Alcohol Ink Tiles

Believe it or not, I didn't get any sketching done today. We spent yesterday and today visiting good friends out in East Hampton. We were too busy talking and having a good time for me to even attempt to pull out my sketchbook. Before we left on Monday to meet them I did complete a few new alcohol ink tiles so I could have them dry by the time we got back. Here are the newest ones.

Mermaid with Starfish

Blue Hills

Wave Cresting

Red Sky Beyond the Dunes

Grrrrr!!!!!!!!!! Live and Learn!

I hate when I spent a lot of time working on something and it gets ruined. I painted several tiles recently with alcohol inks. Due to the high humidity during our heat wave it took extra long for the ink to dry. I let them dry as long as I usually do but when I turned them over to apply tape to the back of each tile some of the ink stuck to my table. So I put those tiles off to the side to redo the affected areas. I mixed the Envirotex to coat the ones that weren't affected and poured it. They have been "drying" for several days. I just left them alone but today I looked at them and noticed the black marker seems to have seeped into the coating from the sides of the tiles. It didn't happen everywhere on the tile, but shows slightly. Grrrr!!!! I have another batch waiting for me to pour the coating and I will have to make sure they are set to dry somewhere where the AC is on while they are drying.

Here are the sad results. I had twin seahorses and a starfish. I also did a turtle but that one the marker seeped into a lot of it!

This one was the best of them but I can notice it slightly along the edges.

This one it shows on the top left and right side.

This one it seeped in a lot along the bottom.

I just wanted you to see these so that you know some projects just don't work out the way you plan. Things happen!!!

I also tried something I haven't done in a long time which is carving a stamp. One of my art groups has a week-long paintout called "Paint the Great South Bay" or PGSB2018. I've taken part several times. The canvases or papers the artists use are stamped each year with a specially designed stamp to prove that the artwork was completed during that week. This year they are having a contest for a design to be used. I carved several but each one wasn't quite what I wanted. This was the best of the ones I did so it is what I submitted. It needed to be a 2 inch square.

People Everywhere

Last Saturday the South Bay Art Association had an Art & Crafts Holiday Market at the South Country Library. Since I am on the Board I had to be there so I figured I might as well take part. We had a good crowd. I sold some of my artwork, cards, and a lot of my alcohol ink ornaments. For some reason I forgot to take photos of those and they are now on display for the next show. You can see some of them in the photo below.

During a slow stretch I sketched the vendor next to me and some of the people who stopped by her table.

Photo by Krystle DiNicola

This was not done at the show, but on the subway when I went into the city for my birthday.

Alcohol Inks on Tiles

I have two shows that I will be participating in with my art groups in December. The other day I did a few new alcohol inks on tiles. This time I did florals and used compressed air to blow the paint into abstract petals. I'll be bringing these and some others I've created to sell at the shows.

I don't know if I ever mentioned the results of trying the new protective coating for the tiles. I used a material called Envirotex Lite and although it isn't the easiest material to use it creates a hard, shiny covering for the tiles...much better than the spray on protectant that I had tried previously.

Inktober Day 20 - Sayville Ferry Terminals & New Tiles

Today I sketched along River Road in Sayville. One after another there are ferry terminals/ticket booths to the different areas on Fire Island. The entire length of the street has street signs that say "No Parking April 1 - Nov 1. Of course that forces you to pay to park your car in the huge lot that was to my right. I ignored that and sat in my mobile studio to sketch this view down the street. I wasn't parking...I was sketching! LOL

#inktober #inktober2017

I recently did a few new alcohol ink tiles. I did use a different product to coat the tiles and protect them called Enviro Tex Lite Pour-On, High Gloss Finish. It really gives them a super glossy protective coating. It isn't too hard to use...just rather messy since you pour it over the tiles (which have to be raised up) so the finish coats the top and drips down and off the sides. Needless to say, your work area needs to be well covered. I'm happy with it!

Alcohol Ink Tiles

I haven't done anything with alcohol inks in several months so I decided I should do a few before I forget how to do them. The top one is about 6 x 6 and the others are 4 1/4 x 4 1/4. I researched how to  protect them again. The protective spray doesn't seem to work so well. A bit of the color has chipped off some of the ones I did earlier. I'll have to let you know how it works when I finally use it. It gets poured on the tiles and should make them super shiny.

Alcohol Ink Demo

On Wednesday night I did a demo/workshop for one of my art groups on painting tiles with alcohol inks. We have some sort of demo or activity each month. I thought that rather than doing just a demo it would be more fun for people to actually try the activity too. So the association paid for some supplies and the members came for a fun night. I am in the front of the photo with the black shirt and ponytail (so my hair wouldn't end up in the ink). My thanks to the president of the South Bay Art Association, Krystle DiNicola for this photo and the youtube video she created.

Here is a link to the video on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWtB4kU-ccU&feature=youtu.be

I took a few photos, but most of the time I was just too busy seeing what everyone was doing and answering questions. From the reaction of everyone there they had a great time.

Tile designed by Christina Wright Hanson.

I wish I had taken more photos of the tiles that were created.

30 in 30 - Day 28 - Max & My Class

My Day 28 painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge is of Max. Max was the pet of my friend, Maureen Martini, but Max is no longer alive. He was a sweet dog. This was done with watercolors, watercolor pencils, and ink.

Don't forget to check out the other artwork for the challenge here:
https://www.saetastudio.com/30-in-30-blog

Thursday evening I taught my first art class at the Catbird Seat in Sayville. It is a cute shop on Main Street going into town with all kinds of vintage items, artwork, refinished furniture, and more. Debi Wickliffe asked me to teach an alcohol ink class after seeing some of the tiles I had done recently. We had a full class and everyone seemed to really enjoy the class and get into painting the tiles. Here are some photos from the evening.

All the ladies with their painted tiles. That's me at the far corner of the table with the star pointing to my head. 

Debi set up the room like we were at a dinner party...

complete with wine and snacks.

Everyone hard at work...that's Debi at the end of the table...just observing until she decided to join in the fun.

Susan used some colorful inks on her floral landscape.

The ladies were great at sharing the bottles of ink.

Laurie's first creation...it reminds me of a snail.

Marie working carefully.

All in all, it was a fun night. I knew some of the ladies from my plein air group, but more than half were new to me...and great fun to work with. Everyone got to go home with at least 2 tiles that they had painted.