It totally worked, like totally - DIY Corsage with Scrunchie and Tropical Flowers

 I'm in the midst of composing a new relief and though the flower is clearly a vertical, the best bits are comprised in the middle. I'm struggling in the decision to work it as a landscape instead. When pencils aren't leading to yes yes yes, I take a pause. I'll catch up on some little things that have popped out of the creative recesses recently. 

My friend Mary's 80th birthday was last month. Knowing she'd be throughly garnished with leis and undoubtably a flower crown, I had the idea to make a corsage. I have made leis, flower crowns and boutonnieres but never a corage. On the way home from buying floral tape at the local hardware store (we don’t have a craft store anymore) I had the idea to make a scrunchie for the wrist part. Immediately following that thought, using the removable top of the cardamon spice jar I just finished off as the "frog". Supplies:

I cut a strip of fabric from the Sarahs Handmade Christmas project leftovers. I had elastic left from the custom mask making of 2020. The hardest part really was building the time machine to get me back to 1987.  After I sewed the rad fabric and turned it inside out, it was time for this like major safety pin on the end of the elastic strip to pull through the totally tubular fabric followed by sewing the ends together. And I had a stretchy bracelet for my fresh bouquet. 

I picked a number of little flowers from the garden. The big white ones (white ginger) though super delicate were used because they are also super fragrant. You smell that flower before you see it. They were the biggest gamble as the little stems are like tissue paper. At first it seemed like this was the best idea ever. But after wrapping the stems they no longer fit through the holes...so I started over and wrapped them after fitting through the holes which - double duty - prevented them from falling out the top when you turned it. Bitchin! However...I couldn't reach all of them without damaging others....I needed some glue. The only glue I could think of that dried fast was the hot glue gun. My mom was convinced that would cause the flowers to immediate wilt or fall apart. The internet read it would only work with a low heat gun and NOT straight from the gun. Ugh, that’s bogus and gag me with a spoon. But I figured the internet is never wrong and I should follow it blindly. Psych! I needed it to come straight from the gun and that gun was high heat, possibly “industrial”. Therefore, I proceeded to glue the crap out of it and it totally worked. Like Totally. Human 1 - A.I. 0

I planned to sew the plastic froggie to the scrunchie but I'd glued up all my holes, lame, soooo I glued that on too. Hey, It only needed to look rad for a few hours. I popped it in the fridge until we left for the party. I'm happy to report it made it to me putting it on her wrist! :) And an hour later it was still on..mostly. Not all the ginger petals made it through the dancing portion of the evening but I didn't expect them too. This is why they use roses and babies breath...much hardier stems to wrap. Happy Birthday to the totally Bodacious Mary! 

While pulling out the left over elastic, I looked through my leftover assortment of mask fabrics. Mostly whimsical because…2020. As my hair gets longer and longer, and outside gets hotter and hotter…it's put up more and more.  Maybe I need a scrunchie for "when I wash my face". Because it totally reminded me of the Ron Livingston episode of Sex and the City. I could have picked something understated and try to force chic something that's just not, in ANY fabric but I went another direction. It knows that it is and it's confident about it. Birdie was very interested in the scunchie making and watched every step very carefully as if she was going to make hers next. 

Studious Birdie

Renaissance Birdie

What a Relief! Chapter 3: Marica x3 and Ladies in Waiting

What a Relief! Series (so far) on display at Kohala Coast Fine Art, Hilton Waikoloa Kings' Shops, Big Island Hawaii FB Page / Insta

Welcome back if you are following along in this art journey. If not, here are 

Part Two  and  Part One .

I wanted to create a hibiscus next but not a typical red, yellow or white. There's a very strangely colored hibiscus in my parent's neighborhood. It's enormous and in shades of lavender blue and sherbet orange with a fuchsia center. She's extra and a perfectly odd choice. I also wanted to try carving out the background to change up what I'd done so far with flowers. 

After carving out the background, I started with a bright lemon yellow followed by orange.

Very early on this was reminding me of the Brady's set and the daughters late 60's early 70's wardrobes, and it was quickly named "Marcia Marcia Marcia".  Next color, bubble gum pink. 

Final Layer of the flowers before the leaf colors. The periwinkle blue or lavender blue (dilly dilly). I was a little scared at this point that perhaps I had made an ick color scheme mistake. 

But when the avocado green saturated into it, I loved it yet again. 

Going through my photos for this one I somehow missed documenting the mixing of the two green layers. I think I was rinsing my tools in the sink when I remembered. Shoot! 

"Marcia Marcia Marcia"

6 Color Layers / Edition of 11

The next block began in another composition in May and titled "All the Single Ladies" with a carved out background and each flower apart. I liked the colors but not the ladies apart, it was just too much negative space around them. It no longer looked like a reduction but separate carvings put together. So "All the Single Ladies" became "Ladies in Waiting" in June, I started over with a new block and new composition, I added their leaves and put the ladies together in a garden. Because aren't we waiting together? I'm not all by myself, I've got ladies around me and extra foliage now too. 

I began with the torch ginger as it has white lined petals. And PINK, which I realize now that some close shade of this had made it into every relief accept "In Florescent". 

Orange was next because it's a key color in the Parrot Beak heliconia. I decided to trim the Caribaea Heliconia as well. Sure the one in our garden is trimmed in yellow but...artistic license. Also because I was omitting yellow on this one. 

The third layer was bright red. Now this shouldn't be the next layer because it's difficult to cover and I had a lot of layers to go. However the Torch, being trimmed in white, will fill in with all the other colors making red difficult later, so it was a judgement call. 

Because I just shot myself in the foot, color mixing wise, by using this bright, I just cut my finger with my fancy Japanese carving tool Red. I actually did do that on this one, my FIRST cut and thank God it was not the deepest. Quick rinse, peroxide and waterproof Band-Aid and I was back in the wood working room with a sharp blade in hand. 

I decided to go with Mint Green next which kind of gave me a blank slate for the next two greens... Also I really like this mint green. It will make a more best supporting role in a future piece. And let's be real, probably alongside pink. 

Art Deco Green and Kelly Green. 

I never do this one-handed! ;p

The leaves and stocks of the Torch leaves are a deep wine purple. 

Think Malbec. I realized I'd be shooting myself yet again if I went with it next but I needed the background color to be last and I needed a wine red (think Pinot) to be after the purple because of the big Anthurium and the Torch stock. 

THIS WAS A VERY COMPLICATED ONE.  

Much like Marcia 3X at this stage I thought...ought oh. As much as I like Wine, I was not liking it in this piece. Totally feeling Jan. I mixed up several colors that absolutely did not work with this red being beneath it. So before I got too frustrated, I stopped, cleaned all my tools and slept on it. The next morning I looked at my test ones and didn't like any of them. I prayed about it and waited for a knowing. There were no tests ones left to experiment on. I wanted a dark green for the background but the previous greens had not covered the red. One even made it very close to the previous purple. But even though it appeared like it would not work, I tried again, mixing up a very bright green then adding a smidge of black. 

And Hallelujah, it covered the red! And Finished, 9 colors later. The most layers of any of my previous reliefs...so far. 

      "Ladies in Waiting"

         9 Color Layers / Edition of 22

Gallery BTS…Laying the framed collection on the floor to arrange the wall layout. 

What a Relief! Chapter 2: In Florescent She Carried a Torch

I was born smack dab in the middle of the continental united states then catapulted to the world’s most remote island chain. Such was the bold contrasts and experiences I fought against in my youth and gravitated toward as I got older. As a photographer, I learned the art of composition. As an art restorer and resin jewelry creator, color theory. Culminating in the adventure into one of my favorite collected mediums, the block printmaking process of relief. And the challenges and surprises of reduction reliefs. 

What a Relief part two… 

While walking the mastiff around the property in my pajamas in the early Am mist I stumbled upon my next subject. And I had to begin immediately. This has been the beginning of each process so far. I see something and I have to carve it that moment. There has been no “hmm I’ll think about it”.  I see it and start that day. 

What had captured me was the lily white and cream bloom of a monstera and the bundle of fruit beside it. If you haven't tasted the corn on the cob looking fruit of the monstera, it tastes exactly like pineapple and banana mixed together. Some fruit flavors shouldn't be mixed together.

The hooded part is actually called “the inflorescence” which holds the spadex of tiny blooms. Inflorescence, from Latin inflorescere “to come to flower, to begin to bloom”.

I began by carving the hood then the spadex. The first two colors, cream and lemon yellow were barely visible on the paper. 

Next I carved out what would remain lemon yellow and inked up a lime green. 

I carved out what would remain light green then inked up a sky blue.

 

Dry time in between layering color.

Next I carved out the background and inked up a kelly green. I was quite ecstatic with these colors. Kind of amazing all the colors you can create from just using blue and yellow. 

After Kelly, I mixed up a darker version for the 7th and final layer. But after sitting with it awhile I decided to embellish the spadex with a little painting. You could see the different layers really close up, but hanging on the wall it looked like a white circle in the middle of the monstera leaves. It needed a little oomph. I added some shadow and detail to the spadex.

Title “In Florescent”

  (“bursting into bloom”).

7 layers of color Plus embellishment, Edition of 11

The torch ginger was always going to be part of this series. When you cut a flower and carry it, it’s hard not to run and pretend you're carrying the Olympic torch. We have two patches of torch ginger on the property. Gorgeous and dramatic are all stages of the 'Etlinger Elatior' named after a botanist and the Latin word for ''tall'. Creative like our wild cats Mama Kitty and White Foot.

Every petal is outlined in white, it was made for carving. London and I discovered Pink ones on one of our adventures last year. Barbie pink. They didn’t look real. And apparently they also come in white?!?! I haven’t seen those in person yet. 

Though some ginger are ornamental, these are actually edible, comparable to lemongrass. I don’t think I’ve tried them. They are popular in Thai cuisine though so maybe I have and just didn’t know it. I also read a case study in the National Library of Medicine where they found extracts from the white one stimulated collagen production and wound healing and extract from the red had a number of anti-aging effects. Incredible! 

And who of you by worrying can add one hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin wool, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. Matthew 6:27-29

After carving out what would remain white, I mixed up a fruit punch pink. 

Only a portion of the buds would be pink then it was on to red…strawberry? Or perhaps Supergirl red. 

I now had to switch to greens but throwing a bright green on top now would not be a pretty mixture so instead I tried sage/army green first, since the stocks have some. 

Now I could switch to bright green for the surrounding foliage. 

I thought about doing all greens but then created this fabulous blue somewhere between an Azure and Cerulean and said yes.

Title “She Carried a Torch” 

8 color layers, Edition of 11

Next up "Marcia Marcia Marcia" and the currently in progress "Ladies in Waiting". Art is imitating life. Come back soon!

What a Relief! Tenaciously Learning a New Art Medium

 

Aloha, it's been a minute. Due to technical difficulties and a simple refusal to blog from my phone. Maybe it’s being Gen X but if I can't write by hand, I at least need a full size keyboard. This post is brought to you by the desktop at my mother's Art Gallery at which I now work (barely) part-time. I will tap out sentences between customers. There is no website but there is an Instagram Kohala Coast Fine Art. It's apropos I type this from an art gallery as that is what I have been up to these past couple of months. A-R-T 

I've been reading, studying and doing a carving and relief process known as block printing, or linocut. My first experience was actually in Hawaii during my junior year of high school. A 4x6 piece of battleship grey linoleum, an x-acto knife and my selected colors of hot pink and green. I think I simply created a border to write notes within. I don't remember much instruction. Lo and behold I found myself drawn to Mid-century Swedish/Danish artists who created in this format unbeknownst to me that it was the same medium. I had another intro to the medium when I lived in the art village of Holualoa in my twenties. Studio 7 Gallery was a short stroll, where there were always woodblock showcases.  

I've composed with a camera since I wore two braids in my hair. When I painted, it was abstract...always. Partly because that's what I like but also because I didn't think my drawing skills were anything to put down on paper...or canvas. Since I've been working in the Gallery, I've heard something said on a pretty regular basis. "I love art but I'm not artistic, I can't draw". As if you easily tap in or it is simply missing from your skillset. 

EVERYONE CAN CREATE ART. 

If you are alive, you can create art. That is really the only prerequisite. I'm carving my little blocks meanwhile my little brother paints masterpieces like this wave! 

So if I'm not intimidated, you shouldn't be either. 

Exhibit A: This is my attempt at sketching a beehive ginger, looking at a photo I took of a beehive ginger from our backyard. 

Now, I felt this was enough for me to be justified in my statement that I can not draw. However, I refused to give up and tried again. This time I noticed there was a pattern in the flower and tried well...mathing it. 

Better but no...and it doesn't look real, it looks like a math flower. Next I tried drawing freehand. And freeing up the restrictions I put on my hand gave me this. 

Looking at the 3 of these images is wild to me. Especially since they were not done by 3 different people, nor by one drunk and two sober people. Au contraire, they were drawn only about 20 minutes apart with the same pencil in the same hand. Drawing just takes practice. Lots and lots of practice and the ability to let go of what you think it HAS to look like. I have a theory that those amazing impression artists actually paint that way because they think they are bad at drawing. Those are their "abstracts". If it doesn't have to be something realistic and specific, you are not committing to the comparison of what your eye sees vs what is on you paper. Comparison kills creativity. 

Apparently I had a lot to say about that. I haven't even gotten to what I'm making....=)

When I began this adventure with my learners block, vintage lino cutter and black ink I realized that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the carving part. I found myself getting a composition on the block quickly to begin the carve the same day. As soon as I finished one, I began another. Sure I love coming up with the composition and choosing the color scheme and mixing the colors...all enjoyable parts but the carving is a whole other world. It's both soothing and electrifying at the same time. This process is so many art forms in one which I think is why I enjoy it so much. Plus it's art made in reverse and backwards. Which is just weird enough for me. 

The two carvings of beehive ginger and the experimenting of inks and layering. 

Title: "Ginger Has a Beehive" 

In Block printing, you transfer your image to the block. You begin carving out what will not be inked. What is not carved will be inked with a roller. Your paper is laid on top of the inked carving and put under a printing press or if you are like me, you burnish it by hand with only your weight and a handy tool like a brayer or a big spoon. You then carefully lift the paper for the reveal. 

I carved a single block of my parents lanai. There was a sky but it was total crap so I carved it all out. Single color tests: 

                      

Title: "Rockin' Lanai" 

 I am still experimenting with this one and am currently finger painting and roller inking various sunsets to go beneath this block so there will be a Variable Edition, like this one with 7 colors. 

And after I got a few single block carvings under my belt, I blew some savings on professional swiss tools and tried my first Reduction Relief. The Reduction process is more complicated and uses the organizing part of your brain. I have this part in spades. =) It's not frustrating to me but incredibly challenging in a very satisfying way. You really never know what you are going to get with reduction. And each one is an original. No two will be exactly the same. 

Reduction refers to the continued carving away of the block after each color layer beginning with the lightest color and working to the darkest...revealing more and more detail of the composition. Therefore you can not go back. Any mistakes made will forever be a part of it. Unlike a single layer carving, there's no making more. How many you choose to start with and that make it through the whole process is your edition size. 

Here I've carved out for the first layer of color. 

My first reduction print was created with 3 colors. Color One..

Color 2:

Initially this composition was going to be a peachy-nude, a cherry pink/French rose and Black. I loved the first two layers but hated the black. I think my lines were too thick for black and it took over. I then tried a mossy green which looked great with the other two colors but another caveat of reduction prints...you are stacking color. So the next color is on top of the previous color and therefore mixes and the hues change. You have to consider color theory when you are both mixing your colors and choosing layers. Organizing Brain engage! There's no going back with reduction and I could have gone though most of my run experimenting with colors so I decided to mix up a darker pink.

I made a point to do what's called a Suite of each one to show the layering steps. I also wanted a record for myself of the process ever since I saw one Picasso did and it was just so super cool. Unfortunately, the first layer was on my desk and I forgot to put it away before the daily early morning Jackson Pollock reenactment done by my Mastiff. So he added his mark to my first ever reduction relief block print suite. :/ another reminder there are no do-overs in reduction. 

Title: “Love Mends”

So far, my reduction pieces have no more than 12 in the edition size and most have only 7. I always start out with more but with the suite, color experimentation and mistakes, it dwindles. 

I currently just finished my 5th reduction relief and I've gotten up to 7 color layers. All tropical flowers so far. I documented like the mad photographer that I am. There will definitely be a What a Relief:Part Two. Come back soon for "In Florescent", "She Carried a Torch" and "Marcia Marcia Marcia". Naming things is also my favorite.