Carmen B. Norris

Two New Art Exhibitions

2012-02-29T15:02:00.000Z

Hello,

These are two art exhibitions I'm currently involved in:

"Artists Inspired By Films"

Swindon Film Festival in partnership with Artsite

1st-10th March

The Post Modern Gallery

Threatre Square

Swindon

SN1 1QN

"Swindon Open Studios 2012 Art Exhibition"

1st-29th March

The Former Merlin Gallery

Theatre Square

Swindon

SN1 1QN

If you are in the Swindon area please come and see the shows.

Bye for now.

Happy Leap Day!

2012-02-29T14:53:00.001Z

Hello,

Happy Leap Day to you all.

Have you done anything special on this extra day in February?

I've completed my tasks-29 pieces of artwork in 29 days, experimented with stamping in my artwork and even made a quilt cover!

Documenting my artwork and updating both my website and Flickr account are ongoing projects.

29. Delilah's Dream

mixed media collage

Bye for now.

Tea or Coffee?

2012-02-28T13:05:00.001Z

Hello,

After making the previous prints using tea stained paper, I thought I would give coffee a try.

I started by painting the watercolour paper with a thin wash of coffee.

I then dipped a few circular shapes in the coffee to make circle stamps.

Some close ups.

I then thought I would speed up the drying process of the prints so I could work on them. I turned on the hair dryer, but that didn't work-the coffee stains moved around too much on the paper. So I set them down by the space heater on the floor. I'll see what they're like tomorrow.

Here is another experiment using circular stamps using the same coffee stained paper:

I brushed bronze acrylic paint on a toilet roll and then stamped a random pattern. I then dipped the other end of the toilet roll onto yellow paint for more circles.

Close-up

I'll see that they're like tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Anais

2012-02-28T12:22:00.002Z

Hello,

28. Anais

Magazine collage.

Bye for now.

Handmade Rubber Stamps Part Two

2012-02-26T22:35:00.001Z

Hello,

I've been doing some more prints using the stamps I made the other day. I went back and made some changes to one I made before. The original is on the left, the new version on the right. I added pastels to the background and then added the heart shaped stamps. I also used two shades of greens for the leaves.
I like the way it turned out. The new name- I Love Leaves.

22. Blue Harlequin 23. Blue Harlequin 2

24. Fly Butterfly

25. Fly Butterfly 2

26. They Love To Dance

27. Shall We Dance?

The backgrounds are all done by staining watercolour paper with tea. I also used markers for the line work and the coloured bunting. Stay tuned for more prints and stamping.

Bye for now.

"Assembly Line"

2012-02-23T22:34:00.004Z

Hello,

I thought I would make a cup of tea tonight and do some artwork at the same time. I decided to cut some shapes out of magazine clipping using craft punches, here's my "assembly line":

I'll be using these in future artwork.

Bye for now.

Handmade Rubber Stamps

2012-02-22T21:43:00.001Z

Hello,

As I mentioned in a previous post this month; I said I would try using stamps in my artwork and also experiment with making my own. These are some stamps I carved out of rubber erasers today, using an exacto knife.

close-up of two stamps

18. Untitled 1

19. Untitled 2

20. Untitled 3

21. Untitled 4

These are all printed on white drawing paper using stamping inks. I will let them dry and then go back and add colour to the backgrounds. I like the look of the faded stamps where I didn't re-apply ink to the stamp. I like the variation of values of the same colour as I stamp along the paper. I will post any changes I make to the prints as they happen. So stay tuned...

Bye for now.

Quilt Cover and Pillows

2012-02-20T22:21:00.000Z

Hello,

This week I've been very busy making our quilt cover for our bed. I ordered the fabric from a London based fabric store, Ray-Stitch. The store carries lots of great items for the sewing enthusiasts. The printed fabrics I used were from Anna Maria Horner's line and Joel Dewberry's line. Both are American designers, so I was glad I was able to order them from a store in the UK. I got the quilt pattern from Anna Maria's website- The Log Mansion Quilt. I also made pillow cases for the accent pillows. It was the biggest sewing project I've ever done and I'm quite happy with how it's all turned out.

Now I can sleep soundly knowing it's all done.

Bye for now.

Sienna Speaks Softly...

2012-02-19T15:39:00.000Z

Hello,

17. Sienna Speaks Softly...

mixed media on watercolour paper

Bye for now.

Sienna Says Hello

2012-02-16T23:18:00.000Z

Hello,

16. Sienna Says Hello

mixed media on watercolour paper.

Bye for now.

My Heart Takes Flight Again

2012-02-15T20:47:00.000Z

Hello,

15. My Heart Takes Flight Again

water coloured pencils on drawing paper

Bye for now.

My Heart Takes Flight

2012-02-14T21:50:00.001Z

Hello,

14. My Heart Takes Flight

watercolour pencils on drawing paper

Happy Valentine's Day

A quick post before I call it a night...

2012-02-13T23:10:00.001Z

Hello,

I decided to take the day off yesterday from blogging and just relax with my family.

Here's a photo of me at the Swindon Arts Centre Craft Fair with my lovely artwork.

On either side of me were two very lovely and talented jewellery designers.

Michelle Kendall

Rachel Coyle

Quilt Cover Update:

The fabric arrived a couple of days ago; I was very excited. I started sewing the pieces together today. I'll take some photos tomorrow and post them to let you know how I'm doing.

13. Teresa

Collage on paper

Bye for now.

Swindon Arts Centre Craft Fair Today

2012-02-11T08:42:00.000Z

"Swindon Arts Centre Craft Fair"

Saturday, 11th February

10am-3pm

Swindon Arts Centre

Devizes Road

Old Town

Swindon

SN1 4BJ

Falling Leaves 5 & 6

2012-02-10T21:49:00.001Z

Hello,

11. Falling Leaves 5

handmade paper background, skeleton leaf, heart, flowers and leaves from magazines.

12. Falling leaves 6

handmade paper background, skeleton leaf, heart, flowers and leaves from magazines.

Bye for now.

Falling Leaves 4

2012-02-09T19:50:00.001Z

Hello,

10. Falling Leaves 4

handmade paper background, skeleton leaf and craft punched shapes from magazines

Bye for now.

Falling Leaves 3

2012-02-08T09:53:00.002Z

Hello,

9. Falling Leaves 3

handmade paper for background, skeleton leaf,craft punched shapes from magazines

Bye for now.

Falling Leaves 2

2012-02-07T09:34:00.000Z

Hello,

8. Falling Leaves 2

handmade paper for background, skeleton leaf,craft punched shapes from magazines

Bye for now.

Falling Leaves 1

2012-02-06T17:33:00.002Z

Hello,

7. Falling Leaves 1

handmade paper for background, skeleton leaf, butterflies, leaves and heart from magazines

I ordered the fabric for the quilt cover and it should arrive in a couple of days.
So I'll be starting on that soon, I hope.

I also added some images to my Flickr account.

Bye for now.

Work in Sketchbook...

2012-02-05T22:31:00.001Z

Hello,

5. Flutter

watercolour pencil on drawing paper, butterfly and heart punches, alphabet stamps

6. Fly (again)

watercolour pencil on drawing paper, butterfly and heart punches, alphabet stamps

Work in my sketchbook...

2012-02-04T17:35:00.000Z

Hello,

4. Fly

watercolour pencil on drawing paper, butterfly punches and alphabet stamps

Stamping- Day 2

2012-02-03T14:01:00.000Z

3. Two Ladies Dreaming

stamping on scrapbook paper

Can you read the words in the background?

Stamping- Day 1

2012-02-02T14:29:00.006Z

Hello,

Today I decided to use old rubber stamp which I had in my storage boxes. I like the idea of using images and text together. Originally, I had stamped directly onto the canvas, but because the canvas had a texture to it, it didn't look very nice. So I went back and stamped on acrylic paper, tinted the background and when it was done I glued the prints onto the canvases. The edges of the canvases are painted black. These small canvases are quite cute, especially resting on the small easels. I hope you enjoy them.

2. Three Ladies Dreaming

rubber stamps

rubber stamps- upside down

Bye for now.

Happy February!

2012-02-01T11:01:00.005Z

Thisyear is a special one because it’s a leap year; which occurs every four years.

LeapYear Poem

Thirtydays hath September, April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

Excepting February alone,

And that has twenty-eight days clear

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

Arethere any Leap Year babies out there? How are you celebrating the 29^thFebruary?

Ithought I would make some goals for myself:

Tacklehome projects: sew a quilt cover for our bed (I've been putting it off for afew months now).
Createsome sort of artwork each day, either in my sketchbook, paper or canvas. Ithought I would challenge myself to do 29 pieces of artwork.
Experimentwith different techniques: stamping, creating my own stamps (I've been inspiredby others artists who use stamps in the artwork.
Updatemy website: www.carmenbnorris.com
Updatemy Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carmenbnorris/
Document all my artwork!

#1 Joy, Joy, Joy

close up

Byefor now.

Getting ready for Valentine's Day

2012-01-30T12:19:00.011Z

These are some cards, paintings and mixed media collages I've made for a craft fair I'm doing in February. Its just before Valentine's Day, so I thought I might have some pieces and cards for the occasion. More details on the venue in my next post.

A walk in the park on a cold Sunday morning...

2012-01-29T15:24:00.014Z

Here are some photos taken on my walk home this morning through my local park. It was a bitterly cold and cloudy morning. I wanted to take more photos but I forgot to bring both my hat and gloves.

I plan to use them as reference for future artwork. I hope you enjoy them.

Bye for now.

New Collages

2012-01-26T13:36:00.015Z

Hello,

Here are three new collages I've done.

In this one- the two patterned papers at the top are decoupage paper and the purple, burgundy and yellow bands at the bottom are handmade papers. I like them because they are thin and I can layer them and they create nice effects when you tear the edges.

These two stripes also have handmade paper as their background. I also used skeleton leaves and combined cut-out shapes of flowers and leaves using craft punches. I then painted over the large skeleton leaves to make them stand out more.

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-01-23T22:49:00.005Z

The Lotus Flower
I came across this today on a site which had various meanings of flowers-
"In Buddhism, the lotus flower is the symbol of purity, faithfulness and
spiritual awakening. The flower lifts itself from the dirt and mud of its
surroundings, which represents the act of rising above the water of desire and
attachment, which is the key for achieving spiritual enlightenment.
Though the flower has its root in the mud, it grows upward in the direction of light,
which represents the aspiration to rise above and move towards the light. In
other words, the flower stands for the journey from the darkness, represented
by the muddy pond, to the light of knowledge or wisdom”.

I love lotus flowers.

My Sketchbook

2012-01-17T13:19:00.005Z

I often create some of my best work in my sketchbook. Here I can be free and spontaneous, nothing is precious and its a time to play with ideas.

Here are some entries.

Unfinished business...

2012-01-16T14:19:00.010Z

In organizing my studio I came across some digital prints of old textile designs which I created but were never printed.

I decided to play around with some of them by adding magazine imagery and some craft punches. I started with the blue floral design. I glued two different images from a magazine which had interesting patterns in them.

I wanted to add some texture to the design, to give it more depth. A few months back I stared using craft punches in my card making. I really liked these two:

This is the finished piece.

These are some sections of it up close.

“It’s my birthday,so I’ll clean if I want to...clean if I want to...”

2012-01-05T14:14:00.008Z

Christmas and NewYear’s Day are over; time to put the tree and decorations away. November and December were very busy months for me preparing for craft fairs and my art exhibition at Intel Corporation in Swindon. My 4½ year old son was off two weeks from school for the Christmas Holidays, so that for

me meant-little to no studio time. Plus, I had a nasty cold/flu right after Christmas which didn't help.

He’s back at school now, so what better way to celebrate my birthday then to clean my studio.

After a few deep breaths...a cup of tea...and Adele’s new CD blaring on the stereo I began the major task of cleaning my studio. The goal was to get it to some stage of order where I felt more in control.

Where I could sit in and feel creative again.

Ahhh...That’s better.

Now I just have time for a quick cup of coffee and then I'm off to pick up my son from school.

Bye for now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-01T13:32:00.007Z

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog-

I just wanted to say hello and thank you for visiting me.

I also would like to wish you all lots of good health, love, laughter and joy for 2012.

Here's a collage I started a few months back...enjoy.