Projects update and Nibblefest for May

I started carving an image of a vintage ink brayer on a woodblock when I was struck down by a nasty infection.  This is as far as I got but now that my energy is starting to come back and I've finished posting my entries for May Nibblefest Art Contest, I can pick this back up and finish it and maybe even print some proofs before month's end...

May 2015 Nibblefest Entries

Theme: Freak Show

I've decided to try and tie my nibblefest entries to tarot cards that fit within the theme.  I will try to do two ACEOs and one large painting using the substrates that I made by laminating layers packing.

  

Strength: an original ACEO created using Inktense watercolor pencils and sharpie markers (right). It's inspired by a vintage circus poster and the major arcana tarot card Strength. Click the following link to go to the ebay listing: 

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/231568592431?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

The Eight of Swords original ACEO created using Inktense watercolor pencils and sharpie markers (right). It's inspired by the tarot card and a vintage circus photograph. Click the following link to go to the ebay auction listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231568589429?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

The Magician is an original 7.5" x 10.5" acrylic painting on upcycled food packaging (right). It's inspired by a vintage circus poster and the Major Arcana tarot card the Magician and the Aces... Click the following link to go to the ebay auction listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231568572469?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

April Nibblefest Entries; theme was Space, Planets, Stars

 

Image on the left is The Star ACEO (2.5" x 3.5") miniature acrylic painting on 4 layers of re-purposed food packaging laminated and sealed with gesso.  The image on the right is the traditional tarot card that inspired it.

 

 Image on the left is The Moon ACEO (2.5" x 3.5") miniature acrylic painting on 4 layers of re-purposed food packaging laminated and sealed with gesso.  The image on the right is the traditional tarot card that inspired it.

 

Image on the left is The Sun 7.5" x 10" acrylic painting on 4 layers of re-purposed food packaging laminated and sealed with gesso.  The image on the right is the traditional tarot card that inspired it.

Upcycling Cereal Boxes and Other Food Packaging

One of my projects was to trim various food packages that I've been saving laminate 3-4 layers of same sized pieces together with gesso.  I did this to create illustration board like substrates for small acrylic paintings. Tea boxes I trimmed to ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5") then laminated three layers thick. Cereal boxes I laminated three thick. Acrylic paint, gesso and medium neutral the ph of papers they're applied to; making archival substrates of cheap materials! 

Recent Projects and CloseOut of Marketing Venues

This is one of my daily news drawings. It was inspired by a photo in the Washington Post on 4/1/2015. It was drawn on April 1st using Inktense water color pencils and water. The substrate is a page in a 5x7" Mixed Media sketchbook.

Chillin' mixed media collage ACEO

available this week on ebay: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231521685042?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

I used the the previous sketch to create a mixed media collage ACEO format artwork.  I used decorative papers, acrylic matte medium, permanent markers and Inktense water color pencils.

Froggy With a Chance of Rain

mixed media collage ACEO

available this week on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231521692834?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Inspired by the theme I did another ACEO using the same substrate and mediums as the previous one.

Other projects I've been putting time into this week... 

I'm updateing my CV and resume to update applications for adjunct teaching positions I posted in the California Community College teaching register and with local colleges.

And I've been saving records of artworks I've offered for sale within several internet art marketing websites.  I'm doing this because I'll be closing accounts in two of the sites I've placed my work in.  Both the sites charge a hundred dollars or more a year just for the privilege of selling my work within their sites.  My website does just as much for me and it's a third of the price! Now the money would have been worth it if the sites did more than simply let me sell through them, some occasional marketing on my behalf would have justified the expense. But these sites require that I do all the work and for their lack of effort if my poor marketing skills happen to incur a sale via the site I get to pay them a percentage of the sale! And I've had zero sales from either of the sites in two years...so for two years I've paid a more than two hundred bucks to two websites that have had absolutely no return on the expense...Time to cut off the dead weight!!! SSssoooooo...

Abstract 32007

one of the artworks that can be purchased at 50% off

Get 50% off 

anything and everything in my Artfire storefront by typing CLOSEOUT into the coupon code on checkout!

I'm eliminating dead weight from my marketing venues...by that I mean all marketing venues that have shown no return for the costs involved. My ArtFire account is the first internet storefront that I'm closing. There are only a few weeks left in my ArtFire account so I'm offering a closeout sale on everything in my Artfire studio; everything will be offered for 50% off from today until the date the account closes (I believe it's on April 20th but it may be sooner).

Visit my Artfire page:

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/home/Phare-Camp

If you desire any of the artworks in my Artfire shop simply type the coupon code CLOSEOUT into the coupon code field upon checkout and all items in your cart will discounted.

A few other examples of the offerings within this site:

TIME Some Nibblefest ACEOs

I created a tiny print for this month's Nibblefest Art Challenge.  Nibblefest is a monthly eBay art challenge with a new theme each month.  The challenge is to create 1 to 3 works within the theme and list them on eBay with a starting bid of 99 cents.  The artists to get the most bidders (biddiers not bids) to battle over one of their artworks wins the challenge.

this is a little scrap of battleship linoleum i carved to make the open edition of ACEO size prints on various scraps of printmaking papers.

This was my setup while printing the ACEOs

a digitally watermarked version on a scrap of Rives BFK light. The text in the book is not in the original.  I put it in the scan.  I actually left the book pages blank so that I could personalize each print as I see fit...

blue time doesn't have any legible text in the book pages.  I did draw a bug on the left page when I colored the print using a new art product. To see the image without the digital watermark at the eBay listing click the following link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231237516817

I drew an orchid in the left page of Green Time. I really really really love the Inktense water soluble color pencils I used to color these little Nibblefests. You can see what this looks like without digital watermarks at it's eBay listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231237519353

I drew some leaves on the left page of the book in Violet Time.  The Inktense color pencils are highly pigmented and brighter than standard water color pencils yet they are still translucent and can be layered and used with watercolor paints. This one is listed without the digital watermarks on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231237518318

A lot of really great artists participate in the Nibblefest eBay Art Challenge.  At least on of three listing by each artist must be an original artwork so it's a great opportunity to collect original fine art at an affordable price!  Just search NFAC on eBay between the 20th and the 27th of each month to see the theme and artworks for that month.

Nibblefest Art Theme for March "Nursery Rhymes"

"Little Miss Muffet" ACEO printout of a digital collage preliminary sketch used to map out an ACEO paper collage of the same title.  Available at ebay until 3/27/13.

Little Miss Muffet - Original Digital Collage ACEO - March NFAC

 I like to participate in art challenges.  Themed challenges keep my art mind stimulated by challenging it to conceptualize.  

"Little Miss Muffet" an original ACEO mixed media collage created for the monthly Nibblefest challenge.

Available at ebay until 3/27/13:

Little Miss Muffet Original Mixed Media Collage ACEO for March NFAC

One of the themed challenges I regularly participate in is the monthly Nibblefest challenge; a collection of artists who put the themed artworks created for the challenge on ebay for auction with a starting bid of just 99 cents.  This month's theme is Nursery Rhymes.

 Front cover of "Mother Goose" a tiny 32 page book of illustrated nursery rhymes made from one sheet of 8.5x11" jet printed bond paper.  Available on ebay until 3/27/13

Mother Goose - A Teeny Tiny Book of Nursery Rhymes - March NFAC by Phare-Camp

For this month's challenge I did a digital collage then created a mixed media paper collage based on the digital composition.  Both the digital and paper collages are posted in ebay for the Nibblefest challenge.  But I also have the digital files of a little "one page wonder" book I created of nursery rhymes.  Which of course fits right in with the challenge.

 Inside "Mother Goose before its been folded cut and assembled into an itty bitty 1.5" x 2.25" book of nursery rhymes.

Mother Goose - A Teeny Tiny Book of Nursery Rhymes - March NFAC by Phare-Camp

 Fun With Color - Tiny 16 page Handmade Book by Phare-Camp

Available at ebay until 3/28/13.

I also included a few more works of art for auction with opening bid of 99 cents on ebay only during the Nibblefest  challenge.

Inside "Fun With Color" a digitally illustrated Book of color theory optical illusions inkjet printed onto onesheet of 8.5 x 11" paper, before it was folded cut and assembled into a tiny 2.75 x 2.75" book.

Tea Party - Digital Collage ACEO - by Phare-Camp 

available at ebay until 3/29/13

This is an original digital collage I developed as a preliminary sketch for an original woodcut print. The 2.5" x 3.5"size format is that of ACEO, or Artist Cards Editions and Originals. 

ACEOs are miniature works of art.  Wikipedia describes them as:

"An offshoot of artist trading cards are Art Cards, Editions and Originals (ACEOs), whichoriginated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition totrading among themselves. Many ACEOs are sold on internet auction sites, suchas eBay. As the term suggests, ACEOs may be small original works of art, oreditions of small prints."

Come Sail Away - Original Collage ACEO by Phare-Camp

Available at ebay until 3/28/13.

2.5 x 3.5 inch ACEO collage made using decorative and handmade papers. It was inspired by an IllustrationFriday.com challenge of "Sail." Signed and dated on the back. Sent inside an archival clear acetate art sleeve.

To see lots more artwork by lots more artists with opening bids of just 99 cents you can go to ebay and do a search of "NFAC" or you can just click the link below...

NibbleFest Art Contest:  http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=NFAC&_armrs=1&_from=R9&_ipg=&_dct=1&_rdc=1&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

Holiday Cards Are Printed

 So the holiday cards are now printed!  I printed 50 cards with 45 going out to family and 5 to sell, three will be listed on the 22nd for the ebay Nibblefest contest. One will be listed in my etsy shop and the other in my artfire shop.  I will also list the two proofs, one in etsy the other in artfire.

Here you can see the rainbow roll.  I decided not to use silver as it was too dark for what I had envisioned.  So the roll is pink, violet and indigo.  I used Graphic Chemical Water Soluble Relief Inks Carnation Red, Opaque White, Purple and Blue.  I mixed Flamingo and  Pearl White shimmer pigment powder into the pink ink; Violet shimmer powder into the purple ink and blue into the blue ink.

Here you can see the plate.  I glued 3 layers of foam sheets together and adhered 3 wooden snowflake tree ornaments to the foam using double tack then cut around the snowflakes.  I then used double tack to adhere the cut outs to a prepared sheet of plexiglass.  I then decided the design needed some variety in size so I arranged some self adhesive snowflake rubber stamps onto the plexi.  I then rolled the rainbow roll in two directions onto the printing plate, layed the tone on tone cards tone side down onto the inked plate, burnished the back, pulled the paper away and...

Wa-La! Exactly what I had in mind!  

The finished cards will be embellished with a sparkly little jeweled snowflake and mailed out sometime in the next few weeks.  

Sorry but you'll have to go to one of my cyber shops or my ebay listing if you want to see the finished cards...

Happy Cats Bringin' Their Mojo to Ebay

Today I had fun making these teeny little collages for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC).  A big part of the contest involves listing them in ebay for 99 cents each...the contest is to see which of us gets the highest number of bidders competing for one item.  You can click on the title of the artworks below if you want to see the ebay listing for them,

 Happy Cat 1

Happy Cat 2

Each of these collages are ACEOs (Artist Cards Editioned or Original).  I really enjoy the challenge of working in this traditional small format.

"Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards,^[1] or 2¹⁄₂by 3¹⁄₂ inches (63 × 89 mm),^[2] small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets.^[3] The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.^[4] Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs)."  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards)

When I do these I start with a printout of an original sketch reduced to fit the small format.  I then grab a bunch of decorative papers in the colors I feel like working in for the day.  I also gather tools: scissors, xacto knife, glue stick, old phonebook (for gluing surfaces), cutting mat, sharpies, matte medium, paint brush, transfer paper and bone folder for burnishing.  I decide what papers I will use in different parts of the artwork then trace the parts onto the papers, cut the parts out, assemble like a jigsaw puzzle and glue them onto the substrate.  When the glue has had time to adhere firmly I make embellishing marks with sharpie pens then seal with acrylic matte medium.

If you want to see more artworks cleverly built around this month's theme and very afford-ably listed with starting prices of just 99 cents then go to ebay and do a search for NFAC.  You can also see a cool little Nibblefest widget in their blog right here in blogspot:  

http://nibblefest.blogspot.com/

NibbleFest Art Contest

Today I listed the following artworks on ebay for a monthly art themed exhibit/contest titled "NibbleFest Art Contest."  (NFAC)

Many artist participate in this online exhibit/auction by listing artworks based on a new theme each month.  All of the works have to be listed using the auction style with an opening bid of 99 cents.  There are no reserve prices or additional fees other than shipping.  I've yet to see any of the participating artists try to make money by padding the shipping.  I've only seen shipping fees that are reasonable for careful packaging and postal costs.  

I find these kinds of art challenges a fun way to step outside of my usual and experiment with materials and subject matter.  The theme for November 2011 is Penguins.  Click the following link to see an EBay search for this month's "NFAC" challenge:  http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=NFAC+Art+&_trksid=p5197.c0.m627

This artwork is a 2.5" x 2.3" mixed media collage ACEO (Artist's Card Edition or Original).  You can learn more about ACEOs at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards

I got the idea for this image by googling "penguin" images.  I saw this pic of two penguins and thought they look like they're snowboarding.  So I created a digital collage on my laptop using that image.  Then I made this miniature paper collage based on the digital collage.  I used fun decorative papers pasted to a scrap of Stonehenge printmaking paper.

This one is an original 9" x 12" charcoal sketch on Canson drawing paper.  I saw this cute screen saver of a photoshopped photo on the computer in the Sierra College classroom where I'm a teaching assistant.  I mentally cropped it then sketched my idea and yesterday I created an open edition woodcut print from my sketch.

This is the open edition miniature woodcut print I created based on the above sketch.  Its a 2.5" x 3.5" ACEO on vellum Bristol board.

NFAC: A Dog's Life - contest submission

NFAC: Gracie & Austin an Original Etching by Phare-Camp Opening Bid 99 cents

This print is my entry in the eBay Nibblefest Art Contest, a themed art contest beginning on the 20th of each month. The theme for the month of August is "A Dog's Life." The winner of each month's contest is the work that recieves the highest number of bids.

This image size of this etching is approximately 4x6" on fine art printing paper that is approximately 6.75 x 9.75"

The subject of this etching is from a photo of of my grandson Austin standing in a field of wildflowers hugging my sister's dog; a mini Aussie Gracie.

This signed print is also marked A/P which indicates it's an Artist's Proof. In this case since I hand pull my prints it's a working proof that has few if any variations from the numbered edition prints.

In addition to this print I submitted 4 more works that feature dogs. A color version of this one, another dog etching with a boy and a color version of it and one of my Year of the Dog cards for 2006

Gracie & Austin a Mixed Media Etching by Phare-Camp

opening bid $25.00

Four color mixed media print edition of 75: The black line work is intaglio (etching)and the color fields are block printed.

An original print of a boy and dog by Patricia B. Phare-Camp

This is a print of the artist's grandson Austin being kissed by Gracie, her sister's little miniature Australian Shepard, in a field of Texas wildflowers.

Honey I Think One of the Neighbors is Stealing My Tomatoes Opening bid 99 cents

Hand colored open-editioned block print of my golden retriever Keya. 4" x 6"

There was this one summer where each morning as I watered the veggies I'd note which tomatoes would be ready in time for dinner. I'd go to work & return to find all the ripe tomatoes gone. I told hubby I thought someone was stealing my tomatoes so he came home early from work to investigate. As he stepped on the deck he noticed Keya running away and shaking her head violently. Worried he ran over to discover she had a tale tell tomato hooked to her fang, She was trying to shake off the evidence before he discovered her thievery! I'd have never suspected as she was arthritic and I didn't think she could cross the two foot fence around the garden. Only goes to show that pain is no barrier to a juicy tomato at the perfect peak of ripeness! Keya left us later that year and I remembered our love for her in our hand printed holiday card.

Chris & Keya; Original Dog & Boy Etching by Phare-Camp

Opening bid 99 cents

Black and white etching. 4x6" on laid print making paper. edition of 100

This is a print of my son Chris when he was 12. He and his fuzzy friend Keya were cooling off in the shade of an old mulberry tree after a rousing game of soccer.

Years later Keya left the planet a week after her boy Chris left home for basic training in the Army.

Chris & Keya; Hand Colored Dog & Boy Etching by Phare-Camp Opening bid $25.00

Mixed media print:

intaglio/etching & monoprint

4x6 edition 25

In this edition I scrape the intaglio ink into etched lines of my printing plate. After wiping the plate clean of most of the ink I hand paint ink thinned with linseed oil onto the un-etched areas of the plate. I then print the hand colored plate through the press to transfer the whole onto a sheet of print making paper.

This is a great opportunity to collect some of my animal prints at a great price and help save the environment at the same time. All of these prints were created using non-toxic printmaking technology and 20% of the sales for these items will go directly to Ducks Unlimited a non-profit wetlands conservation organization.

Please be sure to search eBay for NFAC to see more great entries from many other artists, each starting at just $0.99."