Marbleizing Paper for Fun

by Kathy Garvey

For a recent visit from the grandchildren, I ordered this inexpensive marbleizing kit on Amazon. (There are many, but this is Jar Melo Marbling Paint Kit.) 

They had so much fun with it that, after they left, I set it up for a neighbor.  And after the neighbor had fun with it, I set it up for myself. (Note that set up requires mixing the solution the night before and letting it sit in the tray. If you don't do this, the paints tend to slide to the bottom of the tray and don't get picked up by the paper.) Below are some photos from our three experiments with marbleizing.

Youngest of the Grands! 

Her results on paper!

 

My little neighbor was in awe of her design and it turned out just as beautiful on paper.

Since our Pieces of 8 Challenge for February is working in an unusual way with paper, I had my butterfly making supplies out and whipped up a few with some of my results. Here's how one of them progressed!

The colors dropped into the tray.

The colors swirled with a toothpick on the water surface.

 

The paper after lifting it out of the tray.

The paper after drying.

The finished butterfly made from the marbleized paper.

Overall it was a fun experience. The kit is worth it for hours of fun. We've altogether made over 24 prints so far and there are plenty more of the paints. It's easy for kids to do with supervision. And, since you can use any kind of paper or even wood and stone, there is a lot more experimenting in the future.

Subscibe to our blog to see the latest with the Pieces of 8. And watch for our responses to the paper challenge on the last day of February.

A Few Kentucky Butterflies

by Kathy Garvey

On my third day at my month long retreat at Furnace Mountain Zen Center, after a heavy thunderstorm (that also zapped my car), I found a beautiful little butterfly drowned in a mud puddle. I pulled it out, dried it off and then photographed and sketched it. 

I had never seen a butterfly like this one and went on-line to discover its actual name is "red spotted purple." (Someone must have run out of imaginative names.)

Red Spotted Purple - Under wing has all the red!

Red Spotted Purple - Upper wing is a shimmery blue!

He was the first I found on my walks, but not the last. The abundant plants including milkweed and mountain laurel attracted many butterflies…among them tiger, zebra and spice bush swallowtails, fritillaries and monarchs.

I like to experiment with Photoshop. So, even though I have plenty of unmodified photos of butterflies that I am happy to share, here are a few of my "photoshopped" butterfly images from the trip. (Click on any image to enlarge it.)

Spice Bush Swallowtail on Milkweed

Fritillary (I don't know which kind) on Wild Hydrangea

Tiger Swallowtail and Spice Bush Swallowtail on Milkweed

Zebra Swallowtail on Clover

Kathy Garvey

etsy.com/shop/snailflower

spoonflower.com/profiles/kgarvey

Challenge for September, Patterns in Nature

Kathy always gets the closest of closeups in nature and makes wonderful art from them. She suggested we all make art from patterns in nature for our challenge this month.

 The Yellow Basket 

by Denette Schweikert 

11" X 14"

Kathy told me that this painting qualifies as patterns in nature but I don't know. I started this picture a long time ago and put it aside. I then found it, really changed it, and finished it. Now I'm happy about it. I shot the photo at a "pond tour" in Merritt Island.

  ☀☀☀

Dragonfly Wings

Watercolor, 11x14

I do my best thinking in the pool, so while I was trying to think of a pattern in nature for this challenge, a couple of dragonflies were flying around. I decided to do some layered dragonflies in fanciful colors. The blue one is an actual copy of a certain dragonfly's colors, believe it or not.

Carmen Beecher

https://www.etsy.com/shop/carmensart

https://www.carmenbeecher.com

☀☀☀

I was happily overwhelmed by the challenge this month. You can get so lost in really looking at nature and how beautiful even a bug can be. I went off in several directions until I came across some photos of viruses, yes viruses. I could not get over how beautiful these deadly things could be.

They also reminded me of patterns that I see on native dress in Africa, which incorporate so much of nature in their design. I will not tell you what these viruses are but just know as Billy Crystal would say, "It is better to look good than to feel good."

 

Several viruses collaged together

 

Donna Vines

Donnavinesart.blogspot.com

Donnavinesart.Etsy.com

☀☀☀

I took this photo at the New York Botanical Gardens as it seemed Mother Nature had outdone herself in the design.  The leaves were so interesting they almost appeared to be a product in plastic made by a whimsical artist.  Little did I know this would be the perfect prompt for the challenge.

Costus Stenopuynas costacea

southwestern Costa Rica

And my doodled design...if I had had colored pencils with me I would have enjoyed playing with the greens but rendering it only in black and white was fun.

 

Cindy Michaud

art@cindymichaud.com

www.cindymichaud.com

☀☀☀

Patterns in nature are probably my favorite inspiration. I'm so happy my fellow pieces were willing to play along. For this challenge I was thinking snails! (Okay, I think about snails a lot...patterns, spirals, beautiful colors...what's not to love. ) It was, however, a rough month with very little time for art and so I just did some doodling. Here are two snail inspired watercolor and inks.

Home and Garden

Spirals

Kathy Garvey

Art by Kathy at www.etsy.com/shop/snailflower

Fabrics by Kathy at www.spoonflower.com/profiles/kgarvey

☀☀☀

One of the most intense times I have spent sketching nature was spent at Silver Springs on a Piece's retreat about four years ago. I was fascinated by the profusion of Angel Trumpets.

Interior View  2014

Tons of Trumpets  2014

A recent sketch


I change the challenge a bit from making a close-up pattern, to just making a pattern. The sketch with tons of Angel Trumpets made me think of the pattern of a cotton pinafore that was one of my favorites as a child. I took the form of the stem and added one blossom to each right sided angle (or is that angel)?. Now the pattern resembles the fabric these blossoms brought to mind. Not exactly what intended when I started this challenge, but it makes me happy.

Fay Picardi

***

Insects are really beautiful 

Patterns in nature are a great inspiration for many artists. Dragonflies are especially interesting. I have painted dragonflies and had a couple in the file, but wanted to do something new and out of my imagination. I imagined a bee flying over a field and water. (Is there such a thing as a "bee's eye view?") It started as a watercolor (smaller print) and ended up as a mixed media. I just had fun with the patterns and a limited palette.

--Jean Thomas

ozworks22@cfl.rr.com  

Lots of Butterflies

by Kathy Garvey

My yard is filled with butterflies this time of year, primarily because of the proliferation of passion flowers in bloom. Attached are a few of my recent butterfly images, most of them featuring the lovely Gulf Fritillary or its chrysilis. All were done with Adobe Photoshop and/or Adobe Illustrator. I'm hoping to have some of these printed up to either paper or fabric for our annual Pieces of Eight Christmas sale coming up in early December. We always have wonderful paintings, jewelry, tiles and this year - decorative bird houses - at very reasonable prices. Watch this site for the date!