Ink-Jet Transfer Play

While waiting for the paint to dry on the canvas I just sneak peeked you, I played with transfers. My tools were ink-jet images printed on Apollo 7039 transparencies, Golden's self leveling clear gel, and acrylic painted ATC backgrounds. I also used some of those cardboard postcards I posted about earlier. You know, the cardboard from the cat food cartons that I gesso'd and painted with sprays and glimmer mists. I sealed them with PYM. I had to, cuz when a spot checked the paint with the GSLCGel, the sprays smeared. Bummer. Out of the attempts that night only ONE was a failure. I'll show that first:

Not sure if the problem was too much GSLCGel or what. But the next ones turned out Grungy, not perfect, and therefore exactly what I wanted! Thanks to Andre, of Aftermath, for sharing the steps: apply GSLCGel to substrate, let Gel get slightly tacky for barely a minute, lay down transparency, burnish with paper towel, lift and rejoice!! I also used a bone folder to burnish. This is the only method that I have found to provide consistant successful transfers on top of acrylic paint. Hey, Marianne, I haven't tried the Elmer's Caulk yet!!






Here is the image I used:

Feel free to use this in your Art. I changed the color to black and white before printing to get rid of the background color and to save ink. Also, don't forget to mirror the image before printing, so the transferred image is not backwards. Trust me, I forget to do this often and get so mad at myself for wasting ink!! The next ones are the catboards, oh I mean, cardboards, teehee:




I think I'm going to bind these into some kind of book, some day. A lot more transfers, experiments and embellishing have to happen first. Below is the image I used for transfer. Feel free to use it.
Next on the horizon is thinking about trades for the upcoming Art and Soul Retreat!!! I'm so excited!! Who's going?? Give Me A Shout!! xoSusan

Andre on Etsy

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, my friend Andre, of Aftermath, has opened his Etsy shop, GalerieAndreL!! He has prints and notecards of his amazing work available that would make AWESOME Christmas presents. Please visit his blog with his updated slide show of work and etsy site to peruse his offerings. Congratulations Andre!!! Thank you for sharing your Art with the Rest Of The World!!! It's just what we needed!!! xoxoxoSusan

My Friend Andre

I am still not used to the way friendships can develop staring at this computer screen and exploring everything the internet has to offer. For example, when struggling with inkjet transfer issues I have posted about, uh, well too often, I guess, I went to the best resourse I know of, my yahoo inkjet transfer group, hosted by Lesley Riley. I searched the threads for a solution and found my friend, Andre. I emailed him off list to pick his brain because some of his concerns were similiar to mine. In return I received a prompt, friendly email along with several attachments of photos of his Art. Andre's Art is amazing, unique, original and downright beautiful. I don't think he'll mind if I show you one of his amazing pieces:

Hot and Spicy by Andre. Copyright Andre.
Lo and Behold I discovered that Andre does not blog. He is a master at Photoshop/transfers/painting/telling an amazing story, but not at blogging. So we embarked on a Blog Journey together. I set up a blog for him, and customized it with his Art for the background and he customized one of his canvases for the header. It was a frustrating but rewarding experience for us both. I know a little bit more about html now, and if I continue in this vein, I could very well customize an entire blog. I spent a lot of time learning thru trial and error. Andre has graciously helped me with Photoshop and generously shared information about transfering. We have had long phone conversations about life, love and Art. As a matter of fact after sharing some of his life stories with me, I came up with the title of his blog, Aftermath. I am dying to tell you why, but that is Andre's story. Please visit his blog, say hello, and tell him Susan sent ya. Ask him to post more photos of his Art. Tell him his Blog Teacher wants to know where the slide show is......teehee......xoSusan
PS. I became absolutely obsessed with building Andre's blog. Now I am obsessed with learning Photoshop. I smell a lot of changes for my Art on the horizon utilizing this amazing tool. I have an excellent book, recommended by Andre, called Teaching Yourself Photoshop CS Visually. Although it is wonderful, I am just not "getting" it. So I have signed up for a class with Creative Workshops. So far I have only watched the beginning video's. The next step is Layering. YEEHAW!! I am in a stage in which I am decluttering and learning. I spent 5 hours yesterday cleaning out my garage. Now I can start purging dressers and drawers and make room for the supplies I really use. My studio has been in a shambles for awhile and I am spending my time right now cleaning and learning to make way for the next phase of creating. This is an exciting time for me personally, but probably makes for very boring blog reading. I will be posting new work, probably pics of my fledgling digital creations. Be patient with me. Art is on the Horizon. And my Horizon is Expanding. It's all Good. xoxoSusan