still gathering paper and ephemera to take to tomorrow's class.

today was fabulous! super fun and inspiring, i learned lots of stuff that i can't wait to play with more.

i actually did pretty well healthwise, my back didn't start getting really bad until the last hour or so. it definitely helped that i was up and down a lot, going to the power tool area, washing off my hands, etc, so i didn't get too stiff. i brought my own dremel, but there weren't enough plug ins really, so i just used his. i didn't have any of my own protective eye gear anyway, and metal sends off a lot of sparks, so i was glad to have them available!

i worked on two pieces today, starting the second one while i was waiting for the first one to dry. i didn't end up getting much painting done, and i didn't remember to take a picture of the painting that i DID do, but here are my two pieces in progress, pre-painting.


i added star studs in the bottom of this one after i took the picture, but otherwise the construction was done by this point. i'm not planning on painting this one as much, more just dry brushing to add colour.


this was the first one i did, and it's turning out very cool. it was dry enough for me to add layers of mold paste and then white paint before the day was over. cutting the doll's head like that was super fun and a bit of a challenge - plastic gets HOT as you cut it!

so today went REALLY well. unfortunately, i didn't make it to the wine and cheese tonight, and i'm really disapointed. i planned to go home and sleep for an hour or so, but by the time i was half way home i was digging in my bag for pain meds and muscle relaxants. i came home and set my alarm, and i'm not sure if i got up and turned it off (my alarm's in the hallway so that i can't do that as easily) or if i just slept through it buzzing for 2 hours before it switched itself off! i woke up too late to go back, which sucks, but it gave me a bit more time to hang out and relax and upload pictures and chat with my mom, whose play had a matinee and an evening show today, which i sadly missed. (luckily it'll be in next month's theatre festival, so i'll go then!)

tomorrow is niche libre, either creating a home for one of the pieces i did today, or for something entirely. i need to go finish sorting through my ephemera and paper!