Finally Friday- whew

I have been trying to get ready for our guilds yearly retreat, Sandy Camp.
It is challenging with a bouncing 2 1/2 year old that has no idea why I am ignoring her. Like I would. She has finally lain down for a nap, thus my frivolous time writing a little blog. ;-D
That is why I haven't been posting in the morning, I usually schedule posts the night before. I finally get to work after dinner and that is what I am doing when I should be writing my blog.

I always get a slew of ideas when I am writing a how-to, preparing for a show, getting ready for a class, packing for a trip, or anytime I am trying to focus on the impending job at hand that I am running out of time for.
So what I wanted to show you is a piece that came out of that time.


I have a few sculpts that I did years ago and I was making molds from them to sell in the Sandy Camp store. This one has always been a favorite of mine.

A happily content Green Man in the Cernit Nature color Basalt (502 in our Clay Factory store) smiles happily.

This was taken from an architectural influence and  replicates a piece of a building for you to wear.

The piece is medium size.

It is stained or antiqued with black Ne-opaque acrylic paint.

And then it is blushed with Super Bronze Lumiere. I have made a few in different stone and metal colors.
This one is in my Etsy store now
http://www.etsy.com/listing/82858271/greenman-brooch-1

A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. From Wikipedia.com 

I didn't get the whole blog written either had to put it away and start again later.
So friday is almost over now.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Hushed Humpdays

tee juice fineliner, acrylics, lumiere acrylics

8" x 10" La Sirena- Loteria Cards

I am intrigued by the game Loteria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loter%C3%ADa It is similar to bingo from what I understand, but what I like the most are the images.

Lotería is a tradition that involves art, passion, and culture. The origin of Lotería can be traced back to the 15th century in Italy

Doesn't that sound wonderful?
This one is my version of the La Sirena, the Mermaid


Con los cantos de sirena, no te vayas a marear (With the siren songs, you are not going away to be annoying. From dictionary.com)
Acrylic paint, Lumiere, rhinestones, Cernit, half pearls, parchment paper, and teardrop turquoise opal stones.

Hushed Humpday

4 x 6's- Sacred Heart

Black Tee-Juice fabric marker for outline, Lumiere acrylic paints, and regular acrylics.

Lovely Meta- part deux

This is also from Meta http://www.metastrick.com/ and the PCCMMRetreat http://www.pccmmretreat.com/. She did so much that week. As I said before, I am more inclined to sit and visit.

This is "mixed metia" on canvas with lace, acrylics, and paper.

Lumiere as an antiquing medium

Lumiere acrylic paint makes a wonderful antiquing medium. It is definitely different than using an opaque medium like Ne-Opaque, but beautiful none the less.





Punch the color in to a baked piece with a large stencil brush, I use a ½” or bigger round stencil brush. Using a damp but not soaking old piece of bath towel I wipe and if necessary rub off the excess paint.
This chart shows Lumiere colors on black and white Cernit.

The Clay Factory carries both the Lumiere and Cernit Phthalate-free clay.

I have pictures of other examples of standing shrines on my web page http://www.mariesegal.com/ under the shrine page. All of them are antiqued with Lumiere or Ne-Opaque. Another wonderful thing about these paints is they can be used on a lot of other canvas beside Polymer clay, like fabric, paper, and leather.