valentine round-up

valentine bouquet  healed hearts handmade candy wrappers  moss hearts  wire hearts  rustic valentines  heart branches  valentine stones  heart art warmers  homemade marshmallows  award ribbon valentine  recycled heart wreath  butterfly valentines  valentine cards  paper hearts  shrink plastic valentine pins

free download for you!

Back in December, my good friend Megan Wells came to visit me and we spent some time in the studio collaborating on a some fun little pieces! Today we have a free download of one of them for you! You can download our Chase Your Dreams print HERE




And just a quick reminder that you've got a few more days to get in on the early bird special for Megan's bundle of lettering classes.

BUNDLE OF 3 CLASSES

$80 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL $70 until Feb 12th

Register for bundle HERE

The bundle includes all three classes:

Drawin' Letters

Get Scripty

Letter Outside the Lines

The bundle costs $80 (compare to $90 for a savings of $10) We've got an early bird special for $70 until February 12 Feb, 2017.

If you are interested in taking all three classes, the bundle is the best option for you!

quick tip: use your hands!

If you are looking for a way to loosen up your art... USE YOUR HANDS!

It might be uncomfortable but only using your fingers and hands is a really creative and challenging way to make expressive and unique marks and a great way to let loose! You will be surprised just how interesting those marks can be  when you limit your supplies.

TIPS:

Each of your fingers have the ability to create different marks. Try dragging, dipping, tapping, dotting and swiping alone or all together.

The palm of your hand is great for applying larger areas of color, blending and even making unique marks.

The side of your hand can also be used for applying lots of color, making shapes and even pattern by repeating it over and over again.

butterfly valentines

Valentine's Day is almost upon us and it's kind of a tradition around here to create unique valentine cards! I thought it would be fun to create something a little different from a heart shaped card this year.

I started by drawing some black and white butterflies.

Don't want to draw your own?

Grab a free download of the four butterflies that I created HERE

Then I cut the butterflies out.

Next, using watercolors I added color to some of the butterflies and kept other without color.. I like the idea of these valentines cards also staying black and white so kiddos can color them on their own.

Next, I wrapped Tootsie Rolls in colorful tissue paper. Using a dab of hot glue I glued them to the middle of each butterfly.

happy weekend!

FLASH SALE today!

Hey friends! I've got a flash sale today! All watercolor classes are $10 today only. You can head on over to the shop for more details HERE.

in the studio with tanja zinkl

Hello! My name is Tanja Zinkl and I am a 29 year old artist living and working in Vienna, Austria. I found my way to making art through some detours - I actually started out studying hotel management because I had an insatiable curiosity to travel and see the world. As fate would have it, I did get to work in a luxury hotel in Southern California for 2 years after graduation, but I realized I did not like the monotony and superficiality of the work at all.

Back home in Vienna I found myself working as a receptionist full time again, to make ends meet, while deep inside of me the nagging feeling grew that there was "something more creative" I needed to do, I just did not know yet what that would look like.

It was during that time that I stumbled across a book about acrylic painting. I was immediately drawn to it and intrigued enough to pick up some basic art supplies and to just start experimenting. I've been addicted to creating paintings ever since, following my creative whims and need for self-expression in the process. I took several painting classes both on- and offline, but soon focused on finding my very own style. I love mixing up vibrant colours, dripping paint, doodling, writing and collage intuitively and turning it all into detailed, layered, funky paintings. When I am not painting, I enjoy spending time in nature, dancing Kizomba and planning my next trip.

I love seeing how other artists set up their creative space. Can you tell us a little bit about your studio?

I use a corner of my appartment as my dedicated art space. Currently, my budget does not allow to rent a separate studio so for now I am making this work! I have recently bought a huge table where I can spread out my materials, and where my cat often joins me, I love her company! Sometimes I also work on an easel, and I have some cabinets where I keep finished artwork, sketchbooks and shipping supplies. It's a simple, practical set-up where I can get messy.

What inspires you? What motivates you to create?

In many ways, I consider myself a constant seeker, since I was little I used to ask tons of questions. This curiosity serves me well on my search for inspiration. I know that the more diverse the places are where I find inspiration, the more depth my art is going to have. I am inspired by many things - nature, emotions, fabrics, memories, foreign places, books. I love how all of it can be woven together in a layered painting, the "how" being the drive behind it - how can I put together all those bits and pieces that I found and experiences I had in a meaningful, visually appealing way? 

I am motivated to create because it makes me feel balanced and whole in a way that nothing else does. When life gets busy and I don't get to paint for some time, I always know because I get moody and tend to overthink things! 

How do you organize your creative schedule?

This is something I am currently trying to improve, as up until now, being the typical "free spirit", I have not followed a set schedule. I know that I work best when I have open-ended painting sessions, when there is no other appointment (or bedtime) at the end of it that forces me to stop. I am a night owl, so Friday and Saturday nights work best for me. I keep an ever-growing to-do list of administrative tasks that I work on when I don't have enough time or inspiration for painting, but it feels like a constant pull between the two.

What is a typical day like for you?

I work part time as an Executive Assistant from 9-3pm on weekdays. After that, I like to have a couple of hours of downtime after leaving the office to clear my head before diving into my creative projects for a few hours. I try to have separate days for the administrative tasks and the actual painting time. 

What are you working on right now?

I am always working on building my portfolio and creating original paintings, it is the core of what I do. Besides that, I am currently working on offering prints of selected paintings of mine in my Etsy Shop very soon - please sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know when they are ready: http://eepurl.com/sMyr5

Want to see more of Tanja?

Etsy http://www.zinpicantestudio.etsy.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tanjazinklart

Newsletter http://eepurl.com/sMyr5

Instagram @tanjazinklart

creating with a kid: scrunch paper

My long time readers know I've been making art with Lucy from day one. From riding on my back while I filmed online classes to letting her create with me in the studio, it's been a priority to share the art making process with my daughter. As I have mentioned in the past it is important for both my husband and I to incorporate Lucy into as many creative projects as possible. And while it makes no difference to us if Lucy grows up to be an artist, we do want her to be a creative thinker. I believe creativity and the ability to think in a creative way is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and while I am always evolving as an artist and mama, I am learning so much as I watch her develop her own voice. 

I love finding projects that Lucy and I can both get excited about. I am finding that the older she gets, the more common creative interests we have! One thing I know from making art my entire life, is that often creativity is less about the finished product but more about the process. These days when I plan out art projects for Lucy I really try to come up with things that are are all about the process. 

One of my favorite techniques is something that I call "scrunching". Basically it consists of slopping lots of paint on paper, canvas or fabric and then scrunching it up into a little ball. When you open up that little ball, your surface will be filled with color that has blended and mixed together and it will also have a lot of texture within that color.

This process is super fun to do with kids because it feels like you are doing something that your shouldn't do- crumble up your art!

TIP: Canvas and fabric can withstand lots of paint and lots of scrunching. Paper is more fragile with this process because it can rip easily so you have be careful when unwrap your piece of paper.

The process is messy and the results are colorful which makes it perfect for kiddos and creatives of all ages!

Once that paper is dry, we like to use it in the pages of art journals, to draw or doodle on or for cutting and ripping in collage projects.

You can check out my entire series of "Creating With a Kid" posts HERE

creating with jules: mosaic hearts

Yay, a new DIY craft project! I was super happy with how this idea came out and hope you love it too!

Materials you'll need:

Air dry clay

A variety of beads including seed beads, and other decorative items to mosaic; you could use buttons, tiles, gemstones... see what your stash holds or your local craft store

Acrylic Paint 

Decorative Papers with small designs

Gloss sealer/ medium (only if you're not using Mod Podge)

Tacky Craft Glue; I use a non toxic glue called "super-tac glue". It's similar to PVA but dries a bit faster holding bigger objects like for this tutorial

Embroidery thread in your chosen colors

Tassel

Mod Podge (Optional)

Other useful items: cutting mat, fine/ embroidery scissors, needle & thread, clay tools, scalpel or similar

Start by cutting out a heart template.

Take some air dry clay and roll out to approx 5mm thickness (3/16") on your cutting mat. 

Place your heart template onto the clay and cut around. Smooth edges with a clay tool or your fingers. 

Poke a hole for hanging in the top and bottom of the heart shape with a pointy clay tool. 

Roll out some more clay to around 4mm (3/16") thickness. Cut out little squares/ rectangles/ triangles/ odd shapes the sizes you would like your tiles. Make around half a dozen for one heart. Make a longer piece 4.5cm x 1.5cm (1 13/16 x 9/16") that you will glue the "love" type image onto. Smooth the edges and make sure they are flat. Leave the heart shape and the tiles for around 24 hours or until dry.

Now create the tiles:

Cut out little pieces of paper slightly larger than the shapes and paste the back with Mod Podge or PVA- type glue. Press onto the shapes firmly and leave for a minute or so. Trim around the edges with some fine scissors. Paint the fronts of your "tiles" with the mod podge or gloss sealer, and paint the edges with coloured acrylic paint. Make the 'love' tile in the same way.

Take some acrylic paints and paint the heart all over, front and back. I used some bright green with touches of yellow and turquoise on this one.

Using glue, add a rim around one side of the heart.

String some beads onto thread and start gluing them down. I chose beads that would fit onto a normal sewing needle. Keep stringing beads and gluing them down until you frame the whole outside of the heart.

Test out the placement of your tiles.

Next, fill the inside of the heart with tacky glue, and place your mosaic pieces onto the glue, leaving gaps between the decorative elements.

Once you have all the larger pieces in place, sprinkle seed beads into all the left over gaps. Careful when you are gluing and placing your pieces not to cover the two holes in the heart. Once the glue has dried sufficiently you can shake off the excess seed beads.

Thread some embroidery thread onto a needle and sew a tassel and some beads onto the bottom of the heart. I looped through the heart a few times as I liked the look of thicker cotton at the bottom. 

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and please let me know if you try it out, I'd love to see your creation!  Jules :)

To see more of my work or to get in touch, visit me at http://julesmadden.blogspot.com.au