Transfer Technique

We had a very successful Saturday workshop the first Saturday in March! Thank you Patty for driving all the way up from Santa Monica! I taught layering using acrylics, basic abstract composition, collage, incorporating words into the painting and principles that support creativity.

After the workshop I realized that we didn’t get time to finish our transfer techniques so here it is from the top…

Transfer technique is a great way to incorporate an imperfect photographic or other image into your abstract piece to add intrigue.

Step 1. Choose a photocopy of an image you like. Using a palette knife, apply Golden soft gel gloss to the image. Next glue this face down onto your painting substrate. (I’m using Frederix primed canvas pad in this demo) Remember to put the soft gel on the image – not the back. Using a phonebook helps with mess, just flip the page for a fresh working surface.

Step 2. It may enhance the image to further flatten it by placing a piece of paper towel over it and using a brayer. Let it dry overnight.

Step 3. Peel back as much as you can dry (sometimes it peels off nicely leaving the image behind)

Step 4. Using a water spritzer soak the paper image glued to your painting substrate entirely.

Step 5. Let the water soak in for a few minutes or so then peal away the paper pulp with a spoon. The image is revealed underneath.

Step 6. You can paint over the transfer using liquid acrylic transparent colours. In this demo I am using Quinacradone Nicko Azo Gold. You may also want to create further transparency by adding Gloss Medium to the paint.

Tea for two with Intention

Buddha says that through our thoughts and then our words and our deeds we create our worlds. I see this as truth in my life.

A habit I’ve had for a while when I pour the hot water to brew myself a cup of tea is to say silently “may I be well, may I be happy, may I be free” and infuse these thoughts into my warm drink.

I probably collected this idea from reading The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto and David A. Thayne and watching What the Bleep where I learned the (huge) impact of words on water and how it can shape its chemical structure.

Sometimes I write love, peace, or joy and other positive and powerful words on my water bottle.

Anyways, the other day my daughter Ruthie Firefly (4 ½) requested I make her special blueberry tea. It’s Trader Joe’s green tea with natural blueberry essence and I make it with honey and milk. She loves it.

When I pour the water to brew her tea I say to her tea “may you be well, may you be happy, may you go to bed on time”

May we all be conscious that our thoughts and words create in this world.

May my child go to bed on time so I can go and paint!

Creating with Intention

Currently I am in process of re-vamping my website. The process is much like painting – working in layers, adding, removing, re-working it. I am learning a lot and getting clear about my art and its message in the process. Hopefully the designers are not going too insane with the re-takes and adjustments I have been posting on the project site!

My art is about bringing balance and vitality to its owner’s living and working spaces. Currently I'm placing the following words on the homepage:

"Contemporary Abstract Art Created with the Intention to add Vitality and Balance into your work and living spaces."

I’d like to say this more cohesively on the home page. The “living and working spaces” feels heavy. The sentence seems long and bulky to me. How do I say that more succinctly I wonder?

I'd love your thoughts on refining this phrase. Thank you.
In process...

New Work - Messy is Life Series

What is Freedom?

Messy is Life Series
© Deb Chaney 2008

Mixed media, acrylics on unmounted canvas9" x 12" unframed

This painting was created with the intention to support health and vitality.$125 USDMasterCard/Visa acceptedPh.

(805) 403-9870 deb@debchaney.com

Creating art for ourselves

I had a wonderful little lunch date with my friend and fellow artist Gina last week. Gina is a pottery maker extraordinaire whom I met last year at a local fair where she was selling her work.

Over sushi, seaweed salad, and green tea we talked about many different art, health, personal growth and spiritually related topics. What stayed with me the most was our conversation about creating art for ourselves.

For a while now the two of us have been completely disinterested in producing with the intention of selling but rather more inspired to make things for ourselves. Gina was telling me how she hadn’t been at her pottery kiln for weeks now (or was it months?) and had no interest in continuing to sell her work at fairs and other venues. I could totally relate.

When I was participating weekly at the Santa Barbara Art Walk I found those entire days displaying and selling my work absolutely exhausting and draining.

After describing her disinterest in making any pottery lately she then alluded to a small piece she did make for her house. How she went to her studio and made it immediately with joy. It was possible for her to delight in the making of this small piece for herself.

I can so relate to this! It’s as though at a deep level we need to fill our own cups first and give ourselves permission to create for ourselves first before putting our work into the world whether just to show it or sell it. I went home after our talk and thought about that second painting I’d like to create for my bathroom.

Bathrooms are generally in terms of Feng Shui where a lot of our energy is drained away from our home – literally energy down the drain. To slow down the drain we can decorate with light and uplifting colors and art.

Up until now I’d put two temporary paintings in our bathroom – both with lots of blue – the worst colors for the bathroom which encourage more water and hence drainage! So I decided to make some art for myself that was uplifting and bright using layers of bright oranges, yellows, golds and whites. They turned out beautifully and completely uplift the energy in the bathroom.

When I get a new digital camera (the last one broke) I will post a photo of these two new pieces.

Here’s to making art for ourselves first! Thank you Gina.

New Work - Messy is Life Series

Aglow with Happy Excitement

Messy is Life Series
© Deb Chaney 2008
Mixed media, acrylics on unmounted canvas
9" x 12" unframed
This painting was created with the intention to support health and vitality.
$125 USDMasterCard/Visa accepted
Ph. (805) 403-9870 deb@debchaney.com