Sunday, 12 August 2012

Third Layer - Contact Paper



 
Here is a simple tool to use in your artwork.  Contact paper is available at Target, Walmart, some Grocery Stores, etc.  What’s nice about contact paper as a stencil is that you can stick it onto your art piece and paint right over the top of it with no concern about the stencil shifting.
 
You may remember this background from a previous blog.


I still wanted to see some of the background so using contact paper was a good option.  I started by drawing a tree scene on the contact paper and then cutting it out.  I peeled the white paper off of the clear plastic then stuck the plastic onto the artwork.



With a little bit of blue and black paint I applied a light coat over everything, including the plastic.  Then I peeled the plastic off.


To achieve the leaves I cut a few out of the white of the contact paper with a box cutter.  I then used a muted green and stenciled the leaves around the trees giving the illusion that there were leaves behind the trees.  When the leaves were dry I stenciled some brighter ones on top of the trees.




I needed some moons, so I cut out a circle within a circle.  I put the large circle down then put the center circle back into the center of the large one.  Then I stenciled it a few times on the art piece.   I then took the center circle and painted around the edges.  This resulted in the area where the circle was placed untouched and just the area around it painted.


I wanted stars so I punched some holes in a piece of paper and stenciled the stars onto the background of the piece.  Then cut out a bird and stenciled it a few times.


I stenciled some letters onto the piece which certainly changed the look.


Another thing you can do with contact paper is 'photo transfer'. Basically you take a photocopied image, place it on the clear contact paper, burnish the image on the contact paper making sure that you don't have any air bubbles, place it into water, wait for about 20 minutes, then remove the white paper.  You can use a credit card, on end of a knife, the end of scissors, or whatever to burnish the photo onto the contact paper.  This method is good when you want to put on image over top of another image that you still want to see.  For example, you can put words over a painted flower.  Note, the photocopy should be best quality.






I placed the transferred image onto my artwork but I was unable to see it very well due to the darkness of my artwork.  I went ahead and cut out a lighter tree to put the image onto.  Cool.


PROMPT

Peace.  Oh yes peace.  There are people who are constantly going, talking, partying, and on and on.  They never seem to have a minute of peace. 

I was one of those people who felt like I needed to ‘do’ all of the time.  Always going places, entertaining people, making things, etc. etc.  I still have a high energy level but I have finally recognized my limit.

I am a people pleaser and feel drawn to do for people even though I am tired.  In the past, I never seemed to get enough rest.  Then one day I said ‘no’.  That’s a foreign word of mine.  I don’t want to let people down or disappoint.  I find much joy in giving.

You know what, the sky didn’t fall that day I said ‘no’.  Nothing exploded.  The world didn’t disappear.  The truth is, I was able to refresh, rejuvenate, and start again with more energy and a happier heart.  All I need is one day.  It just takes one day for me to re-energize.  No noise, no people, no internet, nothing.  It’s amazing what a difference it has made for me.

Now, when people ask me what I want for a gift, I tell them one night, by myself, in a nice hotel. There is nothing quite like it.

How can we be effective if we don’t take time to re-evaluate, think, and contemplate?  I believe that we sell ourselves short when we don’t take time to just be quiet.

What is your limit? Take the time to rejuvenate and refresh.   You are so worth it.

Believe it or not.  We really do care about you.

 

 

 Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.  For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

 

Mark 6:31




  

     

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