Storytelling with Collage

I was delighted (not to mention flattered!) when Roxanne Evan Stout asked me to participate in her book. I had admired her work from afar for many years and the topic of collage is near and dear my heart since collage jumpstarted me into the mixed media world. And, well, you know my pieces always involve a story.

My submission is an encaustic piece, one that is embedded with personal meaning. As sometimes happens, this piece came to me fast, a spilling over of emotion packed into  an 11x14 painting. 

Roxanne's book is exactly as I imagined it would be. 

Thoughtful and Contemplative, full of earthly visual delights, something to savor.......

One of those books where you read every single page. Artists I know like Orly Avineri, Seth Apter, Lorri Scott. But also a lot of new faces who are making wonderfully inspired work.

Everyone has a story. 

Learning to tell it is a gift, doing it with art and collage is the icing on the cake, at least for me. I am honored to be included in this special book. 

Check out Roxanne's Blog. 

And her book (you are going to want it, hint, hint) is available everywhere. 

StencilGirls love StencilGuts

Before we had stencils and masks, we had Guts. Guts are the parts that drop out of the Mylar once the actual stencil is cut. When we pull the stencil off the machine, the guts are the leftover parts in the machine to be cleaned up and, uh, well, discarded. At least that is what most normal people do, most stencil companies too. 

Except you know me.......

I can't discard something so darn cool and we here at StencilGirl have been saving them all this time. I've been using them off and on for years. One of my students, Anne Holliday, named them Guts and I thought that was very descriptive and clever. 

Today, we offer them to you, our customers, 

StencilGuts! 

Sorted and packaged for all your crafting pleasure. 

So, why would you want StencilGuts and what can you do with them? 

• You want them because they have so many interesting uses; that is what we are showing you in this Blog Hop. Ways to use Guts. 
• You want them because they are cheap fun. And who doesn't like cheap fun.  
• You want them because we have very limited quantities. My grandson and I sorted them and pretty quickly realized it was a crazy amount of work. So I'm not sure when we will do it again, just sayin'.....
• Help us save landfills by using Guts as an art supply.

The photo above shows StencilGuts covered with Washi tape and I love the way these turned out, just so darn cute! Plus fun to make.

The photo above shows Random Guts mixed in with Gel Medium (and some Fluid Acrylic paint) They make such an unexpected texture that is quite intriguing. I can see this with a metallic dry brushed over the top, yumyumyum.

And a potential layout. Carol Baxter imagines this one as a Gourmet Chef! I didn't even see it at first, but it made me laugh when I did! The shapes can be assembled in so many different ways. 

Imagine them painted with alcohol ink? Or you could assemble them on your Gelli Plate and make lovely printed papers or Deli sheets - think of them as baby masks.

And finally, one of my very favorite uses, shown above. Collagraph plate!! To make the plate, use a scrap of matboard or cardboard and glue the StencilGuts in place with Glossy Gel Medium. Be sure and carefully coat the front and back of your Collagraph Plate with Gel Medium so it will be fairly water resistance and will withstand paint. Allow the plate to dry thoroughly before using. 

Use a brayer to 'ink up' your plate with acrylic paint and pull prints. I find it more effective to spritz your paper lightly so it will receive the plate better. I don't have an actual printing press but have found it is pretty easy to rig up ways to make this work. 

So there you have it. StencilGuts! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. To see what everyone else has made, hop along with us. Links below:

StencilGirl Talk
Mary Beth Shaw (you are here)
Mary C. Nasser
Janet Joehlin
Gwen Lafleur
Carol Baxter

 And you knew we would be giving some away, right?? Cause that's how we are.

StencilGirl Products will be giving away package of StencilGuts
from EACH category
(Geometric Shapes, Birds, Cats & Rabbits, Flourishes, Hands
& Body and Dirty Random Guts)
to one lucky winner!
It's the mongo StencilGuts collection.

Visit all the blogs on today’s hop and comment to win!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
(One comment per blog please.)

You will have until Saturday, March 26th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winners will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page on Sunday, March 27th.