What I've Been Working On

Ah lovely creative chaos. I've been having a lot of fun exploring new ideas, techniques and materials for my livefunky products. I'll explain this picture working my way down from the top.

Handpainted terracotta pots - These particular pots were painted years ago (2002) and I'd like to get back to working on them. At the time I used acrylic paint and acrylic gel varnish to seal them, but through years of wear and tear, the paint hasn't held up to the elements. If I make these again, I'll be using paints and varnishes specifically for this usage. But at the moment I've got plenty of other irons in the fire so the pots will have to wait.

Glass bubble magnets - (Glass piece shown over old sketch). The set you see here were made using my Mod Circles patterns (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23724210). I used the craft store bubble and acrylic gel medium. I've run into a couple of problems with these. First, the glass bubbles aren't perfect - it's hard to find one that is completely free of dings, dimples and air bubbles. The second issue is in the adhering of the image. I tried the gel medium but I think I'm going to have to use Diamond Glaze (which is what most people use when they do art to glass work). Which leads me to...

Glass art pendants - I just got my order from http://thosesweetsensations.etsy.com/ for a set of rectangular glass pieces and bails. This glass is "crystal clear" which solves the problem I found with the bubble glass. I'm going to wait until I get the Diamond Glaze before I start experimenting with these, but I'm very eager to get going.

Handpainted rock magnets - Like the pots, this isn't a new idea for me. But in the past my rocks were promoted as "pet rocks" or paperweights and I painted on collected rocks I found on walks in the woods. These new rocks are choice, flat, black river stones that are light weight and smooth to paint on. I think people are more likely to put a cool art object like this as a useful tool on the fridge rather than taking up more space on their desk. We all have more than enough "stuff" filling up our work spaces!

last but not least...

Mandala collage/painting on record albums - Being a music lover myself, this idea does at first sting a little - how can you destroy a classic album?! But no worries, it's my mission to use the least desired record albums ever made. The collection of records I recently picked up are actually quite funny, I'll have to do a separate post about them. One of my favorites is "Alabama Christmas" - you should see the inset pics of how Alabama spends their holiday. It's a laugh riot. Anyway, this is the first one I started and it's not done yet but I like where it's going. I'm working with cut out shapes of paper and craft papers as well as acrylic paint. I'm sure more mixed media action will come into play, adding a three dimensional element to the artwork. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with these. I think some will be mounted as artworks, others will be mounted as artwork. Perhaps I could offer both options to buyers... We shall see.

So yes, that's where I'm at right now. As I think of ideas for products and experiment with them, I'm also thinking about the total package for presentation. The whole process is a lot of fun to get into. Meanwhile I'm promoting my annual art (or yart in Etsy lingo) sale at http://www.livefunky.etsy.com/, having fun with family, gardening and all around enjoying life. Rock on.

(Psst - if you haven't already, leave a comment here to enter to win a free set of magnets!)

http://jessicatorrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/magnet-set-give-away.html