Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Artist’s Wife in the Gazebo

The Artist’s Wife in the Gazebo:


by Gerhard Munthe, who died on this date in 1929. I'm linking this post to the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering, where you're welcome to join us with any post that includes a drink. (See the water pitcher and glass in the painting above?)

This past week I made an ATC to go along with the Cold and Frosty theme at Moo-Mania:


I got out everything I had in the cold/frosty colors and picked out a few items to use. I was interested in trying to layer some things and wondering how well glue would work on different surfaces. The answer is "not well," which won't surprise any of you, but I'm not used to gluing anything except paper to other papers. I tried glue stick and Elmer's (glue-all, I think? I don't remember) in turn, but nothing wanted to stick to the felt background or to the aluminum foil, and I finally took a couple of hand stitches to attach that little bit of blue fluff at the bottom right corner. I'm pressing it under a heavy book to see if that'll set the pieces in place. We'll see.

I made an ATC with Geometric Shapes, using the same cold and frosty colors:


mainly to practice using hand stitches to attach the buttons to the card. Baby Steps. As I go through this process I'm also trying to learn to use a photo editor called GIMP. Harder than it oughta be.

My beginner efforts are a lot of fun, and I'm trying to keep things simple to decrease the pressure while I learn how to open up to this new activity.

32 comments:

  1. Good morning, I love the painting and I really love your atc too-I don't know much about glues either for use with fabrics especially
    I have not made an atc in years and years when I first tried out some mixed media-they were a little small for me.
    Happy T enjoy your week
    Hugs Kathy

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    1. I love them _because_ they're so small lol! I'm easily intimidated ;)

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    2. lol I think just need more space-why my fabric journal pages are so large

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  2. You can check what kind of glue will stick what at: https://www.thistothat.com/ On the advice of a mixed media artist/calligraphy teacher, the best glue to use is called Crafter's Pick The Ultimate and it's non-toxic

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    1. I'll look for it at the local Michael's. Thx!

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    2. thanks for the link and info CJ

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  3. I always love your art history posts as I learn about artists I have never heard before. I love the colors of your ATC. As to an easy to use Photo editor, I use Paint Shop Pro by Corel. It's a poor man's version of Photoshop which I found really difficult to learn with an extremely long learning curve. PSP is much more intuitive. The site also offers free tutorials on how to use the software. Worth the money imnsho

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    1. GIMP got the best reviews for the free ones, which is why I picked it. I'll keep Paint Shop Pro in mind, though. Thx!

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  4. Such a beautiful painting, the dappled shade is amazing! Wow, your ATCs are beautiful! I especially love your cold and frosty colours and the doily looks stunning 😁. Wishing you a Happy T Tuesday! J 😊 x

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  5. love the painting - so calm and serene... and fixing things to felt a few stitches always are the best, if possible... i´m not good with glues either... currently i often use gel medium - but not sure if it works of felt.

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    1. I'll look into a gel medium for that. It'll be worth a try. Thanks!

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  6. I think one of the other T-ladies has taken us to a Gerhard Munthe exhibit. Perhaps it was Johanna. This is a lovely piece, D. I love the dappled sunlight falling on her dress and the ground.

    I love both of your ATCs. You have an eye for composition. I wonder if you studied art composition (rule of thirds, etc.) or it comes naturally. As for what glue to use, you need to know about thistothat.com.

    Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen

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    1. How kind! No, I never studied art, not even basic art appreciation, but it's never too late :) I'm saving that website to a new folder I'm making on my computer for helpful resources. Thank you :)

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  7. I found the history of this artist very interesting....yes, I did read it LOL!
    Fantastic art this week.
    I have used API's Crafter's Pick.....The Ultimate glue for years on my cards and mixed media projects. This stuff works on just about everything from paper to fabric to wood and glass. I can only find it at Hobby Lobby around here.
    Thanks for the blog visit and the kind comment.
    Happy T-day

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    1. I'll be looking for that glue. It's getting good recommendations. Thx!

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  8. A wonderful painting and your ATCs are so beautiful! Thank you very much for playing with us over at Moo Mania & More and Art Journal Journey.
    I can tell you that I think for felt and aluminium foil the best glue is this special glue you have in the U.S. called E6000.This is also for heavy things!
    We don't have it here unfortunately.
    But I take a hot glue gun for glueing different materials together - you can glue so many different materials with hot glue and a hot glue gun and filling is not very expensive.
    For papers I love to use a simple Uhu stick ( you should always put the glue on both - the background and the piece you will glue down, this is very secure!)
    And also the cheap school glue does a good work for paper to paper! Thinned with water you can also use it as a glue for napkin layers or teabags gluing on paper.
    And for gluing layers that are not so heavy, like fabric to paper I use a double sided carpet tape from the discounter. That is cheap and also super strong!!!

    Big hugs

    Susi

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    1. Wonderful! Thank you for these suggestions. I had a little glue gun for crafts when the kids were little, but at some point it didn't make a move to a new place. I'd never thought of thinning the white glue, but that makes so much sense for thin materials. Putting glue on both materials is something I'll be doing from now on. Double-sided tape, too -I may even have some of that around here somewhere- especially for thicker materials like the felt. Thank you for taking the time :)

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  9. beautiful painting. And look at you go with your art fun! Love your ATCs- especially the first one- so clever to use stitching to not only hold things in place but to add another texture and visual. well done! Happy T day!

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  10. Fun art! Love the painting this week. Happy T Day, Valerie

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  11. If you have a glue question, you can usually get the answers at https://thistothat.com/ Their motto "Because people have a need to glue things to other things."

    I also use The Ultimate (like Krisha and HL is the only place that sells it here, too). But I use other glues and adhesives, too, since The Ultimate is very expensive.

    I find Gimp incredibly difficult. Scott loaded it on my computer hoping I would use it instead of my very old PhotoShop. I can't get even the most simple things, like cropping to work for me. I'd say you are doing great and making some wonderful ATCs in the process.

    You have introduced me to yet another wonderful artist I have never heard of, but enjoyed the style. That was a beautiful painting. I enjoyed reading about him. He certainly came from a long line of notable people. Thanks for sharing your ATCs and this really lovely painting with us for T this Tuesday. You always think outside the box.

    In reference to your comment in my T post, the previous host really preferred we drink tea each week. I don't think anyone would be banned from the blog, or the group, but that's why it was called Tuesday Tea, which I also include each week in my labels. She also didn't want to use links, but wanted us to add our URLs to our posts. VERY time consuming and frustrating. After she just quit one Tuesday without any notice, several of us continued to post each week. One Tuesday she wrote, "There are OTHER THINGS I can do on Tuesday, but I drink tea every day!" That's when Patty suggested I take over. I felt we should rename it, even though Kim (the previous host) could have cared less, at least in Patty's opinion. Since I really didn't want to focus solely on TEA, the idea I came up with, although confusing to some at first because of its name, has truly taken off. Sorry or glad you mentioned it?

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    1. I'm loving the thistothat site. So many options! So many products I've never heard of lol

      An interesting Tea Tuesday history :) Thx :) I'd be fine drinking tea on Tuesday, but I appreciate your flexibility ;)

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  12. It is a beautiful painting you shared with us today.
    Your ATC's are Beautiful and it sounds like you are having fun creating your art.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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  13. What a delightful painting. You are always introducing me to new artists.
    Your ATC is beautiful. I hope it has all set now. (I'm rubbish in the glue department too, so I can't advise you)
    Well done you for trying to learn a new software. I still use Photoshop as I did some digital scrapbooking and all the tutorials used Photoshop Elements. When I moved to Spain, I couldn't get Elements (or the computer guy misunderstood me) but I ended up with normal version of Photoshop. I'm used to it now although it's difficult to follow tutorials when all my 'buttons' are in Spanish.
    Happy T-Day,
    Lisca

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    1. Photoshop isn't free, and I was specifically looking for something free. GIMP is hard, though, with many options and none of them intuitively labeled. I'm on the look-out for a more streamlined free photo editor. I have trouble enough with buttons in the language I speak lol It'd add a new layer of challenging to try to work in a foreign language.

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  14. I love your ATC's I used to do them a lot but got away from that size. Once in a while I still create one. Lovwe your feature artist's painting also. \
    Happy T Day,
    Carol

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  15. From what I can see in the photos, the glue worked great. and the stitches really make such a fun page! I love that first cold and frosty piece and all those cool items you found. Nice piece of art too. I don't really know much about too many artists so it good to see all these pieces of art you share. :) You could do a calendar with things that happen at different times during the year. You could even find a place for 42 too. :) Hope it was a super T day. Hugs-Erika

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  16. Having fun while crafting always the first "rule" - your snowflake is lovely. Some many types of glue, maybe next time at a craft store check out the section of glues for scrap booking because there's always a fabric embellishment that needs to be included :)

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  17. Lovely snowflake. I had my own craft mishap this week, while making a decoupage box.

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  18. I like your frosty ATC and your geometric one, too, especially the colors. Nice piece of art you shared. I think I have seen this one before. I always love it when I get to your blog post and see what art you are sharing. Happy T Day!

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  19. A beautiful painting. And I really like your atc. That snowflake is so delicate and pretty. I can imagine not many adhesives stick to felt. I use hot glue for everything and I bet it would do the trick with felt. Or glossy accents?
    Happy Very Belated Tea Day,
    Kate

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    1. Yes, I think I can see a hot glue gun in my future :)

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  20. Sorry about your glue issues! It looks as though you have had some good advice! I love your ATCs! The artist's wife looks very relaxed! I am late wishing you a Happy T Day as I have had a few problems with Blogger! Chrisx

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