↓
 
P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

Creating my artwork, work in progress & new work.

BlueCrystalShipwRose

Category Archives: My Art

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Foiled Foil Etching Plates

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 28, 2020 by ptartistOctober 28, 2020

I have two newly doubled foils: two more of my digitally foiled foil plates!

Some of the current messiness of my art studio is due to selling my Blick etching press, and trying to deal with old plates I will no longer use for printmaking. Often printing plates are very handsome in themselves. I love those that hold some old dry ink, but those without can be painted or otherwise colored. I created these digitally foiled images from two “low tech etch” plates, both made from mat board & aluminum foil.

When printing, I inked and wiped these plates etching style, but if I made a mat board and foil with a more relief, I could ink this type of plate as a relief or collograph plate. These plates are very cheap, quick and easy to make, and lovely prints are possible.

House in the Woods (left plate) and Bookplates (at right)

I colored both of the actual foil plates using glitter marker pens, and these are fairly handsome, but I don’t invest in these pens, and the colors are not subtle! I much prefer the digitally enhanced results: hence the “foiled foil etching plates”. With the digital images, I can tone down colors, or change colors and shapes altogether. Here are the scanned plates, only slightly light/color adjusted. The pen lines show up, and the colors are not quite to my taste!

Share
Posted in My Art

Turtles from the Mold

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 22, 2020 by ptartistOctober 22, 2020

The first photo shows three turtles from the mold. I carved the original turtle from a soft (conglomerate stone?) tile, thinking to give it to my youngest granddaughter. But of course a stone tile is not a great idea for a 3 year old; it is a bit heavy and too fragile for a young child! The head & limbs could chip and break off very easily if dropped. So I made a cheap silicone caulk mold, in order to reproduce my low relief carving in a more suitable material.

Now there are several six inch long turtles from the mold, and there will soon be a few more. My granddaughter got the first one in a package last week, along with two more scarab beetles. She was happy, but I don’t think she needs more turtles at the moment. So with the texture and paint, I am enjoying these myself. I imagine there may be a larger artwork with turtles at some point.

I foiled this photo of Mrs. Beetle; that is what inspired me to get out the metallic & iridescent paints for recent beetle and turtle casts. With winter on the way, a bit of bling is called for!

Share
Posted in My Art

Casting in the Studio

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 14, 2020 by ptartistOctober 14, 2020
Casting in the Studio: Now out of the Mold

I have been casting a few small works; these are now out of the mold and painted. The beetles are intended as gifts, but I may have to make a few more for myself. I may have the seed of an idea for a larger artwork, with beetles, that will be for my own amusement. Beetles certainly do lend themselves well to iridescent and metallic paints!

I cannot resist arranging and posing my new bits on older surfaces. I see all sorts of interesting combinations as I snap photos in my studio…

Share
Posted in My Art

Murky Waters

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 12, 2020 by ptartistOctober 11, 2020

Murky waters and the right light lead to some fabulous digitally enhanced images!

Share
Posted in My Art

Photos of the Sky!

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 11, 2020 by ptartistOctober 11, 2020

These are recent photos of the sky, and only one is digitally manipulated. I don’t usually post my “straight” photos here on my art blog, except as before & after digital foil & such. But these seem worthy …

Share
Posted in My Art

Revisiting Foil

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on October 6, 2020 by ptartistOctober 6, 2020

I am revisiting foil: real aluminum foil with the addition of a digital foil plus the usual fixing & fussing.

The time has come to sort through my old printing plates, now that the Blick Etching press has a new home in Anacortes. I sold the press, and have not been a member of the local Printmakers Guild, Corvidae Press, for many years now. I don’t plan to much printing, but I have kept a number of “permanent” plates that still amuse me. Yesterday I shuffled through a set of mat board & aluminum foil plates, which were used for a “low tech etching” technique.

I colored three of these plates, using various marker pens. Then I scanned these, for the record… After the scan, I digitally foiled the images, of course! Here are the two that I like best. Not my favorite works, but fun nonetheless.

Share
Posted in My Art

Goodbye Blick Etching Press

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on September 28, 2020 by ptartistSeptember 28, 2020

Goodbye my lovely home studio printing press!

My 18″ Model 999 Blick press has been semi-retired for years now, dormant under a dust cover. It had become something of a spider habitat in the corner of my garage workshop space.

Today I SOLD it to an eager new printmaker in Anacortes, who was very excited to get it. She also purchased a small fortune in clean unused zinc plates, along with 10 large sheets of Rives BFK. I sold these at half the Blick Art Materials listed price, with no tax or shipping charges. Of course I am happy to get some cash in hand, and my price was a bargain for my “customer”.

I wish her much satisfaction and excellent results! Happy printing, LisaMarie!

Share
Posted in My Art

Ghosts, Shadows and Echoes

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on September 22, 2020 by ptartistSeptember 22, 2020

Flora, fauna, and man made objects all leave their own ghosts: shadowy traces and remains that echo like ghosts of the original. I love these reminders of what has been. These images are derived from the ghosts, shadows, and echoes on a well-used outdoor table. The top of this table has magic for me.

I especially love the dark magic in the last foil below, and could not resist a little extra enhancement of some of the imagery and detail in this piece.

Share
Posted in My Art

Low Tide Gems

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on September 18, 2020 by ptartistSeptember 18, 2020

Exquisite finds for digital enhancement can be found at low tide on the right beach! I took so many photos that it will be impossible to process them all, but this barnacle encrusted salt water washed remnant of an old corduroy road or railroad bed, now on tidal lands, is too good to resist. The iron stains and barnacles make my digital enhancement tools dance!

And sometimes I see animals and people in driftwood, as well as in clouds. So the beach today produced an illusory whale vertebrae and a rabbit sitting up at attention.

Share
Posted in My Art

Nest Eggs is on the flip side of Table Dancer

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on September 12, 2020 by ptartistSeptember 12, 2020

Nest Eggs is complete on the flip side of Table Dancer now. “Nest Eggs” is the interim title for the second painting on the center section of my flip-top art table. I hope to come up with a better title for this new painting though!

I used a digitally transformed and enhanced photo of a real bird nest (with stone “eggs”) as my inspiration. The nest with eggs is recognizable enough with the title as the hint. Clearly some eggs escaped the nest however, and the shapes and shadows have little basis in any reality we know.

Share
Posted in My Art

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Pothole Photo Books

Contact me to buy Volumes I or II
I sell my art directly with affordable prices: galleries cannot do that. Art prints are available from me & at the links below. Please do contact me with questions!

Browse My Art

  • My Art Gallery
  • SandraStowell.com More!
  • The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend Photo series

Buy my Art

  • Art at Saatchi Online Select originals & prints.
  • Photo Books Volumes I & II of The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend

Contact me

  • Contact Me Email me!

Recent Posts …

  • Masks and Faces
  • Casting the Bird is Back
  • Update on Casting the Bird
  • Casting the Bird
  • The Flute Player and the Field Worker

Browse by Category

  • About my art
  • Craft Projects
  • Designed Products
  • Digital
  • Drawing
  • Ephemeral
  • Exhibitions
  • Experimental
  • Hidden images
  • My Art
  • Painting
  • Photography
  • Printmaking
  • Ramblings
  • Sculpture
  • Sketchbooks
  • About Making Art
  • Artist Statement
All images copyright Sandra Stowell unless otherwise attributed - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑
Share