2021 Topic 8: Adopt the pace of Nature.... with ESA {by Amanda Pink}

2021 Topic 8: Nature's Treasure

 

Amanda makes the most amazing Grunge Paste Textured backgrounds, and on this occasion both infusions and paints build up the depth for a bespoke Seth Apter flower to sit on top and how cool is that rustic flower centre!

~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Amanda Pink (ink-a-pink) with you today, and I'm here to share with you a mixed media art panel that I've created for the current topic: Natures Treasures. 

Surrounded by so many of 'Natures Treasures', inspiration for this topic is definitely in abundance but I knew that what ever I made would be influenced to some degree by the stamps I would be creating with. They were Seth Apters new release (June 2021). Lucky me!! I'm always happy to create with Seths stamps but at first glance I wasn't sure how I would use them as they didn't seem (to me) to lend themselves to the topic, especially in any obvious way. Then I looked closer! I could create a flower with one of the stamps and possibly a textural 'tree bark' effect with another which would tie in with my leaning to create something inspired by my woodland walks and all the texture beauty and earthy rustic colour that surround me as I walk. 

Unbeknown to each other and miles apart, it turns out both Seth and I created flowers using  the same stamp from his new stamp sets.  Our flowers do differ though, guess that's nature, right? You can see Seths flower here and it really is a beaut! 

My creativity began with the background panel.  

Wanting this to bear some semblance to textured tree bark when finished I covered a piece of thick kraft card with PaperArtsy Grunge Paste, not worrying about even coverage as I wanted it to be rough and rugged. 

I then stamped into the grunge paste using the stamp I thought might create the effect of tree bark from PaperArtsy Seth Apter (ESA22).

 Being able to stamp into Grunge Paste offers so much creative potential.

I guess I would be considered a 'newbie' to this technique (I know where have I been hiding) as I've only tried it a few times before and seldom with pleasing results. From what I understand to get the best results it helps if you lightly spritz the stamp you're using with water first so thats what I did. I also used an acrylic block which helped too as it allowed me to firmly press the stamp into the paste.  

The result certainly pleased me this time. 

Note: When you're finished stamping be sure to clean your stamps of any debris.

 

PaperArtsy Infusions are a great medium to use to colour textured Grunge Paste. I used Rusty Car and Black Knight for those earthy rustic colours. 

Their water reactive properties allow them to be dripped down and moved around the background with ease. 

Those water reactive properties also allow for seamless blending when the infusions merge together. 

I especially love how they seep into the peaks and troughs of the texture creating a natural sense of light and shadow. 

To enrich and strengthen the depth of colour I also blended in (quite randomly) some PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics 

My choice of colours were  (Mahogany, Inky Pool, French Roast). All three are either translucent or semi- opaque so due to these properties they will still allow the infusion colours already laid down to be seen. To accentuate the stamped texture I caught the 'lumps' and 'bumps' with PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics (Fuzzy Cactus,Gold Rush) and a very light touch of gold gilding wax.   

 

The 'broken text' stamp, also from PaperArtsy Seth Apter Set 22 (ESA22) stamped in PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics (Gold Rush) provided a touch of extra detail and interest. 

Note: Clean your stamps straight away after stamping with frescos. 

The photo above gets you closer to the depth and layers of colour /tone and their nuances as well as the lumpy bumpy texture and stamped detail.  

Moving onto the flower.

In contrast to the richness of the texture and colour of the 'tree bark' effect background I wanted the flower to be more delicate and neutral but I also wanted some unity between the two. 

So I brayered a piece of PaperArtsy Smoothy with PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics (Heavy Cream, Honey Dew, Blue Moon) and added some detail using PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Gold Rush) with one of the stamps from PaperArtsy Seth Apter set 24 (ESA24). 

The brayered card was then repeatly stamped with the 'pod' design stamp from PaperArtsy Seth Apter Set 24 (ESA24) . My flower was to be multi layered / dimensional so I needed  to make sure I had enough. 

The design of the 'pod' was easy to cut out, but I have to hold my hands up and say that  for 'my own' flower I did cut away the outer fine lines (hope you don't mind? Seth).  

The 'pod' petals were given some additional PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Gold Rush) touches before being transformed into a flower. 

Now for a few featured words that became my projects title. 

 I stamped one of the Nature quotes from PaperArtsy newly released Alison Bomber Set 21 (EAB21) onto a leftover piece of the brayered card I'd used for the flower. 

I chose to split the quote up so when situated in opposing corners of the background panel it gave balance to the finished design. 

It's something I really like about Alison's quote stamps. You can cut them anywhere within the quote or between the lines of the quote and there will still be space between the cutting points.  

Finally, the finishing touches. 

The flower was speckled with some PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic (Mahogany)  splatters and embellished at its centre with some rusty hardware. These are from my stash of 'street swag' (as I call it) - naturally rusted and (to me) real treasure!

I enjoyed creating my 'Natures Treasures' mixed media panel and was pleased with how it turned out.  I'm always happy playing around with texture and colour and love creating projects like this that are the sum of a few parts.

I was impressed with how the dimensional flower turned out, and all from just one stamp!! 

I think I managed to create a kind of 'tree bark effect' with the stamps and mediums used but I guess you'll be the better judge of that !? 

So glad I gave the Grunge Paste stamping another go. The water proved to be a game changer. If you haven't tried it yet, or you have but (like me) with limited success I encourage you to give it a go / another go. 

Have fun playing around with Infusions too. They really are little bottles of magic that have all kinds of creative potential. They're really good friends with water too!

Thanks for spending time with me today/ tonight. 

Keep on Creating 

Take Care 

Amanda

x

Blog: ink-a-pink
Facebook: Amanda Pink
Instagram: p1nkart

Pinterest: PinkArt