Over the years I’ve mentored quite a few art therapists and teaching artists. One piece of advice I give all of them, but also struggle to follow myself, is to maintain an art practice. Life gets busy, work gets busy and teaching artists and art therapists stop making their own art. We all know that we love making art and that making art is actually GOOD FOR US, but yet, we let our own need to make art slide.

It’s a recipe for disaster.

It’s a recipe for burnout.

But what does “art practice” mean?

An art practice is a creative journey of being creative and making art. The journey from idea to finished piece is how I usually understand it. The journey is never a single straight line. It meanders as we discover new materials and take in new sights. Many of the young people I work with (and for a long time I thought this way) think that it’s just about a finished art piece. The phrase art practice encompasses everything the artist (or art dabbler, art journaler, I’m using artist in the royal way of meaning anyone who makes art) does on their journey of creation. From going on photo walks, en pein air studies, going to the museum, to prepping and priming canvases and finally selecting materials.

It’s all part of the practice. Practice is a process.

I’ve realized that as I’ve moved through a fallow period that I was still feeding the creative side of myself with instructional videos, reading about creativity, and working on stuff at ye old day jobbie job.

​Currently my practice is: photo or en plein air, sketches and sketches, then print or watercolor or pastel painting. What is yours?

I’ve been having a tough time getting inspired again. Loads of stuff online has been inspirational but not a lot in my own life. It’s cold and wet here lately and when we do have a warm days it’s raining. A few days ago it was predicted to be sunny but chilly. A group of my coworkers and I decided to go for a walk with some toy cameras.

I utilized the Kodak Charmera and the G6 Thumb Camera. Silly little cameras that people assume aren’t really cameras. They take, like most toy cameras, spectacularly bad images when compared to my cell phone or most modern cameras. But they do offer a few things- fun, fit into a pocket, and they really teach you how to frame up an image and hold still.

My coworkers used some instant thermal print cameras.

We had a blast.

It’s something I realize I need to do more regularly. Get a nice cup of coffee, grab a toy camera, go for a walk and snap some pics.

The images remind me of early 2000s cell phone cameras and iPod touch cameras. They do an ok  job at capturing light and shadow, though with super bright light highs are blown out and shadows have no details. All of that is okay for me.

For reference photos I don’t want all the details. I want to be reminded of the vibe, the colors, the light, and the shape of the place.

Some sketches and their photos:

This past fall and winter were rough for a variety of reasons- cancer scares in my family, my own knee issues, actual cancer in my family, perimenopausal nonsense and then we had loads of snowfall and a bitter cold winter. The result- really really not wanting to go outside and sketch. My en plein air habit really does drive a lot of my finished work. Those on site images allow me to think about art in a different way.

Also, I’m not sure I find anything more relaxing than sitting on a local beach or in a park, sketchbook in hand, making art.

Anytime I need to reinvigorate a habit, I look to make it as low friction as possible.

I’m starting with a modular system that will fit into my Po Campo Vernon trunk bag on my bike* with plenty of extra room. It can also be pared down and be put into my EDC backpack with ease and less space and weight than my current EDC art tool kit.

The needs:

Core Kit:

• Watercolors
• Pencil
• Pen (uniball 207 in bold or medium)
• White Marker (cheap white paint marker)
• Eraser (Sakura Sumo)
• Water cup, way to refill water brushes
• Brushes (Fuumuui travel set or water brushes)
• clips
• Board- Gurney Easel, Clip Board etc…

Add Ons in Small Pouches

• Water soluble crayons
• Chalk pastels
• Inktense
• Colored Pencils
• ArtGraf or similar
• Ink Brushes
• Paint Markers
• ETC…

The idea behind this is to grab a core kit and a sketchbook then add on a pouch with additional materials I might want that day. The goal is to keep this smaller and lighter on a regular day. I can fit a great deal into the Vernon Bag, but I also want to be able to carry my water bottle in it and an extra sketchbook or panels. Maybe even my small pochade box.

So far I have 3 core kits- a Lihit Lab ActAct slim, an Art Tool Kit Pocket, and a small Pochade box. They all have roughly the list of supplies, but in different configurations and sizes. The ActAct has a small watercolor set with a modified version of process colors. The Art Tool Kit (ATK) has a small but expanded set of colors based off the process color idea. The pochade box has a 9 color set that holds a larger amount of paint. Each has a different array of brushes and ways of holding water. Again all based off the size of the kit.

The idea is a core watercolor set up and that the various pouches add on mixed media capability to my day. I also hope to lighten my load on a  day to day basis. I know if I’m going to drive into work and stop on my way to draw and paint I can leave some of the mixed media materials in the car. If I’m on the eBike I can carry more than what I would carry on my regular bike.

For pouches I have a variety of things from Muji and no name clear vinyl pouches. What goes into what pouch is determined by size and cleanliness of the material.

*Now that my knee is mostly better I’m looking forward to logging a lot of miles on my bike this summer, both my eBike AND my regular bike. I’m planning to commute as soon as it’s warm enough via the eBike and regularly ride my regular bike when I can.

I’ve done a lot of collage over the years. I’ve made a lot of prints over the years. I’ve never done any chine collé. It seems weird. So I set out to make some of my own paper with coffee filters, because why not. I used Dewent Inktense Watercolors and stuck to sunrise and sunset colors.

I went in to work a little early to gift myself some BIG press time. I set out to chine collé.

So first I inked up my tetrapak and I think I might try to make a video on how to do it. But the camera that I’m currently shooting  with is white and that just seems like a mistake.

Anyway. I inked up my plates and then set about to print.

When printing with intaglio style your paper has to be damp. I’m using Legion Stonehenge paper. It’s 100% cotton and 140lb. If I didn’t get it damp it would buckle and look pretty terrible.

Anyway, I use a spray bottle and spray BOTH sides of the paper with plain clean water until water runs off the paper and depending on time frame, place it into plastic or towels. If in towels the towels must also be dampened. If in plastic, I can use less water. I then let the paper sit for 15 minutes or so, this lets the water soften the paper well.

To set up the chine collé I layout where I want the print to be on plastic and then place the collage piece over it, color or image side down. I sprinkle methylcellulose (basically wallpaper paste) in a thin even layer over the collage piece. The collage piece can be dampened if needed. The printing paper is placed over the whole thing and then it is run through the press.

The results are magic.

I particularly like the play of the perfect round of the collaged piece with the broken up edges of the print. I really like both of these pieces.

And to think these little pieces were simple coffee filters.

It also makes me think about using used coffee filters. What would the tan of a used filter look like with the black of a print over it? Mhhmmm I bet it would look great.

Anyway here’s a video of the printing process.

I wrote here awhile ago about how I wanted to get back into written journaling and that I was feeling a bit of artistic inertia in my personal art making.

So I took my own advice and I slung some paint around. But I also watched some videos about creativity and finally wrote in my journal.

Considering my previous gap was 15 days, having only 4 days since I last journaled is a win.

After that I felt a lot better. A little weight off my shoulders.

(I also did 3 loads of laundry and did a little tidy of my art desk.)

After tidying my art desk I got out my Inktense watercolor set and some coffee filters.

I layered some sunrise colors over the coffee filters and plan on using them as chine collé with a few of my recent plates that I’ve made. I’ve done quite well with my plate making goal- I’m about 15/30. I printed a bunch of them including this cute little skull:

More on the printed plates later, the fun paint slinging resulted in these:

It’ll be interesting to see these paired with some prints. I think the warm and cool sunrise colors are going to be great with some of the images I’ve got going.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been screen printing with middle school kids. When you set a kid up to print it’s easier and better for them to have a little bit extra ink to print with. It makes it easier for them to succeed instead of needing to use the squeegee many times to get one layer of ink. So there is a lot of extra ink on the screen. Depending on the situation you can scrape it back into the pot. But I really like to have them print it out onto scrape paper.

This gives them some no pressure printing experience- the more prints you make the more at ease you get with it and the better and faster you print.

​I started this with my prototype images, I printed out my images and then scraped my excess ink across a stack of paper.

It worked really well. It reminded me of my old art journal pages.

Then I had the kids do the same thing, printing and scraping and just generally getting all their excess ink off their screen and squeegees.

The results are great.

Screen printing ink is acrylic paint that is a little gelly like and looser than heavy body but doesn’t have as much flow as liquid acrylic. It also dries very slowly until it is on paper or fabric. There are a few different types of screen printing ink- the sort just for paper and the sort for fabric. The fabric ink is a little thicker depending on the brand.

I use a few different brands- Speedball for paper and fabric as well as Jacquard for all surfaces (including fabric). Speedball is the most affordable while I think Jacquard feels the best on fabric. Golden also makes a screen printing medium which really loosens up any acrylic paint and makes it dry VERY slowly. (I think this could be used by gelli printing artists for really nice monotypes, just saying, gotta test that idea for sure.)

Anyway, doing this with this kids and myself really felt like coming home. A super cozy relaxing printing sesh but also the coziness of a paint scraping sesh that I used to do. Results below:

Some of these look finished and some feel like they need more work- some collage, some more paint, some gesso. But mostly it was a really cozy little paint scraping session.

It has been unseasonable cold here in mass for the last week or so, frost warning long after there should be, but the trees are budding out and the first signs of pink and green are there. Seriously this time of year is magical. I love it.

I’m also freezing my ass off when I get out early for a short little walk and a 30minute mixed media arting sesh. I’ve had to wear gloves. I hate it.

​I love the art though.

I have been attempting to record the sessions the best I can. I tried a hat mount and it was awful, especially since a lot of what I doo is look up, then down, up and down over and over again. Editing made me queasy. I apologize for posting it.

But I have been posting regularly again. I’m not doing PleinAirpril or any real challenge, just to get out of the house more days than not and to make some art while getting a little exercise.

I’ve since switched to a necklace mount and a clamp mount for my jacket that seemed to work okay. The necklace mount is the most comfortable, and one I’ve used when riding my bike. I have a new extension for it that should put the camera in a better position and capture less…. chest and gut than the other mount.

If you like my usual art-a-long videos these will be of interest to you. I talk my way through my materials and choices and really go for vibes not realism. After I finish my small piece I head into work where I add in some NuPastels. These are a soft pastel that are on the very firm edge of soft pastel. They feel more like a color chalkboard chalk than a soft pastel. The color is intense and we had several sets donated to where I work. They are pricey but quite nice. Any soft pastel would do.

Anyway, I’m enjoying this. Below are the videos that have been uploaded except the up and down one. No one needs to see that.*

I have also been creating the WORST thumbnail images for youtube imaginable. They are a total call back to the EARLY days of youtube, and the kids would say, “That’s a choice.” Which is not a compliment at all. But they have made me laugh a lot. I feel that they harken back to Geocities and Myspace.

​https://youtu.be/sS5ztLippuY

https://youtu.be/-85z1DXVOdU

https://youtu.be/pjj91QlVIko

*I think that video is why people are leaving the channel again. Or maybe it’s because I mentioned the no kings rally. Byeeeeee

I have yet to find my lost box of intaglio tools. While I’m sad about the missing tools I can’t just sit around and wait for them to reappear. Instead I’ve been seeking out things and making stuff to replace the missing tools.

One of the things I have not been able to find a suitable replacement for is the plastic clamshell box I was using. It was just the right size to hold a traditional etching needle and various other thing without being ridiculously bulky.

Currently I’m using an old Zoom H4 microphone box that I saved from the trash at work. It is too short and too fat. Though it does hold a nice amount of shorter implements safely and doesn’t allow points to poke through. It’s adequate.

It is not like the old clamshell that I had.

I looked at a box that my wife’s electric toothbrush arrived in and is for travel. She’s got 2 of these boxes. I think with modification it would work, and it would hold the etching needles but not a whole lot else. It’s rather thin.

It’s also plastic.

I started looking through my collection of tins and what not I’ve collected over the years. None of them quite fit, but many gave me ideas.

So I ordered these. First, they are steel. They are wide but quite flat. And they are tall enough to hold my etching needles. I am planning on some modifications with pop rivets and leather to further make the case solid. Another item will be to line at least part of the case with craft foam and expanded foam as a protection for the etching needles and engineer’s scribe.

I have ordered a set of cheapie slip and scoring tools. Which are okay. I found a rather beat up but very nice pin vise at the thrift store in a bag of odds and ends. It was a good score, but needs love. The aluminum handle was caked with what looks like clay or plaster. That said inside the handle there are 4 brash collets, which means it can hold a HUGE range of bits and needles. This is an epic score. (This is the closest thing I can find to it on Amazon.)

Between these few items, I’ve also made a few where I’ve set some brads into corks and these have proven to be quite amazing for making pin pricks in plates and parallel lines. I’m definitely thinking about more stuff I can do with corks.

Anyway, it’s a start. I’m sure that once the metal tins show up the old set will reappear. (Or not, it may be completely lost at this point.)

Last year I had some budget left at my DayJob. I thought about all of the things I needed for my studio, and then I ordered a small cheap table saw. The response was interesting, you’d have thought I bought a guillotine. I didn’t buy it for kids to use, I bought it as a way to save money for cutting panels down for painting and carving.

Anyway, the saw I bought is not that expensive it was sub $200 and some cheapo Amazon saw. It arrived and it was surprisingly sturdy and did the job. Win. I’ve probably ripped down 6 sheets of plywood and MDF to suitable sizes for painting and carving. It’s been a huge time and money saver. Buying one 4×8 sheet of plywood and cutting it myself is much cheaper than buying 4 2×4 sheets.

Lesson learned- even a cheap table saw is a good investment if it eventually saves time and money. I do wish I’d been able to afford a better saw.

This past week I put that lesson into practice. I’m doing a project with the kids where they are painting and then using cardboard to create a sculpture. I’ve been using click knives to break down the cardboard. I saw someone on youtube using a cardboard saw to break down their cardboard before shredding it, so I ordered one.

Y’all. GAME CHANGER.

It is virtually no effort to break down a huge box into manageable panels and it handles tougher cardboard than you’d expect. It just motors through it like it’s buttahhhh.

Anyway, I turned the work recycling bin into a stack of useful cardboard in a short period of time with the tool and thought I’d share that.

It’s moments like this where I consider that in my own personal art practice I hold off on purchases like this for so many reasons, but I realize now that I really should just buy the tool, even if it is a cheaper version of the tool. Because even an inexpensive tool can be a game changer. I also wonder how much of this is decision paralysis related to ADHD, anxiety, and or depression. (Or just also the state of being a woman in the US.)

I’m going to stew on that for awhile.

When I was a kid I did a craft project at either Sunday School or at regular school where we drew with crayons on sandpaper and then ironed it onto plain white paper for this cool waxy semi transparent stained glass effect. It would have been the early 80s and I have no recollection of who did this with us but I do remember my poor mom having to deal with me being obsessed with trying to recreate it and also her keeping me away from her iron.

Anyway, I think that other than actually using sandpaper for sanding purposes that was the last time I ever thought about sandpaper as a creative tool.

Until I started back down this path with trash printmaking.

Sandpaper is great for adding all sorts of different textures to a plate. From little dots to parallel lines, to swirls and scrubby textures. All of them added to the plate in different ways.

For dots, a super coarse 40 grit is laid down over the plate, grit side down, and a bone folder, back of a sharpie, spoon, or other hard tool is rubbed over the back of the sandpaper. The grit bites into the plate leaving small dots. Move the sandpaper, repeat. Shadow and shade is created by repeatedly imprinting the sandpaper into the plate. The 40 grit paper leaves uneven sizes of holes. 60 grit leaves a more even hole. While 80 is even more even. 100 doesn’t leave much of an imprint. In this case 40 and 60 grit are the best choices.

For creating dark areas or lines, the plate can be sanded. This works on tetrapak and carton. 40 grit leaves a very coarse line while 80 leave a fuzzy line. 100 leaves a dull grain that leaves a gray tint to the plate and on the print. 40 and 60 can create the look of grass and vegetation, while 80 can make storm clouds.

If sandpaper is moved very carefully across a plate you can get even parallel lines and then if you turn your plate 90 degrees and carefully drag sandpaper again, you get cross hatching. 

Anyway, sandpaper has a lot of really interesting uses especially when you have some of the more aggressive grits like 40,60, and 80.