Barefoot Wanderings

GPP Crusade No 8

Cheap Tricks
Here are some of my 'clever and inexpensive things to use when making art'. 

When you buy a container of 10 Kiwi Fruit (in Sydney (and possibly elsewhere)) you get a groovy 'spoon' that has teeth at the other end. I use these spoons to scoop out various mediums and then use them to mix with the paint. The teeth are great to use as a texture tool which can be seen in the close up on the right. (Notice the great GreenPepperPress flourish stamp!)

The 'palette' I am using in the middle picture is a foam/polystyrene thing you get when you buy certain veges (like baby corn, or snow peas) pre-packaged from the grocer. If you look closely you can see I use the palette numerous times before I throw them out, that's the beauty of acrylic paints drying really well - I see this act as helping the environment more than being a cheapster!

Paper/Kitchen Towels are a great cheap tool. I use them to wipe off excess paint or dab my brushes on to rid excess water & paint when I am doing washes. Sometimes you can get really fabulous pieces (that don't stick together) that can later be used in another piece of work or journal - how cool is that!
Should I mention that the bottom of the green page is wallpaper!
Oh and another GPP stamp is used on the painted section to tie the page together.

Happy Mother's Day

 

Influenced by A Poem

Funeral Blues by W H Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled dum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my Easy and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.