Early Morning Pleasures & Art Supply Treasures (2 Posts)

This morning, my brain awakened while my eyes were still closed.  I was dreaming about art extravaganzas… 

      

It felt cool and crisp, I cuddled under my covers more…  I heard a funny sound, what was it?  My brain had to jump into gear a little.  But my eyes just refused to open…  I could tell through my closed eyelids, the room was grey, so it must be very early…  I peeked one eye, less than halfway open, and could see a tiny ray of sun, casting shadows on my wall, from the tree outside my window…

      

The sound continued.  It was the beloved sound (not really beloved) of a very very chipper cricket.  It felt like it was sitting on my head.  The chirp was ever so loud in my right ear.  I invented a mantra, believing this cricket had a message for me…  In my mind I whispered, I love crickets, I love their chirp.  It is a song.  A song for sure.  I love it.  I just adore it.  I embrace it…  Cricket King, bring me inner peace through the chirping of the cricket…

I moved around.  It stopped chirping.  I got cozy.  It started again.  This went on about 6 times…

Finally, I looked at the clock.  5:27 a.m. Oh no!  I couldn’t take it anymore.  I slowly decided to get out of bed.  Now, looking back, maybe the cricket was trying to tell me something?  Urging me to go outside…

It was afterall, a magical morning.  It had something to offer that was so simple, yet so fulfilling.  It was cool outside.  The birds were starting their morning song…  I went through our garden path, and down the way, to get some fresh eggs…

      

Oh, beautiful lovely fresh eggs…  I sighed…  Nothing else in the world mattered.  I was embracing this moment.  Admiring the gorgeous colors the chickens had to offer us for that day…

      

Amazing.  I could never take them for granted.  Ever since the country house came into my life, I had rarely eaten a store bought egg.  For some reason, less than a dozen eggs, found at a beloved small chicken coup, happy chickens floating around, seemed extra special.  Blissful even…  Makes me appreciate them more than I can express.

And, to have a light mint green egg right on top of those lovely brown eggs…

      

I admired each one.  Thanking the chickens as I walked back through the little road and into my garden…

      

There were lovely palm size eggs…

      

And a couple extra huge eggs…

      

I passed our Texas Ranger…

      

Who had ever so kindly, left me a purple flower trail, to enjoy soft petals beneath my feet…

      

I said hello to the 10+ ft. tall Sphinx like, Spineless Prickly Pear duo, as I passed between them…  Hoping that the heaviness of all the plump fruit, wouldn’t cause a giant section to crash down on my head (as giant sections have been tumbling down)…

      

I lovingly thanked my old shopping cart growin’ basil for…

      

Welcoming the Mammoth Sunflower babies amongst it (Wow, I only planted their seeds 1 week ago!!  Mammoth on their way, indeedy!!)…

      

Then I skipped along (remembering to thank Mister Chirpy Cricket for waking me so early so I could enjoy this morning & embrace nature).  I decided to fill my basket, with treats for you!  Go ahead, grab one 😉

Our peach tree is ready for picking…

      

It has been so incredibly generous this year.  There are so many peaches weighing it down, a pitch fork has had to step in for leaning purposes…

      

So many gifts from nature.  Isn’t it amazing?  I think sometimes, we just have to stop, forgetting everything else going on in the world, and just infuse the soul with such gifts…  Heavenly delights…

       

I decided to take you out for morning coffee with St. Francis and a little shrine/mission I made a few years ago…  Are you enjoying yourself? (you can have anything to sip that your heart desires, if coffee is not for you 😉

      

I could hear Mr. Lovee mowing and gathering in the back…  So, I decided to spy on him…

      

He works so hard to keep the yard, as he says "Park like."  It is huge upkeep, and can get scraggly really fast.  Especially during monsoon season, when everything grows so fast…  Sometimes, we just throw our hands up and let it get out of control 😉

      

I offered him a dainty sip, for all his hard work…  I think I love this photo!!

      

What a precious morning, showing me all the little things, that matter…

Veering into the Art Treasures topic:  Segment II

Last night, I was in the studio playing with Golden Digital Ground (again), which I promised to show you weeks ago…  I can’t tell you what an amazing discovery this stuff is.  Maybe you have heard of it already, but it was a new discovery for me, in my little world, and I am smitten…

      

There are three different types of the Digital Ground, that do similar things.  Quite simply, depending on the solution you choose, what it does is coats porous or non-porous material, so that you can run it through your regular computer printer, and get a good print (printing fabric, yeee haw!!).  Here are the details from Golden…

Two of the Digital Grounds are clear, so you will see the background color, and one is White Matte. 

I tested the Clear Digital Ground for non-porous material, and the White Matte Digital Ground.  I will share that below…

      

The Non-Porous solution, is not waterproof at all.  After printing on the fabric, I coated it with varnish on a brush, and had mimimal bleeding while doing so (I thought it would smudge for sure while varnishing with a brush, but it did okay. Spray varnish, me thinks, would work better).  Once the varnish was dry, I tested it under water, and in my opinion, it was about 85% waterproof after being varnished. 

   

      

   

In the first photo in this segment, you can see what the Ground for Non-porous material looks like on raw muslin before I varnished or wet it. 

I know the Digital Ground for non-porous material, is not intended for fabric, so why did I use it on Material?  Just for the heck of it, actually…  And it looks good after being varnished.  Not too bad at all…

I punched holes in it, to sew it into my journal.  As you can see, it did get a little blurry and bled a bit after varnishing and wetting.  But if I had not varnished it before wetting it, it would have simply turned into a giant ink stain…

      

The White Matte Digital Ground (as you will see below in my testing of the product, tends to be 95% water resistant, with just a tiny bit of fading after running under water and drying).  I coated a piece of raw muslin with the White Matte Ground.  It worked beautifully!! 

It really is just like a fabric gesso, prepring the fabric with a white background for printing…

      

After I printed it, I DID NOT VARNISH IT before I ran it under water…

      

      

WOW, waterproof!!  It lost just a tinge of its color brilliance after running it under water…

I also tested both the White Matte and the Clear for Non porous material on Aluminum foil…  They both worked good.  But, the White Matte was especially vibrant and excellent…

Below is what it looks like printed on foil…  To the left is the clear non-porous ground, to the right, white matte ground…

      

      

When I ran the whole foil piece under water, the left washed right off, and the right peeled off like a thin gum…

So there you have it, get in your studio and experiment.  It is soooooo much fun!!

      

Oops, almost forgot.  DO you like perfume and make-up samples??  Do you think they are fabulous???  Well, I’ll tell you what??  Something even better than them!!  Sample paints!!  Golden has a new paint as well, OPEN.  It is gooood!!  The best part about it?  The texture is a bit different, and stays wet much longer than normal acrylics…

      

      

Did they say screenprinting?  Ooooooooo!!

Don’t worry, I don’t work for Golden, nor do they have a clue I am testing their products!  But, it could be fun if they hired me to be a tester!

By the way, if you have not tried Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylic paint, it is really good.  Awesome coverage!! And incredible colors!!

      

Well, I better be off, I have to be in town, and I am oh sooo late!!  Then it’s into my studio I go…

      

      

 

      

I am also going out of town later this week for Mammie’s Birthday, yipppeeee!!!

PS:  I have to thank Mr. Lovee for leaving me a super duper surprise!!  A brand new box of my favorite Caran D’Ache watercolor pencils!!  I go through them like water!!

Don’t give me flowers, don’t give me jewels, but give me art supplies, ppplease!! 😉  (And maybe jewels sometimes???  Possibly, maybe?)

      

      

Yummy stuff, I tell ya!!!

There is a local art store I frequent here in Tucson.  If you are in the area, you may have heard of it.  It is called Sarnoff’s.  I raved to the owner Henry Sarnoff yesterday, about the Golden products, and told him I was going to tell you about this stuff.  His shop is incredible.  Every exquisite art item, from any type of paint and beyond…   

I realized that shopping in person for art supplies (especially at a store like Sarnoff’s that focuses on traditional art supplies), makes me get that same feeling I had at age 13, in the pit of my belly, when I thought I was in love…  Flippity Flop!!

See you sooooon!!  xoxo,V

Also, thank you oodles for the Artful Blogging love!  It means so much to me!!!  Truly,  I humbly thank you!  I am sorry I have been a bit scarce lately.  I have some major changes happening in my real world job madness.  I am working with someone to ease that part of my life.  My plate has gotten so full, that it is just too much for me to handle.  Plus a stressful real world job, doesn’t really help me with the peaceful art vibe…  So, this will mean, more Art time, Creative time, and play time with you!!!  In the Magical World!!  This will be sooo good for me!  Woo hooo!!