Make Some Art

Here is a small tutorial for artsymama's contest...

This is a faux finish background technique from my Golden Book workshop...It is called "Metallic Glass Beads" copyright Rebecca E. Parsons 2006 Make sure you click on the photos for a close-up view...

Step 1 - spread some Golden's Glass Bead Gel on surface with a 3" brush. This leaves brush marks. Stipple with tips of brush in random places. Let dry completely.


Step 2 - Sponge some Golden's Iridescent Copper metallic acrylic in upper left corner. Let dry. Dip tips of 1" brush in water and then in a puddle of Golden's Nickle Azo Gold to create a wash. Brush over surface. If it gets too dark add a little more water to brush and spread over surface. It will settle in depressions. Gently wipe some areas back with a good paper towel (one that will not shed). Let dry.


Step 3 - Stamp a face on the surface with permanent ink. Wad up some tissue paper and apply to surface with Golden's Gel Medium. When dry apply a wash of Golden's Ultramarine Blue over tissue.

Step 4 - Write your sentiment on a dried banana leaf and attach with Golden's Heavy Gel Medium. Dilute some Golden's UMB and apply along the edge of the tissue. Extend this out into the Golden's NAG areas, blending as you go.

Enjoy faux finishes for backgrounds to all your art...

Myrtle Beach Daze

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...I spent my precious last few minutes with my family before I had to head back to Florida...but I have two posts in one here...and to my family, still in MB...I miss you terribly...

I returned for a while to the place of childhood vacations...memories abound...loved ones gone are missed...my sisters and I take a walk on the beach...As a family, we are beach people...we have always loved the beach and the ocean...we love to walk on the sand in the early morning and late evening...some of us like to bake in the midday sun...

Sunday after I posted the sunrise and the ocean view, my sisters Pat (middle) and Meredith (right), and I went for a walk...as you can see from the photo...we have no sense of humor...I had asked them to look like they were walking...and this is the pose I got...I dubbed it the 3 Tops and a Couple of Bottoms...

There were some 17 of us by midday...and everyone was going to the beach...no questions asked...so we packed coolers...swathed ourselves in potions...gathered towels, chairs, beachmats...and off we took...

this is what the beach looked like...a veritable ocean of people...bodies and booties and umbrellas and towels...as far as the eye can see...

As you know I am in the studio by myself most of the time...what you don't know is that I do not do crowds...ever...I don't Christmas shop in December...I don't go to movies...I don't go to crowded anything...but I was going to give it a try and stay with my family for an hour...I was okay until I walked out into the ocean to get my feet cool...the sand was 185 degrees at least...when I turned around to take a photo of this scene, I had a full-blown panic attack of some sort...I said "I'm outta here..."...and I sprinted like OJ through the airport...hurdling bodies and dodging bellies and coolers...back to the stairs...onto the boardwalk...across the street...through the guard gate...back to the beach house...Oh My...

The picture does not begin to capture the crowds...if you look at right you can almost get a feel of the scene...it was high tide so only a small portion of beach was available for all the people from the big condo/hotel and all the people from Oceanside Village...and any other random people who were brave enough to want to be on that section of beach at that time...even the ocean had standing room only...people were shoulder to shoulder...No, not me...I went to a craft fair...nice and cool and full of beautiful handmade treasures...

During our early morning walk...my sisters left me to meditate in the sand while they walked further...I can only go so far...so I found this wonderful sprite of a child collecting treasures with her daddy in the early morning... she had a net and a purple bucket to fill...

She reminds me of me...seriously looking for treasures from the sea to call mine...her daddy helping her...it took me back...to a time long ago...when I first learned of the ocean and the beach and how they calm my soul...and fill my heart...and enliven my spirit...at an age like this little one I knew I must live by the sea...and I am blessed that I do...

Today's aMUSEment - what calms your soul and fills your spirit?...resolve to take a few minutes today to do these things...and make a plan to do them more often...

U Be Creative Today!

Family Fun Day

Lelahni is the Muse of the sea and of flower power...she is eternally bright and cheerful..she wears beautifully colored floral fabrics that she paints or batiks herself and always has a flower in her hair. Her smile warms your heart...she is simply happy by the sea...

This morning I am posting from the deck of our rented vacation home...in beautiful Garden City, SC...this is the view I have of the sun rising this morning...

There are 18 of us gathered from 4 or 5 states...others will be joining the fun throughout the week... we have a duplex that is second row back from the beach...first row is on the beach...you can see the ocean peeping through the buildings...that's it behind the palm tree...
It feels like it is going to be a warm day...in the 90s...most of the females will lie on the beach today...the males are going fishing...I am going to a craftsman fair...the book store...and hopefully, to meet Carolina girl...we shall see what adventures I will find...I promise to wear a flowered skirt...

Today's aMUSEment - Let's get out of the studio, even if it is raining. Get up and go to the nearest exit to the outside world. Take a deep breath. Lift your arms over our head as you breathe in deeply. Stretch them high to the sun. Ask to be filled with the Spirit of happiness today. Then start to walk. It does not matter where. The first flower you see, stop and look at it intently. It can be in your garden. It can be in a field. It can be on the table at the corner coffee shop. See all the colors of the flower. Look at the center and feel it. What does it feel like? Smell it. Does it have a fragrance? Linger with your flower for a while. Experience the happiness of the moment. Are you inspired to create? ...as for me i off for a walk on the beach...

U Be Creative Today!

Purple Passion Dahhhhling

Muse Purple Passionatta (pa-sh&n-'o-t& - Pas-sion-aaaaaa-ta) is the consummate drama queen! She does everything to excess. She speaks like Gretta Garbo and uses the word Dahhhhling to end every sentence. She is the go to muse for sultry... Dahhhhling...

I am off for a long weekend with my sisters - Pat and Meredith...and some of their children...in Myrtle Beach, SC...I was supposed to go for the week...but there were some delays with the magazine...so I have to get back home on Monday...but, at least, we will have two days together... Dahhhhling...

The thing about our family is that many of our ancestors kissed the Blarney Stone...so we are story tellers extraordinaire...and drama queens extraordinaire to go along with it...of course I am the Her Royal Highness Queen of the Drama Queens...despite what my title was yesterday...I can out drama anyone...trust me...I was born to drama...Cre8Tiva and I have learned even more from Purple Passionatta...even if my crown is a little wonky... Dahhhhling...

Today's aMUSEment - lets get a little passionate drama into our lives...write a short story about the drama queen inside you...Dahhhhling...

U Be Creative Today! Dahhhhling...

PS - if I don't have Internet connection there I will miss you terribly...but I am sure you can entertain yourselves a bit while I'm gone...Love ya... Dahhhhling...

The Sage of Fritterton on the Marshes

Chanteuse is always singing...she was born to fill the world with joyful noise. ..music completes her and is as necessary as breathing to her...she has an endless passion for the music of the 1920's to 40's. Her main influences are Billie Holiday, Connie Boswell, Bessie Smith, Annette Hanshaw, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. You can hear these singers' inflections her singing...she sings her songs in her own way and creates a tone and mood that is uniquely her own.

Her voice is deep and sultry like a mist that hangs over a marsh on a hot summer morning...

I guess this is why her Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Excellency Chanteuse the Sage of Fritterton on the Marshes Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Today's aMUSEment - Get out that favorite CD or, if you have it, that old record and put it on the player. You know the one I am talking about, the one you know every word of every song. OK!!! TURN IT AS LOUD AS YOU WANT AND SING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS for as long as you want. It will free your mind to create, I promise!

U Be Creative Today!

By the way...Cre8Tiva' Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Noble Excellency Cre8tiva the Ebullient of Midhoop St Giggleswich Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

...and .Rebecca's Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Baroness Rebecca the Indefatigable of Much Bottom Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

We will address the Much Bottom Baroness in a future post...have a wonderful weekend...I am off to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to spend a few days with my sisters...Pat and Meridith...and some of their beautiful children...I also hope to catch up with Carolina Girl and Mixed Media artist Jeanette Janson while there...

Lift Me Up Where I Belong

I got 12 comments on this blog yesterday...I am in double digits....YEAH!!!! A Milestone...

You can tell by the drawing that Muse Elevata has been "uplifted" more than once. She is bright and upbeat and always smiling. She will be forever youthful (even if it costs every penny she has). Elevata fills the room with joy and positive energy when she enters. She is always moving.

I need her energy today...I am trying to get the magazine to bed...I was hoping to have it completed yesterday...but some last minute changes kept it from happening...A magazine is always fluid until the last page is set and the files are shipped to the printer...if the final ad comes in and the last articles work...it can go for proofing this afternoon...I have to get movin'...

Today's aMUSEment - It is time to do some creative movement. Put on some uplifting music - Reggae, Gospel, the Rocky theme, march music - whatever does the trick. Get your body movin'!! That's right. Stand up and move to the beat. Swing your arms. Circle the room. Sway or shimmy. Clap you hands. Kick you feet. (Please don't hurt yourself though!) Just move for 10 minutes.

U Be Creative Today!

I Tagged Me

The Warholesque Musettes are fanciful and bright. They are a stretch for me, not for Cre8Tiva though. How do you stretch yourself?





I try do walk outside my comfort zone several times a month. It is not easy to make myself go places with my art that are uncomfortable, but I always learn something about myself...it is an always an amazing journey...

So I tagged myself over here yesterday...why you ask...well I really didn't have anything to write about in particular today...so let me stretch myself to share 8 random facts about me:

• i have a long pony tail that i call my party hair...
• i love bubbles...and bows...especially blue ones...
• i never again want to live anyplace that does not have a palm tree in the yard...
• i love to go barefoot...and be silly...and to laugh...
• i love anything in miniature...
• i can't spell...yet i am a member of mensa...go figure...
• i was a modern ballet dancer...i last performed to "Moon River" in 1975...
• i am a geek...i took my first computer class in 1983...fortran programing...i fell in love with computers...i am comfortable on both mac and pc platforms...

Here are the guidelines:
--Players start with Eight Random Facts/habits about themselves.
--People who are tagged write their blog and their eight random facts.
--At the end of the post, players choose eight people to be tagged and list their names
--Don't forget to leave a comment on each tagged blog telling them they have been tagged.

so i tag... (copying from constance)...everyone who visits here today... come on play with us...

Today's aMUSEment - Pick three colors you would never use. (For me they would be in the brown family because brown is not a color - right? Don't tell UPS that I have an aversion to brown please!!) Or three colors you think don't match. You can use paint, markers, colors cut from a magazine, paint chips, anything you have that is the right color will do. Find a piece of paper and begin to scribble on it, or make paint blobs, or drop cutouts on the page. Don't think about it too much because this is a 15 minute exercise. When you are pleased with the look, tear it apart. in 15 pieces. Put them in a bag or container. Now pick pieces from the container and glue them starting at the bottom right corner of another sheet of paper. Work up to the top corner then come back down beside those. Keep going until the sheet is covered. How does it look? You can use this as a background for a painting or journal on it or cut it in strips for collage. Sign and date the back always.

U Be Creative Today!!