Altered Silver - art_shopping

Library book sale

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 09:25:00 -0600

FINALLY! At long last, the local library held their annual book sale. I only had about an hour since I had to cram the time in between a bunch of other things, but I made good use of the time I had. I picked up hardback books of various sizes that begged to be altered and others (hardback and paperback) that wanted to donate text and pictures to the cause.

If…

Blog Sweet Blog

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 15:10:00 -0500

August already, and I haven't made any entry since July 27. Well, it doesn't mean I haven't been working, in fact I've been quite active with the art (and purchasing additional supplies for it). The days have been very busy, even when the heat rose to nearly 100(F) degrees. I've been painting, folding, pasting, sealing, priming, deviating, experimenting...and trying to remember to take photos all along the way. They'll all show…

Artist's Treat

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 14:55:00 -0500

Awesome, simply awesome. One of my purchases has arrived containing a totally awesome item that I didn't even know existed until a few days ago: clear gesso!

I made my acquaintance with gesso (as a primer, sealer, adhesive and medium) back in the late 60's, and we've been good pals ever since (with a little over a decade apart while I explored digital art). For all that time, gesso was available…

Mouse Shopping

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 11:15:00 -0500

While I was busy with all that sealing and priming, I was also busy shopping online for supplies, then waiting for shipments to arrive. I've spent hours and hours Googling for sales and clearance prices on the supplies I want as well as checking around for the best prices on recurring needs like gesso and acrylic medium. Since I'm mainly shopping for bargain rates, I can't simply get everything I want…

First Book Acquisition

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:50:00 -0500

Most of my altered art acquisition shopping has been with online stores, but the initial excursion was to a brick and mortar store: a nearby crafts chain called Michael's. I took $100 with me that day, but spent only about half of it. There were too many decisions to be made, most for which I wanted more time to consider or more research.

I was encountering frequent "sticker shock" while looking…

Adhesives

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 15:05:00 -0500

Adhesive for altered art can be just about anything from common white glue (PVA) to model airplane glue (plastic cement), but there are two types to definitely avoid: mucilage and rubber cement. Both of those glues will lose cohesion and cause permanent staining wherever they are used for any length of time, even in as briefly as a month. With the mucilage and rubber cement out of the question, that still…

The Scissors from Hell

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:30:00 -0500

Naturally I had scissors already. Good Fiskars. They cut a straight line reliably every time. But what if you don't want to cut a straight line? There's a bunch of cool alternatives on the market these days, lots of fancy deco scissors, short for "decorative"; they don't cut a straight line. They cut scallops or ripples or squiggles. Cool stuff with a lot of potential. So I wanted to get some…

Paper

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:10:00 -0500

Sure I had paper at home already, but most of it is white and some is even covered with blue lines. Plus I had a few newspapers and magazines. There is potential in all of these (view Aisling's pages), but it depends on what direction you want to take in the artwork. I enjoy color, and although I had colored paper on hand already, all of it was of the solid…

Collage Essentials

noreply@blogspirit.com (Silver) — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 10:40:00 -0500

What supplies does a person need to work in collage? Only a few common items; it couldn't be a simpler artform:

Paper
Scissors
Adhesive

That's it, that's all one needs, which can be found in just about every home, and some very impressive collage work can be made with them such as what Aisling has on display.

So why the need for shopping? Well, once you've established the essential needs, it…