Dylusions Spray Inks

WOW!  Love my new Dylusions Spray Inks!  The colors come out so bright!  

And they react great with water! 

The colors are even brighter in person.  I only had a very short amount of time when I did these so I will need to finish these later.

Art Journal Play

The last few weeks I have been experimenting in a small new art journal.  I am trying to get familiar with all of my various coloring devices.  I have accumulated so many through the years and I am not really sure what is used for what at this point.

This was just a quick doodle page.
I used my Faber Castell Big Brush Markers and a gold metallic marker for this page

I decided to make a journal page with a description of the qualities of each type of pen/pencil.  On the left I used my Spica Glitter Pens.  On the right I used my Stampin' Up Metalic Art Pencils.

These two pages are for all my Sakura Gel Pens.
 It seems the Gelly Roll Pens work really great on black.
The Stardust pens seem to look better on white paper, not so much on black.  

Saturday Day, Chris Cozen Class

Day 2 with Chris Cozen at Stamping Details...

Today we worked with old photos.  So, last night, late after class, I had to dig through a box of old photos my mom had given me like 15 years ago.  All this time, it has been sealed shut with a bunch of tape and I have been dying to see what was in it...but I knew it would take some time to look through it all and it was on that 'when I have time to do list' which I never get to!  So, finally, I got to look inside!  And, WOW, so many amazing old, antique photos in here I could use in my art.  :-)  So glad this class forced me to break this box open.  I will need many more hours to sort through it.

There are hundreds of photos in this box.  Many photos of people that I have no idea who they are.  But, so many art project ideas were running through my head.  If only I could stop time so I could do them all.


I decide I would choose some photos of my Maternal Grandfather for my art class.  These photos are extra special because I never got a chance to meet him, as he passed when my mom was only 5.  Here are some of the ones I thought I might use.

My grandfather on his horse!

My grandfather and photos of his farm.

This one is my VERY favorite!  He is the one in the drivers seat.  Very confident and proud.

This one shows his name on a sign as owner of the farm. 'Hilmar Orchards'

He grew apples, pears, etc.

The factory. 

This is the original paperwork of him purchasing the land!

My grandfather, Hilmar Maximillian Von Papst

So, the class was awesome!  She even took us on a field trip to a copy machine store to help us make copies of all of our originals to size them properly.  

Here is what I created (with, of course, a little help from Chris)  :-)

Original artwork by Anne Corazza, ' Bite and Believe'.   Not bad for a first attempt, I guess.

Original artwork by Anne Corazza,  'Granddaddy on his farm'.  This one is not my favorite but plan to work on it some more.  I wanted to capture the original wording from his brochure and the land purchase, but it seems a bit choppy.  It needs some more work.

I plan to give these as surprise gifts to my mom and my aunt for their upcoming birthdays or Christmas.

They will, of course, be the only ones to truly appreciate them since they are photos of their daddy.

So, finally the day wrapped up with me taking some more photos....

Anne and Clare, July 21, 2012 at Stamping Details.
This is Clare, my soul sister!  I feel a very special bond with this beautiful lady.  I met her here at Stamping Details.  She works here and I only get to see her when I come to the store.  Which has not been that often as of late.  It was soooooooooooo great to see her again.  I love her so much!  The most generous, loving and gentle of souls! xoxo  

Chris Cozen and I, July 21, 2012.  An amazing artist, teacher and mentor in deed!

AND...as if the day was not already complete...as I am packing up to go home....Chris surprised me by very generously giving me one of her original art pieces from the night before. WOW!

Original artwork by Chris Cozen

Yep, all mine now!  And I made her sign it!  :-)

Friday Night, Chris Cozen Class

Just got home from Chris Cozen's Class at Stamping Details.  It was awesome!  It was so great to see her again.  It has been 3 years since I met her and taken her class.  She, of course, did not remember me until I showed her some photos...but for me...of course I did not forget....for she is like a movie star to me.  :-)

She looked fabulous!  She does not age!

Chris Cozen, Stamping Details, July 20, 2012

Here are her samples of what we were to make tonight...

Original artwork by Chris Cozen

Original artwork by Chris Cozen

Original artwork by Chris Cozen

Basically, she said to start with painting a random background of color in long lines.  

Then, add a base at the bottom of the canvas for your flowers as well as some random collage through out the painting with various colored papers.

Then, create your flowers out of the random colored papers placed on the canvas.

Then, wash and blend the background to let the flowers pop.

Finally, doodle with permanent black & white markers to add the finishing touches.

Here are two of mine that are half way completed...

Unfinished, Piece #1 by Anne Corazza

Unfinished, Piece #2 by Anne Corazza

 

And here is one I completed...

Original artwork by Anne Corazza

So excited, Chris Cozen this weekend!

Today is a day of reflection.....in preparation for an art class I signed up for this coming weekend with Chris Cozen.

I took my FIRST ever acrylic class with Chris Cozen on August 1, 2009 at Stamping Details in Poway, CA.  It was my first time ever using acrylic paints.  Chris was my very first art teacher/class outside the world of rubber stamps.  I consider her my very first gateway 'drug' :-) artist that transitioned me to mixed media art.

Chris Cozen and I on August 1, 2009

We used clear vinyl material to paint on and did reverse background techniques on the back side.

I even bought her book 'Altered Surfaces' that weekend and got it signed!

I REALLY enjoyed the class and it made me realize that I need to start expanding my horizons as far as art goes.  She was such an inspiration and great teacher.

So, I went to Michaels and bought about 80 different colors of acrylic paint in those mini little bottles at $.33 each.  Yes, 80...had to have EVERY color.  After all, they were so inexpensive!  LOL!  I figured I would play with these and then buy some more expensive acrylic paints like Golden that Chris uses when I was sure I was going to use them and wanted to invest the money.

I nicely labeled and organized them all in this container.  And I bought some inexpensive paint brushes.  I was ready to go....

But, then medical challenges continued to get in the way...and the paints just sat there in their pretty little container...screaming to be used....here it is three years later...good grief!  But, I am happy to report I did at least finally start using my paints in January of this year.  Thanks to my recommitment to art play time and finding the free online class with Traci Bautista that started Jan 1, 2012.

Anyhow, so finally, this weekend.  I am taking another class with Chris Cozen and I am really excited!

Brave Girl Art School

Well it is official!  I am sending my check off tomorrow to my friend Kathren.   I am signing up for Brave Girl Art School.  It is a 6-week online class and community so you can share with others in the class from all over the world!  But, the even cooler thing is there is a group of 10 of us ladies here in San Diego that all signed up together.  So, we are going to meet together weekly to work on the class assignments together.

And here is a little card I made for Kathren to thank her for organizing all of us.  Thanks Kathren! :-)

July Creating Outside the Book

Tonight we had two special events....

First of all, it was Kat's Birthday....the BIG 60!  Happy Birthday my dear friend!

Second, it was time for our Quarterly Art Exchange... 

This time we did greeting cards.  We had to make 17 of the same and then we all got to come home with 17 different hand made cards.

Here is a sampling of the cards I made for the trade.  Each one is just a little different.

Stamp image by The Greeting Farm.  Original creation by Anne Corazza.

Stamp image by The Greeting Farm.  Original creation by Anne Corazza.
Used Copic markers for coloring.

Stamp image by The Greeting Farm.  Original creation by Anne Corazza.
Used a variety of colored papers and flowers for each card to make them each a little different.

Original creation by Anne Corazza